Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment
 | |
| Formerly | Videocraft International (1960–1968, officially 1960–1974) Rankin/Bass Productions (1968–1983) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Film |
| Predecessor | Arthur Rankin Jr. Associates |
| Founded | September 14, 1960 |
| Founders | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Defunct | Template:End date and age (studio) Template:End date and age (partnership) |
| Fate | Integrated into Lorimar-Telepictures (studio) Dissolved (partnership) |
| Successors | Library: Universal Studios (via DreamWorks Animation through Classic Media) (pre-September 1974) Warner Bros. Discovery (via Telepictures) (post-September 1974) |
| Headquarters | , U.S./United States |
| Products | Television specials Television series Feature films |
| Parent | Tomorrow Entertainment (1971–1974) Telepictures (1983–1987) Lorimar-Telepictures (1987–1989) Warner Bros. Entertainment (1989–2001) |
'Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, initially known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and later renamed Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., was a New York City-based American production company. The studio gained fame for its holiday-themed television specials that utilized stop-motion animation, particularly employing its unique "Animagic" process characterized by stylized doll figures and soft snow-like visuals.
The majority of the animation work was subcontracted to Japanese studios such as Toei Animation, MOM Production, Mushi Productions, and Topcraft. Rankin/Bass stood among the early Western companies to outsource budget-conscious animated projects internationally, alongside contemporaries like Hanna-Barbera and Jay Ward Productions.
History
Established on September 14, 1960, by business partners Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, the company's signature Animagic stop-motion sequences were predominantly created in Tokyo under the direction of Japanese animator Tadahito Mochinaga at MOM Production. Traditional hand-drawn animation was provided by studios including Toei Animation, Eiken, Mushi Production, and notably Topcraft, which was founded in 1972 by Toei veteran Toru Hara, who also supervised animation on multiple projects.
Among Topcraft’s animators were future industry icons like Hayao Miyazaki, who eventually co-established Studio Ghibli. Following Topcraft’s dissolution, several animators formed Pacific Animation Corporation, which maintained a working relationship with Rankin/Bass until Disney acquired it in 1988.
Rankin/Bass operated a dedicated voice acting ensemble based in Toronto, overseen by CBC announcer Bernard Cowan, featuring talents such as Paul Soles and Billie Mae Richards. Musical scores were directed by Maury Laws, while many scripts were penned by Romeo Muller for celebrated specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), The Little Drummer Boy (1968), and Frosty the Snowman (1969).
Output
Among Videocraft's initial undertakings was the 1961 television series The New Adventures of Pinocchio, inspired by Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel and utilizing "Animagic," a stop-motion animation technique overseen by Mochinaga and MOM Production in collaboration with Dentsu. Later that year, Videocraft ventured into traditional cel animation with Tales of the Wizard of Oz, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 book, animated by Crawley Films in Ottawa under the direction of F. R. Crawley.
Rudolph era
Holiday-themed animated specials for American television formed a vital part of the company’s business model. In 1964, Videocraft created a stop-motion special for NBC and sponsor General Electric, adapting Robert L. May’s 1939 story alongside Johnny Marks’ 1949 song, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The special featured Burl Ives as narrator Sam the Snowman and Billie Mae Richards voicing Rudolph, complemented by an original score from Marks. Rudolph quickly became a perennial Christmas favorite, airing on NBC until approximately 1972 before transitioning to CBS; it was included in Freeform’s 2019 "25 Days of Christmas" and returned to NBC in 2024 to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
This special incorporated seven original songs, with a 1965 revision substituting "We're a Couple of Misfits" with "Fame and Fortune" within the Animagic sequences.
Capitalizing on Rudolph's popularity, Videocraft produced additional holiday specials such as the 1967 The Cricket on the Hearth, which featured live-action segments by Danny Thomas, character designs by Don Duga and Paul Coker, and animation by Jiro Yanase’s TCJ studio. In 1968, they released the Thanksgiving-themed The Mouse on the Mayflower, narrated by Tennessee Ernie Ford and animated by Toei Animation. Paul Coker Jr. emerged as a pivotal creative leader, designing characters and production elements for over forty Rankin-Bass specials, playing a crucial role in their brand development and market presence.
Other holiday specials
Rankin/Bass established a strong foothold in seasonal programming through numerous holiday specials inspired by well-known songs. The 1968 special The Little Drummer Boy featured narration by British-American actress Greer Garson with Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer voicing Ben Haramed. That same year, Videocraft International, Ltd. rebranded as Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., although it continued to use the Videocraft byline until its acquisition in 1971 by Tomorrow Entertainment, a subsidiary of General Electric. The "Animagic" stop-motion work for The Little Drummer Boy was carried out at MOM Production (later Video Tokyo), marking the conclusion of Tadahito Mochinaga’s collaboration with Rankin/Bass.
In 1969, the special Frosty the Snowman, based on Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins’ 1950 song, starred Jimmy Durante and voice actor Jackie Vernon. Animation was managed by Mushi Production under Yusaku "Steve" Nakagawa's supervision. The following year’s Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town featured narration by Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle, with production oversight from Kizo Nagashima.
Rankin/Bass extended their holiday repertoire to Easter specials starting with 1971's Here Comes Peter Cottontail, which starred Danny Kaye, Vincent Price, and Casey Kasem. This marked Kizo Nagashima’s last role supervising "Animagic." Fred Astaire returned to narrate the 1977 special The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town. Key figures such as Masaki Iizuka and Akikazu Kono became integral contributors to ongoing Rankin/Bass projects including the 1973 East Asia-filmed live-action musical Marco.
After becoming independent again in 1974, Rankin/Bass produced The Year Without a Santa Claus, featuring Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, and voice performances from Dick Shawn and George S. Irving. This special introduced Akikazu Kono along with puppet maker Ichiro Komuro as supervisors. It was later adapted into a live-action television movie in 2006 starring Delta Burke and John Goodman.
Throughout the 1970s, collaborations with Video Tokyo and Topcraft resulted in sequels like 1979's Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, featuring Ethel Merman and Mickey Rooney. That year also saw the release of Jack Frost, narrated by Buddy Hackett with Robert Morse voicing the title character. Additional notable productions include The First Easter Rabbit (1976) and The Stingiest Man in Town (1978), further expanding their holiday animation portfolio.
In 1975, Rankin/Bass released The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow, narrated by Angela Lansbury and featuring Irving Berlin’s classic "White Christmas." Their final stop-motion Christmas special was 1985's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, adapted from L. Frank Baum’s tale with performances by Alfred Drake and Earl Hammond. This title is part of Warner Bros. Home Entertainment’s Warner Archive Collection.
Many of these holiday specials continue to generate revenue through seasonal television broadcasts as well as home media sales across formats such as VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and digital platforms, sustaining Rankin/Bass's lasting influence in holiday entertainment.
Non-holiday output
During the 1960s, Videocraft broadened its scope by producing various stop-motion and traditional animation projects beyond seasonal specials. In 1965, they released Rankin/Bass’ first theatrical feature film, Willy McBean and His Magic Machine, co-produced with Dentsu. The subsequent year saw the release of The Daydreamer, the first of three films developed alongside executive producer Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures in Los Angeles. This film blended live-action sequences, special effects, and "Animagic" animation based on Hans Christian Andersen stories. Additionally in 1966 came The Ballad of Smokey the Bear, narrated by James Cagney.
In early 1967, the theatrical release Mad Monster Party? premiered featuring British actor Boris Karloff in one of his final roles. The film parodied iconic movie monsters and popular culture figures with character designs contributed by Jack Davis from Mad magazine. This was Tadahito Mochinaga’s last project supervising "Animagic" for Rankin/Bass.
Between 1972-1973, Rankin/Bass produced four animated television movies for The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie: Mad Mad Mad Monsters (animated by Mushi), along with Topcraft-animated titles including Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid, The Red Baron, and That Girl in Wonderland.
Rankin/Bass adapted J. R. R. Tolkien's works into animation with their 1977 release of The Hobbit, followed by 1980's The Return of the King. These complemented earlier rights held by producer Saul Zaentz. Other literary adaptations included co-productions like The Last Unicorn with ITC Entertainment, Peter Dickinson's The Flight of Dragons, as well as Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, animated overseas at Hanna-Barbera’s Wang Film Productions unit in Taiwan.
Beyond specials, Rankin/Bass created several traditional animated TV series such as The King Kong Show (1966), Toei Animation-animated The Smokey Bear Show (1969), and Motown Productions’ co-produced series like The Jackson 5ive (1971). Their most commercially successful series was Ted Wolf's action-adventure show tied to merchandise, ThunderCats (1985). This was followed by related series like SilverHawks (1986) and TigerSharks (1987), primarily produced by Pacific Animation Corporation—later acquired by The Walt Disney Company. However, none replicated ThunderCats’ commercial success.
Rankin/Bass also explored live-action productions including their 1967 co-production with Toho, King Kong Escapes, alongside several made-for-TV films during the late '70s and early '80s such as The Last Dinosaur, The Bermuda Depths, and The Ivory Ape, mainly co-produced with Tsuburaya Productions. These expanded their business model but remained focused largely on television distribution.
Demise
Rankin/Bass halted production on March 4, 1987. Arthur Rankin Jr. split his time between offices in New York City and his Bermuda home until passing away at age 89 in 2014. Jules Bass later adopted vegetarianism and authored the bestselling children's book Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon, before his death at age 87 in 2022.
In 1999, Rankin/Bass collaborated with Morgan Creek Productions and Nest Family Entertainment to produce an animated adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I, distributed by Warner Bros. Despite Rankin’s involvement, this film underperformed at U.S. box offices and faced criticism regarding ethnic stereotyping.
Fox Broadcasting aired ‘‘Santa, Baby!’’ in 2001—the first original Christmas special from Rankin-Bass in sixteen years—featuring an African-American cast including Patti LaBelle and Eartha Kitt; overseas studios handled animation production. This project marked Rankin-Bass’ final production before dissolution; Warner Bros. Entertainment acquired most remaining assets thereafter.
Currently, Universal Pictures holds ownership over Rankin-Bass’ pre-September 1974 library via DreamWorks Classics while Warner Bros. Discovery controls post-1974 works. Embassy Pictures-distributed films are under StudioCanal’s rights management; U.S distribution is divided among Rialto Pictures and Lionsgate. ITV Studios owns rights to ‘‘The Last Unicorn’’ licensing select distribution to Shout! Studios; Morgan Creek retains rights to the ’99 ‘‘King and I’’ adaptation distributed through Revolution Studios.
Legacy
For more than two decades, most Rankin-Bass productions aired during Family Channel/Fox Family/ABC Family/Freeform’s annual ‘’25 Days of Christmas’’ programming block. Since 2018, specials produced after September 1974 have been broadcast on AMC’s ‘’Best Christmas Ever’’ lineup while Freeform continues airing pre-1974 cable rights titles. The original ‘’Rudolph’’ and ‘’Frosty’’ specials currently air on NBC under DreamWorks Classics ownership; ‘’Santa’’ airs on ABC.
Rankin-Bass specials have been satirized on shows like ‘’Saturday Night Live’’ and ‘’South Park’’, while non-holiday works such as ‘’The Last Unicorn’’ maintain dedicated cult followings. Their distinctive animation aesthetics have influenced contemporary holiday films including ‘’Elf’’ (2003).
Beginning in 2013, ShadowMachine produced stop-motion advertisements for Southern California Honda Dealers inspired directly by Rankin-Bass’ signature style.
In 2006, RiffTrax—featuring former ‘’Mystery Science Theater 3000’’ members Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, and Michael J. Nelson—parodied ‘’Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey.’’
In 2022 Warner Bros. teamed up with NBCUniversal to release ‘’The Complete Rankin-Bass Christmas Collection,’’ a nine-disc DVD set containing eighteen specials (excluding ‘’Santa, Baby!’’). Universal Pictures Home Entertainment published this collection featuring a twenty-four-page booklet plus bonus features; a Blu-ray edition followed in 2023.
Franchises
| Title | Release period |
|---|---|
| Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1964–1979 |
| The Little Drummer Boy | 1968–1976 |
| Frosty the Snowman | 1969–1979 |
| Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | 1970–1979 |
Japanese studios
- MOM Production, Tokyo
- Toei Animation, Tokyo
- TCJ (Television Corporation of Japan), now known as Eiken, Tokyo
- Mushi Production, Tokyo
- Topcraft, Tokyo
- Pacific Animation Corporation, Tokyo
- Anime International Company, Tokyo
- Anime R, Osaka
- Dentsu, Tokyo
- Mook Animation, Tokyo
- Atelier BWCA (background art), Tokyo
- See Throu Studio (background art), Tokyo
Additional studios
- Crawley Films, Ottawa, Canada
- Halas and Batchelor, London and Stroud, UK
- Estudios Moro, Barcelona, Spain
- Cuckoo's Nest Studios (Wang Film Productions), Taipei, Taiwan
- Hong Ying Animation, Taipei
- Hanho Heung-Up, Seoul, South Korea
External links
- Rick Goldschmidt’s "The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass"
- Archive of Jim McQuarrie's "Mad Monster Party?/Movie Classics" No. 460 column from April 16, 2007
- Rankin/Bass profile at discogs.com
- Rankin/Bass Productions listings on imdb.com
- Rankin-Bass Animated Entertainment listings on imdb.com
- Rankin/Bass Productions
- 1960 establishments in New York City
- American companies established in 1960
- Mass media companies established in 1960
- American animation studios
- Topcraft
- Animation duos
- Mass media companies based in New York City
- Defunct film and television production companies of the United States
- Defunct companies based in New York City
- Telepictures
- Mass media companies disestablished in 2001
- American companies disestablished in 2001
- 2001 disestablishments in New York (state)
- 1960 establishments in New York (state)
- Former Time Warner subsidiaries
- Companies of the United States by year of establishment