Arthur Rankin Jr.
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- July 19, 1924
- Died
- January 30, 2014 (aged 89)
- Birthplace
- New York City, New York, USA
Biography
Arthur Rankin, Jr. (July 19, 1924 - January 30, 2014) was an American-born, Bermudian director, producer and writer, mostly working in animation. The son of actor Arthur Rankin, in the early 1960s he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with Jules Bass. The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, perhaps most famously the holiday-themed TV specials, such as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974 TV special), and Jack Frost. He is also credited with devising the story for many Rankin/Bass productions, including the featurefilms The Daydreamer and Mad Monster Party?. In 1977 Rankin and Bass produced a version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. The pair also teamed on a wide variety of animated TV series, including ThunderCats and Silverhawks. The pair last teamed on the 1987 TV special based on The Wind in the Willows. Rankin's last producing credit was on the 1999 animated version of The King and I, in which Bass was not involved, since Arthur was a supervising animator in The Fox and the Hound and The Black Cauldron. Rankin's grandfather was Harry Davenport, perhaps best known as Dr. Meade in Gone with the Wind (1939). Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur Rankin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
The Rudolph, Frosty & Friends Sing Along
Movie · Director
SilverHawks: The Origin Story
Movie · Director
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Movie · Director
The Wind in the Willows
Movie · Director
The Coneheads
Movie · Director
The Last Unicorn
Movie · Director
The Flight of Dragons
Movie · Director
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
Movie · Director
The Return of the King
Movie · Director
Pinocchio's Christmas
Movie · Director
Jack Frost
Movie · Director
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Movie · Director
The Stingiest Man in Town
Movie · Director
The Hobbit
Movie · Director
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
Movie · Director
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Movie · Director
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Movie · Director
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
Movie · Director
The First Easter Rabbit
Movie · Director
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II
Movie · Director
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
Movie · Director
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Movie · Director
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Movie · Director
That Girl in Wonderland
Movie · Director
Festival of Family Classics: Alice in Wonderland
Movie · Director
Jack O'Lantern
Movie · Director
A Christmas Tree
Movie · Director
The Emperor's New Clothes
Movie · Director
The Red Baron
Movie · Director
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
Movie · Director
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid
Movie · Director
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Movie · Director
The Osmonds
TV · Director · 17 eps
Festival of Family Classics
TV · Director · 1 ep
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Movie · Director
The Jackson 5ive
TV · Director · 23 eps
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Movie · Director
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians
Movie · Director
The Tomfoolery Show
TV · Director · 17 eps
Frosty the Snowman
Movie · Director
The Smokey Bear Show
TV · Director · 51 eps
The Little Drummer Boy
Movie · Director
The Mouse on the Mayflower
Movie · Director
Cricket on the Hearth
Movie · Director
Willy McBean & His Magic Machine
Movie · Director