Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, known earlier as Videocraft International, Ltd. (1960-1969) and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc., was an American film production studio based out of New York. The company was founded on 1960-09-14 by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass and produced scored of films until 1987-03-04 when it was folded into Lorimar-Telepictures. The company's most popular films were animated television holiday specials, both traditional animation and stop-motion, but they produced live-action films as well. Although the company was based in the USA, and their films were written by designed by Americans, nearly all of their animation was produced by Japanese companies.
Personal
Although I didn't pay attention to who made my favorite films as a child, I watched and adored several Rankin/Bass films, especially their holiday films. This caused Rankin/Bass to have a very strong influence on my idea of Christmas. I later learned that many of the other non-Disney animated films I enjoyed were also Rankin/Bass films. Of course, I also noticed how poorly produced they were compared to their superiors at Disney and Warner Bros., but nostalgia allows me to see them with a rose tint and still appreciate them.
Films
These are the Rankin/Bass films that are important to me:
| Title | Released | Style |
|---|---|---|
| The Flight of Dragons | 1982-08-17 | Animated |
| Frosty the Snowman | 1969-12-07 | Animated |
| The Hobbit | 1977-11-27 | Animated |
| The Last Unicorn | 1982-11-19 | Animated |
| The Return of the King | 1980-05-11 | Animated |
| Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer | 1964-12-06 | Stop-motion |
| Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | 1970-12-13 | Stop-motion |
| ThunderCats | 1985-09-09 | Animated |
| 'Twas the Night Before Christmas | 1974-12-08 | Animation |
| The Year Without a Santa Claus | 1974-12-10 | Stop-motion |
| The Wind in the Willows | 1987-07-05 | Animated |
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