American director, writer and producer (1924?2014)
Arthur Rankin, Jr.
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Born
| Arthur Gardner Rankin, Jr.
(
1924-07-19
)
July 19, 1924
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Died
| January 30, 2014
(2014-01-30)
(aged 89)
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Occupations
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Years active
| 1940s?1999
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Spouses
|
Elizabeth Shuldiner
(
m.
1947)
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Children
| 2
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Parent(s)
| Arthur Rankin
Marian Mansfield
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Relatives
| Harry Davenport
(grandfather)
Phyllis Rankin
(grandmother)
Sidney Rankin Drew
(first cousin once removed)
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Arthur Gardner Rankin, Jr.
(July 19, 1924 ? January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and screenwriter, who mostly worked in animation.
[1]
[2]
Co-creator of
Rankin/Bass Productions
with his friend
Jules Bass
, he created stop-motion and traditional animation features such as
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
,
Frosty the Snowman
,
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
, and the 1977 cartoon special of
The Hobbit
. He is credited on over 1,000 television programs.
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Rankin was born in
New York City
, the son of actors
Arthur Rankin
and Marian Mansfield. His paternal grandmother was actress
Phyllis Rankin
, and his paternal step-grandfather, who adopted his father, was actor
Harry Davenport
, who played Dr. Meade in the film
Gone with the Wind
.
[3]
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Rankin began his career as an art director for the
American Broadcasting Company
in the 1940s.
[3]
In 1955, he and
Jules Bass
formed the production company Videocraft International to produce television commercials.
[1]
In 1960, they moved into the area of animation, and in 1968, changed the name of their company to
Rankin/Bass Productions
.
[1]
[3]
The two worked closely together for many years, co-directing and producing a wide array of
stop motion
animated features and cartoons, which Rankin had referred to as "Animagic".
[1]
In addition to directing, Rankin primarily created the script and sketched the character concepts, which would be made into the wooden puppets by Japanese artists, including head supervisor and partner,
Tadahito Mochinaga
.
[1]
Maury Laws
, a musical director for Rankin/Bass, stated that Rankin was inspired by the film
King Kong
, and that Rankin "wanted every detail right" in creating these shorts.
[1]
Some of the most famous features were the holiday-themed TV specials,
[3]
such as
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine
,
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
, and
Jack Frost
. Many of these holiday-themed works are now considered "perennial favorites", according to
The New York Times
.
[1]
He is also credited with devising the story for many Rankin/Bass productions, including the feature films
The Daydreamer
and
Mad Monster Party?
.
In 1977, Rankin and Bass produced a
version
of
J. R. R. Tolkien
's
The Hobbit
, for which they were awarded the
Peabody Award
.
[5]
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
.
[6]
Later life
[
edit
]
Rankin met his wife-to-be,
Olga Karlatos
, after he cast her in a 1983 television adaption of
The Picture of Dorian Gray
entitled
The Sins of Dorian Gray
. Rankin had two sons with his first wife Elizabeth Deland: Arthur Gardner Rankin III, and his brother Todd Rankin.
[7]
They settled in
Bermuda
, with Rankin looking to continue to produce stage shows. He noted:
"I could go up to Broadway and run up and down the street and scream, 'I want to write and direct a play!' They'd put me in the nuthouse. If I say that [in Bermuda], everyone springs into action, 'Oh, please, please.'"
[7]
In addition to this, Rankin also taught courses on film and entertainment at
Bermuda College
.
[7]
Death
[
edit
]
Rankin died after a brief illness on January 30, 2014, aged 89, in his home at
Harrington Sound
,
Bermuda
.
[3]
Referring to him as an "animation legend",
The Hollywood Reporter
noted that during his career, Rankin worked with actors such as
Jeff Bridges
,
Mia Farrow
,
Angela Lansbury
,
Alan Arkin
,
Danny Kaye
,
James Cagney
,
Fred Astaire
,
Boris Karloff
,
Tallulah Bankhead
,
George Burns
,
John Huston
,
Burl Ives
,
James Earl Jones
,
Christopher Lee
,
Walter Matthau
,
Vincent Price
, and
Flip Wilson
.
[8]
He was buried in
Sunnyside, Bermuda
's Holy Trinity Church Cemetery.
Filmography
[
edit
]
Rankin was credited on over 1,000 TV shows and films. Some selected works include:
Animated feature films
[
edit
]
Live-action
[
edit
]
Animated TV specials
[
edit
]
- Return to Oz
(1964) (produced as Videocraft)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
(1964, Burl Ives) (produced as Videocraft)
- The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show
(1965)
- The Ballad of Smokey the Bear
(1966, James Cagney)
- Cricket on the Hearth
(1967, Danny Thomas)
- The Mouse on the Mayflower
(1968, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Eddie Albert, Jack Cassidy, Joanie Sommers)
- The Little Drummer Boy
(1968, Jose Ferrer, Greer Garson)
- Frosty the Snowman
(1969, Jimmy Durante)
- Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
(1970, Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney)
- Here Comes Peter Cottontail
(1971, Danny Kaye)
- The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes
(1972, Danny Kaye)
- Puss in Boots
(1972 TV special)
[9]
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
(1974, Shirley Booth)
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
(1974, Joel Grey, George Gobel)
- Frosty's Winter Wonderland
(1976, Andy Griffith)
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year
(1976, Red Skelton)
- Jack Frost
(1979, Buddy Hackett)
- The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
(1981, Art Carney)
Animated series
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Vitello, Paul (February 5, 2014).
"Arthur Rankin Jr., Who Brought Rudolph and Santa to TV, Dies at 89"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
February 5,
2014
.
- ^
"Arthur Rankin Jr"
. Movies & TV Dept.
The New York Times
. 2008. Archived from
the original
on January 29, 2008
. Retrieved
February 1,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Bell, Jonathan (January 30, 2014).
"Arthur Rankin Jr, 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer' co-producer dies, age 89"
.
The Royal Gazette
. Retrieved
January 31,
2014
.
- ^
"Photoplay: The Aristocrat of Motion Picture Magazines"
. 1924.
- ^
"The Hobbit"
. Peabody Awards
. Retrieved
February 1,
2014
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
Koch, Dave (February 28, 2013).
"Arthur Rankin Passes Away"
. Big Cartoon News. Archived from
the original
on February 2, 2014
. Retrieved
February 1,
2013
.
- ^
a
b
c
McKinzie, Rob (December 21, 2006).
"The golden years of TV's golden duo: Rankin and Bass"
.
The National Post
. Archived from
the original
on February 1, 2014
. Retrieved
January 31,
2014
.
- ^
Barnes, Mike (January 31, 2014).
"Animation Legend Arthur Rankin Jr. Dies at 89"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. Retrieved
January 31,
2014
.
- ^
"Puss in Boots"
. Big Cartoon Database. Archived from
the original
on June 28, 2013
. Retrieved
February 1,
2014
.
External links
[
edit
]
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Television specials
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Feature films
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Television series
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See also
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International
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National
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Other
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