Arthur Rankin Jr.
Known for: Directing
Born: July 19, 1924
Died: January 30, 2014
Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA
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.
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Filmography
59 movies · 11 TV shows, newest first
NR
The Rudolph, Frosty & Friends Sing Along
2024
NR
Snarf: Butterfly Blues
2011
7.9
ThunderCats
2011
5.5
Santa, Baby!
2001
5.4
The King and I
1999
5.0
TigerSharks
1987
8.2
SilverHawks
1986
3.0
SilverHawks: The Origin Story
1986
5.7
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
1985
8.2
ThunderCats
1985
6.2
The Wind in the Willows
1983
5.1
The Coneheads
1983
6.8
The Sins of Dorian Gray
1983
7.3
The Last Unicorn
1982
6.7
The Flight of Dragons
1982
5.5
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
1981
5.3
The Bushido Blade
1981
6.6
Pinocchio's Christmas
1980
6.4
The Return of the King
1980
5.3
The Ivory Ape
1980
6.5
Jack Frost
1979
6.4
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
1979
5.6
The Stingiest Man in Town
1978
5.5
The Bermuda Depths
1978
6.0
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
1977
6.6
The Hobbit
1977
6.5
The Last Dinosaur
1977
5.3
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
1977
6.1
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II
1976
6.4
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
1976
6.6
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
1976
5.8
The First Easter Rabbit
1976
5.4
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
1975
7.1
The Year Without a Santa Claus
1974
6.7
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
1974
7.0
Marco
1973
NR
Festival of Family Classics: Alice in Wonderland
1973
10.0
That Girl in Wonderland
1973
6.0
A Christmas Tree
1972
8.0
The Red Baron
1972
8.0
Jack O'Lantern
1972
7.0
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid
1972
7.0
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1972
9.0
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
1972
7.5
Festival of Family Classics
1972
5.7
The Osmonds
1972
6.5
The Emperor's New Clothes
1972NR
Festival of Family Classics: Swiss Family Robinson
1972
5.8
The Jackson 5ive
1971
6.0
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
1971
7.1
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
19706.5
The Tomfoolery Show
1970
6.0
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians
1970
6.9
Frosty the Snowman
1969
NR
The Smokey Bear Show
1969
6.6
The Little Drummer Boy
1968
6.7
The Mouse on the Mayflower
1968
5.3
Cricket on the Hearth
1967
4.3
The Wacky World of Mother Goose
1967
6.1
King Kong Escapes
1967
6.5
Mad Monster Party?
1967
4.2
Ballad of Smokey the Bear
1966
6.4
The King Kong Show
1966
5.1
The Daydreamer
1966
5.5
Willy McBean & His Magic Machine
1965
7.4
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
1964
2.0
Return to Oz
19646.0
The New Adventures of Pinocchio
1960
5.4
The Cisco Kid and the Lady
1939
8.0
Finders Keepers
1928