Arthur Rankin, Jr.
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).
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Crew
The Return of the King
Director, Production Design
The Hobbit
Director, Producer, Production Design
The Last Unicorn
Director, Producer, Production Design
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Director, Producer
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town
Director, Producer
The Flight of Dragons
Director, Producer
Jack Frost
Director, Producer
Frosty's Winter Wonderland
Director, Producer
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
Director, Producer, Production Design
Frosty the Snowman
Director, Producer
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Producer
The Year Without a Santa Claus
Director, Producer
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Director, Producer
The First Easter Rabbit
Director, Producer
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Director, Producer
The Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters
Producer, Director
The Bermuda Depths
Story, Producer
The Daydreamer
Writer, Producer
Willy McBean & His Magic Machine
Director, Writer, Producer
Here Comes Peter Cottontail
Director, Producer
Pinocchio's Christmas
Director, Producer
The Wind in the Willows
Director, Producer
The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
Director, Producer
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Director, Producer
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
Director, Producer
'Twas the Night Before Christmas
Director, Producer
The Little Drummer Boy
Director, Producer
The Mouse on the Mayflower
Director, Producer
The Stingiest Man in Town
Director, Producer
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II
Producer, Director
The Wacky World of Mother Goose
Producer, Story
The Bushido Blade
Producer
The Ivory Ape
Story, Executive Producer, Producer
The King and I
Producer, Adaptation
Santa, Baby!
Executive Producer
The Coneheads
Producer, Director
Cricket on the Hearth
Writer, Director
Ballad of Smokey the Bear
Producer
Mad Monster Party?
Story, Producer
The Red Baron
Producer, Director
That Girl in Wonderland
Director
The Emperor's New Clothes
Director, Producer
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians
Director
The Sins of Dorian Gray
Executive Producer
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid
Director, Producer
The Rudolph, Frosty & Friends Sing Along
Director
King Kong Escapes
Technical Advisor, Executive Producer
The Last Dinosaur
Executive Producer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Producer
Snarf: Butterfly Blues
Consulting Producer
Festival of Family Classics: Alice in Wonderland
Director
