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Arthur Rankin Jr.

Arthur Rankin Jr.

Directing

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

ThunderCats
8.2

The inhabitants of the planet Thundera evacuate just before it is destroyed. They were pursued by a band of mutants. All but one of their escape ships was destroyed. Only a small group of Thunderians (Thundercats) remained. With only half engine power, the group, which was led by Jaga, had to set a course for the nearest planet. Jaga commanded their ship while the other seven were in their stasis tubes. Jaga died on their journey to Third Earth and their ship crashed there. Soon they made friends with various groups in the area and they designed a fortress. Mumm-Ra the centuries-old embodiment of evil, along with the mutants that destroyed the rest of the Thunderians are a constant threat. But Lion-O, the new leader of the Thundercats, with his weapon the "Sword of Omens" will help the Thundercats to have a standing chance.

ThunderCats

1985Series
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6.5

The Tomfoolery Show is an American cartoon comedy television series made and first broadcast in 1970, based on the works of Edward Lear. The animation was done at the Halas and Batchelor Studios in London and Stroud. Though the works of other writers were also used, notably Lewis Carroll and Ogden Nash, Lear's works were the main source, and characters like The Yongy Bonghy Bo and The Umbrageous Umbrella Maker were all Lear creations. Some original material was also written based on characters created by Lear, although much of the material was a straight recital of poems and limericks or songs using Lear's poems set to music. A recurring joke had a delivery boy running around trying to deliver a large plant and shouting 'Plant for Mrs Discobolus!'. The series was produced by Rankin/Bass, who also made the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.

The Tomfoolery Show

1970Series