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Videocraft
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass' stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called "Animagic". Nearly all of the studio's animation was outsourced to Japanese animation companies such as MOM Production, Mushi Productions and Topcraft. Rankin/Bass was one of the first western studios to outsource their low-budget animated television and film productions to animation studios in foreign countries; the others that already practiced animation outsourcing includes Total Television and King Features Syndicate TV in New York City; and Jay Ward Productions and Hanna-Barbera Productions in Los Angeles, Califor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Rankin Jr
Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and writer, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion 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. Early life 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''. Career Rankin began his career as an art director for the American Broadcasting Company in the 1940s. In 1955, he and Jules Bass formed the production company Videocraft International to produce television commercials. In 1960, they move ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Bass
Julius Bass (September 16, 1935 – October 25, 2022) was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft International, later named Rankin/Bass Productions, with his friend, Arthur Rankin Jr. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated with Edward Thomas and James Polack at their music firm and as a songwriting team primarily with Maury Laws at Rankin/Bass. Early life Bass was born in Philadelphia on September 16, 1935. During his teenage years, he caught scarlet fever and nearly died from the disease. He attended New York University before being employed by an advertising agency. Career Bass started working with Arthur Rankin Jr. at the American Broadcasting Company in 1955. Rankin was an art director and Bass was a copywriter. The pair initially made television commercials, before moving onto television series and movies when they established ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV Special)
''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. (later known as Rankin/Bass Productions) and currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution (later known as NBCUniversal Syndication Studios). It first aired December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of ''The General Electric Fantasy Hour''. The special was based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS; the network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005, re-scanned frame-by-frame from the original 35 mm film elements. As with '' A Charlie Brown Christmas'' and '' How the Grinch Stole Christmas'', ''Rudolph'' no longer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toei Animation
() is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slump'', '' Dragon Ball'', '' Saint Seiya'', '' Sailor Moon'', ''Slam Dunk'', '' Digimon'', '' One Piece'', '' Toriko'', '' World Trigger'', '' The Transformers'' (between 1984–1990, including several Japanese exclusive productions) and the '' Pretty Cure'' series. History The studio was founded by animators Kenzō Masaoka and Zenjirō Yamamoto in 1948 as . In 1956, Toei purchased the studio and it was renamed , doing business as Toei Animation Co., Ltd. outside Japan. In 1998, the Japanese name was renamed to Toei Animation. It has created a number of TV series and movies and adapted Japanese comics as animated series, many popular worldwide. Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Yasuji Mori, Leiji Matsumoto and Yōichi Kotabe have worked ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stop Motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back. Any kind of object can thus be animated, but puppets with movable joints (puppet animation) or plasticine figures ('' clay animation'' or claymation) are most commonly used. Puppets, models or clay figures built around an armature are used in model animation. Stop motion with live actors is often referred to as pixilation. Stop motion of flat materials such as paper, fabrics or photographs is usually called cutout animation. Terminology The term "stop motion", relating to the animation technique, is often spelled with a hyphen as "stop-motion". Both orthographical variants, with and without the hyphen, are correct, but the hyphenated one has a second meaning that is unrelated to animation or cinema: "a device for auto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mushi Production
or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Fujimidai, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan. It previously had a headquarters elsewhere in Nerima. The studio was headed by manga artist Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka started it as a rivalry with Toei Animation, his former employer, after Tezuka's contract with Toei expired in 1961. The studio pioneered TV animation in Japan, and was responsible for many successful anime television series, such as ''Astro Boy'', ''Gokū no Daibōken'', ''Princess Knight'', ''Kimba the White Lion'', ''Dororo'' and ''Ashita no Joe'', as well as more adult-oriented feature films such as '' A Thousand and One Nights'', ''Cleopatra'' (the first Japanese X-rated animated film) and ''Belladonna of Sadness''. In addition to doing their anime productions, Mushi was best known for its overseas work on five traditionally animated TV projects from Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass' Videocraft International (now Rankin/Bass Productions) in New York, New York, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maury Laws
Maury Laws (December 6, 1923 – March 28, 2019) was an American television and film composer from Burlington, North Carolina. Biography In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home state of North Carolina. His career was put on hold during World War II, in which he served in the Army. In 1964, he was hired as music director for the television production company Videocraft International (now known as Rankin/Bass), a post which he held for roughly 20 years. In this capacity, he conducted and scored music for a number of animated features, including ''The Hobbit'', ''Jack Frost'', ''The Flight of Dragons'', '' The Daydreamer'', ''The Wacky World of Mother Goose'', ''Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town'', and ''Frosty the Snowman''. His most widely known work may be an adaptation of Johnny Marks' score for the well-known Christmas special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'', first aired in 1964. Laws also did composing work ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Kligman
Paul Kligman (21 January 1923 – 29 August 1985) was a Canadian actor. Biography Born in Romania, he emigrated to Canada where he spent his youth in Winnipeg and studied at the University of Manitoba. He moved to Toronto in 1950 and established his career there. In addition to appearing in CBC Television's 1952 ''Sunshine Sketches'', he was a featured performer with Wayne and Shuster since the comedy duo's early television broadcasts. He is most famous for his voice acting in various animated television series, especially in the 1960s '' The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966) and '' Spider-Man'' (1967), both from Marvel Comics as the first voices of J. Jonah Jameson, General Ross, Red Skull, Krang, Mole Man and Power Man (Erik Josten). He voiced numerous gruff characters, including Donner and Coach Comet, in the 1964 Rankin-Bass adaptation of ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''. Kligman died aged 62 at Toronto's North York General Hospital following heart failure. Filmogra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Romeo Muller
Romeo Earl Muller, Jr. (August 7, 1928 – December 30, 1992) was an American screenwriter and actor most remembered for his screenplays for the Rankin/Bass holiday specials including '' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus is Coming to Town''. Early years Muller was born in the Bronx, New York, the son of Mildred (Kuhlmann) and Romeo Earl Muller. He was raised on Long Island. His talents in the arts were evident very early on. At age 11, he became a puppeteer at his grade school and eventually he began writing his own plays. His career in theatre began when he joined an acting troupe called "Theater Go Round" in Virginia Beach, Virginia with producer/friend Lesley Savage. At this time Romeo wrote plays such as ''Angel With The Big, Big Ears'' and ''The Great Getaway'', which eventually became the Rankin-Bass off Broadway play ''A Month Of Sundays''. Since Muller was a big man at 6'2", 300 pounds (1.88 m, 136&nbs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Larry D
Lawrence Jones (born January 25, 1984) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Larry D. Professional wrestling career Impact Wrestling (2019–2022) On October 19, 2019, Larry D lost to Acey Romero in the main event of Impact Wrestling's All Glory special. On February 22, 2020 at Sacrifice, Romero teamed up with Larry D to defeat oVe ( Dave Crist and Madman Fulton). Larry D solidified his partnership with Romero on the March 31 episode of ''Impact!'', forming a tag team called "XXXL". On the April 14 episode of ''Impact!'', they made their debut in a four-way tag team match against The Rascalz ( Dez and Wentz), Reno Scum (Adam Thornstowe and Luster the Legend) and TJP and Fallah Bahh, the latter winning after TJP pinned Thornstowe. The following week on Night 1 of Rebellion, they fought in a three-way tag team match against The Rascalz and TJP and Fallah Bahh, the for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Soles
Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian actor and television personality. He led the voice cast in such series as '' The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966), voiced the title character in '' Spider-Man'' (1967), and portrayed Hermey in the 1964 television special ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer''; Soles was one of the last surviving participants of the special's voice cast. Soles first screen appearance was on CFPL in 1953, and he continued to perform over 60 years later, performing as of 2016 in the comedy web series '' My 90-Year-Old Roommate'' on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's online comedy channel, CBC Comedy. Career Acting roles Soles was the voice of Hermey the misfit elf in Rankin/Bass' ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' from 1964. He also voiced Marvel superhero Spider-Man in the original animated television series also from the 1960s, and he played "The Lawbreaker" on the CBC panel quiz show ''This Is the Law'' in the 1970s, and playe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
