Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1924-07-19

Deathday 2014-01-30 (89 years old)

Place of Birth New York City, New York, USA

Arthur Rankin, Jr.

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

Director

1983
1983
The Coneheads

as Director

1982
The Last Unicorn

as Director

1982
1980
1980
1979
Jack Frost

as Director

1977
The Hobbit

as Director

1977
Hobbit

as Director

1976
1976
1973
1972
Jack O'Lantern

as Director

1972
A Christmas Tree

as Director

1972
The Red Baron

as Director

1972
The Osmonds

as Director

1971
The Jackson 5ive

as Director

1970
Tomfoolery

as Director

1969
Frosty the Snowman

as Director

1968
1967

Producer

2011
ThunderCats

as Producer

2001
Santa, Baby!

as Executive Producer

1999
The King and I

as Producer

1987
TigerSharks

as Executive Producer

1986
SilverHawks

as Producer

1985
ThunderCats

as Producer

1985
ThunderCats

as Executive Producer

1983
1983
The Coneheads

as Producer

1983
The Sins of Dorian Gray

as Executive Producer

1982
The Last Unicorn

as Producer

1982
1981
The Bushido Blade

as Producer

1980
The Ivory Ape

as Producer

1980
The Ivory Ape

as Executive Producer

1980
1979
Jack Frost

as Producer

1978
The Bermuda Depths

as Producer

1977
The Hobbit

as Producer

1977
The Last Dinosaur

as Producer

1976
1976
1973
Marco

as Producer

1972
The Red Baron

as Producer

1972
The Osmonds

as Producer

1971
The Jackson 5ive

as Producer

1970
Tomfoolery

as Producer

1969
Frosty the Snowman

as Producer

1968
1967
Mad Monster Party?

as Producer

1967
King Kong Escapes

as Executive Producer

1966
The Daydreamer

as Producer

1966
The King Kong Show

as Executive Producer

1964
Return to Oz

as Producer

Writer

1999
The King and I

as Adaptation

1980
The Ivory Ape

as Story

1978
1967
1967
1966
The Daydreamer

as Writer

Art

1982
The Last Unicorn

as Production Design

1980
The Return of the King

as Production Design

1977
The Hobbit

as Production Design

Creator

Actor

1939
The Cisco Kid and the Lady

as Second Telegraph Operator

1928

Crew

1967
King Kong Escapes

as Technical Advisor

Editor

1985
ThunderCats

as Archival Footage Coordinator