Hey all you Rankin/Bass fans out there! Do you feel like you haven’t quite gotten your fill of Animagic Christmas specials yet this year. Well — if so — then be sure to circle Sunday, December 21st on your calendar. For that’s when the ABC Family cable channel will running a mini-Rankin/Bass marathon.
Here’s the line-up:
3 p.m. Rudolph’s and Frosty’s Christmas in July
4 p.m. The Life and Adventures if Santa Claus
6 p.m. Rudolph’s Shiny New Year
7 p.m. Jack Frost
8 p.m. The Year Without a Santa Claus
9 p.m. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
That’s six solid hours of Rankin/Bass holiday specials. Something that all you Animagic fans out there won’t want to miss. So be sure to set up your TiVo and/or slap a tape in the VCR.
What’s that? You’re a hardcore Rankin/Bass fan who’s already got plans for this Sunday? You’ve still got your holiday shopping to finish and/or a family party to attend? And your VCR’s broken and you still haven’t figured how to program your TiVo? What’s a crazed Animagic fan like you supposed to do?
That’s simple, really. Just go out and pick up a copy of Rick Goldschmidt’s “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass: A Portfolio” (Miser Bros. Press, September 2001). It’s the next best thing to being able to sit down and watch all six holiday specials in this weekend’s mini-marathon on ABC Family.
“What’s so special about this ‘Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass’ book?” you ask. Well, Rick has done a superb job of documenting the entire output of Rankin/Bass studios. It’s all here, folks. From Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass’ very first collaboration (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which first aired on NBC in December 1964) through the TV series that Arthur and Jules cranked (Does anyone out there recall “The Jackson Five Show” or “ThunderCats”) to Rankin/Bass’ feature films (Which included “Mad Monster Party” and “The Last Unicorn”).
Each Rankin/Bass project gets its own thoroughly researched chapter, which gives you a full synopsis for each TV special, series or film plus interesting facts about that particular production. Goldschmidt also includes fun little sidebars which are interspersed around “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass.” These stories-within-the-story tell you more about the lesser known members of the Rankin/Bass production team. People like Don Duga (who did most of the storyboards for the company’s productions, which helped give those Rankin/Bass shows their distinctive look) and Paul Frees (Who provided the vocals for such memorable Rankin/Bass characters as the Burgermeister Meisterburger and Kubla Kraus).
Paging through this book is like taking a trip on the Wayback Machine. I got to read intriguing stories about Rankin/Bass TV shows that I barely remembered (Do any other baby boomers out there vaguely remember “The King Kong Show” that aired on ABC back in 1966?), as well as learn about Rankin/Bass projects that I’d never heard about before (Would you believe that Arthur and Jules actually collaborated with the great ventriloquist Edgar Bergin on a stop motion pilot for a TV series that was to have starred Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd?).
Profusely illustrated (with illustrations in both black and white and color), Rick Goldschmidt’s “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass: A Portfolio” would make a superb gift for the animation buff on your holiday shopping list. Or — if you’re a Rankin/Bass fan yourself — it’d be a great title to add to your library once those after-Christmas sales start.
Either way, don’t miss out on this one, folks. Cover to cover, “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass” is one fun read. And that’s no snow job.
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If you’re planning on picking up a copy of “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass: A Portfolio,” why not help support JimHillMedia.com by ordering your copy from Amazon.com by clicking the link to the right? Your cost will (unfortunately) remain the same. But — if you go there through us — we get a tiny cut of what you spend. So help keep JimHillMedia.com going and and pick up your copy of “The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass: A Portfolio” through the link to the right. |
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