List of Rankin/Bass Productions films

Rankin/Bass Productions was an American production company, best known for its animated seasonal television specials. Television series and films pre-1974 are owned by NBCUniversal through DreamWorks Animation and post-September 1974 are owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Television specials

Title Year Directed by Written by Music Animation Production Style Ref
Return to Oz 1964 F.R. Crawley
Thomas Glynn
Larry Roemer 		Romeo Muller Gene Forrell
Edward Thomas
James Polack 		Crawley Films Traditional [1]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Larry Roemer Johnny Marks MOM Production Stop-motion [2]
The Ballad of Smokey the Bear 1966 Joseph Schrank [3]
The Cricket on the Hearth 1967 Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Jules Bass 		Romeo Muller
Arthur Rankin Jr. 		Maury Laws TCJ Animation Center Traditional [4]
The Mouse on the Mayflower 1968 Romeo Muller Toei Animation [5]
The Little Drummer Boy Colin Romoff MOM Production Stop-motion [6]
Frosty the Snowman 1969 Maury Laws
Jack Rollins
Steve Nelson 		Mushi Production Traditional [7]
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians 1970 Maury Laws [citation needed]
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town Jules Bass
Maury Laws 		Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion [8]
Here Comes Peter Cottontail 1971 Jack Rollins [9]
Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes 1972 Maury Laws [10]
Mad Mad Mad Monsters[a] William J. Keenan
Lou Silverstone 		Mushi Production Traditional [11]
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid[a] Romeo Muller Topcraft [12]
The Red Baron[a] Leonard Starr [13]
That Girl in Wonderland[a] 1973 Stu Hample [14]
'Twas the Night Before Christmas 1974 Jerome Coopersmith [15]
The Year Without a Santa Claus William J. Keenan Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion [16]
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow 1975 Julian P. Gardner [17]
The First Easter Rabbit 1976 Topcraft Traditional [18]
Frosty's Winter Wonderland Romeo Muller Jack Rollins
Steve Nelson 		[19]
Rudolph's Shiny New Year Johnny Marks Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion [20]
The Little Drummer Boy: Book II Julian P. Gardner Maury Laws [21]
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town 1977 Romeo Muller [22]
The Hobbit[b] Topcraft Traditional [23]
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion [24]
The Stingiest Man in Town 1978 Fred Spielman Topcraft Traditional [25]
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July 1979 Johnny Marks
Maury Laws 		Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion
Jack Frost Maury Laws [26]
The Return of the King[c] 1980 Maury Laws Topcraft Traditional [27]
Pinocchio's Christmas Video Tokyo Production Stop-motion [28]
The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold 1981 [29]
The Flight of Dragons 1982 Topcraft Traditional [30]
The Coneheads[d] 1983 Al Franken
Tom Davis 		Bernard Hoffer [31]
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus[e] 1985 Julian P. Gardner Pacific Animation Corporation Stop-motion [32]
The Wind in the Willows[f] 1987 Romeo Muller Maury Laws Cuckoo's Nest Traditional [33]
Santa, Baby! 2001 Lee Dannacher Peter Bakalian
Suzanne Collins 		Glen Roven Pacific Animation Corporation
Hanho Heung-Up 		[34]

Feature films

Title Year Directed by Written by Music Animation Production Style
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine 1965 Arthur Rankin Jr. Arthur Rankin Jr. Edward Thomas MOM Production Stop-motion
The Daydreamer 1966 Jules Bass Maury Laws
Mad Monster Party? 1967 Len Korobkin
Harvey Kurtzman
The Wacky World of Mother Goose Romeo Muller George Wilkins TCJ Animation Center Traditional
The Last Unicorn 1982 Arthur Rankin Jr.
Jules Bass 		Peter S. Beagle Jimmy Webb Topcraft
The King and I 1999 Richard Rich Peter Bakalian
Jacqueline Feather
David Seidler 		William Kidd Rich Animation Studios

Animated TV series

With the exception of The New Adventures of Pinocchio (stop-motion), all of the TV shows were traditionally animated.

Title Year Animation Production Network No. of
episodes
The New Adventures of Pinocchio 1960 MOM Production Syndication 130
Tales of the Wizard of Oz 1961 Crawley Films 110
The King Kong Show 1966 Toei Animation ABC 26
The Smokey Bear Show 1969 17
The Tomfoolery Show 1970 Halas and Batchelor NBC
The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show Mushi Production ABC
Jackson 5ive 1971 Halas and Batchelor
Pegbar Production 		23
The Osmonds 1972 Halas and Batchelor 17
Kid Power Topcraft
Festival of Family Classics Mushi Production (17 episodes)
Topcraft (3 episodes) 		Syndication 20
ThunderCats 1985 Pacific Animation Corporation 130
SilverHawks 1986 65
The Comic Strip 1987

Live-action productions

Title Year Directed by Written by Music Distribution
King Kong Escapes 1967 Ishirō Honda Takeshi Kimura Akira Ifukube Universal Pictures (theatrical)
Marco 1973 Seymour Robbie Romeo Muller Maury Laws Cinerama Releasing Corporation (theatrical)
The Last Dinosaur 1977 Alexander Grasshoff
Shusei Kotani 		William Overgard ABC (television)
The Bermuda Depths 1978 Tom Kotani
The Ivory Ape 1980 Bernard Hoffer
Maury Laws
The Bushido Blade 1981 Maury Laws Aquarius Releasing (theatrical)
The Sins of Dorian Gray 1983 Tony Maylam Ken August
Peter Lawrence 		Bernard Hoffer ABC (television)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Originally aired as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.
  2. ^ The Hobbit (1977) is based on the 1937 novel of the name, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  3. ^ The Return of the King (1980) is based on the 1955 volume of The Lord of the Rings novel of the same name, written by J. R. R. Tolkien.
  4. ^ The Coneheads (1983) is based on the Coneheads sketches from Saturday Night Live, first airing in 1977.
  5. ^ The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) is based on the 1902 children's story of the same name, written by L. Frank Baum.
  6. ^ The Wind in the Willows (1987) is based on the 1908 children's story of the same name, written by Kenneth Grahame.

References

  1. ^ "Return to Oz (1964) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  2. ^ Burl Ives. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1966) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. November 24, 1966. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  4. ^ Cricket on the Hearth (1967) - Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr. | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie, retrieved December 16, 2021
  5. ^ "Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  6. ^ the Vienna Boys Choir. "The Little Drummer Boy (1968) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  7. ^ Jimmy Durante. "Frosty the Snowman (1969) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  8. ^ "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (1970) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  9. ^ "Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  10. ^ "The Emperor's New Clothes (1972) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. February 21, 1972. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  11. ^ "Mad Mad Mad Monsters (1972) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  12. ^ Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid (1972) - | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie, retrieved December 16, 2021
  13. ^ The Red Baron (TV) (1972), retrieved December 16, 2021
  14. ^ That Girl in Wonderland (TV) (1973), retrieved December 16, 2021
  15. ^ "'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  16. ^ Jules Bass'. "The Year without a Santa Claus (1974) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  17. ^ "The First Christmas (1975) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  18. ^ "The First Easter Rabbit (1976)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  19. ^ "Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  20. ^ "Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976)". AllMovie. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  21. ^ Zero Mostel. "The Little Drummer Boy: Book 2 (1976) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  22. ^ "The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Town (1977) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  23. ^ "The Hobbit (1978) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  24. ^ "Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  25. ^ "The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  26. ^ "Jack Frost (1979) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  27. ^ "The Return of the King (1980) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. May 11, 1980. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  28. ^ "Pinocchio's Christmas (1980) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  29. ^ "Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  30. ^ "The Flight of Dragons (1982) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  31. ^ "Mutations: The Coneheads briefly starred in a Rankin-Bass cartoon series". The Dissolve. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
  32. ^ L. Frank Baum. "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  33. ^ "The Wind in the Willows (1987) - Trailers, Reviews, Synopsis, Showtimes and Cast". AllMovie. July 5, 1987. Retrieved December 9, 2012.
  34. ^ "The Enchanted World of Rankin-Bass News". www.rankinbass.com. Retrieved December 16, 2021.