The History of Rankin Bass: Rudolph, Frosty, Thundercats HO!

[@johnnyhath]

For those who love Animation. For those who love Christmas. For those who love the Thundercats. And for those rarer few who love the Thunderhawks and Silvercats.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

2 of my favorite fictional football teams.

[@everfreebrumby8385]

What about the ‘Silver ThunderSharks’?

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Don't forget The Hobbit/ Flight of Dragons!

[@breakingdragon22]

The last unicorn as well.

[@wwetnabamafan194]

@@everfreebrumby8385 You mean Tigersharks? That was part of "The Comic Strip" series.

[@andrewhiller1098]

Elf’s homage to Rankin Bass is one of the reasons it will be a Christmas classic in its own right forever. An absolute triumph for Favreau.

[@Monkeyboy1138]

This is now officially my favourite Holiday Special

[@comettamer]

Same. Its sure to be a classic.

[@wstine79]

"Where there's a whip, there's a way." The Return of the King is my favorite of the toon animated Rankin Bass specials.

[@wesleythomas7125]

Truly a worker's anthem.

[@Loremastrful]

Management's coda

[@tagreene06]

"we don't wanna go to war today. But the Lord of the lash says nay nay naaaaayyyy!"

[@UltimateGamerCC]

@@tagreene06 "we're gonna march all day, all day all daaayyy, where there's a whip there's a way! left, right, left, right, left, right...." anytime i go on a walk i sing that to make me walk, does wonders.

[@tagreene06]

@@UltimateGamerCC when I'm going to work I sing it 🤣🤣🤣

[@illithidlore]

I loved the Hobbit and Return of the King as a kid! It confused me so much that Bilbo and Frodo had the same voice actors, but that didn't stop me from watching them millions of times.

[@grannyweatherwax8005]

That was my intro to The Hobbit as a kid. Someone then got me an illustrated version of the book which used stills from the movie. Then in school we had to make a puppet show out of books we read. Everyone did short kids books. I tortured my classmates with a very long retelling of The Hobbit with a billion "puppets" (paper cut outs on sticks) I'm still sorry I did that to them 😂😂😂

[@charlieogre4537]

I loved “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” as a kid. I watched it again as an adult, after years of searching, and I realized it informed a lot of my tastes in entertainment even today. Everything from my love of high fantasy to heavy metal music (while not actually played in the movie, the imagery of the Great Ak, King Awgwa and the other Immortals and monsters was metal AF!) can be traced back to this movie. I was also a Thundercats kid too.

[@melvinshine9841]

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is my favorite Rankin & Bass special if for no other reason than the intro song, it's so cool.

[@devonhalley54]

The Rankin/Bass Christmas specials will always be very nostalgic but nothing tops The Last Unicorn.

[@orinanime]

Thundercats has entered the chat 😉

[@Loremastrful]

Now imagine watching it and the first/last commercial of every ad break is for Red Bull energy drinks.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

The Last Unicorn definitely caught my eye as a kid, ultimately what i remembered most about it was that damn skeleton drinking from an empty bottle.

[@orinanime]

​@UCmRQf043KCCLFoyh8dPStZQ they're both Rankin/Bass Productions though. Both meticulously crafted. Both outsourced to Japanese animation houses. Why is it an absurd comparison?

[@ecyor0]

​@@UltimateGamerCC "Now that was WIIIIIIIIIIINE"

[@junrosamura645]

I was surprised that the Rakin Bass stop motion animation style originated in Japan! I loved those specials growing up and still listen to the music every Christmas season.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

I'm becoming less and less surprised by it every time I see one of these. I mean the point is usually to make a product as cheaply as possible and what's cheaper than farming it out overseas. (As we now know it as the norm here in the future) I mean I do think they also got lucky and found someone who truly knew their craft and made things that were always going to be looked back at fondly. But knowing that the other animation as well was done overseas is not surprising at all.

[@jasonrhome710]

All of this explains why Nutcracker Fantasy looked so similar. (Which looks to have received a Blu Ray release, neat!)

[@dreamguardian8320]

I'm surprised that Rakin Bass stop motion animation originated in Japan too. I guess now we know that Japan is famous for their kind of stop motion animation as well as anime and manga.

[@ScottOmatic]

I appreciate you keeping the Circus of the Stars clip in at the commercial segment.

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Rankin Bass is still my favorite company for animation! The beauty and artistry with The Hobbit/ Return of the King... Flight of Dragons/Last Unicorn to Every Classic Christmas Holiday Special that Disney couldn't touch! This company wowed me with its animation and ability to share wonderful storytelling- both dark and whimsical!

[@hankthepatriot3733]

Had NO IDEA that THUNDERCATS shares DNA with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer!!! 🤯 Merry Christmas to everyone! May the New Year be the BEST one yet!

[@JoeNayDoh]

"Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July" is basically "The Avengers" of the Rankin/Bass Holiday Universe

[@hankthepatriot3733]

I LOVE the RE-ANIMATOR homage!!!!

[@LowellLucasJr.]

I loved the detailed animation from Topcraft, thanks to Rankin Bass and was blown away those talented animators were involved with Studio Ghibli. Just made me appreciate them even more!

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Topcraft also animated Nausicaa and Mazinger Z amongst others.

[@darthpaul99]

“The Year Without A Santa Claus” is my favorite of the Christmas specials. Heat Miser and Snow Miser are the best! My family even had ornaments for them.

[@dreamguardian8320]

My favorite is Santa Claus is Comin' to town. It was like seeing Robin Hood outsmarting Hitler in a funny and fantasy Christmas way. And the music and songs were good too. I also liked the Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, but I wish it was more of a Saint Patrick's Day special, then it could've gotten a lot more love and respect.

[@Mjolnir877]

Really nailed the Herbert West ominous injection pose!

[@drozwalker9]

This is an excellent Holiday Special! Rankin Bass was a huge part of my family's TV time during Christmas. Thanks for this sweet little treat to put in a time capsule.

[@princeblackelf4265]

My favorites are The Hobbit, The Year Without a Santa Claus and The Last Unicorn. I think they also did Flight of Dragons too which is another favorite. It was such a unique art style that those films had that nothing has ever really replicated

[@djassassinuk]

There are two Rankin Bass productions that I hold close to my heart. The Last Unicorn is a classic that was introduced to me one Chistmas by a special girl in my life and I really enjoyed it. My clear favourite though has to be Flight Of Dragons. I first watched it years ago when I was still a young boy but have watched it many more times since then. I would highly recommend Flight Of Dragons to anyone with even a vague interest in watching it, it's still one of my favourite animated features.

[@tueferbenz7492]

The Hobbit, The Last Unicorn, and Flight of Dragons are unimpeachable late 70s-early 80s fantasy classics.

[@CaptainCretaceous91]

I wish Rankin/Bass did more projects like them.

[@dreamguardian8320]

Indeed.

[@dreamguardian8320]

@@CaptainCretaceous91 Me too.

[@johnkovacs1318]

I seriously had no idea there was a toy line for these animated specials, Rudolph and the island of misfit toys and Frosty the Snowman are REQUIRED watching on the holidays at least once if not several times, so many childhood memories of those two shows (not to mention the Tales of the Wizard of Oz watching on a B&W TV!)

[@grannyweatherwax8005]

The toys were awesome. I got as many as I could find back then at my local Toys R Us. I wish I could have gotten them all. They look EXACTLY like the tv show and Rudolph's nose lights up when you press his tail.

[@Leggo_greggo]

Thank you for covering one of my absolute favorite things in the world.

[@scottmodrzynski8793]

I have Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Netflix and probably a few other streamers, but I only ever watch Secret Galaxy videos on KZbin. This one's an instant classic.

[@adampellett4917]

So sad both Rankin and Bass aren't here anymore but as long as us nostalgically entertaining fans everywhere, we'll support their work especially the ThunderCats and SilverHawks.

[@moonprincesst.s.h.4ever115]

I definitely love Rudolph! I remember being a little girl and thinking that I had missed the airing only to cry for five minutes before my mom assured me that Rudolph had not come on TV yet. 💖🦌📺🧸🎄🎁

[@RadSalacan]

There are very few things I actually enjoy about the holiday season. Rankin Bass' Rudolph is one of the few exceptions. I always make time to watch it. I will be doing so tomorrow.

[@louismonnichii7619]

I remember every last one of these when they came on! I most especially loved the last unicorn. I have the book, and the cast is one of a kind! Plus the band America did the soundtrack!

[@alphawoolf5981]

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - an absolutely perfect Santa Claus origination story. Excellent songs! And the snowmobile that Fred Astaire gets to drive around is just soooo cool. With Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus, Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock, and the amazing Paul Frees as just about everyone else. Rankin and Bass were at the top of their game!

[@weaselwolf]

Loved the Rankin Bass Hobbit/RotK stuff. '15 birds', 'Down down to goblin town' and 'where there's a whip there's a way' are eternal jams

[@UltimateGamerCC]

absolutely, i had them on VHS and i watched them to DEATH. the 2000's live action versions are incredible, but the animated ones will always be close to my heart.

[@johnnyblade51]

Of the Christmas specials, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas is my favorite; out of all of them, The Hobbit has always been my favorite! The music, the voices, and the way they told the story always had my full attention! We now own two DVD sets with a lot of the Christmas specials on it. Rankin and Bass is my childhood!

[@JuanWay2Rock]

Crazy as this sounds, "The Jackson 5" cartoon from 1971-72 actually introduced me to the world of Rankin/Bass. As a 9 year old kid, and a huge Jackson 5 fan at the time, I would see the Rankin/Bass name on the intro of every Jackson 5 cartoon shown on Saturday mornings. With that name now stuck in my head, I would later recognize the Rankin/Bass name on various Christmas specials.

[@blahlbinoa]

Rudolph and Frosty where the shows that capped off my childhood visits to my grandparents up in Michigan. We would go up a few days before Thanksgiving and stay until into parts of December, and those two would always pop up a few days before we left. Even when I was growing older and a year or two before my grandmother passed, I would still sit and watch it in her living room.

[@MrBeardsley]

I’m all about Rudolph, that’s the one I make a point of watching every Christmas season. I even dressed as Yukon Cornelius for Halloween one year, which was actually more trouble than it was worth because I spent six months letting my beard grow wild just so I could bleach it and dye it red for one night, then shave it all off the next day.

[@writerpatrick]

I managed to put together a complete set of the Festival of Family Classics, although some are digital copies. The series was never released as a series but episodes came out on VHS under various titles as children's animation. About half came out on DVD.

[@saiberunato]

One of the earliest Western animation companies to farm out animation work to Japan.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

It is kind of surprising and yet it's something that became so well known going into the 60s 70s and 80s. ( as well as the 90s and 2000s right up till today) Honestly it explains so much about why I feel intrinsically drawn to Japanese animation to this very day.

[@saiberunato]

@@JohnDoe-wq5eu Even when the style doesn't look obviously anime, it still looks so polished and detailed due to the talented Japanese animators. Case in point (and befitting the present holiday), The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - arguably my favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol. First saw it as a little kid.

[@Deephouse_Gent66]

IKR!!

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

@@saiberunato The talent and craftsmanship is definitely on display. And it totally explains why something was such a non-existent budget could have such an iconic look.

[@everfreebrumby8385]

No mention of ‘The Fight Of Dragons’. A truely underrated classic. 🐉

[@seanv3997]

Flight of the Dragons ruled!

[@ta0paipai]

Wind In The Willows either. Two of my favorites!

[@rcduster72]

Flight of dragons! Still have the vhs, favorite growing up. Underground nerd stuff right there.

[@DrakoDragonis]

Was just about to say that. Sad times -.=.-

[@everfreebrumby8385]

It’s a shame Flight of Dragons isn’t as well known as The Last Unicorn. They’re the perfect double feature.

[@britanyhayes85]

I grew up watching all of them with my great grandpa. Those are some great memories eating candy bars or chocolate. I didn't see The Year Without Santa Claus. My stepmom showed it to me when I was 16 and I was hooked. I watch it every year with my husband. Can't wait to have kids and continue the tradition. As a teacher I'm so thankful that the kids are in awe of these because they haven't seen them. Or until I explain how they are made then it makes them watch them closely. Great video as always. Happy holidays all!!

[@NinaH6792]

I was very aware of the Hobbit and the more regular holiday specials early on. I caught a lot of their more fringy holiday stuff and Return of the King later in reruns and tape rentals. I really appreciated how the independent LoTR movie lined up with their middle earth stuff once I became aware of it in my teens. I'm just now learning the rotoscope one wasn't part of the same initiative.

[@UltimateGamerCC]

nope, indeed The Lord of the Rings was done in Rotoscope by director Ralph Bakshi, i didnt care too much for it compared to the Rankin/Bass offerings.

[@Mr_Welch]

You got to love it when people reference the reanimator in a Christmas video

[@Belgand]

And get it down _perfectly_. That pose was truly a thing of beauty.

[@Winterydee]

I know that you watch this channel Mr. Welch... but it is still odd to see to comment here. I hope that your family and you have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year! Patiently waiting for the next entry in the Mad Musings playlist.... whatever it will be, I do not know, but I'm sure it will be interesting

[@seanv3997]

Silverhawks, Hobbit/RotK were awesome. I still watch those every couple of years. Very cool stuff- thanks Dan. Also, I very much appreciated the background cameo. :) Merry Xmas all!

[@Rojixus]

I absolutely love those good old Rankin Bass Christmas specials, I watch them every year! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, Secret Galaxy!

[@cocoaorange1]

Never knew about the Japanese connection. I will always love the classics as a 70's kids.

[@dreamguardian8320]

I was born in the 80's and I did not know Rankin Bass was connected to Japan either, I guess now we know that there are different types of animation in Japan besides anime.

[@CUniverse]

A nice homage was paid towards Rankin Bass in the 2011(?)Thundercats cartoon: Wilykit and Wilykat got a magic bag that could transport practically anything they wanted out of it by saying the magic word, *RANKINBAS*!

[@orinanime]

Of they're Christmas Specials, my favorite is Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. But overall, the TV show Festival of Family Classics. With Thundercats, The Hobbit and Return of the King rounding out my top five

[@maxordman4100]

I have been a big fan of Rudolph ever since I first saw it as a kid! Love it so much! I have seen several other Christmas specials from them but definitely I love Thundercats out of everything else! So many fun adventures and great characters! Truly a wonderful legacy! Excellent work on this video! Merry belated Christmas for last year and Merry early Christmas for this year! One of your best videos ever! There are definitely some projects from Rankin and Bass I still need to look up, including Last Unicorn! I have heard that it’s really good!

[@alexgeorge501]

I love the legacy of the Thundercats, who knew they got their start from a studio that did Rudolph and Frosty? Thanks for sharing, have a Merry Christmas and of course "THUNDERCATS HO!"

[@Vodhin]

At 8:45 you mention Gumby, Davey and Goliath were "Claymation" - which is (or was) the trademark of Will Vinton, who made the feature film "The Adventures Of Mark Twain" back in the mid 1980's.

[@joeland87]

The Year Without a Santa Claus is my favorite RB special. We used to rent it all the time when I was a kid. Not even around Christmas.

[@kevinpappan1502]

So many great memories created thanks to these specials. Loved this episode. Thanks for the great job on this and all of your shows.

[@TitularHeroine]

This is really interesting. No idea that Santa origin was adapted from Baum; I'll look that film up again! Would you ever consider a "Great Space Coaster" episode? Thanks always!🙏

[@JaredBetts]

Thundercats, The Hobit, and The Lord of the Rings have always been favorites of mine... but no holiday is ever complete without viewing Rudolf. The animation may be a little jerky by today's standards, but it is still amazing... it paved the way for The Nightmare Before Christmas... Love the video!

[@carrierogers874]

I found the Holiday collection at my local Barns and Noble. Thanks for the hot tip!

[@ElGordoBandito]

I’ve recently gotten into the habit of actually reading the names of people’s Patrons and picking a favorite. “Inhaled Farts” is gonna be hard to top

[@otakubullfrog1665]

Nestor doesn't seem to get mentioned very often, but I still remember how it had me in tears as a kid.

[@bunkerzero]

It just isn't the Holidays without Rankin Bass Christmas movies!

[@Robalini1]

A Very Special Secret Galaxy Christmas Special is your best episode yet! Thanks again!

[@jehb8945]

I still remember when I got in my teens realizing that the same people that brought us Frosty and Rudolph also brought us the ThunderCats It's sad that Rankin Bass didn't remain their own thing as one could only Wonder what else they could have done.

[@Pixis1]

The Hobbit is my favorite, as it introduced me to Tolkien (my favorite writer) and it's truer to the book than the live action movies. Rudolph is a close second, as I watch it every Christmas. Big fan of The Flight of Dragons and Santa Claus is Comin' to Town as well.

[@MegaMetroGirl]

To be fair, December might be one of the absolute worst times of the year to venture up to Duluth. ESPECIALLY the week of a major blizzard right before christmas.

[@Sailormac2]

Much as I love Rudolph (Yukon Cornelius is the MAN), my vote has to go to The Year Without a Santa Claus, for one reason: THE MISER BROTHERS. They are ICONIC and their songs flat-out slap.

[@clararose1922]

I've been collecting the playing mantis figures since they came out when I was in high school. Almost to a full set, the secondhand market is steep so I only can add about a figure a year. Hopefully 2023 brings home the santa sleigh playset. They are my favorite holiday decor

[@UltimateGamerCC]

my favorite Rankin/Bass projects are The Hobbit and Return of the King, introduced me to Fantasy and Tolkien in a big way, which started me on the path to being a huge fantasy nerd.

[@gdprsn]

Today's market is over saturated with Christmas theme shows starting as early as November I remember the days when shows like this come just a few days before Christmas from my childhood it truly was a magical event I was looking forward to every year .

[@hgc7000]

I, for one, am glad to see Producer Grooge,, still rocking that Landline.

[@weareeverywhere6677]

Bass passed away today! So sorry to hear that an American icon in entertainment that made the way for so many Christmas specials has left this veil of tears.

[@pathevermore3683]

he died in october. idk why all the news sites chose to post about it today.

[@CarlosFerZar]

Everybody knows Rankin/Bass for their christmas specials, but my mom and i know them for ThunderCats and Silverhawks

[@patrickdrazen2031]

No doubt; the best of the RB Bunch was "The Last Unicorn". The art was great, the writing based on the novel by Peter Beagle was top class, and the voices included Christopher Lee as King Haggard and Alan Arkin as Shmendrick the Magician--one of the best names in the genre. This really helped establish anime in the US!

[@rouenrobinson]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all... I like The Last Unicorn, The Hobbit and Thundercats along with their holiday stuff.

[@hellomjb]

14:30 Having a mogwai in the snow is a risky move!!

[@Bishop545454]

As a person who holds Rudolph in the top 5 of my favorite films I appreciated this immensely.

[@tagreene06]

The men who brought us the miser Bros and the thundercats will always be immortalized

[@MrBeardsley]

I long for the days when you could watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer followed by Circus of the Stars just because it was December sweeps week.

[@jasonnewell7036]

I would watch Mad Monster Party over and over. It was one of those formative movies for me in my childhood.

[@wstine79]

Have a Merry Christmas, Dan Larson. I love these special movies made for the holiday videos. 🎄

[@GNAWalker1992]

Rankin/Bass: Wholesome nostalgia of the past.

[@machineman6498]

Great history. Thank you for making this.

[@paulguthrie4857]

Rudolph is pretty much king, then A Year Without Santa Claus. Thanks for all the fun, guys. Merry Christmas!

[@minteractivemedia]

Thanks for doing this video. Frosty and Rudolph are Christmas classics for me. Merry Christmas 🎄

[@absinthetic]

My favorite is a tie between “Year Without A Santa Claus” and “Jack Frost”. I just love the duos of Snow Miser & Heat Miser, and Kubla Krause & Dommie.

[@jonhorth701]

You are an awesome person for making this. Thank you

[@darktetsuya]

I didn't know until recently rankin-bass actually worked with the Japanese on the likes of the christmas classics like rudolph! the part about the rights going to different companies is exactly why I bought all the christmas specials on DVD! I guess it's cheaper than trying to find the rankin-bass collection, seems its already sold out at the moment on amazon. my favorite though is probably silverhawks! loved the metallic figures for sure.

[@googlehome1029]

Happy Holidays to everyone who puts in the work to make these videos happen! Always loved your style of video (MASK got me hooked) and it keeps getting better as it evolves.

[@jaball77]

The Rudolph characters also make real-life appearances at the Sea World/Busch Gardens theme parks during the holidays! You can meet Rudolph, Clarice, Bumble, and Yukon Cornelius in person!

[@ZekPatterson]

Dan is as upset as I would be if my trip to Duluth was delayed.

[@laranaarana]

I own all of the R-B movies from the 60s. Showed them to my daughters when they were3 and 7 yo and they loved them.

[@zarnistastudios]

Very well done! I had absolutely no idea about most of this. Thank you.

[@SchlossRitter]

Thundercats was one of my favorites back then, so how have I never heard of Silverhawks?

[@tonycanabal1659]

I remember the R-B prime time series, Festival of Family Classics. The fairytale episodes had their unique humor like their holiday specials.

[@arthurtripp6922]

THANKS FOR THIS GREAT SHOW ITS A GREAT HISTORY LESSON MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

[@baddabaddabaddaswing]

video starts at 4:35

[@eshep71]

This will be awesome. I've been watching these all week.

[@bluenothing720]

Wasn't expecting this one from you guys and oh what a treat. Great stuff as usual Dan and company!

[@AlleyRose]

TFW there’s a Re-Animator bit in a Christmas special. 😍😍😍

[@kevin10001]

They are a staple for me during Christmas cause my favorite is frosty the snowman and years ago I bought a collection of Christmas specials that had some of there stuff in it that I still enjoy today

[@vanphamthesequel]

Happy holidays to you guys, and thank you for another great year of reviving my childhood. Keep doing what you're doing.

[@michaelscriver5395]

I absolutely love the fact you always kick it old school much appreciated

[@oscarzuniga1785]

Awesome! Perfect way to start these holidays! Thanks, and keep up your amazing work! Merry Xmas!

[@Jozabad]

I loved Thunderhawks and Silvercats when I was a kid

[@Summertimeblues28]

It’s hard to to top their version of The Hobbit ‘the greatest adventure..’ 🎵

[@UltimateGamerCC]

indeed

[@edbraun383]

I remember it being somewhat slow-paced, but the art style was incredibly rich and the music & voice work were entrancing.

[@Batman1016]

What's really amazing is, their version of "Misty Mountains" can be overlaid with the Peter Jackson version, and it makes a BREATHTAKING offset harmony!

[@Sailormac2]

I seriously prefer RB’s Hobbit to the bloated Jackson trilogy (though Jackson has the edge with LOTR itself). Simple charm, nice design, no characters that shouldn’t be there (looking at YOU, Legolas).

[@artiegohome]

@@Sailormac2 Absolutely! Jackson attempted to simultaneously milk his cash cow with a grotesquely bloated trilogy and pander to the lowest common denominator with cringey dialogue; a contrived, completely unbelievable romance; and a CGI dwarf riding a pig? Yeah, hard pass on the Peter Jackson Hobomination (I made that word up right now, BTW). 😁