Arthur Rankin Jr.

Arthur Rankin, Jr., was a writer, director and producer who helped to create some of the most enduring animated specials in television history, including Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. Rankin, who collaborated on these projects with production partner Jules Bass, specialized in stop-motion animation using small puppets.

A native of New York City, Rankin was an art director at ABC prior to forming the company Videocraft International with Bass in 1955. Initially they made commercials, and changed the company's name to Rankin/Bass Productions when they began making animated films for television.

Their first syndicated television series, The New Adventures of Pinocchio, premiered in 1960. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer debuted in 1964 and has aired on networktelevision every year since then. It was followed by a string of other holiday-themed specials, including The Little Drummer Boy in 1968, Frosty the Snowman in 1969, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town in 1970, Here Comes Peter Cottontail in 1971 and The Little Drummer Boy Book II in 1976. The latter was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Their final holiday specisl was Santa, Baby!, which first aired in 2001.

The duo's other TV productions included The Ballad of Smokey the Bear, The Wacky World of Mother Goose, ThunderCats, The Wind in the Willows, The Jackson Five and The Hobbit.

Rankin and Bass also made the feature films Mad Monster Party and The Last Unicorn.

Rankin died on January 30, 2014, in Harrington Sound, Bermuda. He was 89.