R.I.P. Arthur Rankin Jr., co-founder of legendary animation company Rankin/Bass

Producer-director Arthur Rankin, Jr. has died at the age of 89. In 1960, Rankin and his partner, Jules Bass, founded their own production company, Videocraft International, which came to be better known as Rankin/Bass Productions. Specializing in stop-motion animation, the company produced such TV series as The New Adventures Of Pinocchio and Tales Of The Wizard Of Oz, but it found its true niche with its first holiday special, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Inspired by the novelty song written by Johnny Marks—a No. 1 hit for Gene Autry in 1949—and boasting new songs and an orchestral score by Marks, as well as the voice of Burl Ives as the narrator, Sam the Snowman, Rudolph premiered December 6, 1964, and has remained in network broadcast rotation ever since. Its look became the mold for later Rankin/Bass holiday specials such as The Little Drummer Boy (1968), Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974), and The Easter Bunny Is Comin’ To Town (1977).
Rankin/Bass also applied its style to a few feature films like The Daydreamer (1966), inspired by the works of Hans Christian Andersen, and the quizzically titled Mad Monster Party? (1967), both of which were directed by Jules Bass.