WON’T YOU GUIDE MY SLAY TONIGHT?
Christmas keeps hitting earlier and earlier each year, so might as well get into the Yuletide spirit in October. Jules Bass joined forces with Arthur Rankin Jr. in 1960 to form production company Videocraft International. The fledgling company soon renamed itself Rankin/Bass, and the duo established themselves as a Christmastime juggernaut with numerous charming holiday specials typically done in stop motion. Rankin more closely oversaw the animation, while Bass was more involved with the music department. Their version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has aired on US TVs every December since its 1964 release, and the traditionally animated Frosty the Snowman has similar staying power. I have the biggest soft spot for The Year Without a Santa Claus, off the strength of the fire-and-ice Miser Brothers and their catchy theme songs. Too much!
Non-Christmas Rankin/Bass holiday specials include Here Comes Peter Cottontail and the seasonally appropriate Mad Monster Party, and non-holiday ventures included action cartoon ThunderCats, cult favourite The Last Unicorn, and even dubbing a King Kong film. Outside the Rankin/Bass corridors, Bass released several standalone books, but strangely Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon did not have the cultural reach of Rudolph and co. Rankin died in 2014, and Bass has now followed suit aged 87. Jules the producer had to hurry on his way, but he waved goodbye saying “Don’t you cry, Last Christmas gets points today!”
Jules Bass
16 September 1935 – 25 October 2022, aged 87
💀💀💀💀💀💀 + 👻 = 10 POINTS