Santa, friends coming to town courtesy of Rankin/Bass historian
We watch them every year on television, the timeless holiday specials created by the now-defunct Rankin/Bass Productions.
Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass are best known for producing some of the most popular animated holiday TV specials ever aired, including “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “The Little Drummer Boy” and “Frosty the Snowman.”
“You really can't describe it,” historian and author Rick Goldschmidt said of the creative soup that was allowed to bubble at the Rankin/Bass studio. “It's why you have to watch the shows over and over again. … It's amazing to see that they've held up so great.”
This year marks the 60th anniversary of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and the 50th anniversary of “The Year Without a Santa Claus” (which has the Heat and Snow Misers) and “'Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The latter two are the subject of Goldschmidt’s seventh book, which he is wrapping up and expects to have on sale during a special fundraiser Thursday, Dec. 19, for the Des Plaines History Center.
“I worked on my first book, ‘The Enchanted World of Rankin-Bass,’ for about seven years. When it came out in 1997. I just became sort of a holder of all the Rankin/Bass archives,” Goldschmidt said. “All the photographs, all the artwork; everything I have in my possession.”
Goldschmidt will share photographs and video, memorabilia and some of the iconic music that was part of these holiday classics. Songs include “Holy Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold” and “Heat Miser/Snow Miser” tracks.
Goldschmidt said “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” brought a most memorable soundtrack, with Joshua Trundle (voiced by Joel Gray), Albert Mouse (voiced by Tammy Grimes) and Father Mouse (voiced by George Gobel) singing the story.
“The musical style has a happy, bouncy, heartwarming feel that I love,” Goldschmidt said. “If you are not in the holiday spirit and you watch the Rankin/Bass specials, it puts you into the holiday spirit.”
The ticketed event begins at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, in Rooms B/C of the Des Plaines Public Library, 1501 Ellinwood St. Tickets are $8 for Des Plaines History Center members, $10 each for nonmembers. Visit ticketleap/events to register. Call (847) 391-5399 or email contact@desplaineshistory.org for help with registration.
“Now the Rankin/Bass specials are the only ones still on network television. They won’t take them off the networks because they still bring in a lot of ratings and ad revenue,” said Goldschmidt, 59, of Oak Lawn.
“They are a mainstay and important in that regard. They also are important because the writing is more important than anything else. Like Christmas trees and wreaths, they’ve been around a long time.”
After graduating from Columbia College in Chicago with a bachelor's degree in art illustration, Goldschmidt pursued a career as a freelance illustrator/cartoonist. His freelance projects included magazine illustrations, editorial cartoons and assignments as a caricaturist.
In the early 1990s, he befriended legendary MAD Magazine artists Jack Davis, Paul Coker, Jr. and Mort Drucker. This led to discussions about Rankin/Bass Productions. He later met with cartoonist Tony Peters and writer Romeo Muller.
“I’m an artist, so something like this gets me excited,” Goldschmidt said. “I wanted to know everything that they did and how they did it. I wanted to call them up on the phone and talk to them about this.”
Rather than computer-generated imagery, Rankin/Bass employed a stop-motion technique done in Japan — one frame at a time that used puppets based on characters designed by Muller and Peters.
“They also used good actors with good voices — including Burl Ives, Fred Astaire and Jimmy Durante; people known for their entire career of movie making,” Goldschmidt said. “Everything came together in a magical kind of way. I think they were right to call it Animagic.”
Goldschmidt said the stop-motion process elicits a different feel than more modern approaches.
“CGI is the animation form they use now. It’s not cell-drawn animation anymore,” he said. “It doesn’t have the warmth they had with their hand-moved puppetry.”
Goldschmidt remains in big demand, especially during the holiday season. Hallmark Heat Miser and Snow Miser ornaments remain popular, and there is a film deal in the works based on the 1967 Rankin/Bass “Mad Monster Party.”
“I intend to go behind the scenes,” Goldschmidt said of his presentation. “A lot of people are fascinated and don’t know anything about the making of these films. I wouldn’t keep doing it if I didn’t really love it, and there are a lot of things to love about it.”