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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. (later known as Rankin/Bass Productions)[1] and currently distributed by Universal Television. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States, and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special was based on the Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks' brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS; the network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005.
Return to Oz is a 1964 animated television special produced by Crawley Films for Videocraft International. It first aired on 9 February 1964 in the United States on NBC's The General Electric Fantasy Hour.[1] It was directed by F. R. Crawley, Thomas Glynn and Larry Roemer from a teleplay by Romeo Muller, who later wrote Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Crawley Films also produced the earlier 1961 animated series Tales of the Wizard of Oz and brought similar artistic character renditions to the special
The Ballad of Smokey the Bear is a television special that first aired on November 24, 1966 on NBC as part of the General Electric Full Color Fantasy Hour's Thanksgiving programming. Narrated by James Cagney, it told the story of US Forest Service safety mascot Smokey Bear.
In 1967, Rankin/Bass Productions produced a 50-minute animated television adaptation of the story, featuring the voices of Roddy MacDowall as the Cricket, and father and daughter Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas as Caleb and Bertha, with various other characters voiced by Paul Frees and Hans Conried. This adaptation cuts several characters, including the central pair of John and Dot, focusing solely on Caleb and Bertha.[15] Television Corporation of Japan (now Eiken) provided the animation, while seven original songs were written and composed by Maury Laws and Jules Bass. Like The Daydreamer (1966), The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye (1972) and Marco (1973) which were all responsible for the use of stop motion "Animagic" segments, this special was a Rankin/Bass production produced with Danny Thomas/Aaron Spelling Productions that combines live-action segments hosted by Danny Thomas and animation by Rankin/Bass.
The Mouse on the Mayflower is a 1968 animated Thanksgiving television special created by Rankin/Bass Productions and animated by Japanese studio Toei Animation. It was the first official special under the Rankin/Bass moniker after changing its name from Videocraft the previous year. It debuted on NBC on November 23, 1968. The special is about a church mouse named Willum, who is discovered on the Mayflower. Tennessee Ernie Ford voices Willum and narrates.
The Little Drummer Boy is a stop-motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, based on the song of the same name. It was first televised December 19, 1968, on NBC, and was followed by a sequel in 1976.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 Japanese/American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and currently distributed by Universal Television. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States; it has aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season every year since, with Freeform sharing the rights to the special with CBS beginning in 2019. The special was based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. It featured the voices of comedians Jimmy Durante as the film's narrator (in what would be Durante's final performance in a film), Billy De Wolfe as Professor Hinkle the Magician, and Jackie Vernon as Frosty.
The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians is a 1970 American animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. After the Christmas special Frosty the Snowman (1969), it was Rankin/Bass' second hand-drawn animated work to be outsourced to Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production in Tokyo, Japan. The show aired on ABC on April 7, 1970 before the airing of that year's Oscars.[1] It was a tribute to early vaudeville, and featured animated reworkings of various famous comedians' acts.
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The film stars Fred Astaire as the narrator S.D. Kluger, Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle / Santa Claus, Keenan Wynn as the Winter Warlock, and Robie Lester, Joan Gardner, and Paul Frees as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which was introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934, and the story of Saint Nicholas.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Easter stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, currently distributed by Universal Television and based on the 1957 novel The Easter Bunny That Overslept by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The special also features Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins' Easter song "Here Comes Peter Cottontail". It was originally broadcast on April 4, 1971, on the ABC television network in the United States. In later years, it has appeared on CBS, Fox Family, The CW, and Cartoon Network. In 2005, it was followed by a computer-animated sequel, Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie.
The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes is a stop-motion television special by Rankin/Bass. It originally aired on February 2, 1972, in association with Tomorrow Entertainment, a subsidiary of General Electric. This is one of the 'Animagical' titles from the children's film archive of Rankin/Bass. The story line is reminiscent of an earlier 1966 R/B Animagic film, 'The Daydreamer', both of which chronicles the fairy tales of Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen.
Mad Mad Mad Monsters is a 1972 traditional animated comedy film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in the United States and animated overseas by Mushi Production in Japan. The special aired on September 23, 1972 as an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. It is a "prequel of sorts" to the 1967 stop motion animated film Mad Monster Party?
Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid is a 1972 American traditional animated comedy film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The special aired on October 14, 1972 as part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie.
This animated feature casts the Red Baron as a hero, in a world of heroic anthropomorphic dogs and villainous anthropomorphic cats. This show originally aired as part of "The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie."
In 1973, Rankin/Bass produced That Girl in Wonderland, an animated television special in which Marlo Thomas reprised the role of Ann Marie. It aired as an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. The special also featured the voices of Patricia Bright, Dick Hehmeyer, Rhoda Mann, and Ted Schwartz. Marlo Thomas, as Ann Marie from the 1966-71 ABC series That Girl, is a children's book editor who imagines herself as the heroine of various fairy tales.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and based on the famous 1823 poem that opens with this line. The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974 where it aired annually until 1994, when The Family Channel (now Freeform) took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018. Although the opening credits mention "told and sung by Joel Grey", it is really narrated by George Gobel, as there is more emphasis on the point of view of Father Mouse, with Moore's poem read by Grey as a secondary plot.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974 on ABC. The film was Shirley Booth's final acting credit as she retired from acting after its completion.
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow is a 1975 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions which originally premiered on NBC on December 19, 1975. It is narrated by Angela Lansbury and co-stars Cyril Ritchard.
The First Easter Rabbit is an animated Easter television special that premiered April 9, 1976 on NBC and later aired on CBS. Created by Rankin/Bass, it tells the story of the Easter Bunny's origin. The special is loosely based on the children's book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Burl Ives narrated the special which also featured the song "Easter Parade;" it marked Ives's return to a Rankin/Bass special for the first time since "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" twelve years prior.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland is a 1976 animated Christmas television special and a sequel to the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the second television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. It returns writer Romeo Muller and actor Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator (replacing Jimmy Durante, who had been incapacitated by a stroke three years prior and retired from acting) with the rest of the cast consisting of Shelley Winters, Dennis Day, and Paul Frees. The special premiered on ABC on December 2, 1976.
Rudolph's Shiny New Year is a 1976 American-Japanese Christmas/New Year's stop motion animated television special and a sequel to the 1964 special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The special premiered on ABC on December 10, 1976. Three years later, it was also aired on TV Asahi in Japan on December 24, 1979 under the Japanese dub title 赤鼻のトナカイ ルドルフ物語 (Akahananotonakai Rudorufu Monogatari).
In 1976, Rankin/Bass produced a sequel to The Little Drummer Boy, titled The Little Drummer Boy, Book II, again sponsored by the American Gas Association. It premiered on December 13, 1976, also on NBC, and like its predecessor, has also aired on Freeform and separately on AMC as of 2018. Warner Bros. is the show's current distributor through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library. In this sequel, written by Jules Bass (under the pseudonym Julian P. Gardner), Aaron and his animal friends team up with Melchior, one of the Magi, to protect silver bells, made to ring for Christ's arrival, from a band of greedy Roman soldiers. Warner Archive released The Little Drummer Boy Book II, in a collection called Rankin/Bass TV Holiday Favorites Collection.
The Easter Bunny is Comin' to Town is a 1977 stop motion animated musical easter television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, narrated by Fred Astaire, and starring the voices of Skip Hinnant, Bob McFadden, Meg Sargent, James Spies, and Allen Swift. It originally premiered on ABC on April 6, 1977.
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a 1977 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It originally premiered on ABC on December 3, 1977.
The Stingiest Man in Town (町一番のけちんぼう, Machi Ichiban no Kechinbō) is a 1978 Christmas musical television special based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. It was created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, and features traditional animation rather than the stop motion animation most often used by the company. It was an animated remake of a long-unseen, but quite well received, live-action musical special (also called The Stingiest Man in Town) which had starred Basil Rathbone, Martyn Green, and Vic Damone. The live-action version had been telecast on December 23, 1956, on the NBC anthology series The Alcoa Hour, and was published on DVD in 2011, by VAI. The animated remake first aired December 23, 1978, in the United States on NBC, and was telecast in Japan the next day.
Jack Frost is a 1979 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It was directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., written by Romeo Muller, narrated by Buddy Hackett, and starring Robert Morse, Debra Clinger, and Paul Frees. The special premiered on NBC on December 13, 1979 and tells the tale of Jack Frost and his adventures as a human. It airs annually on AMC as part of its Best Christmas Ever programming block.
Pinocchio's Christmas is a 1980 Christmas stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that is a holiday adaptation of The Adventures of Pinocchio. The special was originally aired on ABC on December 3, 1980. It aired annually during the Christmas season on Freeform and as of 2018 airs on AMC
The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold is a 1981 Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring the vocal talent of Art Carney. An Irish sailor is stranded on an island full of Leprechauns and soon finds himself aiding them in protecting their gold from a greedy Hag.
The recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live (SNL) about a family of aliens with bald conical heads. was turned into a Rankin/Bass animated special, The Coneheads, in 1983, with Aykroyd and Curtin reprising their roles. In this animated pilot, The Coneheads come to conquer Earth but they soon find themselves becoming domesticated.
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1985 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and based on the 1902 children's book The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum, the writer of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The special first aired December 17, 1985 on CBS in the United States, and December 24, 1986 on TV Asahi in Japan under the title Santa's Secret and Great Adventure (サンタの秘密と大冒険, lit. Santa no Himitsu to Dai Bōken). This was Rankin/Bass' final "Animagic" stop motion production filmed in Japan; later productions would be traditionally animated.
Santa, Baby! is a 2001 animated holiday special that aired on the Fox network. It was Rankin/Bass' first new original Christmas special in over sixteen years (their past holiday production was the 1985 adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus), and the only one produced after the liquidation of their animation department. The Special featured the voices of Eartha Kitt and Gregory Hines. Like much of Rankin/Bass' specials, it was based off a song, in this case, the 1954 song originally recorded by Kitt and covered in A Very Special Christmas by Madonna in 1986.
Willy McBean and His Magic Machine is a 1965 stop motion animated time travel film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in the United States and Dentsu Motion Pictures in Japan. It was presented by Marshall Naify, released by Magna Pictures Distribution Corporation on June 23, 1965.
The Daydreamer is a 1966 stop motion animated-live action musical fantasy film produced by Videocraft International. Directed by Jules Bass, it was written by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Romeo Muller, based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. It features songs by Jules Bass and Maury Laws. The film's opening features the cast in puppet and live form plus caricatures of the cast by Al Hirschfeld.
The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967) is an animated feature film made by Rankin/Bass, written by Romeo Muller and directed by Jules Bass based on Charles Perrault's stories and nursery rhymes. It features Humpty Dumpty, the Old Woman Who Lives in a Shoe, and the Crooked Man (the villain). Mother Goose is voiced by Margaret Rutherford.
Mad Monster Party? is a 1967 American stop-motion animated musical comedy film produced by Rankin/Bass Productions for Embassy Pictures. The film stars Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, and Phyllis Diller. Although less well-known than Rankin/Bass' holiday specials, it has become a cult film.
King Kong Escapes, released in Japan as King Kong's Counterattack (キングコングの逆襲, Kingu Kongu no Gyakushū), is a 1967 Japanese-American science-fiction kaiju film featuring King Kong, co-produced by Toho and Rankin/Bass. The film was directed by Ishirō Honda with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya and stars Rhodes Reason, Linda Jo Miller, Akira Takarada, Mie Hama, Eisei Amamoto, with Haruo Nakajima as King Kong and Yū Sekida as Mechani-Kong and Gorosaurus. The film is a loose adaptation of the Rankin/Bass Productions Saturday morning cartoon series The King Kong Show and was the second and final Toho-produced film featuring King Kong. King Kong Escapes was released in Japan on July 22, 1967 and released in the United States on June 19, 1968.
Marco is a live-action musical film based on the biography of Marco Polo, filmed at Toho Company in Tokyo and on location throughout East Asia, and featuring Kono's "Animagic" sequence of the Tree People. Marco Polo, the well known adventurer and merchant's son from Venice in Italy, travels all through asia to find the great Khan. Once there he posesses his protection to merchandise between China and Europe but he prefers to seek out for more adventures.
The Last Dinosaur (Polar Probe Ship: Polar Borer - 極底探険船ポーラーボーラ) is a 1977 Japanese/American tokusatsu co-production, co-directed by Alexander Grasshoff and Tsununobu Kotani, billed as Tom Kotani, and co-produced by Japan's Tsuburaya Productions, and Rankin/Bass Productions. The film was filmed at Tsuburaya Studios in Tokyo. The film was intended for a US theatrical release, but failed to find a distributor and ended up as a television film, airing on ABC on February 11, 1977 in an edited 95-minute run time. The film was eventually picked up for overseas markets by Cinema International Corporation, where it was released in the full 106-minute version as a double bill in the UK with the edited-down version of Sorcerer (considered a remake of "The Wages of Fear"). Toho also picked up distribution rights to The Last Dinosaur in Japan for a theatrical release utilizing the 106-minute uncut version in English language with subtitles, and later debuted on Japanese television dubbed in Japanese. The film stars Richard Boone and Joan Van Ark. William Overgard wrote the screenplay. The score was composed, as was most of the music for all Rankin/Bass specials and series, by Maury Laws, while the title song "He's the Last Dinosaur", with lyrics by Jules Bass, was sung by Nancy Wilson, and arranged and conducted by Bernard Hoffer.
The Bermuda Depths is a Japanese / American co-production 1978 fantasy film originally broadcast as a made-for-TV movie written by Arthur Rankin Jr. of Rankin/Bass fame. Special effects and creature elements were handled by Tsuburaya Productions, most famous for the Ultraman franchise. The movie first aired in the United States January 27, 1978 on ABC, and was later released to theaters in Japan.
The Hobbit is a 1977 Japanese-American animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977.
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (titled on-screen as Rudolph and Frosty: Christmas in July, or simply Rudolph and Frosty) is an American-Japanese Christmas/Independence Day television special produced by Rankin/Bass, featuring characters from the company's holiday specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, among others. It is the third television special to feature the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman characters, respectively. It was filmed in Japan using the company's trademark "Animagic" stop-motion animation style. The film premiered in the US on November 25, 1979 on ABC. This was the last Rankin/Bass special to star Billie Mae Richards as Rudolph and Jackie Vernon as Frosty. Mickey Rooney reprised his role as Santa Claus from Santa Claus is Comin' To Town and The Year Without A Santa Claus. He would voice Santa again in Film Roman's The Happy Elf in 2005, but would not return as Santa for a Rankin-Bass special until A Miser Brothers' Christmas in 2008. Additional voices were provided by Red Buttons, Ethel Merman, Alan Sues, Paul Frees, and Thurl Ravenscroft. Shelley Winters reprised her role as Frosty's wife Crystal from Frosty's Winter Wonderland, and Hal Peary reprised his role as Big Ben the Clockwork Whale from Rudolph's Shiny New Year. This was the final Rankin Bass special to use Rudolph and Frosty. All other specials/movies starring the characters were produced by another company.
The Bushido Blade is a 1981 film, directed by Tom Kotani. Sonny Chiba, Toshiro Mifune, Mako, Laura Gemser and James Earl Jones appear in this movie. It was filmed in 1978 but not shown until 1981. This was Richard Boone's last film appearance. A steel samurai blade that was to be given to the American ambassador by the Emperor of Japan is stolen. American sailors and Japanese samurai are sent to find it. Now, even though this film was co-produced with a British firm: Trident Films, the producer was Arthur Rankin Jr. himself. Jules Bass apparently did not have any involvement with this production.
The Return of the King (also known as The Return of the King: A Story of the Hobbits), is a 1979 animated musical television film created by Rankin/Bass and Topcraft. The film is an adaptation of The Return of the King, the third and final book in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Due to marketing by Warner Bros., the film is often credited by fans as the unofficial sequel to Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings, which is based on the first two volumes of the book. According to rumors, Rankin/Bass decided to do the project upon hearing that Bakshi's sequel finishing The Lord of the Rings was going to be left unmade. However, Rankin/Bass had always planned on making a sequel based on The Return of the King as their follow-up project to The Hobbit. The special aired on ABC on Sunday, November 11, 1979 and then released on video on Sunday, May 11, 1980 as the restored version. Critical and fan reaction to The Return of the King was lukewarm.
The Ivory Ape is a 1980 Japanese-U.S. action film co-produced by Rankin/Bass and Tsuburaya Productions. It was filmed in Bermuda, with a Japanese effects crew, and at Tsuburaya Studios in Tokyo. It was first broadcast on ABC on April 18, 1980, and later released theatrically in Japan (the theatrical version running 4 additional minutes).
The Last Unicorn (最後のユニコーン, Saigo no Yunikōn) is an English-language Japanese 1982 animated fantasy film about a unicorn who, upon learning that she is the last of her species in the world, goes on a quest to find out what has happened to the others of her kind. Based on the novel The Last Unicorn written by Peter S. Beagle, who also wrote the film's screenplay, the film was directed and produced by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. It was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions for ITC Entertainment and animated by Topcraft. The film includes the voices of Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury, and Christopher Lee. The musical score and the songs were composed and arranged by Jimmy Webb, and performed by the group America and the London Symphony Orchestra, with additional vocals provided by Lucy Mitchell. The film grossed $6,455,330 domestically.
In this version of Oscar Wilde's tale, Dorian Gray is an actress who, desperate to become a worldwide star, makes a deal that switches her soul to her image on film, then proceeds to sleep her way to the top, knowing that she will never age.
The Flight of Dragons is a 1982 animated fantasy film produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. loosely combining the speculative natural history book of the same name (1979) by Peter Dickinson with the novel The Dragon and the George (1976) by Gordon R. Dickson. It stars the voices of John Ritter, Victor Buono, James Gregory, James Earl Jones, and Harry Morgan. The film centers upon a quest undertaken to stop an evil wizard who plans to rule the world by dark magic. A major theme within the story is the question of whether science and magic can co-exist. This is told mostly through the experience of character Peter Dickinson, drawn from the 20th century into the magical realm. Released direct to video on August 17, 1982, it was aired as an ABC "Saturday Night Movie" on August 2, 1986, and released by Warner Brothers as a made-to-order DVD in the US on 17 November 2009 as part of the "Warner Archive Collection". The opening song is sung by Don McLean.
The Wind in the Willows is a 1987 American animated musical television film directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass. It is an adaptation of The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. Set in a pastoral version of England, the film focuses on four anthropomorphised animal characters (Moley, Ratty, Mr. Toad, and Mr. Badger) and contains themes of mysticism, adventure, morality, and camaraderie. The film features the voices of Charles Nelson Reilly, Roddy McDowall, José Ferrer, and Eddie Bracken. The screenplay was written by Romeo Muller, a long-time Rankin/Bass writer whose work included Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Hobbit, and The Flight of Dragons, among others. This was the last project produced by Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment. The film was finished in 1985, but its television premiere was delayed several times, before finally airing July 5, 1987 on ABC. In this version the horse pulling the barge is the same horse who pulls Mr. Toad's caravan, Portly is Badger's nephew, and The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and Wayfarer's All chapters are included, although the events of Wayfarer's All occurs before the events of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Ratty actually leaves the Riverbank, only to be found later by Mole (alongside Portly).
Frosty Returns is an animated Christmas television special starring Jonathan Winters as the narrator and John Goodman as the voice of Frosty the Snowman. The special was directed by Bill Melendez and Evert Brown and features music by Mark Mothersbaugh. It was first released direct to VHS in 1992 and first aired on television on December 1, 1995 on CBS and continues to be broadcast. It is the fourth television special featuring the Frosty character. The special is not a direct sequel to the original 1969 special, as the two were produced by different companies (Rankin/Bass produced the original, while this special was made by Lorne Michaels' Broadway Video, with help from longtime Peanuts director Bill Melendez, for CBS), and feature different characters, setting and voice actors. There is no continuity apart from some of the characters. Neither Christmas nor Santa Claus is ever mentioned in this special. Instead, the characters have a winter carnival.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is a 2001 American-Canadian Christmas computer-animated adventure musical film directed by Bill Kowalchuk for GoodTimes Entertainment. It was released on VHS and DVD on October 30, 2001. The film takes place after the events of the original special (despite Rudolph and Clarice appearing younger in this film than they did at the end of that special). The film thus revisits classic characters like Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the Elf (now a Dentist) and Rudolph, who is now famous in the Arctic tundra. The voice cast includes Rick Moranis, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Richard Dreyfuss.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie is a 2005 computer animated adventure film, a sequel to the 1971 Rankin/Bass TV special, Here Comes Peter Cottontail. It includes several songs, including a pop rock version of the original song performed by Kai Fitzgerald. A bunny called Irontail turns evil after losing the chance to become the next Easter Bunny to Peter Cottontail. He and his co-conspirators concoct a plan to bring about a permanent winter and only Peter's son and his friends can stop them.
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is a 2005 American/Canadian/Filipino direct-to-video animated film produced by Classic Media, Studio B Productions, and Top Draw Animation. The film is narrated by Burt Reynolds and features Bill Fagerbakke as the voice of Frosty the Snowman, with background music by Jared Faber. It is the fifth television special to feature the Frosty character. The film is presented as a sequel to the original special, though it holds only loose continuity with it and does not mention Christmas but there is small mention of Santa Claus . Besides Professor Hinkle, characters resembling Karen and Hocus Pocus appear and Tinkerton as a child resembles one of the unnamed schoolchildren.
A Miser Brothers' Christmas is a stop motion spin-off special based on some of the characters from the 1974 Rankin-Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Distributed by Warner Bros. Animation under their Warner Premiere label (the rights holders of the post-1974 Rankin-Bass library) and Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studios, the one-hour special premiered on ABC Family on Saturday, December 13, 2008, during the network's annual The 25 Days of Christmas programming. Mickey Rooney (at age 88) and George S. Irving (at age 86) reprised their respective roles as Santa Claus and Heat Miser. Snow Miser (originally portrayed by Dick Shawn who died in 1987) was voiced by Juan Chioran, while Mrs. Claus (voiced in the original by Shirley Booth who died in 1992) was portrayed by Catherine Disher. The movie aimed to emulate the Rankin/Bass animation style. This is the last Christmas special to feature Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus, as he died in 2014, as well as the last time George Irving voiced Heat Miser, as he died in 2016.
