Rankin/Bass-historian

Jules Bass :

"I attribute it all to the story." He suspects the unabashed simplicity of the Rankin-Bass specials explains their durability. "It was so simple, had it been less simple, it would have failed." Bass believes today's scriptwriters are fatally wedded to smart-ass irony. "The writers of today are brought up on The Simpsons," he says, and are unwilling to leave a story to its essence.

I could not agree more :)