I just learned that one of my dear friends from the Rankin/Bass Productions group, Masaki Iizuka, passed away. Arthur met Masaki during the making of Rankin/Bass' Mad, Mad, Mad Monsters and he became an integral part of the company. Later he would be associate or assistant Producer and a part of the Rankin family. He started his own animation company called PACIFIC ANIMATION CORPORATION (PAC) and would later produce things like The King and I and The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. When we got together for Arthur's Memorial in July of 2014, Masaki told me his favorite Animagic scene of all the Rankin/Bass Animagic animation was "Peace Berries" in the Rankin/Bass feature film Marco. I agreed that it was tops. Over the holidays I noticed Masaki's name in the credits more, in things like Nestor, the long-eared Donkey, Thundercats and Jack Frost. Masaki was a great help with all of my books and did a great deal of work on the museum in Bermuda, Masterworks, on the Arthur Rankin exhibit "Arthur's Galaxy." The history of the studio was important to him and Masaki will definitely be missed! #masakiiizuka #rankinbassproductions #thundercats #associateproducer