Thursday, August 25, 2022

4K

Many people have sent messages to me today, to ask me if the new 4k blu rays will be good?  In a word...NO.  I wish I could say, they will be Great!  Universal has mishandled the Rankin/Bass TV Specials in every way possible.  This includes poor transfers, poor extras, fades to black in the middle of scenes, poor covers, etc. etc. etc.  The Rankin/Bass fans deserve so much better and this is definitely not it.

A good box set would contain:

*Completely Re-mastered from 35 mm prints

*Original Rudolph 1964 end credits in color

*Rankin/Bass GE Commercials

*Interviews with Rankin/Bass Personal (Previously recorded by myself for various projects)

*Commentary by Rankin/Bass      Historian/Biographer Rick Goldschmidt 

*Still galleries directly from the Rankin/Bass archives including production art by Paul Coker, Jr. and Jack Davis

*Romeo Muller scrapbook pages with reviews and articles pertaining to the specials

*Network Promos (I have several from Rudolph) with replaced and removed scenes with commentary

*Cover photos from the Rankin/Bass archives (Instead of altered frame grabs)

*Alternate soundtracks from various specials including Frosty the Snowman and The Little Drummer Boy

*Audio demos for many of the famous tracks

*A detailed booklet with actual facts and comments from the people who made the R/B Christmas classics

*Look for RetroFan magazine #24 in December with my detailed article on The Little Drummer Boy and why they continue to release inferior dvds and blu rays