I got my 1964 General Electric Rankin/Bass Return to Oz bracelet, many years ago. It was one of the few collecribles Arthur Rankin hung on to. I helped Susan Morse (the singing voice for Dorothy) obtain one, before she passed away. I also became great friends with Susan Conway Mitchell, Dorothy's speaking voice, and she signed a bunch of the GE ads for me. #returntooz #rankinbassproductions #generalelectric #thewizardofoz

February 9, 1964, The first Rankin/Bass TV special appears and The Beatles hit the air waves on The Ed Sullivan show #susanconwaymitchell #rankinbassproductions

Rankin/Bass' Return to Oz

 

Feb. 9, 1964 – NBC television presents Return to Oz, an animated musical sponsored by General Electric. The Rankin-Bass production lasts 55 minutes and is based on their animated shorts Tales of the Wizard of Oz (1960). A pot-metal charm bracelet promotes the broadcast.

Shirley Temple almost got to play Dorothy Gale! Read about it in my book!

Rankin/Bass' The Tales of the Wizard of Oz

Rankin/Bass' Return to Oz Premiered February 9, 1964 on NBC

 Rankin/Bass' Return to Oz Premiered on NBC's General Electric Fantasy Hour February 9th, 1964. It was Rankin/Bass' first television special. C. 2018 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives #oz #returntooz #thewizardofoz

This OZ package is available on EBAY under seller MISER BROS

OZ August 4, 2017 (I am in the schedule...click link below)

http://www.ozconvention.org/about/schedule

Oz 🎨

Oz art for EBay 🎨

Happy Ray Bolger's Birthday!

We celebrate Ray Bolger's birthday with a look at his performance as The Pieman in Rankin/Bass' The Daydreamer (1966).

 *The full un-cropped still seen here, is published full page in the RARE FINDS section of the hardcover book THE ARTHUR RANKIN, JR. SCRAPBOOK:  The Birth of Animagic.  The RARE FINDS section that we added to the book is really something!

*art by Al Hirscfeld

I think it is the closest performance he came to his Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz. The Bass/Laws' song "Who Can Tell," is very close to "If I only had a Brain" in style and he reunites with his Wizard of Oz Co-star Margaret Hamilton in this star-studded feature film! Rankin/Bass Produced The Tales of the Wizard of Oz series and the television special Return to Oz prior, so it was well known they were Oz fans. I do see many similarities in the story telling of The Daydreamer and The Wizard of Oz. In 1985, the last Animagic special Rankin/Bass would produce was Frank L. Baum's The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus. With any orders that come in tonight at www.miserbros.com, I will include a dvd disc of The Daydreamer complete with the bonus features. C. 2017 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives #raybolger #thewizardofoz #thedaydreamer #rankinbass #animagic #dvd #scarecrow #oz

Rankin/Bass' Tales of the Wizard of Oz

SHIRLEY TEMPLE as DOROTHY GALE

Photographs by Rick Goldschmidt  C. 2014 Rick Goldschmidt Archives