Sunday Star!

I have been talking a lot about the creators of all the characters in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the radio and at my appearances lately! In fact, one interview will air today on WJQZ in Wellsville New York at 8:45 AM and another in Rockford Illinois this week on WKCL 96.7 FM

 c. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

 Antony Peters was a very close friend of mine and designed all of the characters as we know them in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer including the lettering style used in the credits!  He started very early with Rankin/Bass as their original designer/Artist in the 1950s.  He worked on all of their commercials and developed The New Adventures of Pinocchio and later The Tales of the Wizard of Oz.  He even went to Canada to oversee the animation at Crawley studios for Oz.  He developed their feature film, Willy McBean & His Magic Machine and then designed all of the characters in Rudolph such as Hermey the Dentist, Yukon Cornelius, The Bumble, The Island of Misfit toys, etc.

Romeo Muller, Jr., seen here behind the great Sid Caesar, whom Romeo wrote for, created all of the characters in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV Special including Clarice, The Misfit Doll, Sam the Snowman (Who he based on Nicely Nicely from Guys & Dolls), the foreman elf, etc.   Romeo is the reason we are still talking about Rudolph on it's 55th Anniversary!  I recently did an interview for Smithsonian Magazine about all of this, that will be out before Christmas!

Questions about Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I am getting lots of questions about my Rudolph segments in Collector's Call (There is a bonus segment on Rudolph at www.collectorscalltv.com)

Many have asked, Who created all of the wonderful and unique characters from the Rankin/Bass version for the TV Special.   Was it Robert L. May?  No, he wrote the short story book for Montgomery Ward.   Was it Johnny Marks?   No, May's brother-in-law wrote the song and then Rankin/Bass hired him to write the additional songs for the program.  Maury Laws was hired as Musical Supervisor (The first time he was given that title).

The characters were created by Romeo Muller, Jr. in the several scripts he wrote for the historic program and then designed by Antony Peters for the Animagic technicians in Japan to make Animagic figures for the TV Special.   Romeo based several of the characters on actual friends of his, such as his girlfriend Clarice.  Hermey was based off of another dear friend.    He created all of the wonderful toys in the Island of Misfit toys as well.   I hope this clears up some of the misconceptions circulating.   Romeo always worked close with Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass in the final development of the special, but his creativity gave the specials an extra level of uniqueness that has made them sustain the test of time! 

the creator of the Island of Misfit Toys, Hermey the elf/dentist, Yukon Cornelius and more! ROMEO MULLER, JR.

Another article on the man who created Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the Elf, The Island of Misfit toys, The Bumble, Sam The Snowman, Professor Hinkle, The Heat Miser, The Snowmiser and so many more! Direct from his personal scrapbook. Romeo Muller, Jr. was the creator of many of the Rankin/Bass characters and deserves all the credit! #rankinbass #thehobbit #theislandofmisfittoys #romeomuller

Happy Birthday to Arthur!

Happy Birthday to Arthur!