Rankin/Bass

One of Tad's Reindeer from Santa Claus Is Comin' to town! Read about others in our most recent books!

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The Rankin/Bass Animagic figures of Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, that were auctioned off twice, are not the "Screen Used" figures in the classic TV Special

C. 2006 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

 I know this may surprise some people and I certainly didn't want to interfere with an auction, but the two Animagic figures that were recently auctioned again, are not the actual "Screen used" figures.  For a long time I thought they were and so did Kevin Kriess, who bought them in 2005 and then we toured with them through 2008.  The Animagic figures were actually in my home and I examined them many times.   Over the years, I discussed them with Arthur Rankin, Jr., Barbara Adams (The Rankin/Bass Secretary who took them home), Masaki Iizuka, etc.  The two figures that survived in the United States, were used for two functions, A. for publicity photos B. for the display at the Rockefeller Center at NBC from the Mid-sixties until the early seventies, when Arthur gave them to Barbara.

I always noticed that the beard on Santa in the publicity photos was much rounder and larger, than the one in the special and the ball on the hat was different too.  Rudolph also had a slightly different look to him as well.  Many fans noticed that the vest on Sam in the publicity photos and on the Decca records sleeves was different too.  They even used the figures in the original General Electric 1964 Print ads (They later used Artist rendered versions of the characters in the 1965-67 ads).

In recent years I started making connections with Tad Mochinaga's (The director of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and head Animagic technician) family.  They actually bought books of mine on AMAZON and asked me to be a part of a documentary on Tad.  I had already connected with Kyota Kita (Who actually made the figures) along with Pinchan (The other Animagic puppet creator).  Tad's family still has many of the Rudolph figures, which I covered in my last two books:  The making of Santa Claus is Comin' to Town and the Daydreamer (Miser Bros Press) and The 50th Anniversary Frosty the Snowman Scrapbook (Miser Bros Press) www.miserbros.com

Barbara Adams watching Kyota Kita make an Animagic figure above and Pinchan in the ornament, in my book The Making of Santa Claus is Comin' to town and the Daydreamer.

Many photos from the Tad Mochinaga collection featured in my book The 50th Anniversary Frosty the Snowman scrapbook

When you examine the photos in my books of Santa and see the damage in the beard and the lines extending down from the side of the mouth in the beard, you can clearly see it is the one used in the special.  I actually didn't realize this, until I watched it again over the weekend.   The beard is also smaller and less round, as Tad's is.

Me with the puppets at WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO 2006.

Now the question is, does the US pair become any less valuable?   I don't think so.   They were created by Kyota Kita and Pinchan for Rankin/Bass Productions to promote the special.  They were restored by SCREEN-NOVELTIES in Hollywood in 2006, and I coordinated that with Kevin and my friends Mark, Seamus and Robin.   Robin recently corrected me on my interviews.  She said she used mohair to construct the part of Santa's mustache that was missing and an LED bulb for Rudolph's missing bulb.

C. 1997 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

  As the Rankin/Bass Historian/Biographer, I just believe in setting the facts straight.  For a long time, after we toured with the Animagic figures in 2006-2008, many journalists have been saying only two puppets survived and the rest melted in an attic.  That isn't quite true unless you change that to: Two Rudolph puppets survived in the United States and the rest of the cast from Rockefeller Center display, melted in an attic.  Most of the Rankin/Bass Animagic figures stayed in Japan and survived.   I talk about this in all of my books.   Our 20th Anniversary edition of the Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass:  A Portfolio (Miser Bros Press) is greatly expanded and pictures many of the surviving puppets we recently discovered.

C. 1997 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

C. 2014 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

Romeo Muller wrote the story of the TV Special and created all of the other characters including Hermey the Dentist elf, Yukon Cornelius, Sam the Snowman, King Moonracer, etc.  Antony Peters designed all of the characters in the TV Special as well.  Read all about them in my books!  If you would like to interview me for Christmas, email Rickgoldsc@aol.com

Family and friends are all sending me the AP article today about the auction. I did help with the catalog and am aware of the sale. I was recently interviewed by Entertainment Weekly about Rudolph and my work for an article coming out around Thanksgiving. I have a very detailed Rudolph article in RetroFan magazine #12 and Santa Claus is Comin' to town turns 50 this year and I have an article in the December ReMind magazine, which will also appear in all of the various cable guides NTVB does. Big Rankin/Bass Productions year! More to come! Update: just noticed the AP article has errors in it..they should have given me a call. #rudolphtherednosedreindeer #rankinbassproductions #Rickgoldschmidt

Rankin/Bass Monday fun!

 

I love writing about the Animagic technicians and animators in my books! It's sheer Animagic by Ichiro Komuro "pinchan", Tad Mochinaga, Kyoto Kita, Hiroshi Tabata, etc. #Animagic #christmasinjuly2020 #rankinbassproductions www.miserbros.com

It's Friday! Veeblefetzers are on sale! #felixflankin #madmonsterparty #rankinbassproductions

The great Tad Mochinaga works on RANKIN/BASS' WILLY McBEAN & HIS MAGIC MACHINE (1965) c. 1965 RANKIN/BASS PRODUCTIONS/RICK GOLDSCHMIDT ARCHIVES #rankinbassproductions #animagic

Writing about these guys tonight and the people behind the classic! Also thinking about appearing with them again at a few places!

Tad Mochinaga

Orders have started to pick up...lots of publicity swirling now! I got my second book order from Japan for the dear Tad Mochinaga family! Tad was the head Animagic animator for Rankin/Bass on the early productions, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The New Adventures of Pinocchio, Willy McBean and his magic machine, The Daydreamer, etc. I talk about some of the Animagic figures he saved in his collection in my new book celebrating Frosty the Snowman's 50th! You can read about some in our book The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town and The Daydreamer too! I talk about items in Collector's Call that came directly from Tad and his staff from Mad Monster Party in my collection! I can tell this is going to be a very busy year for me and The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass! #tadmochinaga #animagic #japan #rankinbass #history

Fang

 

An early turn around model sheet for FANG from the collection of Tad Mochinaga.  This was before they decided to make FANG hairless.   The Salad Spoon that Arthur gave me made by the puppet makers, also has hair like this! 

I gave my Monster Bash talk last weekend at this time!

 

I gave my Mad Monster Party talk a week ago tonight at MONSTER BASH!   I did bring up the many names they went through for the film, starting in 1965.   Here is another one!  MAD MONSTER RALLY!  It was originally called MONSTER CONVENTION, then THE MONSTER MOVIE!   Ultimately, MAD was worked into the title.  I believe Harvey Kurtzman had much to do with the final title of MAD MONSTER PARTY?   I think the question mark and title were sort of a comical swipe at MAD MAGAZINE.   Two BIG MAD MAGAZINE guys worked on the film, so MAD had to be worked in somehow.  Frazetta actually worked for MAD MAGAZINE too, so 3 MAD guys!  

EXCLUSIVE: Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and more Rankin/Bass Animagic figures from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer do exist in Japan and other places by Rick Goldschmidt

 

I have been writing about Rankin/Bass Productions for over twenty years now and started doing my research about thirty years ago.  I have interviewed many people over the years and some have now passed away, but others are still with us.  Tad Mochinaga, who was the legendary father of Stop-Motion in Japan and was in charge of many of the Rankin/Bass Productions Animagic, has passed away.  There is a new exhibit in Japan starting this month and Tadahito hung on to a Santa Claus (there was more than one used for the TV Special) and a reindeer from Rankin/Bass' (Videocraft at the time) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer among other things!  I do about 50-75 radio and tv interviews every holiday season and I have always said, "Most of the Animagic figures stayed in Japan."

Producer Masaki Iizuka and I discussed the animators and Animagic figures in great detail in Bermuda a few years ago at Arthur Rankin, Jr.'s memorial.  Masaki stayed in touch with some of the animators and he started with Rankin/Bass in the early 1970s.  In fact, Arthur reunited with many of the animators at a party several years ago when they experienced the tsunami.  Arthur called me when he got home and described it as a "Love fest."  Masaki secured some of the surviving Rankin/Bass figures in Japan for an exhibit of Arthur & Jules' work at the MASTERWORKS MUSEUM in Bermuda.  Many photographs and information of these Animagic puppets appear in both my hardcover book The Arthur Rankin, Jr. Scrapbook (Miser Bros Press) and the NEW 20th Anniversary Edition of The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass:  A Portfolio (Miser Bros Press).  Masaki was very particular of how the Animagic figures were displayed in Bermuda.  He wanted them to be true to the way they were pinned at the feet on sets and not displayed on doll stands.  He helped put together some elaborate displays at Masterworks and they are pictured in my books.

 Over the past few years, I have seen many articles online, that I would have to describe as "click bait" articles.  Top 10 things you didn't know about Rudolph or top 10 movie props, etc.  They have partial information that they got from a source I may have written or been interviewed for and then they mix in incorrect information to make things sound better or worse, depending on how you look at it.  Places like Cracked Magazine, Me Tv, etc.  Cracked Magazine made it sound like Rankin/Bass' secretary Barbara Adams, of who I am friends with, walked off with the Rudolph figures as if they were office supplies.  Of course, that was not true.  I talked to Barbara about it at Arthur's memorial and she was very close to him.   If you want to share this article from my blog, that is fine.  If you want to contact me to interview me, email me at Rickgoldsc@aol.com or I can write the article for you BUT please do not steal this information, as we will be contacting you.

I want to thank our friend John Paul Cassidy for bringing this exhibit to our attention.   I heard from the people in Japan working on the legacy of Tadahito Mochinaga about five years ago.  They bought our 15th Anniversary book from Amazon and needed some help with a documentary they were doing on Tad.  I think I put them in touch with my friends Seamus, Robin and Mark at Screen-Novelties in Hollywood too.   They are experts on Tad!  We are doing a special event in West Hollywood October 21st (we may add a few more dates) and Screen-Novelties will have four of the Animagic figures there with us to celebrate the fiftieth Anniversary of Mad Monster Party!

People always ask, What happened to the original puppets?   We added a section to the 20th Anniversary book of The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass:  A Portfolio, that answers just that and has many color photographs.  You can purchase at www.miserbros.com   We are locating them all the time, but since all of the Animagic productions were produced in Japan, most of the figures stayed there with some exceptions.  Some were given to the actors that voiced the Animagic figure.  Some were given to people that worked at Rankin/Bass, such as Maury Laws and Romeo Muller.

This is Rankin/Bass secretary Barbara Adams on the set of Rudolph & Frosty's Christmas in July in 1979.  We have a section on Barbara in our book The Arthur Rankin, Jr. Scrapbook:  The Birth of Animagic.   She took home much of the cast from Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when they sort of became misfits in the office.  The ones she took home, were the same ones that were on display at NBC in New York City in a glass case for several years to promote the special.   Many fans remember seeing this display at the Rockefeller Center.  There was a small group of Animagic figures/puppets in the offices at Rankin/Bass during the 1970s into the mid-1980s.  Animator Bob Camp recalls he went to lunch one day at Rankin/Bass while working on Silverhawks and when he came back, they were gone.   I actually obtained two of the Animagic figures that were disgarded from this group and a friend obtained Father Time (Red Skelton).  Apparently someone rescued them from the garbage or they were given to them.

We had Father Time on display at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York in 2003 and he is quite large!   Much bigger than you would expect.   We may have him on display again this November at an event in New York, along with Sister Theresa (Angela Landsbury) The First Christmas, from my collection.

 Again there are many myth associated with these Animagic figures perpetuated by the internet and poor reporting, but we have the record straight in my books and I can be interviewed by contacting me at Rickgoldsc@aol.com  Tadahito's event is coming up and will run for some months!  If you are in Japan, check it out and send us some pictures.

Tad was a master at what he did!  He passed his knowledge to Hiroshi Tabata, Pinchan and many others that continued the Animagic until the last Rankin/Bass Animagic Production The Life and

Adventures of Santa Claus (1985).   There is a fascination with these iconic puppets and we have addressed this in all four of my books.   The Making of the Rankin/Bass Holiday classic:  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer goes into every facet of their production with behind-the-scenes photos at the Animagic studio.  Stay tuned for some exciting events planned to celebrate fifty years of Mad Monster Party, forty years of The Hobbit and Twenty years of my first book!

C. 2017 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

This photograph was taken by my pal Danny Solazzi, shortly after my friend Kevin Kriess purchased them and restored them with Screen-Novelties.  We appeared at many conventions together and people lined up to see the original Santa Claus and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!  

 

      I appeared at MONSTER BASH with Kevin in Pittsburgh June 23-25th!  It was wonderful!  Then I did an in-store book signing at HALF PRICE BOOKS in Bethel Park, PA June 26th! Going to appear at OZ: The National Convention August 4th in Joliet, IL.  WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO August 24-27!  I will be making a presentation there as well and drawing for the kids on KID SUNDAY!  This Halloween I will be at The SHAG STORE October 21st (possible additional dates) and the following weekend at the Stan Lee Comicaze!  I am also finding a way to make the Christmas STEEL CITY CON in Pittsburgh!   I will be at the MID-ATLANTIC NOSTALGIA CON next year!  Look for 50th Anniversary articles on Rankin/Bass' Mad Monster Party in SCREEM MAGAZINE and MONSTER BASH MAGAZINE this Halloween!

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