Coming in May, 2023 from Umbrella!

Here is a comparison between the old and new master for the blu ray release of Rankin/Bass' Mad Monster Party!  You can watch the film in it's original 1.85:1 format or 1.33:1 previously released version. We also fixed the missing Francesca's "yeah!" at the end of the film.  All previous dvd and blu ray releases were missing the "Yeah!" The new blu ray comes out in May 2023, but you can Pre-Order the full package now! #Rankinbassproductions #Madmonsterparty

 

Season's Greetings

 I am getting calls from old friends about my article on The Little Drummer boy in RetroFan Magazine!   I appreciate your kind words.  I have also received calls from friends I haven't heard from in the while saying "What the F!?" about the new dvds and blu rays.   Apparently the extra content had very little value whatsoever.   I am told there are many talking heads, that had no connection to Rankin/Bass what-so-ever, offering nothing about the history of Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass.  That is very sad to me.  I worked with both over thirty years and have a deep archives that would have been a far greater value than the sub-standard stuff that is out there.  Maury Laws always said to me, "Onward and Upward!"  Sales have been tremendous this holiday season, even in this deep recession.   People want to escape to when times were good!  I am so glad to be a part of the Rankin/Bass History!  I am glad I can make people's lives a little brighter.

Doing some more podcasts to bring everyone up to date on The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass! I have much to say this year and so much planned and being worked on, it is just Amazing! I am expecting shirts to be back in stock very soon too!

 

Brisk October Friday 🎃

Why have the Rankin/Bass TV Specials lasted so long?

 

I have already done a dozen radio and magazine interviews this holiday season!  The hosts and writers always ask:  Why have the Rankin/Bass TV Specials endured the tests of time?  The answer is complicated and I have written entire books about each special.  It always starts with the writing.  Romeo Muller, Jr. created all of the characters in Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and gave Rudolph the personality that we all identify with.   In essence, he created the Rankin/Bass Universe in the same way that Stan Lee's writing created the Marvel Universe (Stan Lee settled with Marvel in 2005).  He created all of the characters names, personalities, The Island of Misfit toys, etc.  The whole thing!  I love talking about it and the people involved with the Muller Estate are wonderful!  Good things are coming to them!

 

Paul Coker, Jr. Designed the Rankin/Bass universe post Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.   He is the most responsible for the Rankin/Bass look and especially the look of Frosty.   I would compare him to Jack Kirby, the artist that created the look and design of most of Marvel's Well known characters.  The Kirby estate finally settled with Disney/Marvel in 2014, the same year Arthur Rankin, Jr. passed away.  Arthur Rankin passed on many interesting things pertaining to legal issues to me, before he passed concerning all of the Rankin/Bass Universe.

 

c. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives

Designer Antony Peters is the other party that Created the Rankin/Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer universe, as he designed all of the characters in the same way Kirby designed Marvel's.  He gave Rankin/Bass' Rudolph his pointy eyes and the elves the GE Light Bulb noses.  The entire look of the cast of Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, from the Island of Misfit Toys, Hermey the Dentist, The Bumble, Yukon Cornelius, etc. came from the pen of Tony Peters.  Tony and I met up in New York and Had many long conversations before his passing.  He loved the Rudolph book I put together and his estate is wonderful too!

    I love talking about the history of Rankin/Bass Productions and will be doing much more of it during the Holidays as Frosty turns 50 and Rudolph 55!  I am setting up many radio, television, magazine, newspaper, podcast, etc. interviews! 

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! 

Tony Peters, Co-Creator of the Bumble

 

C. 2001 Miser Bros Press/Rick Goldschmidt Archives 

Rankin/Bass designer Tony Peters signed this Bumble (A character which he co-created with Romeo Muller, Jr.) card with a Tee Pee.  Why a Tee Pee?   His initials were TP.   He had a great sense of humor, just like Paul Coker, Jr..  I love Tony's designs of all the Rankin/Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV Special characters, which Romeo Muller created!

Friday

A Big Birthday Book pickup today!

 

www.miserbros.com 

Did I mention that we located the original 1964 ending/end credits of Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer IN COLOR?

We did!   It needs to be transferred and color corrected, which we are doing soon.   Amazing footage!  Found!

Saturday fun

Another one of my appearances as the expert of Rudolph on CBS EVENING NEWS for the 50th! Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer Celebrates 50th Anniversary

As the expert of Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I have done many interviews over the year. Here is one that goes way back! Rick Goldschmidt CBS News Interview with Restored Rankin/Bass Figures (2...

You can get the book with everything you wanted to know about the special right here:  http://miserbros.com/shop/books/the-making-of-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-hard-cover/
 

Looking back on one of my many Rudolph interviews......

50th Anniversary interview for ABC7 Chicago

I enjoy being the expert on Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and am adding things to my collection and learning things every day.   Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass Produced the longest-running, highest-rated television special of all-time and that is why I wrote the book on it!  You can get the book with everything you wanted to know about the special right here:  http://miserbros.com/shop/books/the-making-of-rudolph-the-red-nosed-reindeer-hard-cover/

It's a new month and making lots of plans for 2018!

So many fun things coming up in this Enchanted world of 2018!

What's wrong with The Little Drummer Boy DVD/Blu-Ray

THE MUNSTERS: the complete series DVD set

UNIVERSAL improved on the first releases of the series with THE MUNSTERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES and you can get it at TARGET for $50. It has a GREAT colorized version of FAMILY PORTRAIT and it now includes the two MUNSTERS movies. The feature film MUNSTER, GO HOME is newly remastered and looks AMAZING. I personally like that they put the series on seperate one-sided discs now and bettered the quality of the entire set. Kevin Burn's material is on it's own disc, as are the movies. This is the way the series should have been released in the first place.