It’s a sad Christmas season. Jules Bassco-founder of Rankin/Bass productions, has died aged 87 The Hollywood ReporterBass died Tuesday at a nursing home in Rye, New York.
Born in Philadelphia in 1935, Bass co-founded Videocraft International with his partner Arthur Rankin Jr., the same company soon to be renamed Rankin/Bass Productions. 2005, Rankin would say this about their partnership.
“We more or less complemented each other. He had certain talents that I didn’t have, and I had certain talents that he didn’t. I was actually an artist and a creator; he was a creator and a writer and a lyricist.”
While still under the Videocraft label, the first production of the two would be the TV series The New Adventures of Pinocchio. The show, which premiered in 1960, was the duo’s first leap into the iconic ‘Animagic’ style they would later be known for. Funnily enough, the animation itself was outsourced in Japan and produced by Dentsu Studios. The series consisted of 130 five-minute “chapters” that would form a series of five chapters and 25-minute episodes.
While Pinocchio was a springboard, it was Rudolph that was the launch pad for the overall lasting impression of Rankin/Bass. 1964’s Rudolph the red nosed reindeer premiered on television with such success that it would lead to even more specials from Christmas to Easter. Bass, who co-produced Rudolph, would remain involved in the production of several of the company’s classics. He would contribute as a writer to: The New Adventures of Pinocchio, The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow, The first Easter bunny, The Little Drummer Boy Book II, The Life and Adventures of Santa Clausand four episodes of thunder cats. It’s worth noting that he wrote under the name Julian P. Gardner for the holiday specials.
In addition to writing, Bass has also contributed as director of many of the company’s specials and films. He directed the theatrical, animated monster comedy Crazy Monster Party? and co-directed the classic holiday specials with Rankin such as Cricket on the fireplace, Mouse on the Mayflower, Frosty the snowman, Santa Claus is coming to town, Here comes Peter Cottontail, The year without Santa Claus, Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, The little drummer boy (both books 1 and 2), Nestor the Christmas donkey with long ears. He also co-directed cult fantasy hits such as 1977’s . with Rankin the hobbit, the 80’s The return of the king, and 1982’s The Last Unicorn. Bass would also serve as a lyricist for many of the catchy tunes that came from the much-loved specials, such as “Put One Foot in Front of the Other,” “I Believe in Santa Claus” and even the Miser Brother songs from Year without Santa.
After the folding of Rankin/Bass in 1987, his career as a producer and director also ended, at least in part. He is credited with the advisory producer for the short-lived 2011 reboot of thunder cats as well as the 2020 ThunderCats roar. Bass also wrote a short series of children’s books about Herb the Vegetarian Dragon.
Rankin died in 2014 at the age of 89. Bass’s daughter, Jean Nicole Bass, died in January at age 61.