#Ranking Bass

[fibula-rasa]

The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)  

[letterboxd | imdb]

Director: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.

Studio: Rankin/Bass Productions & Pacific Animation Corporation

[adara-of-the-flame]

((I am once again asking for a Heat Mister to interact with my Flame Woman.))

((Really, is it too much to ask?))

[monster-ock]

KING Kong show

[ariel-seagull-wings]

@amalthea9 @thealmightyemprex @the-blue-fairie

@themousefromfantasyland @professorlehnsherr-almashy

Poster (Japanese?) for the Rankin/Bass version of 'Return of the King'

[alpojones]

[thehappyspaceman]

Ranking All the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Specials

So, I’m in the process of finishing the script for a review of all the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer specials. However, I don’t know if I will realistically be able to complete my video before Christmas, so here is my ranking of every Rudolph special, from best to worst.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964): Despite all the memes (“Deviation from the norm will be punished unless it is exploitable!”), the original Rankin/Bass Rudolph special holds up much better than most of the internet gives it credit for. It has memorable characters and songs, it is well-paced and does not try to cram too many subplots into its runtime, its stop-motion animation was quite good for the time (and has a unique charm nowadays), and it actually fixes most of the issues with the original song and story. It’s a classic. 9.5/10

Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (1976): The follow-up to the Rankin/Bass special is not as good as the first one, and the lesson of “If people laugh at you, it’s because you bring them joy and that’s a good thing!” is kind of reprehensible, but it’s still pretty alright. It certainly has some nice songs and creative ideas, and Red Skelton is charming as Father Time, although I can see why it didn’t become a holiday staple like the first one. For one thing, it’s less well-paced, and doubling it as a New Year’s special and as a celebration of America’s Bicentennial felt stranger. Still pretty good. 7/10

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948): This Max Fleischer short aired a year before the song’s release and thus is more closely based on the original Rudolph story. The animation is kind of janky (as a lot of Max Fleischer’s shorts are in hindsight, even though he was an animation pioneer) and the story is a bit standard, but it’s still a decent short film and a noble enough screen debut for the character. 6/10

Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979): Rankin/Bass pulled out all of the stops for this big epic crossover film between Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, their own Avengers: Endgame that also doubled as a sendoff for Rudolph and Frosty, who would never star in a Rankin/Bass project after this. However, despite some creative ideas, the plot felt all over the place, with far too many subplots and too much lore to keep track of, plus we did not need a explanation for Rudolph’s nose powers. We could have accepted it as simply being “magic,” and making him a chosen one poses more questions than it answers. Still, at least it was imaginative, which is more than I can say for the post-Rankin/Bass specials. 5.5/10

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998): GoodTimes Entertainment’s attempt at rebooting the franchise has diminishing returns, and reeks of the usual GoodTimes stench. The plot beats and characters felt very derivative of the original Rankin/Bass special, as a lot of GoodTimes movies feel derivative of other films, but this one felt even more obvious since even the songs themselves felt derivative of songs from the first Rankin/Bass one. And the $10 million budget clearly didn’t go to the writing or animation, so I have to wonder where it went. Presumably to the voice cast, and while it does bring in some well-known voice actors (including John Goodman, Whoopi Goldberg, Debbie Reynolds, and Monty Python’s Eric Idle), they cannot save this special from mediocrity. 4/10

Rudolph’s Lessons for Life (1996): There’s a reason this special has been forgotten and isn’t even mentioned on Wikipedia. I only found out about it thanks to TV Tropes. Rudolph’s Lessons for Life feels like a remake of Max Fleischer’s Rudolph short, but a lot worse. At least the Fleischer short was good for the time. This special’s framerate feels like a PowerPoint presentation at points. The only copies that exist of this special are 240p VHS rips, so don’t bother watching unless you are a serious Rudolph completionist. 2/10

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys (2001): GoodTimes Entertainment’s second attempt at a Rudolph movie, this one continues from the original Rankin/Bass special and ignores the two sequels. This movie easily has the worst animation of all of them, summoning memories of Foodfight! to mind, and even if you look past the animation, it’s seriously uninspired. The plot lifts beats from the original Rankin/Bass special, and the villain is ripped from Toy Story 2. Perhaps the only decent plot element is a subplot about an island where toys can get plastic surgery? But even then, it’s wasted because they do nothing with it. And the celebrity voice cast--including Richard Dreyfuss, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Rick Moranis--do nothing to help. This is bad. Awful. Burn it. Purge it with fire. 1/10

And that’s my ranking! What do you guys think? Leave your own rankings in the comments below, feel free to discuss if you have any questions, and look out for my review sometime next month!

[wellthebardsdead]

Bass: *blinded by auriels light after firing the bow without his goggles in a desperate attempt to save serana from her father, his regulator broken making his cries for her sound like the call of a dying aninmal as he drags himself around to try and find her, his power armour out of fuel and too heavy for him to move on his own* S̷̛͙̤̮̺͓̈́̏̓͑͠ḛ̵̢̰̪̾͋r̵̮̼͉̹̃̒͌̈́́͜A̷̛̜͈̺̐N̸̘͙̽̄̽̎ṇ̷͙̳̥̈́́̋͜n̷͔̭̎̑̃n̴̻̒ṋ̴̙̭̦̔̽͛ͅa̴̩̼̥͋̔́̅̀̕͜a̸͎̪̦̮̓̓̇͝Ǎ̶̞̖̳͂̋

Serana: *blinks open her eyes to see her father, harkon, laying beside her, dead* dad?… *sits up and looks back to see Bass helplessly looking for her* DAD!!! *gets up and runs to his side hugging him tight* I’m here it’s okay- lay down I’ll put more fuel in your armou-

Bass: *gently holds his hand to her head, his palm far too big to fit on just her cheek* Y̴̼̒̅̅̚ǫ̴̡̣̣͂u̴͔̫͎̬͈̐ ̵̡̧̛̭̦̦̋͒͗́́c̴͙͉̽̀̄͌̈̓ȃ̵̰̓̊͋̃l̴͈̆̒̕L̶̼̐͗̄̇͠ę̵̎͌̃̚͠d̶̳̼̥͖̐͒̌̋͂͛ ̸̼̯̩̬̖̲͒̊̾m̸̺͐͂͂̄͝e̶̪͙͑E̴͎̟̼̘̎̆̀͠ ̸̢͛͋̓̓͝d̸̢̫̪̻̆͋̊Â̸̯̻͑͐̃̚͝ā̶̢̛͔͙̘͎͜ạ̷̢̲̬̃͑̕a̵̤̺̯̺̻͑͌á̸̫̭͝ǎ̷̡͈͎͔͗̊d̴͔̮́̚?̵̢̠̩̻̼͊

Serana: *smiles and starts crying* you’ve been more of a dad to me in the time we’ve met then he’s been, my whole life! You actually care about what I want! You’ve looked after me without ever needing to be asked! Y-you said I could call you whatever I want because I can’t pronounce your real name so I’m calling you dad!

Bass: *vision still blurry but now with tears as the vampire comes into view at last* S̴͈̀̑̔e̸̛̗̊̄́̇̄r̸̢͇̤̞̣̤̾̉̓͂̈́ǎ̶̟̙̜̈̉̂̃̌ń̸̛̻̟͎͇̒͜a̵͈̬͐̈͛̓͂̈́a̶͎̣͐Ǎ̷̡̱̥̹̎͌͌̊̕…̶͍̑́.̴̨͉̣̀̍̈́̐̈́̚ͅ ̷̧͍̈̒͂̚̕͝d̵̨͎͕͓͚͍̉̌͑̀͒̏a̴̮̯̣̮͎͚͒̔̇ū̷̞͉̪̘̿͛͘g̸̝̳͔̟̺͎͋̚͝h̵̡̹́ṱ̶͓̊̾̔͐ͅË̵́͒ͅr̶͈̻̰̮̲͌̓͋͐͜r̶̮̭̠͂̈́ř̷̡̢̜̺̗͗̇̕͘ŕ̴̢̯̼͒͋̎̔r̵̝̝̺̝̣̰̐̇̉̏

Serana: yeah, yeah dad you can call me daughter. *gently lifts one of his heavy braids out of his face and lets him rest his head in her lap as she hears the others coming* shhh, help is coming, I’m okay… it’s okay…

*Several days later*

Semana: *helping her mom pack up her research from the soul cairn* Mom you remember dad right? *gestures to Bass*

Valerica: Oh indeed I do~ I have a lot to thank him for.

Bass: *nervously sweating* I’ll um. I’ll be outside with durnehviir-

[phantom-of-the-ruckus]

Not much familiar with the character or rankin bass in general (as where I am from the movies weren't as popular in the US as in Colombia) but I adore the design and I am quite interesting to hear more about this + the designs you made are sooo goood

From both the votes and the likes from the recent poll, it's meh, but some elements work while some didn't. In my opinion, the animation and designs aged poorly, most action scenes were terribly set up, voice acting was a mixed bag, and don't get me started on how they treated Antoine!!! Were there some good things? Yes, but it does not overshadow the bad. So in The Workshoppers universe, this movie is... not 50% canon. So I'll keep what did work and cut the bad. A LOT OF BAD! So congrats for nobody saying the movie lore doesn't exist, because you gave Jack Frost an evil Azula twin sister! Though I changed her design to fit the Rankin Bass style. TA-DA!!! 

Here is my drafting system to make a new version of Jackie Frost by combining her looks from the sequel, the sequel's book design, and some influences of Jack Frost for a touch. Even the YouTube Channel mindlessgonzo made fun of Jackie being a bootleg Bratz doll. So, get ready for Jackie having some Bratz fashionista influences! I also included Snow Miser and one of the fairies from The Life and Times of Santa Claus as backup ideas. I made two versions of Jackie just to see how she turned out with a skirt or her movie's short pants. A little hint of Jackie's character.

[punster-2319]

My Top 10 Favorite Christmas Specials/Movies, because of boredom:

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TV special)

2. Rankin/Bass specials

3. Mickey’s Christmas Carol

4. A Christmas Plotz/The Little Drummer Warners (Animaniacs)

5. Wakko’s Wish

6. The Nightmare Before Christmas

7. Arthur’s Perfect Christmas (based on the PBS show)

8. Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas

9. Holiday Knights (The New Batman Adventures)

10. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

WHAT ARE SOME YOUR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS SPECIALS/MOVIES?

[omegaremix]

Winter 1992 Mixtape.

Boogie Down Productions “Duck Down”

Grand Puba “Fat Rat”

A Tribe Called Quest “Jazz (We Got The…)”

Eric B & Rakim “Know The Ledge”

Cypress Hill “Duke Of Earl”

Lord Finesse “Return Of The Funkyman”

Naughty By Nature “Everything’s Gonna’ Be Alright (Ghetto Bastard)”

Shabba Ranks “The Jam” (f. KRS-One)

MC Serch “Back To The Grill Again” (f. various artists)

D-Nice “Time To Flow”

X Clan “Fire & Earth (100% Natural)”

Digital Underground Sons Of The P

A Tribe Called Quest“Butter”

Nice & Smooth “How To Flow”

TLC “Ain’t 2 Proud To Beg”

Cypress Hill “How I Could Just Kill A Man”

[a-bucket-full-of-feels]

never rly noticed but it's interesting how hibike s1 rides on the high of kitauji getting gold for the kyoto competition, then at the start in s2 it starts to explore the downsides of music competition, and how it was basically the catalyst for so much of the conflict between the characters of the story

[rank-sentimentalist]

The Rankin-Bass Rudolph Project

[the-east-art]

Nothing like Rankin and Bass movies to make you think ‘that’s an interesting design or concept that I could do ten times better’. Also some reindeer doodles.

[james-p-sullivan]

there’s nothing quite like band class in high school where you’re shoved into a room with 30 other kids at 7AM while creating some of the most chaotic, yet beautiful music you’ll ever hear

the maestro threatens to throw a trumpet out the window. the world rejoices.

[analogadreams]

personal faves for each! :)

🎤vocals! - tie between black francis (pixies) and zack de la rocha (ratm)

🎹keys! - jack stauber

🎸guitar! - mick ronson (spiders from mars)

🥁drums! - chad smith (rhcp)

🎸bass! - les claypool (primus)

whats ur ranking? :)

[mono-blogs-art]

Btw just for funsies I've been keeping a point tally on how well the Roselia cast does in their intermission games at their concerts, and the results are incredibly funny