The Enchanted World of Rankin-Bass News

FEBRUARY 2005 NEWS!

The Magic Behind The Voices!

TIM LAWSON's book THE MAGIC BEHIND THE VOICES: A WHO'S WHO OF CARTOON VOICE ACTORS is Finally Here! From the UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI comes a GREAT book by our friend TIM LAWSON (And Alisa Persons)! This is the book mentioned in THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO and many of you have asked about over the years. It's a fascinating package of biographies, anecdotes, credit listings and photographs of actors who created the unmistakable voices for some of the most popular and enduring animated characters of all time! It includes people like ALAN REED, BOB McFADDEN, DAWS BUTLER, NANCY CARTWRIGHT, WALLY COX, MEL BLANC, JOHN KRICFALUSI, MIKE JUDGE, JUNE FORAY, PAUL FREES and many many more! The PAPERBACK ISBN 1-57806-696-4 is $25.00 and the HARDBACK ISBN 1-57806-695-6 is $60.00 and you can get the book at AMAZON.COM. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to anyone who is interested in these wonderful voice actors!

Clutch Cargo on DVD!

RICK assists with the NOSTALGIA FAMILY VIDEO DVD set release of the entire CAMBRIA STUDIOS CLUTCH CARGO!
Finally, a beautifully re-mastered complete edition of the CLUTCH CARGO animation series is released by NOSTALGIA FAMILY VIDEO. Rick was asked to assist with the EXTRAS on the DVD set, since he has a large collection of the original memorabillia of the series. JEREMY at NOSTALGIA did such a GREAT job with the re-mastering of the series...that another company used his masters and issued their own DVD sets (Broken into two boxes) with packaging that is not as good at the NOSTALGIA release.
Who could forget the series that put SYNCHROVOX (Technique of using live actors mouths over still cartoon images) on the map! In Chicago, CLUTCH CARGO appeared on GARFIELD GOOSE & FRIENDS for many many years. The series was GREAT because each episode was broken into seperate cliff hanger episodes and the 5 minute installments could be broken up over the period of a week. RANKIN/BASS did the same thing with THE NEW ADVENTURES OF PINOCCHIO at about the same time this series was released.
If you like GREAT art...in this case by CLARK HAAS, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND this CAMBRIA STUDIOS (New THREE STOOGES CARTOONS, SPACE ANGEL) classic!

Ah, Yes, '97....I Remember It Well!

As We Enter Another YEAR We reflect back on a beginning-of-the-year visit ARTHUR RANKIN paid us as THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO was nearing publication!
Arthur Rankin, Jr. flew to CHICAGO, back in 1997, to make sure that the first book on RANKIN/BASS would have as much quality to it as the original specials did. He said hello to Co-Publisher of RANKINBASS.COM Mark Sykora and longtime friend DENNIS BLECK. He especially enjoyed going through the archives and was gracious in signing many, many items for everyone including the many RANKIN/BASS fans of this website.
One of the BEST things that came out of Rick's RANKIN/BASS invlovment and continues to develop, is the strong friendship between Mr. Rankin and Mr. Bass, as well as all the wonderful cast members like MAURY LAWS, PAUL COKER, JACK DAVIS, DON DUGA, TONY PETERS, LEE DANACHER, PETER BAKALIAN and the list goes on and on. As a RANKIN/BASS fan, you will be happy to know that these guys are just as GREAT as the many Productions they have created for all to enjoy!

Arthur and Rick.
Arthur discusses the portfolio.
Arthur and Mark.
Arthur and Dennis.
Arthur signs various items for us.

Starving Artists to Play Navy Pier!

STARVING ARTISTS have lined up some SUMMER Shows at CHICAGO'S VERY OWN NAVY PIER!

This Summer, look for Rick's band THE STARVING ARTISTS to be appearing at NAVY PIER, most likely on the GARDEN Stage.
Rick has been back into the music scene 100% in recent months and has lost more than 40 pounds in anticipation of landing some roles in the music world (Again!).

GIBSON GUITARS has become the official equipment of the STARVING ARTISTS (THANKS to friend TONY WRAY) and there is no looking back at this point. MORE Musical NEWS to come!

New R/B Toys For 2005!

NEW Animatronic RUDOLPH toys for 2005!
Here are some NEW Products coming to WWW.TIMEANDSPACETOYS.COM that you can purchase from the classic RANKIN/BASS TV Special and it looks like they gave RUDOLPH the texture that he actually has on the ANIMAGIC figure! With as little as we know that will be coming out for CHRISTMAS 2005 on the classic RANKIN/BASS character, you may want to PRE-ORDER these now!

Completely Operational and All Circuits Functioning Perfectly!

SORRY it took us so long to bring you the 2005 NEWS UPDATES! We had a series of technical problems and a variety of SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS pop up. THANK YOU for all your e-mails concerning your concerns with the site and RANKIN/BASS issues. We can assure you that things are still hopping with RANKIN/BASS projects and now you can READ IT for yourself. THANKS for your patience!

- Rick and Mark



			TIM LAWSON's book THE MAGIC BEHIND THE VOICES: A WHO'S WHO OF CARTOON VOICE ACTORS is Finally Here! From the UNIVERSITY PRESS OF MISSISSIPPI comes a GREAT book by our friend TIM LAWSON (And Alisa Persons)! This is the book mentioned in THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: A PORTFOLIO and many of you have asked about over the years. It's a fascinating package of biographies, anecdotes, credit listings and photographs of actors who created the unmistakable voices for some of the most popular and enduring animated characters of all time! It includes people like ALAN REED, BOB McFADDEN, DAWS BUTLER, NANCY CARTWRIGHT, WALLY COX, MEL BLANC, JOHN KRICFALUSI, MIKE JUDGE, JUNE FORAY, PAUL FREES and many many more! The PAPERBACK ISBN 1-57806-696-4 is $25.00 and the HARDBACK ISBN 1-57806-695-6 is $60.00 and you can get the book at AMAZON.COM. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND it to anyone who is interested in these wonderful voice actors!