On September 27th, we received shipment of the 2nd printing of THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS (Miser Bros. Press) By Rick Goldschmidt. This is the SOFT COVER edition and each book is individually shrinkwrapped. Unlike in the past, Rick will not be signing this edition due to the fact that they are shrinkwrapped for protection and the demand for the book this year is too great. We do have the book on our MERCHANDISE pages for credit card orders or you can simply order by mailing $19.95 + $5 shipping to: MISER BROS. PRESS, P.O. Box 1284, Bridgeview, IL 60455.
As far as THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (Miser Bros. Press) Hardcover book by Rick Goldschmidt goes....it's due in Early November. It features a FOREWORD by ARTHUR RANKIN, JR. and an AFTERWORD by PIXAR Director ANDREW STANTON. Rick Signed off on the last proofs this past Thursday and it is now just a matter of getting the books printed, bound and shipped. The Pre-order demand has been overwhelming and we have been keeping up with the orders in the order that they are received. Those of you who mailed your checks and MO will be the first to receive the book. Some have asked if RANKINBASS.COM will be the only place to get the book? The answer is no. DIAMOND DISTRIBUTORS solicited the book in their catalog in August and are placing an order for many specialty shops and comic book stores. It will be at AMAZON.COM, MUSEUM Book stores, etc. We will be the first to have it and we have always had reliable and fast shipping. We will start taking Credit Card orders in about a week or so and you can mail for it now...$29.95 +$5 shipping to: MISER BROS. PRES, P.O. Box 1284, Bridgeview, IL 60455.
New R/B merchandise:
RUDOLPH BOBBLEHEADS!
Here's another cool set of Rudolph merchandise due out in mid-November: Rudolph Bobbleheads! The set is made by ToySite and includes Rudolph,
Bumble, Santa, and Hermey. They are similar in size to the Wacky Wobbler line of bobbleheads. Great stocking stuffers! Click the pic to order yours today at www.timeandspacetoys.com!
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KYOKO KITA & PINCHAN FEATURED IN THE 'ANIMAGIC' SECTION OF NEW RUDOLPH BOOK!
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One of the BEST things about the NEW book was that I was able to give an in-depth look at the 'ANIMAGIC' process. 'ANIMAGIC' is the trademark STOP-MOTION Process that RANKIN/BASS used in many of their specials and films. Led by the Father of Stop-Motion Animation in Japan TAD MOCHINAGA . Tad was enormously talented and he took Hiroshi Tabata under his wings and gave him the reigns on many of the later Specials. Hiroshi provided us with some EXCLUSIVE photos that Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass didn't even know existed and without Hiroshi's assistance, we could not have told the full story. Kyoko Kita seen here working on the puppets from RUDOLPH & FROSTY'S CHRISTMAS IN JULY (1979) even drew a diagram for me of exactly what RUDOLPH was made of. She was one of the head puppet makers under Ichiro (Pinchan) Komuro (Pictured here today). They actually made these animated icons of pop culture. I am eternally in-debt to Masaki Iizuka for rounding up our Japanese friends and to Arthur Rankin for his assistance every step of the way.
WILLY McBEAN & HIS MAGIC MACHINE and THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE DESERVE DELUXE DVD RELEASES FROM GOLDEN BOOKS/SONY WONDER
Here is an idea we had. After dealing with the entire RANKIN/BASS catalog for years....two of the very BEST Productions are little known and many have yet to see them. Take my word for it, you would absolutely love WILLY McBEAN & HIS MAGIC MACHINE (1965) and THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE (1972). WILLY (as described in my book) was a feature film, the first for RANKIN/BASS and was Produced during the making of RUDOLPH with the same voice cast and animators working on both. It is RANKIN/BASS Eye candy and has been completely Re-mastered by GOLDEN BOOKS. I think the reason for it's delay has been the fact that few remember or have seen it. All the more reason to start up a write in campaign. It's ready to go! Check the short clip of the film on the RUDOLPH and the FROSTY DVDs from the film. They also have the THEATRICAL TRAILER for a DVD release.
THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE (1972) is yet another 'ANIMAGIC' classic. It would be a perfect Special to pair up with HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL on DVD, which is scheduled for a Spring, 2002 release. I also have a 8 Minute featurette done about this special featuring BEHIND-THE-SCENES shots of Danny Kaye, Arthur Rankin, Jules Bass, Maury Laws, the animators and it even features some Jack Davis Presentation art. RANKIN/BASS fans would get a real treat if all of this was made available on one COLLECTOR'S DVD!
Why don't you drop a card or letter with these suggestions today to show GOLDEN BOOKS/SONY WONDER that there is interest. Mail to: GOLDEN BOOKS FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT, 888 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10106-4100. Of course, being in New York their world (as was ours) was recently rocked by the cowards we have all become aware of BUT I think they would like to hear from you!
THEY HEARD US! UPDATE: 10-25-2001!
They heard our request for a DVD Release of THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF DANNY KAYE: "The Emperor's New Clothes"! It has already been re-mastered and it will include the 6 minute Documentary originally made to promote the series narrated by Arthur Rankin and Danny Kaye! HERE COMES PETER COTTONTAIL will be released on a seperate DVD by GOLDEN BOOKS/SONY WONDER. Most likely, each DVD will have an Arthur Rankin Introduction. Danny and Arthur were close friends.
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RANKIN/BASS MERCHANDISE AND OTHER THINGS....
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We appreciate the recent e-mails telling us about new items you have been seeing around the net. Why haven't we talked about some of them? Well, we don't like to talk about items until we know they are a done deal. Some of you saw pictures of a proposed FROSTY figure line based on the classic R/B Special. Recently, those photos were taken down because the site that posted them jumped the gun. In fact, those figures may never happen. I have been involved in countless products and lines that have not come out on the RANKIN/BASS characters. Until we are sure, we don't want to get your hopes up....it's that simple.
We have also gotten many e-mails about the following: A DVD release on THE LAST UNICORN, THUNDERCATS, THE FLIGHT OF DRAGONS, THE BERMUDA DEPTHS and THE HOBBIT/RETURN OF THE KING. Also requests for their Soundtracks. These are all GREAT ideas! I always suggest this to the companies that own these Specials/Series. There is a HUGE following of all of them! THANK GOD Warner Bros. finally issued THE HOBBIT/RETURN OF THE KING on DVD! We will also try to do some sort of a write-in campaign for all of these. As far as THUNDERCATS goes....we are planning on building a Special section for the series on our site. We know how popular this series is and we have not given it it's proper place on the site yet. It's coming!
RUDOLPH BOOK UPDATE! 10-23-2001....The dust-jacket proofs arrived last Friday and THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (Miser Bros. Press) is at the bindery right now. It is expected in the first week of NOVEMBER and will ship immediately to all that pre-ordered. PAYPAL orders should begin Nov. 1st on our MERCHANDISE PAGES. Also, Keep an eye on our MARQUEE as it will be updated almost on a daily basis now. the ABOUT US pages are open now through the EXPLORE page. Lot's NEW coming to the site in the next few months! PLAYING MANTIS 'Santa's Castle' should be hitting TOYS R' US shelves right now! It is really something. Look for the LARGE ROARING BUMBLE at Menard's, Target and Comic shops! Lots new at www.timeandspacetoys.com too!
10-29-2001 UPDATE!
EXCITING NEWS!!!! FROSTY hits MERVYNS Nov. 1st and PAUL COKER, JR. is spokesman for the character he helped give life!!! Check this LINK CLICK HERE for a brief article on Paul's involvement which includes RADIO and SATELLITE TV INTERVIEWS around the country this holiday season! We will post a schedule when we have it! Paul and I have done many radio interviews together and he is alot of fun! He has a GREAT sense of humor coming from the pages of MAD MAGAZINE!
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN FROM US TO YOU! IT wasn't invited BUT you are!
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This is always a favorite time of year for us here at RANKINBASS.COM! Have to pop in MAD MONSTER PARTY and watch it. In fact, MAD, MAD, MAD MONSTERS is always great to take a look at too. The sharpest version of MAD MONSTER PARTY that we've seen is the 35mm Print owned by AMERICAN MOVIE CLASSICS, which will AIR once again on Thursday OCTOBER 25th at 3PM Central time on AMC! Fire up your VCRs...it will only air once as part of their MONSTERFEST series!. It will also air on October 27th on the FOX FAMILY CHANNEL. Oh well,
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HAVE A SAFE & HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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Rick and Mark
