PMM: Rankin/Bass TV Specials
A list of TV specials produced by the Rankin/Bass Productions. Created for use with Plex Meta Manager (PMM).
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31 titles
- DirectorF.R. CrawleyThomas GlynnLarry RoemerStarsLarry D. MannAlfie ScoppCarl BanasAfter Dorothy's friends are robbed of their prizes by a revived Wicked Witch, she is sent back to Oz to set things straight once again.
- DirectorLarry RoemerStarsBillie Mae RichardsBurl IvesLarry D. MannA young reindeer Rudolph lives at the North Pole. His father is one of Santa's reindeer and it is expected that Rudolph will eventually be one too. However, he has a feature which is a setback and causes him to be ostracized: his red nose.
- DirectorLarry RoemerStarsJames CagneyWilliam MarineRose Marie JunThe origin of the great bear forest conservation crusader.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsDanny ThomasMarlo ThomasEd AmesA cricket seeks to rescue a poor toymaker and his blind daughter from an exploitative miser.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsTennessee Ernie FordEddie AlbertJohn GaryThe Mayflower journey as seen through the experiences of a church mouse.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.Takeo NakamuraStarsJosé FerrerPaul FreesJune ForayAn orphan drummer boy who hates humanity finds his life changed forever when he meets three wise men en route to Bethlehem.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsJackie VernonBilly De WolfeJimmy DuranteA living snowman and a little girl struggle to elude a greedy magician who is after the snowman's magic hat.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsJack BennyGeorge BurnsPhyllis DillerAnimated TV special by Rankin/Bass depicting famous vaudeville acts such as Flip Wilson's Columbus, Jack Benny and George Burns' Maxwell, Groucho Marx's Napoleon, W. C. Fields' Sportsman and The Smothers Brothers' song to woo a princess.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsFred AstaireMickey RooneyKeenan WynnA mailman reveals the origin of Santa Claus.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsDanny KayePaul FreesJoan GardnerWith the help of a time machine, Peter Cottontail must rescue Easter from the hands of the malicious Irontail.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsDanny KayeCyril RitchardImogene CocaThis is one of the 'Animagical' titles from the children's film archive of Rankin/Bass. The story line is reminiscent of an earlier 1966 R/B Animagic film, 'The Daydreamer', both of which chronicles the fairy tales of Danish author, Hans Christian Andersen.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsJoel GreyTammy GrimesJohn McGiverWhen a town learns that Santa Claus has struck it off his delivery schedule due to an insulting letter, a way must be found to change his mind.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsShirley BoothMickey RooneyDick ShawnWhen a weary and discouraged Santa Claus considers skipping his Christmas Eve run one year, Mrs. Claus and his elves set out to change his mind.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsAngela LansburyCyril RitchardDavid KelleyA young shepherd, Lucas (David Kelley), is blinded by lightning, and some kindly nuns at a nearby abbey take him in. Sister Catherine (Iris Rainer) describes snow to Lucas, who has never seen it. Lucas gets chosen to play an angel in the abbey's Christmas pageant, and the Christmas snow that falls during the pageant works a small miracle.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsBurl IvesRobert MorseStan FrebergA beloved toy stuffed rabbit is rescued by a fairy to be the first Easter Rabbit. After his owner falls ill.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsAndy GriffithShelley WintersDennis DayFrosty's kind of lonely, so the kids think of making him a wife, Crystal. But will Jack Frost let them be happy?
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsRed SkeltonFrank GorshinMorey AmsterdamRudolph must find Happy, the baby New Year, before midnight on New Year's Eve.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsGreer GarsonZero MostelDavid JayAaron, the drummer boy, struggles to protect a bellmaker's great silver bells from seizure by Roman soldiers.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsFred AstaireSkip HinnantBob McFaddenThe Mailman decides to stop another deluge of letters by answering questions about the Easter Bunny: Sunny, a baby rabbit found and adopted by Kidville (a town of only kids--even a kid mailman). And when Sunny goes delivering eggs to the nearby town (which he has to dye to fool Gadzooks, the mean bear on the mountain), he discovers that there are no kids in the town, and that the rightful (kid) ruler is being suppressed by his aunt. But the young king likes Sunny's dyed eggs and jelly beans. So Kidville, with the help of an old train engine, makes a few plans (and a decoy chocolate rabbit) to distribute them.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsOrson BeanJohn HustonTheodore GottliebA homebody hobbit in Middle Earth gets talked into joining a quest with a group of dwarves to recover their treasure from a dragon.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsRoger MillerBrenda VaccaroPaul FreesAn outcast donkey in Roman era Judea with overlong ears finds his destiny on the way to Bethlehem.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsWalter MatthauTom BosleyTheodore BikelThis version of the story is told from the perspective of B.A.H. Humbug. After Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to assist the poor or have Christmas Dinner with his nephew, he is visited by the ghost of his one time business partner and friend, Jacob Marley. Marley tells him to change his ways and Scrooge refutes this as madness. He is then visited by three ghosts, all who show him what his future will be like if he doesn't change his ways.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsBuddy HackettRobert MorsePaul FreesThe Groundhog tells the story of how, for once, Jack Frost became human, and helped a knight win his lady love.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsOrson BeanJohn HustonTheodore BikelTwo Hobbits struggle to destroy the Ring in Mount Doom while their friends desperately fight evil Lord Sauron's forces in a final battle.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsRed ButtonsEthel MermanMickey RooneyThe Winterbolt is trying to make North Pole his evil wonderland, and it is up to Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and other icons to stop him.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsAlan KingGeorge S. IrvingBob McFaddenIt's Pinocchio's first Christmas, and he sells the book Geppetto gives him for present money, but Cat and Fox trick him out of it.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsArt CarneyPeggy CassBob McFaddenAn Irish sailor is stranded on an island full of Leprechauns and soon finds himself aiding them in protecting their gold from a greedy Hag.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsVictor BuonoJames GregoryJames Earl JonesA young Boston writer goes back in time into an era where wizards and dragon reign and science is just barely known.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsDan AykroydJane CurtinLaraine NewmanIn this animated pilot based on the SNL sketch, The Coneheads come to conquer Earth but they soon find themselves becoming domesticated.
- DirectorJules BassArthur Rankin Jr.StarsEarl HammondEarle HymanLarry KenneyAt a council convened by The Great Ak, the forest being tells the story of Santa Claus to explain why he deserves to be made immortal.
- DirectorLee DannacherStarsGregory HinesPatti LaBelleVanessa WilliamsNoel Royce (GREGORY HINES), a onetime successful songwriter, becomes a sidewalk Santa in the hope of breaking his writer's block. With the help of a wisecracking Christmas partridge named Melody (PATTI LABELLE), his wife Alicia (VANESSA WILLIAMS), and a hep cat named Emerald (EARTHA KITT), Noel discovers the very soul of Christmas. By the story's end, an entire community is transformed and a struggling animal shelter gets a second chance.