Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment (founded and formerly known as Videocraft International, Ltd. and Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.) was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass' stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
| Formerly | Videocraft International (1960–1968, officially till 1974) Rankin/Bass Productions (1968–1983) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Film |
| Predecessor | Arthur Rankin Jr. Associates |
| Founded | September 14, 1960 |
| Founders | Arthur Rankin Jr. Jules Bass |
| Defunct | December 17, 2001 |
| Fate | Shut down |
| Successors | Library: Universal Studios (through DreamWorks Animation) (pre-September 1974) Warner Bros. Discovery (post-September 1974) |
| Headquarters | , U.S. |
| Products | Television specials Television series Feature films |
| Parent | Tomorrow Entertainment (1971–1974) Telepictures (1983–1987) Lorimar-Telepictures (1987–1989) |
Nearly all of the studio's animation was outsourced to Japanese animation companies such as Toei Animation, MOM Production, Mushi Productions and Topcraft. Rankin/Bass was one of the first western studios to outsource their low-budget animated television and film productions to animation studios in foreign countries; the others that already practiced animation outsourcing include Total Television and King Features Syndicate TV in New York City; and Jay Ward Productions and Hanna-Barbera Productions in Los Angeles, California.