Jules Bass of ‘Rudolph’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman’ Passes Away at 87 

Jules Bass, the animator, producer, director and composer who partnered with Arthur Rankin Jr. on the stop-motion holiday TV specials Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, has passed away at age 87.

He passed away at an assisted living facility in Rye, New York, according to publicist Jennifer Fisherman-Ruff.

The three prominent holiday specials, “Rudolph,” voiced by Burl Ives, “Frosty” starring Jackie Vernon and Jimmy Durante and “Santa Claus,” voiced by Fred Astaire and Mickey Rooney, all debuted during the 1960s and 1970s. In the decades since, the specials have become staples of seasonal holiday programming on television.

Related: Super Cute Disney Christmas Tumblers are perfect for the Holidays

Born in Philadelphia on Sept. 16, 1935, Bass attended New York University and worked at an advertising agency before he joined Rankin, formerly an art director at ABC, at his film production company Videocraft International (later known as Rankin/Bass Productions).

As a producer Bass was also involved in some traditional hand-animation projects as well, most notably the animated adaptation of The Hobbit which he co-directed with Arthur Rankin Jr. They also collaborated on the animated The Return of the King adaptation, the rights to the first three Tolkien novels having been split with Ralph Bakshi directing the animated The Lord of the Rings without Rankin and Bass.

In addition to numerous holiday specials, they served as producers of series including “Thundercats” and “The Jackson 5ive” animated series. Bass also produced and directed the 1967 cult favorite “Mad Monster Party?” starring Boris Karloff.

After Bass stepped away from producing and filmmaking in 1987, he went on to write children’s books.

We give our condolences to his family and friends.

Related: Super Sweet Holiday Munchlings Spotted At Walt Disney World!

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Photo Credit: NBCUniversal Television Distribution

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