Episode 150: The Wacky World of Rankin Bass

Happy holidays to all! It's that time of year for gift-giving, overindulging in treats, and, of course, watching holiday-themed movies and shows. To celebrate our 150th episode, and since it just happens to coincide with the holidays, we decided to take a look at those beloved Rankin-Bass holiday specials. To help us with this prodigious task, we asked our friend Mr. Lobo, to join us!

We'll review the history of Rankin-Bass, how the studio came to be, a little about the backgrounds of Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass, and how they made the films. Then we'll dig into the films, particularly 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "The Year Without a Santa Claus," and more. These shows definitely had an impact on us as kids, and we bet they did with you too.

And if holiday specials aren't your thing, never fear - we also talk about Rankin-Bass's work on the King Kong cartoon, the King Kong Escapes film, Mad Monster Party, and more!

In our Sensor Sweep, Mr. Lobo leads off, and he has all sorts of genre movie goodness to share! You can find him hosting Cinema Insomnia -now heading into its 23rd year - and he livestreams on Twitch, Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. He is on 52 broadcast stations with Cinema Insomnia. And there's a Roku channel called OSI 74 that has Cinema Insomnia and other horror hosts and their shows, cartoons, and all sorts of programming. There's another version on Amazon Fire TV too (for a small fee).  Mr. Lobo is also going to be in Sacramento, California January 25th to host the Sacramento Horror Film Festival. Just look for him on the internet, and remember, they're not bad movies, they're just misunderstood.

Bob took a trip to the Stanford Theater to see the Wizard of Oz with his friend Stan Wong, and got a nice surprise: a terrific bust of the Creature from the Black Lagoon! Stan painted it, it was sculpted by friend of the show Jeff Wehenkel, and released by Michael Reagan.

Larry shares an episode-appropriate ornament of Snow Miser and another of Heat Miser. He also has a Laurel and Hardy book of collectibles.

The episode wraps up as the crew discusses Skeleton Crew, Dune Prophecy, Superman and Lois, 28 Years Later, and more.

Many thanks to our pal Mr. Lobo for joining us this time around!

Please let us know your memories of watching Rankin-Bass specials!

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Have a holly jolly Christmas!