Inanimate Object

(Props to Monty)

Arthur Rankin, bringer of Christmas for more than 50 years, has died at the age of 89. With his partner Jules Bass, Rankin introduced us to a tooth-pulling elf, a Bouncing Bumble, a Charlie-in-a-box, the oft-injured Burgermeister Meisterburger, a jug-eared Baby New Year, the Heat Miser and Snow Miser, a hat-stealing snowman, a clock-wrecking mouse, the Jack Frost who was not a mutated homicidal snowman, and, of course, a freakish reindeer in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Rudolph's Shiny New Year, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman, Twas the Night Before Christmas, and Jack Frost. The rest of the year was less kind, as his hundreds of TV and screen credits included the puppetized Universal catalog Mad Monster Party?, the Japanese take on America’s favorite giant ape King Kong Escapes and the animated version of The King and I.

 

Mann Down

January was not kind to the men behind the animagic, as Larry D. Mann, the voice of Yukon Cornelius in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, has died at the age of 91. If you were curious as to what the pick-axe licking Canuck looked like, he was also the conductor/dealer in the poker game in The Sting where Henry Gondorff out-cheats Doyle Lonnegan. 

Good Grief

Or
Inanimated
Bill Melendez, who animated for Walt Disney, Charles Schulz, and Dr. Seuss in a lengthy career, has died at the age of 91. One of the few Hispanics in the animation game, Melendez worked on Pinocchio, Fantasia and Mickey Mouse shorts, then moved over to the Schlesinger Studio to animate Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig. He then animated the Peanuts gang in a commercial, and Peanuts creator Charles Schulz was so impressed, he decreed Melendez was the only man he would allow to bring Charlie Brown et al to the screen, producing more than 50 specials, including the Emmy-winning holiday staple “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” four movies, Saturday morning cartoons and a litany of commercials. Schulz was adamant that Snoopy’s active fantasy life not be sullied by having him speak in the specials, so Melendez recited gibberish into a tape recorder, sped up the audio and the resulting squeaks and squawks have been used ever since. Melendez also animated the TV special “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “Garfield on the Town” and “Cathy,” both of which won Emmys, bringing his lifetime total to 6.

Gravey and Jobriath

Dick Sutcliffe, the Lutheran minister whose Gumby meets God approach to religion inspired the preachy, treacly Claymation sermon Davey and Goliath, which taught that no matter how you try to raise your kids, unless you have a talking dog to reinforce morality, they are going to pick on crippled kids, rob, contaminate the town’s water supply, cheat, ransack museums, and murder at every opportunity.

Inanimator

Frank Thomas, one of the last survivors of Walt Disney’s famed Nine Old Man stable of animators, has died at 92. Thomas was renowned for imbuing his creations with emotion, in such scenes as the Seven Dwarfs weeping at Snow White’s bedside, Lady and the Tramp over a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, Pinocchio singing “I’ve Got No Strings” and Bambi attempting to walk on ice. With Thomas’ passing, Ollie Johnston, a lifelong friend, is the only remaining “Old Man,” and both enjoyed their legendary status in the industry. Brad Bird, one of the new breed of pen and ink men they trained, included caricatures of them - for which they supplied their own voices - in The Iron Giant and the upcoming The Incredibles.