Jules Bass

Jules Bass (born September 16, 1935) is an American director, producer, composer, lyricist, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded a film production company in New York. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated musically with Edward Thomas and James Polack.

Life and career[edit]

Bass was born in Philadelphia. Educated at New York University, he first worked at an advertising agency in New York until the early 1960s, when he founded the film production company Videocraft International (now called Rankin/Bass) with his partner Arthur Rankin, Jr. He is known for his collaborations with Arthur Rankin, Jr., co-directing and producing a wide array of stop motion animated features and cartoons, notably the hit cartoon Thundercats (1985-1989).^[1] He composed the score for some of these films, collaborating with Maury Laws. Bass also served as lyricist for several songs. He has also solo directed some Rankin/Bass features, such as Mad Monster Party (1967) and The Daydreamer (1966).

Bass also wrote for some of the company's specials under the pseudonym "Julian P. Gardner," some of which include The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow, The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus, and the Emmy Award nominated The Little Drummer Boy, Book II.

Bass stopped directing and producing films on March 4, 1987, but most recently he has written a series of children's books, based around the character of "Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon".^[2]

Filmography[edit]

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (co-producer) (1964)
• The Daydreamer (director) (1966)
• The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967)
• The Little Drummer Boy (1968)
• Frosty the Snowman (TV program) (producer) (1969)
• Marco (1973)
• The Year Without A Santa Claus (producer & director) (1974)
• Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (producer & director) (1976)
• The Hobbit (TV movie) (director & producer) (1977)
• The Return of the King (TV movie) (director) (1980)
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (TV movie) (director) (1980)
• Bushido Blade (1981)
• The Last Unicorn (director) (1982)
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (TV movie) (1985)
• ThunderCats (TV series) (executive producer) (1985–1989)
• Silverhawks (TV series) (director & executive producer) (1986)
• Monte Carlo (Based on his novel Headhunters) (2011)
• ThunderCats Roar (TV series) (consulting producer) (2020)

Writings[edit]

• Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon, 1999, Barefoot Books. ISBN 978-1-902283-36-4
• Cooking with Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon: A Cook Book for Kids, 1999, Barefoot Books. ISBN 978-1-84148-040-4
• Headhunters, 2001
• The Mythomaniacs, 2013, Eltanin Publishing.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Jules Bass at IMDb