The season of Rankin and Bass

November 21, 2024 8:45 PM

'The Reluctant Dragon and Mr Toad Show. 1970. (slyt, 22:59)

"The Reluctant Dragon & Mr. Toad Show is a 1970 American animated television series that aired on ABC's Saturday morning schedule. The show features two characters created by British children's writer Kenneth Grahame: the Reluctant Dragon from the 1898 short story of the same name, and Mr. Toad from the 1908 novel The Wind in the Willows. The show was created by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York City, who produced 17 episodes"


more episodes.

posted by clavdivs (8 comments total)

How about that distinctive early Rankin-Bass aesthetic, with the cartoony art and highly produced music? The art style reminds me of their animated Frosty the Snowman, and the character designs of their stop motion specials.
posted by JHarris at 6:10 AM on November 22, 2024 [2 favorites]

Boy, does that unlock some distant memories.
posted by briank at 8:03 AM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]

Growing up a reluctant introvert in a very large Irish Catholic family, Rankin-Bass was my special safe place during the holidays. There was chaos going on all around me but I could cuddle up in one of grandma's old wool blankets with a 7UP and grenadine in one hand and a tin of Dansk cookies in the other. The warm glow of the 12 inch wood panel Zenith. The sudden transition from 1970's programming to something that seemed archaic and extremely low-budget. Filled with voice actors that weren't relevant when my father watched them in his youth. Like all of those innocent times when the world was filled with wonder and joy was everywhere during the holidays, the shows are much shorter than I remember them but you'll always find me watching them. Every year.
posted by hairless ape at 12:52 PM on November 22, 2024 [7 favorites]

hairless ape, when MST Club does its Christmas thing, we usually find some place each year to squeeze in a block of Rankin-Bass.
posted by JHarris at 1:29 PM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]

A little investigation reveals that the animators of this show were Mushi Studios, probably the same as Mushi Productions, the company of Osamu Tezuka, the "god of manga," and creator of Astro Boy and many other manga and shows.
posted by JHarris at 1:42 PM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]

Possibly worth noting: Disney did shorts based on both these characters as well, both released as part of anthology features. Their take on the the dragon in particular is very different from Rankin-Bass's, more effeminate and less doofus.
posted by baf at 2:45 PM on November 22, 2024 [2 favorites]

Oh wow. Didn't realize I remembered that til I started watching it.
posted by stormyteal at 8:26 PM on November 22, 2024 [1 favorite]

Oh wow. Didn't realize I remembered that til I started watching it.

Same.

I watched the Rankin/Bass film The Return of the King last year and enjoyed it. It has a marvelous song.
posted by neuron at 9:24 PM on November 24, 2024 [1 favorite]