JANUARY 2001 NEWS!

First of all RANKINBASS.com would like to announce that Rick's new book RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER: The Making Of A RANKIN/BASS Television classic is slated to be released by TIGER MOUNTAIN PRESS for Christmas, 2001.

MARCO is due out on DVD in Wide-Screen Format on January 30th, 2001. Don't miss this disc! For the ANIMAGIC "Peace Berries" section, it is worth the $ alone. AMAZON.com is taking pre-orders now. "I had more fun, excitement, anguish, despair, hilarity, romance and frustration making that picture, than any other," Says Arthur Rankin. "It also included a Typhoon that forced us off an island location in the Sea of Japan and then there is the matter of building the GREAT WALL of China....but that's another book!"

We hope everyone had a very nice holiday season! We had a very busy one and want to THANK YOU for that! This will definitely prove to be a very productive year on the RANKIN/BASS front.

We also want to comment on a December article that appeared in a CANADIAN newspaper regarding an interview with Rick and Billie Mae Richards. There were some comments printed in the article that were taken out of context and would have been better left out of the article . When asked why Billie Mae and the other Canadian actors are so bitter these days? Rick was speculating on some possible reasons, that suddenly became his difinitive answers.

RANKINBASS.com and Rick have the utmost respect for the actors and actresses that were a part of the classic specials and films RANKIN/BASS have made and prominently intend to feature them in the MAKING OF book. Bernard "Bunny" Cowan is especially noteworthy. He was responsible for the entire cast of actors and headed the CANADIAN branch of VIDEOCRAFT INTERNATIONAL, after meeting Arthur Rankin in 1959. He was also the voice of the "Bumble," The Misfit spotted Elephant and Clarice's Father. We apologize for not bringing up the talents of Mr. Cowan in previous articles. Rick's book is still a work in progress.

If you ordered some items from our MERCHANDISE pages just after the holiday, PLEASE allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. We ran out of Paul Coker autographed cards and he is currently signing some more. We did receive some more copies of THE ENCHANTED WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS from TIGER MOUNTAIN and Rick is still signing them w/ a character cartoon.

COMING SOON to rankinbass.com! This great hand painted statue of Boris from Mad Monster Party will soon be AVAILABLE TO ORDER through our website! Shipments should be arriving soon, so keep checking the "Online Shoppe" or the "What's New" pages for ordering information which will be posted as soon as we receive them.

A LITTLE KNOWN FACT. We were not able to talk about this during the Christmas rush of 1999 BUT the ENESCO RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER ornaments which appeared in CVS PHARMACIES had a unique marking on 2% of the production series. The more collectible versions of these ornaments had a SANTA'S CASTLE printed on them. This marking is small and in black and appears near the date on the ornament itself . I have seen it on SAM, YUKON, CHARLIE and all 8 characters. CVS and ENESCO really didn't want customers tearing apart their displays to find the unique items. I am told that CVS is now clearing them out at 2 for $5.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all! 2001 will be GREAT! Stay warm!