Cricket On The Hearth Now Available On DVD! Another Rankin/Bass holiday special has been released on dvd by Sony Wonder! On September 5th, the 1967 cel animated TV special Cricket On The Hearth finally saw its digital debut! Starring the voice talents of Danny Thomas with daughter Marlo Thomas, and Roddy McDowell as Crocket Cricket, this rarely seen holiday treat is based on a Charles Dickens’ classic tale and boasts a wonderful soundtrack with songs also sung by Danny Thomas! A must for any R/B fan! Click here for more details at amazon.com!

Another Animation Great Leaves Us!

	'Flintstones' Artist Ed Benedict Dies
	Hanna-Barbera's animation legend Ed Benedict passed away in his sleep this past Aug. 28, 2006. Ed was one of our favorite artists. He designed Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, various characters on The Flintstones, and many others. The animation community mourns Ed's passing. He is an inspiration to many of us and he will be sorely missed. He was 94. Read Ed's obituary here.

The Making of Rudolph Book To Be Released In Japan!

PETIT GRAND PUBLISHING INC. in JAPAN with the Japanese version of my book on THE MAKING OF RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER for Japanese consumption. It has been alot of fun delving through the materials once again and the book will be released in JAPAN this Christmas! KYOKO KITA checked in on Rick's blog and saw her original ANIMAGIC creations beautifully restored! She was VERY happy to see SANTA & RUDOLPH restored to their original glory and displayed in a nice glass case and she hopes they stay that way for many years to come! Arthur Rankin, Jr., Masaki Iizuka , & Jules Bass Tabata working with the puppets! Burl Ives & his alter-ego Sam the Snowman An original Don Duga storyboard! Tony Peters at the boards!

- Rick and Mark

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