Christmas is two weeks away but it does not hurt to order your copy of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rick Goldschmidt, a 216 page hardcover documenting the making of the 1964 television special. This book is chock full of archival documents, reprints of storyboards, the 1963 draft of the script, how the puppet-motion effects were accomplished, behind-the-scenes photographs... literally every aspect of the holiday special is documented. This is the kind of book you read from the first page to the last and then sit back and watch the special to gain a different perspective -- in-jokes, censorship and alterations... a treasure trove of material.
Housed in an old building formerly used by test fighter plane engines, the Tokyo "Animagic" artists took Romeo Muller's script and Antony Peters' storyboards and turned them into a stop-motion animated holiday TV classic. That television special airs annually over CBS, sometimes twice in December, and I don't know a kid at heart that did not memorize every line to the holiday classic. With Johnny Marks title song and several classic tunes for the show, Bernard Cowan directed a talented cast of Canadian vote actors, Burl Ives gave a memorable performance, and Maury Laws oversaw the musical soundtrack. Produced by Rankin and Bass, the television special remains the highest-rated in history.
Special thanks to Rick Goldschmidt who took thousands of hours to assemble the production files, contracts, sheet music, recording sessions, photographs and tons of materials to create this book. If you are a fan of the annual Christmas special, this is the book you want to have. Makes a perfect Christmas gift this holiday for your friends!
You can buy your copy direct here:
Free postage and be sure to click the box that asks for something personal -- you'll get your copy autographed at no charge but you need to check that box!
