Pieces of Rare & Lost Media From Rudolph 1964 + Lost Edgar Bergen Rankin Bass Pilot 1965

Описание: Here are some pieces of rare and lost media from the iconic Christmas special Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer from 1964. As well as some info and photos of an unreleased pilot from 1965 made by the same company Rankin Bass.

First of all, two 16mm reels of Rudolph were listed on eBay for over a hundred dollars back in late 2023. The first one according to the seller, the film is faded and skips at beginning of the header, actual pics shown, has audio. Old metal can is a little hard to open. Which was sold for $135. The second one from the same seller says the color is faded and probably a little better than what is shown. I can see 3 splices. Little sprocket damage at the beginning. Comes in a metal can. Which was sold for $110. And from looking at the photos they look like they are in color especially the second one however it’s unknown if the reels included the original 1964 version of the ending where the elf drops the presents off Santa’s sleigh instead of the Misfit toys in the 1965 version. It seems like no one even knew these listings existed besides maybe a Rankin Bass fan or a private collector. And since it’s been over a year since they were sold, it’s more likely those reels are now owned by private collectors.

Another thing about the special is that on April 21, 2021, a user named Freedmeep1964 found photos of Rudolph, Hermey, Foreman Elf, Santa, and Sam The Snowman. The user mentions that “the photos were taken both at what may possibly be the set of Rudolph and the set of the GE fantasy hour commercials. The first photo shows Hermey alongside Rudolph. This was apparently taken while animating the GE Rudolph commercials. From what I have seen, all of the GE Rudolph commercials didn't feature Rudolph or Hermey. It is likely that these animations never made it into the first airing of rudolph or Rick has them recorded but has not yet revealed them to the world. Another possibility is that they did air but nobody has a recording of it. This would be very disappointing as that would make it lost media.”

One more piece of interesting media to bring up is that during the mid 1960s, after the success of Rudolph, Rankin Bass collaborated with Hollywood star, Edgar Bergen, to work on another Animagic project called The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show in 1966. This was because Edgar Bergen loved the special and the animation style Animagic. Which the project was either going to be a special or a full tv series. A pilot of the project was made but it was never released due to Bergen’s health. Which the pilot would be forgotten to time until in 2006, Rankin Bass historian, Rick Goldschmidt made a post of the pilot that provided some info and a photo from the pilot as well. Info and a few photos can also be found on The Enchanted World of Rankin Bass book. Rick Goldschmidt has mentioned the pilot at a convention from 2019 and some podcasts in 2024. Even recently on December 20, 2024, in a podcast by YouTube channel Dollar Bin Bandits, has claimed he hasn’t see the pilot as of yet but he thinks a copy of it does still exists in the Bergen collection and maybe one day it would be let out. If the pilot was released and could’ve been a full blown show, it probably would’ve been the first animated show to star a celebrity, as this was years before shows like Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids but was made the same year as the Beatles cartoon, which first aired in September 25, 1965. The idea of a stop motion animated show starring a celebrity wouldn’t be made again until 32 years later with the likes of Celebrity Deathmatch in 1998 and The Pj’s starring Eddie Murphy in 1999. An Animagic figure of Mortimer Snerd used from the pilot can be seen in a display case at the Vent Haven Museum.

So with more awareness of the pilot and that more material can get found, The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show done by Rankin Bass will remain a mystery.

Sources: https://www.ebay.com/itm/305315768844

https://www.ebay.com/itm/305319647829

https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads...

https://accordingtomjr.wixsite.com/my...

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