Jules Bass, the second half of the legendary Rankin/Bass production team, died last Tuesday at the age of 87 due to “age related illness” according to People. He was found deceased at an assisted living facility in Rye, New York. Rick Goldschmidt, the official biographer for Jules Bass, wrote on Twitter, “Jules Bass was a complicated and private man, but he was also a very talented man.  He was primarily known for his songwriting work with Maury. Jules Bass R.I.P.” Bass’s daughter and only child, Jean Nicole, preceded him in death January this year. Born Julius Bass in Philadelphia on September 16, 1935, he began his career in advertising. In 1955, he met Arthur Rankin, Jr. The two teamed up and began creating commercials. Their collaboration would lead to their company, Rankin/ Bass Productions.

The pair would move on from commercials to more creative endeavors, turning their focus on stop-motion animation, what was called “animagic,” which Goldschmidt called “a stop-motion form of animation where they would move a puppet one frame at the time and shoot it.” Eventually, they would create some of the most iconic Christmas specials of all time using both stop motion and traditional animation, such as “Frosty the Snowman” and “Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer.” “Rudolf,” was based on the song written by Johnny Marks, who was a neighbor and friend to Rankin. Many of the Rankin/ Bass creations continue to be shown annually decades after their creation and really popularized the “Christmas special.”

Bass was more than just a producer, however. He was also a very talented lyricist, author, and director. He wrote the song “The Greatest Adventure” for Rankin/Bass’s 1977 animated adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit, for which the pair received a Peabody award. Bass also penned the themes for Heat Miser and Snow Miser in “The Year without a Santa Clause,” and directed “The Last Unicorn” with Rankin in 1982. He wrote a children’s book titled, Herb, the Vegetarian Dragon in 1999 and a companion cookbook for children called Cooking With Herb. He even worked as a consulting producer for the reboot of Rankin/Bass’s popular series, Thundercats. In speaking about his career and partnership with Bass, Rankin, who died in 2014 said, “If you’re judging any creative effort, longevity is the reward. I mean, how many painters have there been, how many Van Gogh has it been, etc. So longevity is extremely important in any effort.” With such an expansive list of cultural staples, Bass certainly has achieved that longevity.