The fifth book from Rankin/Bass Historian/Biographer Rick Goldschmidt is being released by Miser Bros Press for Christmas 2018! The book entitled The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and The Daydreamer (Miser Bros Press) is 372 pages of history on the Rankin/Bass classic television special, which still airs on ABC television and one of Rankin/Bass’ rare feature film gems. There are over 350 rare images in the book beautifully designed by Wes Garlatz, with assistance by page designer Mathew Clayton Mitchell Witten.
The AMC network has been running weekend marathons of Rankin/Bass TV Specials and Rankin/Bass Productions are more popular than ever! Rick is the expert on all things Rankin/
“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town is in my top five of the Rankin/Bass specials and The Daydreamer is a feature film that is a forgotten gem,” says Goldschmidt. “I have lots of material on both of these and many facts and behind-the-scenes stores that have never been told. We also included the entire original script to Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town and many storyboards from The Daydreamer. I am glad I did choose Santa, because they did such a horrible job on the recent Blu-ray/DVD, that I am so happy we did this right. I have been friends with all of the people that worked on these shows over the years, many who have passed away, so I feel lucky to have that insight of the productions I could only get from them. Too many books and documentaries rely on people talking about why they liked this stuff. I don’t want to see people in the business telling me why they like something. I want to see and read real content. When we put these books together, content is important. People have to get their money’s worth, or we failed. Arthur Rankin was a sweet man and a dear friend. I would want him to be proud of what I do. He was always my biggest champion and I always keep him in mind when I work on a project related to Rankin/Bass Productions.”
This has been a labor of love for Goldschmidt for over thirty years now. “I think the people that made these specials that have lasted over fifty years are very important people, and deserve the spotlight shined on them. People like Romeo Muller, Maury Laws, Paul Coker, Jr., etc. Romeo created every character in the Rudolph TV Special except Rudolph. To me, that is absolutely amazing! He deserves all of the recognition and rewards for that and I want to see that happen. Too many of the companies that have taken over the Rankin/Bass specials and films are not handling them properly and too many people that had nothing to do with the creations at all, are benefiting from them. This is a complete mystery to me and a terrible development with specials and films that are so dear to everyone’s heart,” says Goldschmidt.
Book Features:
• 372 pages containing over 350 Images, Many Never Before Published.
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• The Original 1970 Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town Shooting Script.
• The Daydreamer Storyboards, Music/Lyrics.
See also: An INTERVIEW with RICK GOLDSCHMIDT: Historian and Biographer for RANKIN/BASS Productions