Arthur Rankin Jr.

Arthur Gardner Rankin Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer and screenwriter, who mostly worked in animation. Co-creator of Rankin/Bass Productions with his friend Jules Bass, he created stop-motion and traditional animation features such as ''Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'', ''Frosty the Snowman'', ''Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town'', and the 1977 cartoon special of ''The Hobbit''. He is credited on over 1,000 television programs. Provided by Wikipedia