Original Rankin/Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer GE Commercials (1964)
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- The GE commercials were located by myself and Arthur Rankin, Jr., shortly before the release of my 2001 book, THE MAKING OF THE RANKIN/BASS HOLIDAY CLASSIC: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER. The transfer from film to Super VHS was paid for by Arthur Rankin and is copyrighted by RANKIN/BASS PRODUCTIONS. The commercials feature ANIMAGIC that was Produced by RANKIN/BASS in 1964 and featured in the first few broadcasts, along with many magazine print ads. The Soundtrack LP was also a GENERAL ELECTRIC tie in and given away with purchases early on.
Also I'm only 18 and I watch this special every year, but part of me wants to go back to like 50 years ago and see how different it was. I almost like the time from the 60s-80s better than now
I'm 16 and I feel the same too.
I was a kid in the 70's. We never missed this special because it only came on once a year! The 70's was a wonderful time to be a kid! You would have liked it.
@@steveng.willis618
Yes!
America had her challenges and has made some mistakes, but we have headed in the totally wrong direction.
@@steveng.willis618 Yes, I was a little kid, at thatimr, too.
It's too high tech, now. Everyone, gets offended when the wind blows, too.
R.I.P. Jules Bass (1935-2022) 😢
I was five when Rudolph first aired, and I remember how these commercials were as much a part of the show as the show itself. It was fun to see some of the Rudolph characters themselves showing off the products. 😀❤️
may both Rankin and Bass rest in peace
I remember watching this classic show in black and white in 1965...I DO remember those commercials thank you so much for saving them....
Not everyone had color TV sets back then.
in fact most didn't! color TV sales didn't surpass b&w TV sales until 1972
More like thanks for fair use or they will take them out
@@fromthesidelines We went to a friend's house to watch it because they had a color TV... ;-)
My dad & both my grandfathers worked most of their careers at GE, so we had lots of GE appliances. My siblings & I bought our parents a GE toaster oven for their 20th annversary, and they still have one of those teapot clocks in their summer cabin.
I'd forgotten those charming GE ads featuring the "Rudolph" characters, but I had NOT forgotten the photos of Burl Ives and his fellow voice actors who worked on the special!
Back then I wondered if Rudolph's nose was a GE light bulb! LOL!
John Bellucci Now that you've mentioned it, I think that might be true...at one point I think GE had the rights to Rankin Bass productions
Christmas Light Bulbs :) Be sure to use red.
It was actually made up of red candlewax
Apparently it featured one of the earlier LED lights to shine visible red light. The first was developed in 1962 and the special was made in 64!
I'm 27 and to me Christmas Isn't complete unless I watch all the old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials along with Its A Wonderful Life. Ever since I was a kid I loved when these specials would come on and now I'm passing It down to my daughter who also loves them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and God Bless Everyone!
Same except for me Charlie Brown and Home Alone
@@WiiLoveWeather7-12-16 I Absolutely Love Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials, they were the Best to watch around Christmas Time, I Remember when I was young and Living in Canton South Dakota, I would sit on the floor in front of the TV in the living room, I would watch Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, I also remember watching other Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials, Like.
1. The Little Drummer Boy.
2. The Little Drummer Boy Book 2.
3. Jack Frost. (Rankin/Bass One).
4. Santa Claus is coming to town.
5. The Year without a Santa Claus.
6. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.
7. The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold.
8. Pinocchio's Christmas.
9. The First Christmas the Story of the First Christmas Snow.
10. Frosty The Snowman. Animated Movie.
11. Frosty Returns. Animated Movie.
12. Frosty's Winter Wonderland. Animated Movie.
13. The Legend of Frosty the Snowman.
14. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July.
Etc. Etc.
@@kathyquinn8616 this special came out the same year when the Warner bros cartoons shutdown its department
Let’s not forget Die Hard
@@matthewsoucy9073 I had completely forgotten about leaving a comment on this video lol. Yes! The Die Hard movies are awesome. Sad to hear about Bruce though.
This intro changes from "An adventure in classic fantasy for you and your whole family" to "An Hour-Long Adventure Musical for you and your family"
MiserBrosPress
Wow commercials that actually focus on the products.
A simpler, better time.
You can tell those small appliances were built to last...a LONG time, and were
"Made In The USA".
Thanks for uploading this wonderful trip back in time to a better world.
+watershed44 You are learning! Now to get the message to Corporate America!
Back in the days when GE brought good things to life. (Yes, I know they did not use this slogan until the 1980s and into the early 90s.)
Wow 50 years and still a classic!
except the cbs version
OMG, I remember the last part when they showed the voice actors. I believe they especially showed this part for a few years.
ua-cam.com/video/to-_ugoG3EI/v-deo.html
This was when TV specials were really good watching.
I always wished they would include these as a bonus feature on the Rudolph DVDs.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment might just do that for the 60th anniversary next Christmas year.
@@andrewscungio3200 Would be cool, but chances are they may not if General Electric won't okay it.
Beautiful modern style. The voiceover ad at the end or a show with Andy Williams and Bobby Darin-great stuff. With just 3 networks, Quality was the rule! Thanks for the hard to find rarities!
On this day in 1964 {December 3rd} the stop-motion animation special "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" debut on the CBS-TV network...
Actor/folk singer Burl Ives provided the voice for Sam the Snowman...
R.I.P. Mr. Ives {1909 - 1995}...
It was December 6
superjackster01
Thanks for the reply and correction; I checked with Wikipedia, imdb.com, and movieweb.com and you're right...
It originally aired on Sunday night, December 6th, 1964 on the NBC-TV network...
Now I have to figure out where I came up with Dec. 3rd???
Thanks again...
It was NBC, too.
It also aired from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, believe it or not.
@@WiiLoveWeather7-12-16 In Denver, where I lived, it air at 3:30.
I wish tv commercials and specials were still like this. When was the last time we had a TV series that was sponsored by an appliance company or cleaning product? lol.
+Stephen R It is so RARE today when a television Special airs, and of quality. Our most recent was NBC's live production of THE WIZ.
Most of the commercials today are for popping pills
Now they are sponsored by bras and inappropriate stuff
My dad worked for GE; I think we had every single one of these appliances in our house!
Freeform should re-air those commercials when they air Rudolph in December 6th and 7th.
I watched this when it originally aired, never missed it when it aired each following year, and now own a copy on DVD. And I don't care one bit if it makes me seem somehow uncool.
Boy, I remember these days. I never thought I'd see The General Electric Fantasy Hour again. It didn't last too long. However, "Rudolph" has stayed on the air since 1964!
This year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED REINDEER!! Happy 60th, RUDOLPH!!
R.I.P. Paul Soles (The voice of Hermey)
1930-2021
I am absolutely speechless at how wonderful these clips are. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for posting these.
Your announcer is Mel Brandt. Incidentally, Mr. Brandt was also the regular announcer for the G.E. COLLEGE BOWL which was pre-empted by this programme.
Thank you for posting this most rare footage. It is most appreciated. There are few constants in life and thankfully RUDOLPH is one of them.
I have long-wished to see these pieces of film when you revealed that they existed over a decade ago. Now that I have, IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL DAY OF THE YEAR!
Merry Christmas! MERRY CHRISTMAS!
"The General Electric Fantasy Hour" was a series of family specials that aired on NBC when the popular quiz show, "The G.E. College Bowl" was preempted. Mel Brandt was the announcer of these specials; he was the
announcer on "College Bowl".
Mr. Brandt--what an announcer. I love listening to his smooth, elegant delivery. Seems like a lost art. Nobody talks like that on TV anymore.
If they modernized ads like these, they could replace the appliances with Phones, Tablets, Game consoles, and Gaming accessories.
RIP to Arthur Rankin Jr.
And recently to Jules Bass. It wasn't until 1966, that Rankin and Bass bought out Videocraft Limited of Canada and the animation studio
bore their names.
I have a newspaper advertisement for GE from 1964 when they used the screen used puppets for the ads and I love seeing the Rudolph puppets stand next to GE products.
The promo at 0:06 is for the Sunday, December 4th, 1966 rebroadcast of NBC's Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer special edition on The General Electric Fantasy Hour.
The opening clips are from the 1966 rerun, when NBC reran the special on Sunday, Dec. 4.
There were more commercials featuring the elves in subsequent years, while still on NBC. They were for Norelco shavers, with the elves riding the inverted shaver heads as sleds LOL. I wonder if they exist.
I remember Santa riding on a Norelco "sleigh".
December 4 was a Sunday in 1966, not 1964.
You're on to something
Too bad they don't release these classics w/original commercials, promos, etc. At least as a second version with the regular version . I LOVE classic commercials to make it look authentic & go back to how people watched TV then!
I have four of these original appliances, the toaster, mixer, electric knife and percolator, all in perfect working order!
DANKE' sweet Wiah I had that clock. These are products that where made to last your lifetime. I know and have used those exact models of the meat slicer, can opener, toaster oven, iron, coffee pot in 1985 ... Love Burl....love love love ❤ Ha meet the press. Andy Williams. God where did we go wrong .... 😣
These are wonderful, it must have been a wonderful time to be alive, thank you so much for uploading these:)
ooonurse33 It was !
Wow...back before he was on The Brady Bunch, Sam The Butcher was doing commercials for GE...
It's great to see these commercials after years of not seeing them awesome
You can tell they put a lot into those commercials. You never see them like this anymore.
The rechargable knife thing is cool. I didn't think there was anything rechargable in the 60s. Pretty ahead of its time.
I love these memories! Thanks!
Twenty-three years later GE would buy NBC from RCA.
This was fun to watch, and sure brought back a bunch of memories. My sister had the same hair dryer (but in a plain case instead of the decorative one that was shown) and we also had the electric knife and iron.
Why aren't commercials made like this anymore?
They should reair the commercials on CBS when they air Rudolph on Dec. 9.
General Electric doesn't sponsor it these days, 'Funny'.......CBS is only interested in commercials "their" various sponsors bought time for.
+FunnyComputerGenius Re-air commercials for 50 year old appliances, many of which no longer exist? WHY?
+FunnyComputerGenius They'd have to take consideration from NBC who GE owns.
acholl980 Willard Scott hosted The Pillsbury Bake-off on CBS from 1990 to 1992 & he was under contract with NBC at the time.
General Electric could sponsor this for one showing with just a regular, PBS-style ad at the beginning, and then run the old ads throughout the presentation as a curio.
Wow this is SO cool.......imagine this has been show on network TV every year for 54 years (as of 2018).......so cool!
This is gold, thanks Rick. Somebody needs to do a full blown documentary on Rankin and Bass. I nominate Rick Goldschmidt.
The commercials were the RANKIN/BASS Holy grail for me :) I have them on DVD too with the 1964 version of the special!
I knew "Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer" first aired on "The General Electric Fantasy Hour" on NBC on December 4,1964. Arthur Rankin,Jr. and Jules Bass produced this classic tale for Videocraft International Limited of Canada. Singer/actor Burl Ives starred as the voice of Sam the Snowman, who was the narrator. Herbie
is the elf who wanted to be a dentist. NBC ran this special from
1964-71,when CBS took over it over in 1972, where it has run since.
Nice original spots from General Electric.
Mel Brandt is the announcer.
december 6, 1964, the promo I think is from 1966, and his name is hermey btw
@@ArchiveofAwesomeness1886 Hermey, then.
One more thing: "The General Electric Fantasy Hour" aired as a series of family specials on Sunday afternoons, pre-empting, "The General Electric College Bowl".
Wow! How things have changed! Thanks so much for uploading!
You may want to take a look at the byline "A division of Tomorrow Entertainment" underneath the Rankin-Bass closing logo.
This movie always reminds me of me and my grandfather because he has a sam the snowman decoration that sings holly jolly christmas and we also watched the whole movie.
Definitely a trip down Memory Lane.
8:26-8:32, the cast of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Larry D. Mann, Stanley Francis, Peggy Dixon, Carl Banas, Alfie Scopp, Paul Kligman, Janis Orenstein, Corrine Conley, Paul Soles and Billie Mae Richards)!
The spirit of Bridgeport will never die!
I'm 56 and its a MUST to watch this before Christmas.
Thanks for posting this so derful nostalgia. I vaguely remember these commercials but they're so cute. :)
Could you imagine a husband giving his wife housekeeping appliances for Christmas today? 😎
Just to have a husband to give practical time saving housekeeping appliances is something most women take for granted. It's the quality little things that mean a lot.
@S D...well it's a damn shame that regular people can no longer survive on one income anymore, isn't it? 🤔
I'd love the whole expereience--dripo in thes commercials where they aired in the show itself and put the whole thing up here (or somewhere in YT).
Back Then When Ads ACTUALLY Focused On The Product And When Companies Didn't Cut Corners.
I love this boy do i miss my childhood 💞
I always thought that they made commercials with the elves but I couldn't find it until now. I wonder if the made the Santa & Norelco electric shaver commercial too.
These are great, but the ones we really remember are the in-color commercials from the 70s with the elves from the show, but they were called the Norelco elves and they used an electric shaver as a sled. I can't find those commercials anywhere.
Also, we remember the Dolly Madison commercials from the Charlie Brown Halloween and Christmas specials. Watching them was never the same once they stopped showing the expected commercials.
I remember my Grandma's house, built in '58, had those outlets.
This is the 50th anniversary of Rudolph.
Next year will mark the 55th anniversary of Rudolph, and it should move the special back to its original 🏡 on NBC, along with the original GE commercials!
That sounds like a good idea.
I've always associated the bespectacled elf with GE and Norelco. And Allen Ludden. That's how a little kid's mind works.
Oh, i was both grateful for and jealous of your book! That was my idea years ago, in the 1970s--to one day write the behind the scenes book of Rudolph. Wonderful Thanks for writing it and uploading these
I wish those products were still available!
1964 I was 7. Great TV Christmas.
For commercials, the animation is rather charming!
By the way, if someone were to create authentic replicas of these appliances, would they still be considered safe and efficient in design?
E-ManAnimates . Yep. We had almost every one of these devices. They lasted forever and were so superior to the dimestore junk of today. Remember in 64 we as Americans were lucky enough to have all these things available at a reasonable price. Other nations had much older designs or few of these conveniences at all.
General Electric HouseWares Division basically put GE into the public eye!GE Clocks were everywhere and was the best and cheapest form of indirect advertising people would look for a clock to know what time it is and you be looking at a GE clock with the GE name and corporate logo.
Politicians today: "We're gonna start saying Merry Christmas again, like the good ol days!"
1964: 8:29
Love this special saw it when I was 7 in 1991 don't remember seeing these commercials but seen the special so many times on VHS DVD blu Ray and on CBS 👻
these commercials haven't aired since the 1960s
My Grandmother had that exact toaster oven at 2:40 when I was a kid. I wish I had it now.
Thanks for this! I'm old enough to remember seeing these commercials on at least a few of the early airings of the show. For years afterward, my child self still associated the elves mentally with GE products (especially the tall one with the glasses) whenever I saw them.
You can see why the FCC eventually mandated bumpers between kids' programs and the commercials. Any kid watching this original airing would demand to know why their parents didn't top the Christmas tree with a GE logo!
Wow . . Never knew (or did not remember) about any of that. Rare stuff, indeed.
Original Rankin/Bass Roudph The Red Nosed Reindeer GE Comcials (164)
" 'The GE Fantasy Specials' Feature Length Specials For You And Your Family."
Presented By GE
Celebrating The Holiday Tradition For
Families And For World
GE
We Bring Good Things To Life.
Looks like Rudolph pre-empted College Bowl and Meet the Press that day at 5:30 PM Eastern, because the announcer does promos for next week's episodes of those shows "at its regular time."
Long Live General Electric!!!!
I love those old commercials
Toaster Ovens still rule! Do you notice how thse gifts are simple fun and practical!? As a child I was happy with a spirograph, some puzzle books, some action figures and a new record! WHAT A MORAN I WAS!! Now... kids get thousands of dollars in prizes for Christmas like drones and hoverboards! Rotton.
Universal Pictures now owns Rudolph.
I have never be happier.
And wow, a NBC Peacock logo at 0:54. Go figure. :)
Universal stole the R/B Rudolph from Rankin/Bass like universal stole Oswald from Disney.
Hi Rick, were the TV commercials originally broadcast in B/W? Also, does Classic Media (now Dreamworks I think) have anything ready for the 50th anniversary next year?
Nope- EVERYTHING was in FULL COLOR, Tony; G.E. wanted to be SURE their products were promoted in color [even though less than half of all homes had access to a color set that year].
However, the special's commercials and bumpers were apparently preserved on black and white film only.
0:07-0:51, "On Sunday, December 4, Burl Ives, again, tells the exciting new story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on The General ⚡️ Fantasy Hour. The date: Sunday, December 4. Join Rudolph in a trip to the 🌴 of misfit toys... meet Yukon Cornelius, the 😆 prospector of the north... (Yukon: Gadzooks! The bumble ❄️ monster of the north strikes again! Whoopee!) ...meet 🎅's elves and 👂 7 original 🎄 songs! Burl sings... (cue "Holly Jolly 🎄") It's a Holly Jolly 🎄 special for the entire family! Don't miss Rudolph, Sunday, December 4, in color, on most of these stations!" Who provided the VO for this promo?
It remains a Mýə§ţřý!!!
Probably NBC staff announcer Mel Brandt (RIP).
Yes, it was the NBC announcer who did the peacock voice-over for years. He had a crisp and clean voice, especially his elegant pronunciation of 'color'. I only remember two announcers doing it; an earlier one and this. They are on YT.
Not to mention that baritone voice of his.
@@danalong1237 I believe he is also who replaced Don Pardo as SNL's announcer for one year in the early '80s.
premiered on december 4, 1964
Love this, thanx for posting.
Hmmm. Sunday, December 4 was in 1966. I remember it being called the GE Fantasy Hour in '64. I also remember seeing it with Norelco commercials.
Original Rainkin/Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer GE Commercials (1964)
At the beginning it gives the date of Sunday, December 4th, I am assuming that it was in 1966 because I was born on December 4th, 1966!!
Why am I watching this already, jeez.
I was 4 years old when this aired in 1964.
This aired for the first time one week before my ninth birthday. It's like it was yesterday: watched it on a G-E black and white TV.
First Rankin Bass Christmas Cartoon is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)
It preempted "G.E. COLLEGE BOWL" and "MEET THE PRESS".
The NBC logo was the best! RANKIN/BASS were exclusive to NBC for the mid-sixties portion of their work...then all three networks began to show their stuff....FROSTY has always been on CBS.
I believe in sharing :) There is a section after the closing of RUDOLPH where they advertise the GE COLLEGE BOWL on the dvd. ANDY WILLIAMS also does a vocal commercial for his show :)
Back when GE made stuff here....
How did you acquire this footage? I understand stuff from 30 - 40 years ago could be recorded on VHS, but this kind of footage seems pretty difficult to acquire.
+~ Sakura Stardust ~ Many times there are individuals having access to archives who have acquired tape dubs. For sure, there was no Home Video in 1964, so no one could have recorded this off the air. Incidentally, the original GE Fantasy Theater intro was used only twice, at the head of RUDOLPH and the forgotten RETURN TO OZ animated Special also produced by Rankin-Bass.
It was probably from a storage department of a tv station.
also this was on 16mm film
Secondary Network affiliates got 16mm circulation prints. The network ran 35mm on a live feed from New York. This is why this is black and white since smaller market stations had not converted to color yet. So someone must have gotten one of those secondary prints.
A secondary note, someone must have had access to archival tapes for this promo.
THANKS! The book was fun to do and now I have a few variant covers available :)
I had no idea Rudolph first premiered on NBC