R.I.P. Jules Bass, producer and director of iconic animated specials

Jules Bass was the producer and director who worked with partner Arthur Rankin Jr. to create a series of stop-motion animated holiday specials. He died at an assisted living facility in New York, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The bass was old.

Bass was born in Philadelphia and went to New York University to work in advertising. They founded a company called Videocraft International in 1960 that produced animated movies and TV shows through Japanese animation studios. The first big hit came in 1964 with the release of NBC's Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer special.

Since the most recent of those four, The Year Without A Santa Claus, hasn't had the same staying power, there are many other Christmas specials that haven't had the same staying power. The Return of the King was directed by Bass, as was the animated adaptation of The Bilbo Baggins. Bass co-directed The Last Unicorn, a fantasy movie that has maintained a cult following since its release in 1982, and he was a producer on the animated show ThunderCats.

He stopped working in show business in the 80's, though he did write books, including the kids bookHerb, The Vegetarian Dragon and the novel Headhunters. Bass' daughter, Jean Nicole Bass, passed away this year.