WEBVTT - Romeo Muller & Rankin/Bass 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:08.600 Ephemeral production of I Heart three D audio for full exposure. 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:18.160 Listen with that phones. It's officially that time of year 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.880 when it's impossible to miss the decorations going up in 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:27.400 display windows, jingles trumpeting from department store speakers, and classic 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:32.280 Christmas specials dancing across the TV. Somewhere along the way, 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:35.920 you're almost guaranteed to run into a Rank and Bass production. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.919 You know them, the retro stop animated sing alongs from 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:43.879 the nineties sixties, such as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. 0:00:44.159 --> 0:00:48.040 He's got a shiny nose. Shiny I'd even say in 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:56.720 glow Frosty the snow Man, Happy Birthday, that had brought 0:00:56.760 --> 0:01:01.000 Frosty to life? It must be Magi or the Little 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:09.200 Drummer Boy, A Little Drummer Boy? Are those animals dancing 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:15.800 been in it? But what you maybe don't know is 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:18.880 that one man was responsible for creating and writing each 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.000 of those holiday favorites and many more. His name was 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:26.959 Romeo Mueller, and his impact on the modern myth of 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:33.600 Christmas is unparalleled. He was like a real Santa Claus, 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:38.759 and I became really close friends with his brother Jean, 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:43.840 who wanted to see his legacy live on, and I've 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:48.200 tried to do that in my books. I always donate 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:53.240 time to Romeo because he was the basis of every special. 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.320 You have to have good writing for these to have 0:01:56.520 --> 0:02:02.080 the longevity that they have. My name is Rick Goldschmidt, 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:07.120 and I'm the official Ranking Bass historian biographer, and I've 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:11.639 written six books about Arthur Ranking and Jules Bass and 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:14.760 work on a lot of the projects associated with the 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.600 classic TV holiday specials like Brewed Up the Red Nose Reindeer, 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:25.600 Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, the Little Drummer Boy, etcetera. Well. 0:02:25.680 --> 0:02:29.560 Ranking Bass is primarily known for their iconic holiday specials. 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:33.200 They also produced a number of other influential works that 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.880 don't get mentioned as often. They're also known for the 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:48.000 hobbit I would speak with the King's Great does come 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:51.600 upon you all? An army of goblins with claim to 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:58.000 the Trasier comes from the north ThunderCats. I could probably 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:04.200 handle him myself, Yes, lionelh No, please call the other ThunderCats, 0:03:05.720 --> 0:03:14.560 bunder thunder, bundercuts, silver Hawks like the moon Star shined 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:18.920 into my cell and you will be rewarded with wealth, 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:24.640 the odwealth our dead A monstar we know exactly what 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:27.760 will happen if you ever see the moon Star again. 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.520 A lot of Saturday morning television like the Jackson five Show. 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.320 I'm Michael Jackson and a couple of years ago near 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:42.400 my big brother Marlin, Jermaine, Tito and Jackie. It's kind 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:46.000 of square quite that home in Gary, Indiana. And one 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.240 day Mr Diana Ross herself came to town to sing 0:03:49.280 --> 0:03:53.680 a concert and the Osmond Show. Jimmy, you know, mom 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:56.440 and Dad don't want you to do these late concerts. O. Hey, 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:58.520 we better take him back to the hotel. Yeah, but 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:05.000 we'll never get through that. Mama ends out there. And 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:16.800 some feature films like King Kong Escapes, Beat the Last Unicorn. 0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:19.440 I tell you there is one unicorn neft in the world, 0:04:19.920 --> 0:04:22.080 and as long as it lives in this forest, we'll 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.880 find no game to hunt here. Mad Monster Party. It's 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:28.120 a come as you are, a party that's out of 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.920 this world. You don't get invited if he'll get commented. 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:38.560 It's a psychedelic scaret. Who with the groove is Googles 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:43.200 of all kind. They were in business for about thirty 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:49.880 years and produced some of the most memorable, especially holiday entertainment, 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.440 which is still on the networks today. It's been over 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:58.720 fifty years, actually over fifty five years now, so they 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:05.680 have a longevity that most animation studios don't have. To 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.800 become a production company, Soul Biographer is no small undertaking. 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.239 We asked Rick what drew him to the Ranking Bass 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:17.880 Specials and what he loves about them. The thing that 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:22.960 attracted me to Ranking Bass was the look of everything, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:28.599 because I'm an artist and illustrator, so first and foremost 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:32.680 for me, it was always the look of the puppets 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:37.000 and the look of the cell animation. As a musician, 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.920 I also loved the music of Maury Laws and the arrangements, 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:47.680 which are always so happy and upbeat, very holiday ish, 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:53.520 you know, with glockenspields and all kinds of fun accents 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:57.640 to their music. And Jules Bass wrote the lyrics to 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.520 all of the great songs like the Miser and Snow Miser. 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:14.400 Remember at check up, Frances, whatever, I poke one ft 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:18.200 in front of the other, one on in front of 0:06:18.279 --> 0:06:23.400 the other, and soon you'll be walking across the floor. 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.479 There's a lot of classic Christmas songs that came out 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.200 of the Ranking Bass Specials as well, but for them 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:35.600 to last this long, you have to have good writing. 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:39.280 Most of the time, it was Romeo Mueller who wrote 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:43.840 with a lot of heart and warmth. Theater five has 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.760 presented Toby's Wonderful Egg, written by Romeo Muller, produced and 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.440 directed by Ted Bell. In the cast John McGovern, Betty 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:55.560 Guard Robert. Romeo Mueller had a storied career that made 0:06:55.600 --> 0:07:00.360 him a perfect fit for ranking bass Well. Romeo Mueller 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.719 was a writer out of the New York area High Falls, 0:07:05.000 --> 0:07:09.040 New York and wrote for a lot of the great 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:17.040 comedians of the early days of television, like Jack Benny. 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.720 I would like to tell you one Joe. This about 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:23.000 two drunks that were standing at a bar and one 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:25.600 drunk said to the other, you know where I got 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.080 for my wife the other day. The other drunk said, no, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.400 what did you get for your wife the other day? 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:35.000 So the first drunk said, a poodle. So this other 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:41.360 drunk said, I wish I could make a trade like that. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:45.360 That's the end of the job. And Red Scalton, I 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:47.640 think everybody's so nice here since I've been in town. 0:07:47.920 --> 0:07:51.080 They can't seem to do enough for me. They gave 0:07:51.120 --> 0:07:53.400 me a big car to drive around, a big rules Royce. 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:55.400 See my wife says, let me drive that thing. I 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.920 can stop it on a dime. She did. He also 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:03.240 wrote as who would have thought that kindly old Dr 0:08:03.360 --> 0:08:06.840 Segwick was in reality a mad scientist. That's strictly off 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:10.120 the record. You understand at one print of thing, but 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:13.080 you said you'd worked out a plan to destroy Superman 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:17.920 Max Max Max Good Guys plan Bad Guy's ski. So 0:08:18.040 --> 0:08:21.440 he had a great knowledge of how to put a 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:26.680 story together, and he was actually hired by Arthur Ranking 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:32.880 for the first ranking best television special Returned to Oz 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:39.000 total Do you remember Oz? That wonderful land? We went 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:46.360 too far, far away, halfway to yesterday and back. Returned 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.600 to Oz was like the first time that the Wizard 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.000 of Oz was revisited, that there was any type of 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:58.200 sequel to the original MGM movie, which was being shown 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:02.600 every year on television. So they thought that would be 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:07.080 a huge hit, you know, because of the longevity of 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:11.800 the Wizard of Us. But his second script was Rudolph 0:09:12.080 --> 0:09:16.840 the Red Nose Reindeer. Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer had 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:21.000 a very shiny no and if you ever saw it, 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:25.719 you would even say a lot of people don't realize 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:30.760 that the story book written by Robert L. May and 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:35.160 the song written by his brother in law Johnny Marks, 0:09:35.760 --> 0:09:40.200 just had basically a germ of a story. You know, 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:43.959 there was this reindeer with the red nose that everybody 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.760 made fun of it, and you know Santa asked him 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:51.240 to pull his sleve. That was it. So Romeo wrote 0:09:52.080 --> 0:09:56.520 Hermi the Dentist. I just don't like to make toys. 0:09:56.720 --> 0:10:00.720 Hermi doesn't like to make toys. Herb, he doesn't like 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:07.000 to make toys. Someday I'd like to be a dentist. Dentist, 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:13.040 you can't, Cornelius, you can fresh fit that away. Who 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:17.800 are you? Who am I? The names? You can't Cornelius 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:23.760 the greatest prospector in Lenore Island to misfit toys. I'm 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.200 the official center of the Island of misfit toys at 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:30.040 Jack in the Box or a center is. My name 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:35.439 is don't Jolly Jack, no Charlie. That's why I'm a 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:39.960 business toy. My name is all wrong. No child wants 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:42.280 to play with a Charlie in the box. So I 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.959 had to come here. And he based a lot of 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:49.200 the story off of friends and relatives he had a 0:10:49.200 --> 0:10:53.880 friend that was named Clarice. Something wrong with your nose? 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:59.079 I mean, you talk kind of funny. What's the fudy 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:03.000 both way? I don't well, don't get I agree, I 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:11.319 don't mind you old. My name is Clarie Hi. My 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:19.280 ave Rudolph Hi. He had another friend that dreams stories 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:29.040 of a monster peeking over cliffs, like the bumble Shot. 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:37.360 So he put all of that into his scripts, and 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.800 he did it in such a way that it draws 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.560 you in. No matter how old you are, you could 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:47.160 be a little kid, you could be a grandparent. Everything 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:51.760 about it is heartwarming, and you just want to watch 0:11:51.840 --> 0:11:55.600 these things over and over and over again. So eventually 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:58.800 he went on to write all of these other shows 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:03.800 which were basically based on a song like Santa Claus 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:16.920 has come into town. You better not woman, And then 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:21.360 he would come up with these backstories to the son. 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.000 In the case of Frosty the Snowman, he put in 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:29.960 Professor Inkle and so I put the magic eggs into 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:34.120 my hat aboca dab to coin the phrase at Wala, 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:42.040 the eggs have turned into miss miss missing. All these 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.920 things that we associate with the character came from the 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.840 mind of Romeo Muller, so in that regards, he was 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:55.640 a genius. He was like the Stan Lee of the 0:12:55.760 --> 0:13:00.200 Ranking Bats universe. You know, he was the writer and 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.160 then the designer was Paul Cooker Jr. Most of the time, 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.080 who would have been the Jack Kirby of the Marvel universe. 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:12.760 So he was a really important ingredient in the whole 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:25.160 universe of Rank and Bass productions. There's no doubt that 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:27.920 Mueller is considered one of the first great writers of 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:33.120 family oriented television. We asked Rick what stylistic choices made 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:39.679 Mueller so iconic. The quintessential Mueller is the fact that 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:45.079 the main characters usually were the underdog. You know, they 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:49.120 either had something wrong with them, or they they felt 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:53.600 like they didn't fit in, or something that they had 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:58.600 to overcome to get to a happy ending. And the 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:05.400 villains usually were reformed, which is always more satisfying than 0:14:05.480 --> 0:14:10.119 if they're just killed off. The villains, like the Winter Warlock, 0:14:10.640 --> 0:14:14.600 would you know, see that they were wrong and find 0:14:14.640 --> 0:14:22.280 a way to help and fit in. Shoot you, I've 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:32.200 always wanted funny. What's that my artsy heart? It's melting? Well? 0:14:32.520 --> 0:14:39.560 Look Mr Warlock, please please call me Winter Winter. Yes, yes, 0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:46.600 suddenly my whole outlook has changed from bad to good great. 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:51.600 You know, the people at Pixar early on when they 0:14:51.600 --> 0:14:56.000 were a company before they were taken over by Disney, 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:00.600 they recognized that that was a more satisfy rying way 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.200 to tell a story than to kill off a villain, 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:10.400 and they mimicked the scripts of Romeo Muller and tried 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:13.200 to go for the look of the Ranking Bass productions. 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.680 So I think that's why the early Pixar films were 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:22.880 so successful is that they paid close attention to the script, 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:29.800 which doesn't happen today. Unfortunately, in today's modern entertainment, all 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.320 they care about is making money and it doesn't matter 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:37.880 how they make it. But Ranking Bass they were more 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.200 concerned about the quality of the project. That's why they 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:45.640 hired Romeo Muller and stuck with them for so long. 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:51.960 And Romeo was a lover of the classic comedies and 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:57.200 the classic films. He was a film buff, and he 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:01.440 knew what quality was from the love of the passion 0:16:01.480 --> 0:16:05.440 he had for classic film and classic comedy. So it 0:16:05.640 --> 0:16:09.280 really had that feel to it. You know, everything that 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:14.120 rankin Bass did, very few things were failures. They were 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:18.800 all high quality productions. With great stories, and you know, 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:23.960 Romeo was a big part of it. Romeo would say 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:28.000 that his favorite was The Little Drummer Boy. Well, the 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:33.120 Little Drummer Boy is basically the story of what Christmas 0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:37.480 is all about. My lamb has been injured. You must 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:41.440 save him. He is near death. Oh Lad, there is 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:45.000 nothing I can do but but you are a king, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:52.120 immortal king only. But there is a king among kings 0:16:52.360 --> 0:16:58.120 who would save your little frightened the babe. But I 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:04.080 do not understand. He's not necessary that you understand. Go 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:09.119 to him, but I I have no gift to bring. 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:21.119 Look about the new Born Key. It doesn't get aired 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:26.359 as much today, but it had a magical quality to it. 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:30.000 I remember early on, when I was a little kid 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:33.360 and I went to C c D, they would tell 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:36.199 you to watch it, and I was always wanting to 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.840 watch it because we used to have little Nativity scenes 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:42.959 that we were given as gifts, so it was a 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:49.159 more common religious type special everybody knew that it was, 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:53.159 you know, the telling of what Christmas is all about, 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.280 but we've kind of lost that over the years. And 0:17:56.520 --> 0:18:01.439 I think Romeo really liked Chris Us a lot, you know, 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:06.840 and since this was really the Telling of Christmas. That 0:18:06.880 --> 0:18:10.399 would be his favorite special, and it's a lot of 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:15.640 people's favorite special. And what surprised me about it was 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:20.240 the song One Star in the Night was written by 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:35.560 Jules Bass and Maury Laws, and Maury told me that 0:18:35.640 --> 0:18:39.560 it was some music that they had written prior to 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:43.960 the special, not particularly for the special. And when you 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:47.800 watch it, it seems like it's some kind of a 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:51.080 classic song that would have been written a hundred years 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:55.000 before that special. It has that quality to it that 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.240 it seems like a traditional Christmas song, but they actually 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:08.159 wrote it. Romeo Mueller is still best known for his 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.920 Rank and Bass contributions, but when he eventually moved on, 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:17.359 he continued to write on other beloved programs even after 0:19:17.480 --> 0:19:23.960 Ranking Bass. He wrote Strawberry Shortcake, You're just in time. 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:27.720 Strawberry Shortcake and all her friends are getting ready for 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:32.840 their first annual garden Party, a celebration of the most 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:38.280 frequently delicious berries in the whole world. The Little Rascal's 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:41.879 Christmas Special. We all live up at the North Pole. 0:19:42.760 --> 0:19:47.359 You believe it or not, these are roast ho ho ho. 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:52.080 This is just as well as Christmas. Ever. One of 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:56.359 his last films post Ranking Bass was called Noel, and 0:19:56.440 --> 0:19:59.320 it was a special one. Not to mention my personal 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:07.760 childhood fa friend is Noel. And it came out in 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:12.760 the form of a kid's children's book and was about 0:20:12.800 --> 0:20:17.119 an ornament. Here's a good spot for you, little fella. 0:20:18.920 --> 0:20:23.040 I get it. What a neat idea. Hey, look at me. 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:27.119 It's been years since I watched it, but I know 0:20:27.400 --> 0:20:31.720 that he went on radio, and he also went into 0:20:31.920 --> 0:20:37.959 actual schools and told the story every Christmas. It was 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:41.720 like a tradition for him to tell the story of 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:46.960 Noel in the New York Hi Falls area. What's happening 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:51.280 now this it's become a thing called Christmas Eve, the 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.440 reason you were made and I was born. It feels 0:20:55.600 --> 0:21:03.560 like magic. As Rick briefly mentioned, Mueller loved to read 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:06.639 his stories on radio, but he never voiced any of 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:10.639 his characters in the Rank and Bass specials. However, he 0:21:10.680 --> 0:21:14.399 did appear in other places. I know he made a 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:20.240 cameo appearance in uh Marco, which is a NY three 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:27.000 movie starring Zero Mostel and Desi Arnez Jr. At the 0:21:27.080 --> 0:21:31.159 beginning of the film, Desi Arnez is flying on a 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:38.080 kite in Romeo's running underneath in a costume yelling at 0:21:38.119 --> 0:21:46.280 the kite. So it was kind of neat that he 0:21:46.400 --> 0:22:01.560 made a little cameo in the movie. Romeo Mother's relationship 0:22:01.640 --> 0:22:05.840 with Ranking Bass would get complicated after he left the company. 0:22:06.600 --> 0:22:11.760 When Romeo branched out and started writing other shows for 0:22:11.840 --> 0:22:17.760 other producers and other television things like The Little Rascal's 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:23.000 Christmas Special, he started talking about how he created the 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:28.440 Ranking Bass holiday specials, and for some reason that caused 0:22:28.480 --> 0:22:32.639 a bit of friction with Arthur Ranking. He felt like 0:22:32.840 --> 0:22:37.359 Romeo was taking too much credit and there was sort 0:22:37.400 --> 0:22:42.920 of a fallout with Ranking Bass Productions. But when I 0:22:42.960 --> 0:22:46.760 wrote my first book, The Enchanted World of Ranking Bass, 0:22:46.800 --> 0:22:50.880 and early on when I contacted Arthur Ranking, he had 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:57.040 called me right after he went to Romeo's memorial, and 0:22:57.400 --> 0:23:00.920 I think they patched things up before where he passed. 0:23:01.600 --> 0:23:05.440 He was an important person to Arthur on a personal 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:09.199 level too. But as you worked with someone for a 0:23:09.240 --> 0:23:12.080 long time, you know like you could have a falling 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:19.000 out at some point, and that's what happened. Romeo Moller 0:23:19.080 --> 0:23:26.960 died on Wednesday, leaving behind an unfinished film project. It 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:31.760 was called The Twelve Days of Christmas. One Partridge two 0:23:32.080 --> 0:23:37.720 Turtle Doves, three French Hands, four Calling Birds, five Golden Rings, 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:42.480 six Gisa Lang, seven Swansea, Swimming by My Sword, Princess 0:23:42.520 --> 0:23:46.600 silver Bell has some strange desires. And there was some 0:23:47.359 --> 0:23:51.439 business partner involved with that, and that was released, and 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:56.200 that caused a lot of friction between his brother Jean 0:23:56.600 --> 0:24:00.280 and the producer of that, and they never got their 0:24:00.280 --> 0:24:03.640 money from it either. So it was like a kind 0:24:03.680 --> 0:24:07.880 of a bad ending to what was always a very 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:12.960 positive life for Romeo. By the time Rick started writing 0:24:13.000 --> 0:24:16.879 about Rank and Bass, Mueller had already passed away, but 0:24:17.000 --> 0:24:21.280 Rick did get to meet Romeo's brother, Jeane Muller. I 0:24:21.359 --> 0:24:24.080 wish I could have talked to Romeo, but I was 0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:28.720 glad I developed the friendship with Jean. Jean gave me everything. 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:33.600 He gave me romeo scrapbooks, he gave me all the 0:24:33.680 --> 0:24:38.480 records that he had. He really opened up Romeo's archives 0:24:38.520 --> 0:24:42.440 to me when I wrote my books, So I'm grateful 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:47.000 for that. Throughout his many books, Rick has painted a 0:24:47.080 --> 0:24:50.760 vivid picture of Romeo Mueller's life and the greater impact 0:24:50.880 --> 0:24:54.760 he had on storytelling in America. We asked Rick what 0:24:54.880 --> 0:25:02.760 he sees as Mueller's greatest legacy overall, Romyo created classic television, 0:25:03.560 --> 0:25:08.159 but it goes beyond that. It's become part of the 0:25:08.280 --> 0:25:13.480 Christmas Holiday or the Easter Holiday or whatever holiday the 0:25:13.560 --> 0:25:18.280 specials were written for. We're only talking about a few 0:25:19.119 --> 0:25:22.920 Christmas specials in this day and age. The only ones 0:25:23.000 --> 0:25:28.159 that have survived besides the Rank and Best holiday specials 0:25:28.160 --> 0:25:33.440 that Romeo wrote are How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 0:25:34.040 --> 0:25:38.199 Charlie Brown Christmas, and that's basically it. And Rank and 0:25:38.320 --> 0:25:43.600 Bass Productions holds more of that pie because they were 0:25:43.680 --> 0:25:48.080 successful with several television specials and all of them were 0:25:48.080 --> 0:25:52.080 written by Romeo. So when you look at the grand 0:25:52.200 --> 0:25:58.080 scheme of the entertainment industry over the last seventy five years, 0:25:58.560 --> 0:26:02.199 we're still talking about out Rootolph the Red Nose Reindeer 0:26:02.240 --> 0:26:08.119 and Frosty the Snowman. There's several Ranking Bass specials that 0:26:08.359 --> 0:26:13.960 Romeo wrote that our favorites of everyone's. And what you 0:26:14.040 --> 0:26:19.600 see happening now is a MC has a weekend marathon 0:26:20.480 --> 0:26:25.800 of the specials, and so does free Form Television, and 0:26:25.840 --> 0:26:29.640 then they're still on the networks. So you're seeing more 0:26:29.720 --> 0:26:33.719 exposure of them over time, and I'm sure they'll be 0:26:33.840 --> 0:26:40.360 streaming and Blu ray and DVDs will be getting better hopefully. So, 0:26:40.920 --> 0:26:44.560 I mean there's a big market of the holiday stuff 0:26:44.600 --> 0:26:51.440 and most of it is what Romeo wrote one special 0:26:51.440 --> 0:26:54.840 treat for our listeners. In Atlanta, the Center for Puppetry 0:26:54.960 --> 0:26:57.960 Arts has a new exhibit featuring the puppets from the 0:26:58.000 --> 0:27:04.320 Ranking Bass specials, well sort of the Santa and Rootolph 0:27:04.400 --> 0:27:08.320 puppet that they have, which actually I helped to restore 0:27:08.600 --> 0:27:12.760 and I also appeared with them for several years. They're 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:17.399 not the ones that were used in the Ranking Best 0:27:18.160 --> 0:27:22.080 Rootolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Special. What they were created 0:27:22.240 --> 0:27:26.840 for was for publicity purposes. So in other words, they 0:27:26.920 --> 0:27:30.920 created a set of puppets that they sent from Japan 0:27:31.160 --> 0:27:35.080 to New York so that they could take the publicity 0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:41.880 photos for the NBC Holiday General Electric Theater. What they 0:27:41.920 --> 0:27:45.320 did was they stuck them in a glass case at 0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:51.040 NBC in the Rockefeller Center in New York, and they 0:27:51.080 --> 0:27:55.199 had them there for several years, and a lot of 0:27:55.200 --> 0:27:59.120 people remember seeing them, whether they were on school trips 0:27:59.680 --> 0:28:04.080 or just taking a tour of NBC. But to this day, 0:28:04.119 --> 0:28:08.119 I haven't found a photo of that display, so I 0:28:08.160 --> 0:28:11.679 don't know exactly what puppets were in there, but I 0:28:11.760 --> 0:28:14.840 have a feeling they're the ones that were only featured 0:28:14.880 --> 0:28:18.720 in the publicity photos, and there was only a handful 0:28:18.760 --> 0:28:23.880 of those. All of these puppets have had some wild adventures, 0:28:23.920 --> 0:28:26.920 being passed around over the years without much of a record. 0:28:27.680 --> 0:28:31.359 All in all, the publicity puppets are lucky to have survived, 0:28:32.000 --> 0:28:34.399 and there's a wild story behind the fate of the 0:28:34.440 --> 0:28:40.720 puppets used on screen. I know everyone involved with these 0:28:40.840 --> 0:28:45.240 two particular puppets. I know Barbara Adams who was the 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:49.000 secretary that took him home, and then she gaven to 0:28:49.160 --> 0:28:52.640 her nephew, and some of them were in the attic 0:28:52.960 --> 0:28:57.240 and got you know, melted together, and they had to 0:28:57.320 --> 0:28:59.680 get rid of them because they were no good anymore. 0:29:00.400 --> 0:29:04.000 So Santa and Rudolph were the only two that survived 0:29:04.040 --> 0:29:07.160 out of that batch. And I know the people that 0:29:07.240 --> 0:29:11.080 bought them from the nephew, and I helped restore them. 0:29:11.200 --> 0:29:14.600 Like I said, I know the people that restored them. 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:18.840 So these two puppets have a history, But the really 0:29:19.000 --> 0:29:23.280 interesting history are the ones that were used in the 0:29:23.400 --> 0:29:27.840 actual specials. Some of them are in in the US. 0:29:27.880 --> 0:29:32.600 I used to own two from the first Christmas. You know, 0:29:32.680 --> 0:29:36.200 I had all their eyes and mouths and you could 0:29:36.240 --> 0:29:39.320 tell they were the actual puppets that were used in 0:29:39.360 --> 0:29:44.600 the animation. But most of the state in Japan they 0:29:44.640 --> 0:29:49.920 still have King Kong it from Mad Monster Party in 0:29:50.000 --> 0:29:54.720 this tad Moshinaga exhibit, and they have other puppets like 0:29:54.800 --> 0:29:58.600 from Willie McBean and his Magic Machine, and all kinds 0:29:58.600 --> 0:30:04.560 of Rear Rank and Bass puppets. I would say of 0:30:04.600 --> 0:30:08.640 the puppets stayed in Japan, and five percent came to 0:30:08.720 --> 0:30:12.840 the States for one reason or another. Arthur rankin want 0:30:12.960 --> 0:30:16.800 and to give to somebody or just to put in 0:30:16.840 --> 0:30:20.520 the office. And those are the ones that that I've 0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:25.320 appeared with, like I've appeared with Red Skelton from Rudolph's 0:30:25.320 --> 0:30:28.960 Shiny New Year. Father Time for the passing of time 0:30:29.120 --> 0:30:33.640 is all inspiring. It's the one certain thing in all 0:30:33.720 --> 0:30:38.320 the universe. In a way, it's like an old king 0:30:38.560 --> 0:30:42.520 stepping down and a new one taking its place. Smokey 0:30:42.600 --> 0:30:45.800 the Bear from the Ballot of Smokey the Bear. Smoke 0:30:45.840 --> 0:30:48.720 He started up by being just a normal bear, young 0:30:48.840 --> 0:30:52.000 and happy playing games. He never had a care Mamma 0:30:52.080 --> 0:30:55.040 used to worry. That is friendly trusting way would get 0:30:55.120 --> 0:30:57.000 him into trouble. So she said to me one day 0:30:57.040 --> 0:31:01.120 and big Bear, she said, knowledge's anny young Fred, so 0:31:01.280 --> 0:31:03.760 try to keep an eye on him. He needed brother band. 0:31:04.240 --> 0:31:06.720 When I said, Mom, don't worry. God believe it all 0:31:06.760 --> 0:31:10.280 to me. I never thought our simple life would change. 0:31:10.840 --> 0:31:15.760 So suddenly I've had him at shows. So there's only 0:31:15.800 --> 0:31:18.560 a few that are in the US, but most of 0:31:18.600 --> 0:31:22.960 them are in Japan. Still, you can find a selection 0:31:23.120 --> 0:31:26.520 of surviving puppets now at the Center for Puppetry Arts. 0:31:27.120 --> 0:31:30.000 Rick says he hopes the exhibit will help keep the 0:31:30.040 --> 0:31:35.240 spirit of the Ranking Bass Specials alive for years to come. See. 0:31:35.280 --> 0:31:39.080 The focus at the museum over the years has been 0:31:39.120 --> 0:31:42.960 on Rudolph. They do a puppet show every year like 0:31:43.040 --> 0:31:47.800 a marionette show. That's been successful for them for a 0:31:47.840 --> 0:31:52.800 long time. So the focus is just done Rudolph, not 0:31:52.960 --> 0:31:57.000 so much the enchanted world of Ranking Bass, but Rudolph 0:31:57.080 --> 0:31:59.800 the Red Nosed Reindeer. Ranked in Bass is route up 0:31:59.800 --> 0:32:04.240 the Nose Reindeer. And they only have the two puppets. 0:32:04.320 --> 0:32:08.239