PRG - Cool, I’m glad somebody did! (For those interested in seeing the bit, click on the “number one star” link in the show notes above. And thanks for answering Shadowwing’s question!

Patrick - Yeah, I corrected it for the show notes. I get the title mixed up all the time because of the common “life and times” bit in a lot of titles. That’s a keen observation on the tone and feel of Rankin/Bass being very turn-of-the-century. It’s interesting to go back and see what was huge, nostalgia-wise, in the past and see how it influenced the then new pop culture. Sort of like how the 80s are weirdly pervading today’s pop culture. Yeah, that’s what I figured with Hulu, it’s really weird to think that some sites are blocked in certain countries. I totally didn’t know that about the public domain status on the Rankin/Bass stuff, that’s interesting. Thanks for listening guys!

I’ve always felt that Rankin/Bass had a very turn-of-the-century quality about it. This is likely because the material was produced during the 60s when there was a lot of nostalgia about that time. It’s sort of like the way this decade saw a 70s revival. This would also be the age in which many people’s grandparents of the time grew up in, which could account for it. In relative terms, it would be like the post-war 40s and 50s today.

YouTube is available in Canada. There’s no restrictions on it. However, Hulu (and basically all the US network TV sites) is US only. And the major US broadcasters such as ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX and WB have always been available in Canada (provided one has the means to receive it), so Canadians have seen all the same specials.

And it’s worth noting to mention The Enchanted World of Rankin Bass site at rankinbass.com. It’s essentially a fan made site but it’s the most informative site for Rankin Bass material.

The copyright on much of this material is confusing. Most of it had been in public domain before WB bought the library, and in many cases the material may still be, depending upon what country you’re in. (And as a general rule, once something is PD it can’t be copyrighted again.) So it’s possible to find cheap copies of the material out there and in some cases, such as old library copies, the material may still be PD. Although WB did acquire the masters so the best copies come from them. There’s a lot of VHS stuff floating about for almost nothing, if you can find a place that still sells VHS tapes.

The Angela Lansbury special by Rankin/Bass is “The First Christmas: The Story of The First Christmas Snow.” Roger Miller narrates the story as a donkey.

As far as “Life and Time of Santa Claus”, I liked hearing the Thundercats voice actors and all, but they made a 2 hr (with ads on Cartoon Network) cel-animated version with Robbie Benson as Santa that I thought worked a lot better, as they had more time to really flesh out the story, and the big battle at the end works better in cel than in stop-motion.

I’m also surprised nobody mentioned the recent live-action remake CBS made. I haven’t seen it, but I’m wondering if it’s any good?

Yeah, I hope we can get on a more scheduled release in the future. It’s one of the unspoken goals…

One of the reasons I enjoy listening to the Saturday Supercast so much is because all of you analyze the cartoons seriously and sincerely, instead of being sarcastic and dismissive and making fun of them because they’re old. As a podcaster myself, I understand how much work goes into each episode, but I still wish you’d post new ones more frequently!