Rankin Bass - Library and Rights

Library and Rights

The Rankin/Bass library is now in the hands of other companies. General Electric's Tomorrow Entertainment acquired the original Videocraft International in 1971. The pre-1974 library (including the "classic four" Christmas specials) remained under the ownership of GE. In 1988, Lorne Michaels' production company Broadway Video acquired the rights to the pre-1974 Rankin/Bass television material from GE. In 1995, Broadway Video's children's division became Golden Books Family Entertainment, and in turn became Classic Media. In 2012, the classic Rankin/Bass library was sold yet again to DreamWorks Animation.

The Rankin/Bass theatrical feature film library (with the exception of Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July and The Last Unicorn) is now owned by French production company StudioCanal.

In 1978, Telepictures Corporation acquired all of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass library. All Rankin/Bass material from 1974-1989 (except The Last Unicorn) are now owned by Warner Bros. (through the studio's 1989 acquisition of Lorimar-Telepictures) and managed by its animation division. In 2008, Jack Frost (1979) was officially released on DVD by Warner Home Video (after several years of lax licensing to various low-cost distributors).

The Last Unicorn is owned by ITV Global Entertainment Ltd., with Lionsgate handling video distribution under ITV's license. Television rights to The Jackson 5ive are owned by CBS Television Distribution due to being the successor to Worldvision Enterprises. Classic Media does have ancillary rights, however.

Television rights to most of the Rankin/Bass library are held in the United States by ABC and ABC Family, with the exceptions of the original Rudolph and Frosty specials, which are held by CBS.