Rankin/Bass Productions was founded by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass in the early 1960s as Videocraft International. The company is well known for its Christmas television specials, particularly its work which used "Animagic", a stop motion animation process using figurines.

One of Videocraft's first projects was an independently produced series based on the character Pinocchio (1960). This was followed by another independently produced series using more traditional cel animation and based on already established characters, Tales of the Wizard of Oz in 1961.

Rankin/Bass Productions is best known for it's Christmas television specials:

• Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) - stop-motion animation with Burl Ives as Sam the Snowman, the narrator.
  
• Cricket on the Hearth (1967) - cel animated musical version of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Real life father and daughter Danny Thomas and Marlo Thomas played father and daughter in this special.
  
• The Little Drummer Boy (1968) - stop-motion animation. 
  
• Frosty the Snowman (1969) - cel amination, with Jimmy Durante as the narrator and Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty.
  
• Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970) - stop-motion animation. Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger ( the narrator), and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle / Santa Claus.
• 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974) - cel animation
• The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974) - stop-motion animation. Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus, Shirley Booth as Mrs. Santa (narrator), Dick Shawn as Snow Miser, and George S. Irving as Heat Miser.
  
• The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow (1975) - stop-motion animation. It runs a half-hour (with commercials) as opposed to Rankin/Bass' standard hour format.
  
• Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976) - cel animation. with Andy Griffith as the narrator and Shelley Winters as Crystal.
• Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976) - stop-motion animation. with Red Skelton as Father Time (Narrator) and Baby Bear.
• The Little Drummer Boy, Book II (1976) - stop motion animation.
• Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977) - stop-motion animation. Roger Miller as Santa Claus's donkey, Spieltote (Narrator).
  
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - cel animation. based on Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. with Tom Bosley as narrator B.A.H. Humbug.
  
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979) - Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus and Shelley Winters as Crystal.
• Jack Frost (1979) - stop-motion animation. Buddy Hackett as Pardon-Me-Pete
• Pinocchio's Christmas (1980) - stop-motion animation. with George S. Irving as Mister Geppetto
• The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold (1981) - stop-motion animation. Art Carney as Narrator Blarney Kilakilarney
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985) - stop-motion animation. based on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book by L. Frank Baum.
• Santa, Baby! (2001) - cel animation. Patti LaBelle as Melody Songbird and Gregory Hines as Noel.

Feature Films:

• Willy McBean and his Magic Machine (1965) - Rankin/Bass' first theatrical stop-motion "Animagic" feature film.
• The Daydreamer (1966) - stop-motion animation, and live action. based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.
• Mad Monster Party (1967) - stop motion animation. Boris Karloff as Baron Boris von Frankenstein, Phyllis Diller as the Monster's Mate.
• The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967) - cel animation.
• King Kong Escapes (released in Japan as King Kong's Counterattack) (1967) - live action. a co-production from Toho (Japan) and Rankin/Bass (USA). a loose adaptation of the Rankin/Bass Saturday morning cartoon series The King Kong Show.
  
• Marco (1973) - live action
  
• The Last Dinosaur (1977) - live action
• The Bermuda Depths (1977) - live action. TV-Movie

• The Hobbit (1977) - cel animation. an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien. TV movie.
• The Return of the King (1980) - cel animation. TV movie.
• The Ivory Ape (1980) - live action
• The Bushido Blade (1981)
• The Last Unicorn (1982) - cel animation. Mia Farrow as the Unicorn / Lady Amalthea, Alan Arkin as Schmendrick, Jeff Bridges as Prince Lír, and Angela Lansbury as Mommy Fortuna.
• The Flight of Dragons (1982) - cel animation. TV movie.
• The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983)
• The Wind in the Willows (1987) - TV movie. an adaptation of the book of the same name by Kenneth Grahame.

Animated TV specials (non-Christmas):

• Return to Oz (1964) - cel animation.
• The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1966) - stop-motion animation. James Cagney as Big Bear (narrator). 
• Mouse on the Mayflower (1968) - cel animation. Tennessee Ernie Ford as Willum  and the narrator.
• The Mad, Mad, Mad Comedians (1970) - cel animation. a tribute to early vaudeville, featuring animated reworkings of various famous comedians' acts, with most of the comedians providing their own voices for their animated counterparts.
• Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) - stop-motion animation. based on a 1957 novel by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich entitled The Easter Bunny That Overslept. Danny Kaye as Seymour S. Sassafrass, Colonel Wellington B. Bunny, and Antoine. Vincent Price as January Q. Irontail.
• The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes (1972) - stop-motion animatin. produced as a division of Tomorrow Entertainment.
• The First Easter Rabbit (1976) - cel animation. Burl Ives as Narrator, Old Stuffy.
• The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (1977) - stop-motion animation. Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger.
• Coneheads (1983) - cel animation. based on the Saturday Night Live comedy sketches.

Animated Series:

• The New Adventures of Pinocchio (1960) - stop-motion animation. 130 5-minute "chapters" were produced. These segments made up a series of 5-chapter, 25-minute episodes.
• Tales of the Wizard of Oz (1961) - cel animation. 150-episode series of shorts.
• The King Kong Show (1966–1969) - cel animation. 3 seasons, 25 episodes.
• The Smokey Bear Show (1969-1970) - cel animation. 17 episodes.
• The Tomfoolery Show (1970-1976) - cel animation. based primarily on the works of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll.
• The Reluctant Dragon and Mr. Toad Show (1970-1971) - cel animation. The Reluctant Dragon is from an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame, and Mr. Toad is from the novel The Wind in the Willows, also by Kenneth Grahame.
• The Jackson 5ive (1971-1972) - cel animation. 23 episodes.
• The Osmonds (1972) - cel animation.
• Kid Power (1972) - a cel animated version of the Wee Pals comic strip by Morrie Turner.
• Festival of Family Classics (1972-1973) - cel animated versions of famous folk tales and classic literature.
• ThunderCats (1985–1988) - cel animation. follows the adventures of a group of cat-like humanoid aliens.
• SilverHawks (1986) - cel animation. a team of human heroes in the 29th century who were given metal bodies and hawk wings to stop organized crime in the Galaxy of Limbo.
• The Comic Strip (1987) - cel animation. Each episode had 4 segments, featuring TigerSharks, Street Frogs, Mini Monsters and Karate Kat.

Episodes of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie:

• Mad Mad Mad Monsters (1972) - cel animation. many of the same monster characters from Mad Monster Party
• Willie Mays and the Say-Hey Kid (1972)
• Red Baron (1972)
• That Girl in Wonderland (1973)