On Oct. 25, the directing and producing community lost an artist, Jules Bass. Bass has directed tv shows like “The Adventures of Pinocchio” and “The Ballad of Smokey the Bear” with his great friend, Arthur Raklin Jr. 

Bass and Raklin were such good friends that after producing “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, they started “Raklin/Bass Productions”, where they produced various Christmas movies, such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Frosty the Snowman”, “A Year Without Santa Claus” and “Santa Claus is coming to Town.”

While Raklin mainly directed these, Bass worked with Maury Laws to write all the lyrics in these movies. He then continued working with her and did his live piece, “The Daydreamer.”

After working with Maury Laws, Bass wrote under Julian P. Gardner to make “The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow” and “The Little Drummer Boy, Book II.” “The Little Drummer Boy” was eventually nominated for an Emmy. 

Straying away from the Christmas pieces, Bass also created “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” and the cartoon “Thundercats.” Bass also worked with J.R.R Tolkein to make a verse for “The Hobbit.”

However, in 1987 Bass stepped away from producing movies and began writing children’s books. One of his books, “The Headhunters,” was turned into a film called “Monte Carlo” in 2011. The film based on Bass’s book was produced by Thomas Bezucha and starred singer, songwriter and actress Selena Gomez. 

Bass will be missed by many. Laker Student Braiden Sackett stated that, “He will be greatly missed. However, he left us with some fantastic parting gifts, movies that we could sit down and watch with our families this Christmas. Family time is always the best, and we will keep our tradition of watching these classics.” 

Rest Easy, Mr. Bass; we appreciate you and your creativity.