Arthur Gardner Rankin, Jr. (July 19, 1924 – January 30, 2014) was an American director, producer, and writer, who mostly worked in animation. He was a part of Rankin/Bass Productions with his partner Jules Bass, he created stop-motion animation features such as "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and the 1977 cartoon animation of "The Hobbit". He is credited in over 1,000 television programs.