The Ballad of Smokey the Bear (1966) – Rankin Bass Classic

The Ballad of Smokey the Bear is a fabled telling of the U.S. National Forest Services mascot Smokey the Bear. Produced by Rankin Bass and released in 1966 this classic film has largely been forgotten. The story tells of a group of forest animals trying to solve the mystery of why the water is being polluted and the forest is catching on fire. I won’t give too much away here, but there is something sinister going on the the land of the forest animals. The animation is definitely in the early style of Rankin Bass’s Animagic with the poppy pose to pose movements that are so loved in films such as Rudolph the Redness Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mad Monster Party, or the many other stop motion productions they produced and are now cult classics. The artistry is true to the Rankin Bass stylings with the characters displaying the trademark textured felt of the puppets. This film is a gem and worth the 60 minute runtime for a slow evening viewing or a Thanksgiving after dinner hang with the kids. You can watch the whole film below: