Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
■ Rudolph and his still-shiny nose are getting a new home, and it’s bound to be a lot nicer than the Island of Misfit Toys. The soaring reindeer and Santa Claus figures who starred in the perennially beloved stop-motion animation Christmas special “Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer” are going up for auction. Auction house Profiles in History announced Thursday that a 6-inch-tall Rudolph and 11-inch-tall Santa used to animate the 1964 TV special are being sold together in the auction that starts Nov. 13 and are expected to fetch between $150,000 and $250,000. Collector Peter Lutrario of Staten Island, N.Y., thought they might be the only items he would never sell, but when he recently turned 65 he thought about having something to leave for his children and grandchildren. “I always said I would die with the dolls,” he said in an interview. “I’m just putting the family first.” The figures were made by Japanese puppet maker Ichiro Komuro and used for the filming of the show at Tadaito Mochinaga’s MOM Productions in Tokyo. They’re made of wood, wire, cloth and leather. Rudolph’s nose, after some minimal maintenance through the years, still lights up. The realistic bristles of Santa’s beard are made from yak hair. Lutrario, who bought them about 15 years ago after seeing them appraised on “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS, says that even after well over five decades you can manipulate them as the original animators did. The show, produced by the company that would become Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, first aired Dec. 6, 1964, on NBC in the United States.
■ Taraji P. Henson will host a new podcast series focused on the story behind the New Jack Swing music era. Wondery and Universal Music Group announced Thursday that Henson will host “Jacked: The Rise of New Jack Swing.” The sixpart series will premiere Nov. 17 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Wondery App. The Oscar-nominated actor will also serve as a producer of the series, which is being dubbed as the “rise and eventual fall” of the New Jack Swing movement. The series will delve into the complex relationships between a group of teenagers from Harlem who created the musical sound. The story will involve “dashed hopes, jealousy, betrayal, drugs, hip-hop and rivalries.” Producer Teddy Riley is known as the leader of the New Jack Swing era, which made its mark in the ’80s and ’90s. The musical style was a fusion of hip-hop, R&B, jazz and funk. Some of the popular songs from the era included Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative,” Bell Biv Devoe’s “Poison,” Tony Toni Tone’s “Feels Good” and “Rumpshaker” by Wreckx-N-Effect. “Jacked” will feature dozens of interviews including band members and managers along with music from UMG’s catalog.