From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus Summary
The show is set in the 1920s and is narrated by Shirley
Booth (as Mrs. Claus). Santa Claus (voiced by Mickey
Rooney who voiced the same character in Santa Claus Is
Comin’ to Town, of which this special is a semi-sequel)
wakes up with a cold and is told by his doctor, who thinks
that nobody cares about Christmas anymore (even
though he wishes Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus a merry
Christmas), that he should make some changes to his rou-
tine on Christmas. He decides to take a holiday, and it’s
up to the elves, Jingle and Jangle, to find people who still
believe in Santa Claus. The elves, however, run into trou-
ble along the way flying between Heat and Snow Miser
who are fighting, when they get shot down and are lost in
Southtown, a small town in the Southern United States.
They get a ticket from a Police Officer who doesn’t know
them or their baby reindeer, Vixen. They get accused of
"riding a vixen the wrong way on a one way road, cross-
Genre Animated Musical ing the White Line, and wearing funny looking suits on a
Sunday." When they try to disguise Vixen as a dog, Vix-
Directed by Jules Bass
Arthur Rankin Jr. en is mistaken for a lost dog and is sent to the pound,
where she sickens in the heat. They Befriend a young
Produced by Jules Bass boy named Ignatius Thistlewhite and all visit The skepti-
Arthur Rankin Jr.
cal Mayor of Southtown laughs hysterically at their story
Written by William Keenan but agrees to free the reindeer if Jingle and Jangle prove
Phyllis McGinley (novel) that they are Santa’s magical elves by making it snow in
Starring Shirley Booth Southtown on Christmas Day.
Mickey Rooney Figuring into the storyline are two of the most well-
Dick Shawn remembered Rankin/Bass characters, Heat Miser (George
George S. Irving S. Irving) and his stepbrother Snow Miser (Dick Shawn)
Bob McFadden
who are opposite forces of Nature and are constantly at
Bradley Bolke
Rhoda Mann War against each other. Kind Mrs. Claus comes to ask
both of them to work out a compromise to permit a
Music by Maury Laws Christmas snow in South Town, U.S.A, Heat Miser’s ter-
Country United States ritory; he agrees only if Snow Miser will surrender the
North Pole to his control for one day, only to hear the
Language English obviously offended Snow Miser shout in shock
Release date December 10, 1974 "COOPERATE?! ’Surrender the North Pole’ YOU CALL
’COOPERATE?!’". When they refuse to cooperate, Mrs.
Running time 48 mins
Claus goes to their step-mother, Mother Nature, who
Preceded by Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town forces them to compromise.
Meanwhile, Santa dresses in "civilian" clothes in or-
Followed by A Miser Brothers’ Christmas
der to find and rescue Vixen and ends up finding that
some people still believe in him and in the spirit of
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop
Christmas, especially when the world’s children decide
motion animated television special. It usually airs during
they will make him presents if he plans on taking a holi-
the Christmas season on United States television. The
day. The children’s decision sets off headlines around the
story is based on Phyllis McGinley’s 1956 book of the
world.
name,
same name illustrated by Kurt Werth.
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Year Without a Santa Claus
One little girl, however, is sad to miss Santa on Christ- believe and that they still deserve toys from Santa, so the
mas Eve, and she writes that she’ll have a "Blue Christ- elves visit the United States in search of Christmas spirit.
mas." Touched by all the evidence he has seen of caring
and generosity, Santa decides to pack the sleigh and
make his Christmas Eve journey after all, including a pub-
Sequel
lic stop in a snowy South Town. Main article: A Miser Brothers’ Christmas
The special premiered in 1974 on ABC where it aired The sequel used stop-motion animation like the original.
annually until 1980, and still airs on the ABC Family cable It was animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. Mickey Rooney,
network. Warner Bros. Television is the show’s current at age 88, reprised his role as Santa Claus; and George S.
distributor, through their ownership of the post-1974 Irving, at age 86, reprised his role as Heat Miser. Snow
Rankin/Bass TV library. Miser, originally voiced by Dick Shawn who died in 1987,
was voiced by Juan Chioran. Mrs. Claus, originally voiced
by Shirley Booth who died in 1992, was voiced by Cather-
Songs ine Disher.
1. "The Year Without a Santa Claus (song)"
2.
3.
"I Could Be Santa Claus"
"I Believe in Santa Claus"
In Popular Culture
4. "It’s Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie" • South Park did a spoof of Blue Christmas during the
5. "The Snow Miser Song" episode The Wacky Molestation Adventure.
6. "The Heat Miser Song"
7.
8.
"Blue Christmas"
"Here Comes Santa Claus"
See also
9. "The Year Without a Santa Claus (reprise)" • List of animated feature films
• List of stop-motion films
DVD details
• Release date: October 31, 2000
References
• Full Screen [1] The Year Without a Santa Claus starring John
• Region: 1 Goodman, Chris Kattan, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Griffin,
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Carol Kane from Warner Home Video on DVD -
• Audio tracks: English Widescreen, Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78
• Special Features:
• Rudolph’s Shiny New Year External links
• Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
• Stop Motion 101 (Deluxe Edition Exclusive) • The Year Without a Santa Claus at the Internet Movie
• We Are Santa’s Elves: Profiling Arthur Rankin Jr. Database
& Jules Bass (Deluxe Edition Exclusive) • Review by critic Jayson Harsin at Blogcritics
It was also a free DVD in The Sun-Herald in 2007.[citation Magazine
needed]
Remake
Main article: The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006 film)
A 90-minute 2006 live-action remake of the Rankin-Bass
classic The Year Without a Santa Claus which premiered on
NBC December 11, 2006. A widescreen DVD was released
on December 12, 2006 (UPC 085391115120)[1].
This remake follows the same basic concept as the
original: Santa, disillusioned by children’s lack of belief in
him and in the spirit of giving, decides not to deliver toys
this Christmas Eve, despite the arguments by Mrs. Claus
and two of his helper-elves, Jingle and Jangle. They de-
cide to provide Santa with some proof that children still
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Year_Without_a_Santa_Claus&oldid=465166041"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Year Without a Santa Claus
Categories:
• 1974 films
• Santa Claus in film and television
• Stop-motion animated films
• Television series by Warner Bros. Television
• Films based on children's books
• Films featuring anthropomorphic characters
• Christmas television specials
• Films directed by Jules Bass
• Films directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr.
• 1974 television specials
• 1974 in American television
• American television specials
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