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 narrated by Shirley Booth (as Mrs. Claus).
Santa Claus (Mickey Rooney, who voiced the same char-
acter 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 Christ-
mas any more (even though he wishes Santa Claus and
Mrs. Claus a merry Christmas), that he should make some
changes to his routine on Christmas. He decides to take
a holiday, and it is up to the elves, Jingle and Jangle, to
find people who still believe in Santa Claus. The elves,
however, run into trouble 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 does not know them or their baby reindeer,
Vixen. They get accused of "riding a vixen the wrong way
on a one way road, crossing the White Line, and wearing
Genre Animated Musical funny looking suits on a Sunday." When they try to dis-
guise Vixen as a dog, Vixen is mistaken for a lost dog and
Directed by Jules Bass
Arthur Rankin Jr. is sent to the pound, where she sickens in the heat. They
befriend a young boy named Ignatius Thistlewhite and
Produced by Jules Bass all visit the skeptical Mayor of Southtown, who laughs
Arthur Rankin Jr.
hysterically at their story but agrees to free the reindeer
Written by William Keenan if Jingle and Jangle prove that they are Santa’s magical
Phyllis McGinley (novel) elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas Day.
Starring Shirley Booth Figuring into the storyline are two of the best-re-
Mickey Rooney membered Rankin/Bass characters, Heat Miser (George
Dick Shawn S. Irving) and his stepbrother Snow Miser (Dick Shawn)
George S. Irving who are opposite forces of Nature and are constantly at
Bob McFadden
War against each other. Kind Mrs. Claus comes to ask
Bradley Bolke
Rhoda Mann both of them to work out a compromise to permit a
Christmas snow in South Town, U.S.A, Heat Miser’s ter-
Music by Maury Laws ritory; he agrees only if Snow Miser will surrender the
Country United States North Pole to his control, only to hear the obviously of-
fended Snow Miser shout in shock "COOPERATE?! ’Sur-
Language English
render the North Pole’ YOU CALL ’COOPERATE?!’". When
Release date December 10, 1974 they refuse to cooperate, Mrs. Claus goes to their step-
mother, Mother Nature, who forces them to compromise.
Running time 48 mins
Meanwhile, Santa dresses in "civilian" clothes in or-
Preceded by Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town der to find and rescue Vixen and ends up finding that
Followed by A Miser Brothers’ Christmas some people still believe in him and in the spirit of
Christmas, especially when the world’s children decide
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop they will make him presents if he plans on taking a holi-
motion animated television special. The story is based on day. The children’s decision sets off headlines around the
Phyllis McGinley’s 1956 book of the same name, illustrat- world.
ed by Kurt Werth. One little girl, however, is sad to miss Santa on Christ-
mas Eve, and she writes that she’ll have a "Blue Christ-
mas." Touched by all the evidence he has seen of caring
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Year Without a Santa Claus
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 sequel used stop-motion animation like the original.
It was animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. Mickey Rooney,
Production at age 88, reprised his role as Santa Claus; and George S.
The special premiered in 1974 on ABC where it aired an- Irving, at age 86, reprised his role as Heat Miser. Snow
nually until 1980, and still airs on the ABC Family cable Miser, originally voiced by Dick Shawn who died in 1987,
network. Warner Bros. Television is the show’s current was voiced by Juan Chioran. Mrs. Claus, originally voiced
distributor, through their ownership of the post-1974 by Shirley Booth who died in 1992, was voiced by Cather-
Rankin/Bass TV library. ine Disher.
Songs In Popular Culture
1. "The Year Without a Santa Claus (song)" • South Park did a spoof of Blue Christmas during the
2. "I Could Be Santa Claus" episode The Wacky Molestation Adventure.
3. "I Believe in Santa Claus" • In the 1997 film Batman & Robin, Mr. Freeze (Arnold
4. "It’s Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie" Schwarzenegger) conducts his henchmen in a
5. "The Snow Miser Song" version of "The Snow Miser" song in his hideout.
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
• Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
External links
• 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
Magazine
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
believe and that they still deserve toys from Santa, so the
elves visit the United States in search of Christmas spirit.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Year_Without_a_Santa_Claus&oldid=467849774"
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Year Without a Santa Claus
Categories:
• English-language films
• 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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