The Year Without a Santa Claus
Encyclopedia
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass
stop motion
animated
television special
. It usually airs during the Christmas
season on United States
television. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley
's 1956 book of the same name
, illustrated by Kurt Werth
.
(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 routine 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 trouble along the way, when they get 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, crossing the White Line
, and wearing funny looking suits on a Sunday." When they try to disguise Vixen as a dog, Vixen is mistaken for a lost dog and is sent to the pound, where she sickens in the heat. The skeptical Mayor
of Southtown laughs hysterically at their story but agrees to free the reindeer if Jingle and Jangle prove that they are Santa's magical elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas Day.
Figuring into the storyline are two of the most well-remembered Rankin/Bass characters, Heat Miser
(George S. Irving
) and his stepbrother Snow Miser
(Dick Shawn
) who are opposite forces of Nature
and are constantly at War
against each other. Kind Mrs. Claus comes to ask both of them to work out a compromise to permit a Christmas snow in South Town, U.S.A, Heat Miser's territory; he agrees only if Snow Miser will surrender the North Pole to his control for one day, only to hear the obviously offended Snow Miser shout in shock "COOPERATE?! 'Surrender the North Pole' YOU CALL 'COOPERATE?!'". When they refuse to cooperate, Mrs. Claus goes to their step-mother, Mother Nature
, who forces them to compromise.
Meanwhile, Santa dresses in "civilian" clothes in order to find and rescue Vixen and ends up finding that some people still believe in him and in the spirit of Christmas, especially when the world's children decide they will make him presents if he plans on taking a holiday. The children's decision sets off headlines around the world.
One little girl, however, is sad to miss Santa on Christmas Eve
, and she writes that she'll have a "Blue Christmas
." 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 public stop in a snowy South Town.
The special premiered in 1974 on ABC
where it aired annually until 1980, and still airs on the ABC Family
cable network. Warner Bros. Television
is the show's current distributor, through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass TV library.
It was also a free DVD in The Sun-Herald in 2007.
December 11, 2006. A widescreen DVD
was released on December 12, 2006 (UPC 085391115120).
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 decide 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.
reprised his role as Santa Claus at age 88 and George S. Irving
reprised his role as Heat Miser at age 86. Snow Miser, originally portrayed by Dick Shawn
who died in 1987, was voiced by Juan Chioran. Additionally, Mrs. Claus, who was voiced by Shirley Booth
, who died in 1992, was voiced by Catherine Disher
in this special.
In most TV versions the song "I Could Be Santa Claus" sung by Mrs. Claus is almost always cut, but is restored on VHS and DVD releases.
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
television special
Television special
A television special is a television program which interrupts or temporarily replaces programming normally scheduled for a given time slot. Sometimes, however, the term is given to a telecast of a theatrical film, such as The Wizard of Oz or The Ten Commandments, which is not part of a regular...
. It usually airs during the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season on United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley
Phyllis McGinley was an American writer of children's books and poet about the positive aspects of suburban life.McGinley was born in Ontario, Oregon...
's 1956 book of the same name
The Year Without a Santa Claus
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop motion animated television special. It usually airs during the Christmas season on United States television. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name, illustrated by Kurt Werth.-Summary:The show is set in the...
, illustrated by Kurt Werth
Kurt Werth
Kurt Werth was a German born illustrator of children’s books.Werth was born September 21, 1896 in Leipzig, Germany. He studied at the State Academy for the Graphic Arts in Leipzig beginning in 1913. He studied there for two years before being drafted into the German army. After his two years of...
.
Summary
The show is set in the 1920s and is narrated by Shirley BoothShirley Booth
Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...
(as Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus
Mrs. Claus is the wife of Santa Claus, the Christmas gift-bringer in North American Christmas tradition.While Santa Claus himself emerged from the 1820s from a number of traditions of European folklore, Mrs...
). Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
(voiced by Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
who voiced the same character in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV special)
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special, made by Rankin-Bass with models carved from wood . The film stars actor Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger, the narrator, and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus...
, 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 routine 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 trouble along the way, when they get lost in Southtown, a small town in the Southern United States
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. They get a ticket
Traffic ticket
A traffic ticket is a notice issued by a law enforcement official to a motorist or other road user, accusing violation of traffic laws. Traffic tickets generally come in two forms, citing a moving violation, such as exceeding the speed limit, or a non-moving violation, such as a parking violation,...
from a Police Officer
Police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...
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, crossing the White Line
Lane splitting
Lane splitting refers to a two-wheeled vehicle moving between lanes of vehicles that are proceeding in the same direction. More narrowly, it refers to passing stopped or slower moving traffic between lanes at a speed greater than surrounding traffic....
, and wearing funny looking suits on a Sunday." When they try to disguise Vixen as a dog, Vixen is mistaken for a lost dog and is sent to the pound, where she sickens in the heat. The skeptical Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Southtown laughs hysterically at their story but agrees to free the reindeer if Jingle and Jangle prove that they are Santa's magical elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas Day.
Figuring into the storyline are two of the most well-remembered Rankin/Bass characters, Heat Miser
Heat Miser
Heat Miser is a character from the Rankin/Bass 1974 children's television special The Year Without a Santa Claus. A vaguely demonic ogre-like being, Heat Miser is a blustery, quick-tempered hothead who is ultimately harmless...
(George S. Irving
George S. Irving
George S. Irving is an American actor, known primarily for his character roles on Broadway. Born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, he made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in World War II...
) and his stepbrother Snow Miser
Snow Miser
Snow Miser is a character from the Rankin/Bass-produced 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Snow Miser was voiced by actor/comedian Dick Shawn....
(Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn was an American actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Shawn was born as Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York. He played Sylvester Marcus, son of Mrs. Marcus , in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Lorenzo St...
) who are opposite forces of Nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
and are constantly at War
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
against each other. Kind Mrs. Claus comes to ask both of them to work out a compromise to permit a Christmas snow in South Town, U.S.A, Heat Miser's territory; he agrees only if Snow Miser will surrender the North Pole to his control for one day, only to hear the obviously offended Snow Miser shout in shock "COOPERATE?! 'Surrender the North Pole' YOU CALL 'COOPERATE?!'". When they refuse to cooperate, Mrs. Claus goes to their step-mother, Mother Nature
Mother Nature
Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless...
, who forces them to compromise.
Meanwhile, Santa dresses in "civilian" clothes in order to find and rescue Vixen and ends up finding that some people still believe in him and in the spirit of Christmas, especially when the world's children decide they will make him presents if he plans on taking a holiday. The children's decision sets off headlines around the world.
One little girl, however, is sad to miss Santa on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, and she writes that she'll have a "Blue Christmas
Blue Christmas
"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The heart-broken tale of unrequited love during the holidays had long been considered a Christmas staple of country music, having been recorded first by Doye O'Dell in 1948 and popularised by Ernest Tubb the next year...
." 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 public stop in a snowy South Town.
The special premiered in 1974 on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
where it aired annually until 1980, and still airs on the ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
cable network. Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
is the show's current distributor, through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass TV library.
Songs
- "The Year Without a Santa Claus (song)"
- "I Could Be Santa Claus"
- "I Believe in Santa Claus"
- "It's Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie"
- "The Snow Miser Song"
- "The Heat Miser Song"
- "Blue ChristmasBlue Christmas"Blue Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Billy Hayes and Jay W. Johnson. The heart-broken tale of unrequited love during the holidays had long been considered a Christmas staple of country music, having been recorded first by Doye O'Dell in 1948 and popularised by Ernest Tubb the next year...
" - "Here Comes Santa ClausHere Comes Santa Claus"Here Comes Santa Claus " is a Christmas song written by Gene Autry and Oakley Haldeman.Autry got the idea for the song after riding his horse in the 1946 Santa Claus Lane Parade in Los Angeles, during which crowds of spectators chanted, "Here comes Santa Claus". This inspired him to write a song...
" - "The Year Without a Santa Claus (reprise)"
DVD details
- Release date: October 31, 2000
- Full Screen
- Region: 1
- Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Audio tracks: English
- Special Features:
- Rudolph's Shiny New YearRudolph's Shiny New YearRudolph's Shiny New Year is the 1976 stop-motion animated sequel to the 1964 television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, produced by Rankin/Bass.-Plot:...
- Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyNestor, The Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyNestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977, and its plot is similar to an earlier Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.- Plot :...
- Stop Motion 101 (Deluxe Edition Exclusive)
- We Are Santa's Elves: Profiling Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass (Deluxe Edition Exclusive)
- Rudolph's Shiny New Year
It was also a free DVD in The Sun-Herald in 2007.
Remake
A 90-minute 2006 live-action remake of the Rankin-Bass classic The Year Without a Santa Claus which premiered on NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
December 11, 2006. A widescreen DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
was released on December 12, 2006 (UPC 085391115120).
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
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, despite the arguments by Mrs. Claus and two of his helper-elves, Jingle and Jangle. They decide 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
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in search of Christmas spirit.
Sequel
The sequel uses the normal stop-motion animation like this special. It was animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
reprised his role as Santa Claus at age 88 and George S. Irving
George S. Irving
George S. Irving is an American actor, known primarily for his character roles on Broadway. Born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, he made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in World War II...
reprised his role as Heat Miser at age 86. Snow Miser, originally portrayed by Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn
Dick Shawn was an American actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Shawn was born as Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York. He played Sylvester Marcus, son of Mrs. Marcus , in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and Lorenzo St...
who died in 1987, was voiced by Juan Chioran. Additionally, Mrs. Claus, who was voiced by Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...
, who died in 1992, was voiced by Catherine Disher
Catherine Disher
Catherine Wilder Disher is a Canadian actress who won a Gemini Award for Best Actress for her role in the Canadian mini-series Snakes & Ladders, and was nominated for her role as Dr...
in this special.
Trivia
- The ending scene of this film is later used at the beginning of Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyNestor, The Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyNestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977, and its plot is similar to an earlier Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.- Plot :...
. - During the song "It's Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie", a figure resembling Charlie ChaplinCharlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
can be seen. - A clip from the Snow Miser's song can be seen in the film Batman & Robin. Mr. FreezeMr. FreezeMr. Freeze, real name Dr. Victor Fries , is a DC Comics supervillain, an enemy of Batman. Created by Bob Kane, he first appeared in Batman #121 ....
watches it and makes his henchmen sing the song. It is too cold for them to sing, because they are in a freezer, and he gives up on them.
In most TV versions the song "I Could Be Santa Claus" sung by Mrs. Claus is almost always cut, but is restored on VHS and DVD releases.
- The Snow Miser and The Heat Miser obviously represent IceIceIce is water frozen into the solid state. Usually ice is the phase known as ice Ih, which is the most abundant of the varying solid phases on the Earth's surface. It can appear transparent or opaque bluish-white color, depending on the presence of impurities or air inclusions...
and FireFireFire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
as opposite forces of nature.