The Year Without a Santa Claus
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| The Year Without a Santa Claus | |
| Approx. run time | 48 mins |
|---|---|
| Genre | Animated Musical |
| Written by | William Keenan Phyllis McGinley (novel) |
| Directed by | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Produced by | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Starring | Shirley Booth Mickey Rooney Dick Shawn George S. Irving Bob McFadden Bradley Bolke Rhoda Mann |
| Music by | Maury Laws |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Release date | December 10, 1974 |
| Preceded by | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town |
| Followed by | A Miser Brothers' Christmas |
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.
Contents |
[edit] Summary
The show is set in the 1920s and is narrated by Shirley Booth (as Mrs. Claus). Santa Claus (voiced by Mickey Rooney, as he did in the previous 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 that he should make some changes to his routine on Christmas. He decides to take a holiday, and it becomes up to the elves, Jingle and Jangle, to search the world, finding 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 and their baby reindeer Vixen is mistaken for a dog and sent to the pound, where she sickens in the heat. The incredulous Mayor of Southtown agrees to free the reindeer if Jingle and Jangle prove 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). Kind Mrs. Claus comes to ask both of them to work out a compromise to permit a Christmas snow in South Town, Heat Miser's territory; he agrees only if Snow Miser will surrender the North Pole to his control for one day. When they refuse to cooperate, Mrs. Claus goes to their 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.
[edit] Songs
- "The Year Without a Santa Claus"
- "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 Christmas"
- "Here Comes Santa Claus"
- "The Year Without a Santa Claus (reprise)"
[edit] 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 Year
- Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
- Stop Motion 101 (Deluxe Edition Exclusive)
- We Are Santa's Elves: Profiling Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass (Deluxe Edition Exclusive)
It was also a free DVD in The Sun-Herald in 2007.
[edit] Remake
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 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.
[edit] Sequel
The sequel remaintains the normal stop-motion animation like this special. It was animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. Mickey Rooney reprised his role as Santa Claus 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, while Mrs. Claus, who was voiced by Shirley Booth, who died in 1992, was done in this special by Catherine Disher.
[edit] See also
[edit] Trivia
- The ending scene of this film is later used at the beginning of Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey.
- During the song "It's Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie", a figure resembling Charlie Chaplin can be seen.
- A clip from the Snow Miser's song can be seen in the film Batman & Robin. Mr. Freeze 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.
[edit] References
- ^ The Year Without A Santa Claus starring John Goodman, Chris Kattan, Ethan Suplee, Eddie Griffin, Carol Kane from Warner Home Video on DVD - Widescreen, Original Aspect Ratio - 1.78
[edit] External links
- The Year Without a Santa Claus at the Internet Movie Database
- Review by critic Jayson Harsin at Blogcritics Magazine
