The Year Without a Santa Claus

The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974 on ABC.

The film was Shirley Booth's final acting credit as she retired from acting after its completion. The film took a total of about 2 months to edit and film.

Plot
On a day sometime before Christmas, presumably after the events of Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Santa Claus (Mickey Rooney) wakes up with a cold. His doctor, who thinks nobody cares about him anymore, advises him to make some changes to his routine, so Santa decides to take a holiday instead of delivering gifts (“The Year Without a Santa Claus”). Mrs. Claus (Shirley Booth, also the film’s narrator) unsuccessfully tries to convince him otherwise, so she enlists two elves named Jingle (Bob McFadden) and Jangle (Bradley Bolke) to find proof that people still believe in Santa. Jingle and Jangle set out with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen, but are shot down by crossfire between the conflicting Miser Brothers: Snow Miser (Dick Shawn), who controls the world's cold weather, and Heat Miser (George S. Irving), who controls warm weather.

Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen come upon Southtown, a small town in the southern United States. They try to ask around, but they find the populace, including a young boy named Iggy (Colin Duffy) are skeptical of Santa's existence. To make matters worse, Vixen is ticketed by a police officer (Bolke) and later sent to the dog pound after Jingle and Jangle disguise her as an "instant Rover." The police officer refers them to the town's mayor (Ron Marshall) who laughs at their story, but agrees to free Vixen if they can prove they are elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas (“It’s Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie”).

Jingle and Jangle call Mrs. Claus to pick them up. As she leaves, Santa discovers Vixen is missing and travels to Southtown himself to retrieve her while disguised as a civilian named Claus (“I Could Be Santa Claus”). While there, he meets Iggy and his family. Iggy asks Claus if he believes in Santa, and he replies that he believes "like I believe in love." Iggy's father (Marshall) reveals that Santa personally visited him one Christmas, and he still believes (“I Believe in Santa Claus”). When Claus leaves with Vixen, Iggy realizes who "Claus" really is, and resolves to help Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen.

Iggy joins Mrs. Claus when she arrives to pick up Jingle and Jangle. Together, they visit the Miser Brothers. They ask Snow Miser to send snow to Southtown for a day (“The Snow Miser’s Song”), but he cannot as it is part of Heat Miser's territory. They ask Heat Miser (“The Heat Miser’s Song), but he will only comply if Snow Miser gives him the North Pole for a day in exchange. The Miser Brothers begin bickering, so Mrs. Claus goes to visit their mother, Mother Nature (Rhoda Mann), to ask for her help. Mother Nature obligingly orders her sons to demonstrate good will by compromising, and they obey reluctantly.

As Christmas approaches, the world's children send their own presents to Santa, setting off international headlines. Inspired, one girl misses Santa and writes him that he will be deeply missed by all the children of Southtown (“Blue Christmas”, performed by Christine Winter and the Wee Winter Singers). Visibly moved by the outpouring of generosity and appreciation, Santa decides to make his journey. On Christmas Eve, he arrives in a public stop in Southtown during a snowfall (“Sleigh Ride“/“Here Comes Santa Claus”).The next day, the children, including Iggy, are delighted to receive their presents.

As the special ends, Mrs. Claus narrates that somehow, "yearly, newly, faithfully and truly," Santa always comes. In a modified reprise of the opening sequence, Santa is then shown getting out of bed to prepare himself, his reindeer, and his gift-loaded sleigh, remarking he could never imagine a year when he doesn’t make his journey (“The Year Without a Santa Claus [Reprise]”).

Cast

 * Shirley Booth as Mrs. Claus
 * Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus
 * Dick Shawn as Snow Miser
 * George S. Irving as Heat Miser
 * Bob McFadden as Jingle Bells, Elf Doctor
 * Bradley Bolke as Jangle Bells, Police Officer
 * Rhoda Mann as Mother Nature, Mrs. Thistlewhite
 * Ron Marshall as Mr. Thistlewhite, Mayor of Southtown
 * Colin Duffy as Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite
 * Christine Winter as the Blue Christmas Girl
 * The Wee Winter Singers as the Children Choir

Songs

 * 1) "Sleigh Ride" (instrumental)
 * 2) "The Year Without a Santa Claus"
 * 3) "I Could Be Santa Claus"
 * 4) "I Believe in Santa Claus"
 * 5) "It's Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie"
 * 6) "The Snow Miser Song"
 * 7) "The Heat Miser Song"
 * 8) "Blue Christmas"
 * 9) "Sleigh Ride" (instrumental)
 * 10) "Here Comes Santa Claus"
 * 11) "The Year Without a Santa Claus (reprise)"

Television rights
The special premiered in 1974 on ABC, and aired annually on Freeform during its 25 Days of Christmas programming block until 2017. As of 2018, AMC: American Movie Classics currently airs the special uncut.[1] Warner Bros. Entertainment (thru its classic animation division and its family film and children’s entertainment label) is the show's current distributor through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library.

Home media
The special was first released on VHS by Vestron Video on September 5, 1991 as part of their Christmas Classics Series, which is distributed by Family Home Entertainment. Warner Home Videoreleased the special on VHS on September 2, 1992, and re-released it on VHS on September 28, 1999. The special was then released on DVD on October 31, 2000, and re-released on the Deluxe Edition DVD on October 2, 2007. Warner Home Video released the special on Blu-ray on October 5, 2010, making it the first Rankin/Bass production to be released on that format.

DVD details

 * Release date: October 31, 2000 (Original DVD), October 2, 2007 (Deluxe Edition DVD), October 5, 2010 (Blu-ray)
 * Full Screen
 * Region: 1
 * Aspect Ratios: 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)

Live-action remake
Main article: The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006 film)

A live-action remake of The Year Without a Santa Claus premiered on NBC on December 11, 2006, and was released on DVD the following day.[2] It follows largely the same plot as the original special.

Sequel
A sequel, titled A Miser Brothers' Christmas, was produced in 2008 by Cuppa Coffee Studios, and also used stop-motion animation. Mickey Rooney, age 88, reprised his role as Santa Claus, and George S. Irving, age 86, reprised his role as Heat Miser. Juan Chioran and Catherine Disher replaced Dick Shawn and Shirley Booth as Snow Miser and Mrs. Claus, respectively, Shawn and Booth having died prior to the film's production.