The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 animated Christmas special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is loosely based on Phyllis McGinley’s 1956 book of the same title. It is narrated by Shirley Booth (her final acting credit before her retirement from acting) and starring the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving.
Plot[]
Our narrator, Mrs. Claus, tells us the story of the year that there almost wasn’t a Christmas. As the story begins, Santa Claus has fallen ill and wakes up with a cold sometime before Christmas Eve. When the grouchy elf doctor sarcastically says that nobody believes in him nor cares about Christmas anymore, Santa decides to forego his annual Christmas Eve run. He issues a press release to announce that Christmas was cancelled so that he may take a holiday. Humoring her husband for the time being, Mrs. Claus enlists two elves named Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells with a task: she orders them to leave the North Pole to find evidence of Christmas spirit in hopes of changing Santa’s mind and convince him to still perform his annual journey.
Riding the baby reindeer Vixen, the dim-witted set off to the south, when they get caught in the crossfire of the ever-feuding Miser Brothers—Snow Miser, who controls the cold northern weather, and his foul-tempered brother Heat Miser, who controls the hot weather in the south. The elves and Vixen are immediately attacked by Heat Miser and his minions as Snow Miser looks on, but they fortunately manage to escape. The trio soon arrive in a little town called Southtown U.S.A. (the exact state it’s located in is never mentioned). To avert suspicions, they disguise Vixen as a dog. After encountering some unfriendly townsfolk, they approach a group of nonchalant schoolchildren, including a boy named Ignatius Thistlewhite. Disheartened that no one seems to car that Christmas is cancelled, the elves almost fail to notice that Vixen has been captured by the dog catcher and taken to the pound.
Back at the North Pole, Santa learns of his wife’s plot to resurrect Christmas and, after hearing that Vixen is missing, sets off, accompanied by his flying reindeer Dasher, to assist the helpless elves in a dangerous world they know nothing about. Disguised as a civilian named “Mr. Klaus,” he meets and befriends Ignatius and asks him if he’s seen the two elves. The boy’s mother, overhearing their conversation, invites the disguised jolly man into her home. Inside, as Santa drinks some tea to help with his cold, they discuss the existence of Santa Claus, not realizing they are in his company. Mr. Thistlewhite sings a song about how he once met Santa when he was a boy, learning that he is in fact real. After the song, Iggy admits that that maybe he’s not too old to believe in Santa himself, lifting Santa’s spirits. Iggy then tells Santa what happened to Jingle, Jangle and Vixen, so heads off to bail Vixen out of the pound himself, and not a moment too soon, as the little doe has fallen ill due to the warm weather. After witnessing “Mr. Klaus” leaving with Dasher, Iggy realizes his true identity and resolves to help Jingle and Jangle.
Under his father’s advice, he tracks down Jingle and Jangle (who were unable to pay Vixen’s bail at the pound themselves) and brings them to the Mayor’s office to plead their case. Unfortunately, the Mayor just laughs at their story and will only believe their story if the elves can make it snow in Southtown for Christmas, as it hasn’t snowed there in a hundred years. During this time, Santa has already rescued Vixen from the dog pound and is on his way up to the North Pole. Meanwhile, unaware of this, while trying to figure out how to get snow to fall in Southtown, the elves place a call to Mrs. Claus for help. Figuring that the mayor’s request could help boost the spirits of the town and her husband as well, she arrives in a sleigh pulled by Blitzen, picks up Jingle, Jangle and Iggy. Together, they visit the Miser Brothers.
First, they visit Snow Miser. After a rousing dance number with his minions, they ask him if he will send snow to Southtown for a day. The wizard is agreeable, but says that cannot as it is part of Heat Miser’s territory. Next, the group then head south again to visit the lair of Heat Miser and his minions to present the situation to the demonic giant. Appalled at the very idea of letting his stepbrother allow snow to fall in his territory, Heat Miser refuses, saying that he will only agree to the deal if Snow Miser gives him control over the North Pole’s weather in exchange. After picking a fight with his more popular brother and both of them being unwilling to give in on either side over a video phone conference, Mrs. Claus goes over their heads and straight to the source— Mother Nature. The kindly woman, and mother to the elements, convinces her sons to cooperate for the greater good, if they don’t want to face her wrath if they refuse.
Back at the North Pole, as it begins to snow Southtown, Santa has just brought Vixen home. He soon finds out that some people still believe in him and in the spirit of Christmas after all, especially after reading newspaper headlines stating that the world has given him a holiday. As Christmas approaches, since Santa plans on taking a holiday, the world’s children decide to send their own presents to him. However, one little girl is saddened by Santa’s decision to take Christmas Eve off, writing to him that she’ll have a “Blue Christmas.” Touched by all the outpouring of caring and generosity, all of Santa’s ill symptoms suddenly disappear and he decides to pack the sleigh and make his Christmas Eve journey after all, including a stop in Southtown, where the mayor dedicates Santa Claus Lane just in time for Santa to parade down the streets of town.
On Christmas Day, the children of Southtown are very happy with their presents they find under their trees; Ignatius even discovers that he’s been given a bicycle, while he gives his parents their presents. As the special closes, Mrs. Claus remarks that somehow, “yearly, newly, faithfully and truly Santa Claus always comes.” Santa awakens from a sleep and declares “I dreamed unhappy things!” (contributing to a theory that the entire film was a dream). He then gets up from his bed to dress himself, hitches the reindeer up, loads the sleigh with gifts, then takes off to bring the joy of Christmas to the children of the world.
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”
- “Mr. White Christmas”
- “Mr. Green Christmas”
- “Blue Christmas”
- “Here Comes Santa Claus”
Spin-off productions[]
In 2006, Warner Bros. produced a live-action movie based on the special, which starred John Goodman as Santa, Harvey Fierstein as Heat Miser, and Michael McKean as Snow Miser. It premiered on NBC on December 11th and was released on DVD. The movie was poorly received and, as a result, has not re-aired on television since then.
Voice 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, North Pole doctor
- Bradley Bolke as Jangle Bells, Southtown cop, Southtown dog catcher
- Colin Duffy as Ignatius Thistlewhite
- Ron Marshall as Mr. Thistlewhite, the Mayor of Southtown
- Rhoda Mann as Mother Nature, Mrs. Thistlewhite, woman with cat
- Christine Winter as Blue Christmas girl
- unknown as Vixen, Blitzen
- unknown as Snow Miser minions, Heat Miser minions
External links[]
The Year Without a Santa Claus on Bing Videos