The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

When a weary and discouraged Santa Claus considers skipping his Christmas Eve run one year, Mrs. Claus and his Elves set out to change his mind.

Directors:

Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.

Writers:

William J. Keenan (teleplay) (as William Keenan), Phyllis McGinley (novel)

Stars:

Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Shirley Booth	...	Mrs. Santa (voice)
Mickey Rooney	...	Santa Claus (voice)
Dick Shawn	...	Snow Miser (voice)
George S. Irving	...	Heat Miser (voice)
Bob McFadden	...	Jingle Bells (voice)
Rhoda Mann	...	Mother Nature (voice)
Bradley Bolke	...	Jangle Bells (voice)
Ron Marshall	...	Mr. Thistlewhite (voice)
Colin Duffy	...	Ignatius Thistlewhite (voice)
Christine Winter	...	Blue Christmas girl (voice)
The Wee Winter Singers	...	Chorus (voice)

Storyline

Mrs. Claus tells us about the time Santa had a bad cold and decided to take a vacation from Christmas. Two of his elves, Jingle Bells and Jangle Bells decided to go out (with Vixen) to find children to convince Santa that the Christmas spirit is still important to everybody else. But they have to get past Heat Miser and Snow Miser, first, before they land in Southtown, USA, where it never snows for Christmas. But the Miser Brothers can't agree to let it snow in Southtown. But Mrs. Santa knows their mom--Mother Nature.

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Plot Keywords:

1970s | elves | mrs. santa | nature deity | nature goddess | 

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Genres:

Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 December 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Company Credits

Production Co:

Rankin/Bass Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shirley Booth's last filmed acting project.

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Goofs

When Jingle, Jangle and Vixen arrive in Southtown they approach a woman to ask her if she has any Christmas spirit. Southtown is a warm weather town 365 days a year, yet the woman is dressed for cold weather wearing a hat, a full length coat and has her hands in a muff (Which turns out to be a live cat!).

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Quotes

Heat Miser: Well, well, Mrs. Claus. How's your husband doing? Out doing another commercial for my brother?
Mrs. Santa: Oh come now. You know he's not on your brother's payroll.

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: Batman and Robin (2008)

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Soundtracks

Blue Christmas
Words and music by Billy Hayes and Jay Johnson
Performed by Christine Winter and The Wee Winter Singers

User Reviews

Love Them Misers

I find this holiday made-for-T.V. movie to be one of the more charming of its kind, maybe because it's not as well known as "Rudolph" and "Frosty" and other holiday perennials.

In this one, Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney, who also did Santa honors in "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town") decides he's had enough of Christmas and those who don't appreciate him and cancels the holiday. Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth) decides it's up to her to prove to Santa how much everyone still loves and admires him, so she sends off two elves on an around-the-world fact-finding mission to compile evidence of a belief in Santa and what he stands for. From there, the plot goes all over the place and nothing makes a whole lot of sense, but it's all harmless enough. The film's biggest selling point, of course, are the miser brothers, Heat and Snow, who each get a showstopping burlesque number complete with mini back up singers. I wish these two had been given a Christmas movie of their own.

Grade: A-