The Year Without a Santa Claus
| The Year Without a Santa Claus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Based on |
The Year Without A Santa Claus by Phyllis McGinley |
| Written by | William Keenan |
| Screenplay by | Mr. Snow Miser |
| Directed by |
Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Voices of |
Shirley Booth Mickey Rooney Dick Shawn George S. Irving Bob McFadden Bradley Bolke Rhoda Mann |
| Narrated by | Shirley Booth |
| Composer(s) | Maury Laws |
| Country of origin | United States Japan |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin, Jr. |
| Cinematography | Akikazu Kono Ichiro Komuro |
| Running time | 48 mins |
| Production company(s) | Rankin/Bass Productions |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release |
|
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town |
| Followed by | Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July |
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, illustrated by Kurt Werth. 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.
Santa Claus wakes up with a cold after Thanksgiving but "not quite yet Christmas"—according to Mrs. Claus. He is told by his doctor–who thinks that nobody cares about Christmas any more–that he should make some changes to his routine. Santa decides to take a holiday instead of delivering gifts, and leaves it to two elves, Jingle and Jangle, to find proof that people still believe in Santa Claus. The elves take Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen, but they are shot down between the two fortresses of the Miser brothers; the Snow Miser is a supernatural being in charge of cold weather, while his brother the Heat Miser is in charge of warm weather.
Traveling on, they become lost in Southtown, a small town in the Southern United States. They receive a citation from a policeman for "riding a vixen the wrong way on a one-way street, crossing the white line, and wearing funny-looking clothes on a Sunday." They try to disguise Vixen as a dog, but Vixen is captured and sent to the dog pound where she becomes very sick. They befriend a boy named Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite and visit the skeptical Mayor of Southtown. The Mayor laughs hysterically at their story but agrees to free Vixen if Jingle and Jangle prove that they are elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas Day.
On their behalf, Mrs. Claus visits the Miser brothers to ask Snow Miser to make it snow in Southtown. Snow Miser declares that the town is under Heat Miser's control. Mrs. Claus proposes a compromise: Heat Miser will agree only if Snow Miser will surrender the North Pole to his control. When Snow Miser refuses, Mrs. Claus decides to "go over their heads" by speaking to their mother. Mrs. Claus arrives at Mother Nature's house where she persuades Heat Miser and Snow Miser to compromise.
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Wikipedia