The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Japanese-American stop motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name. 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. [1] It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974, on ABC. [2]
Santa Claus wakes up with a cold sometime before Christmas Eve. When the Christmas elf doctor sarcastically says that nobody believes in him anymore, Santa decides to forego his annual Christmas Eve run. Mrs. Claus enlists two Christmas elf brothers named Jingle and Jangle to find evidence of Christmas spirit in hopes of changing Santa's mind.
Jingle and Jangle set out with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen and come upon a small community in the southern United States called Southtown. However, their efforts at finding Christmas spirit are in vain and Vixen is caught by a dog-catcher and taken to the pound.
Santa hears Vixen is missing and travels to Southtown while disguised as a civilian named "Klaus." While there, he meets a boy named Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite and his family. When Santa leaves to retrieve Vixen, Iggy realizes his true identity and resolves to help Jingle and Jangle.
The town's police officer refers Jingle, Jangle, and Iggy to the town's mayor who laughs at their story. He agrees to free Vixen if they can prove they are elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas.
Iggy joins Mrs. Claus when she arrives to pick up Jingle and Jangle. Together, they visit the Miser Brothers.
Unbeknownst to Mrs. Claus, Jingle and Jangle, or Iggy, Santa Claus has already rescued Vixen from the dog pound and is on his way up to the North Pole.
They ask Snow Miser, who controls cold weather, to send snow to Southtown for a day. He is agreeable, but says he cannot as it is part of Heat Miser's territory. They then ask Heat Miser who pretends that he will comply if Snow Miser turns the North Pole over to him in exchange. He actually plans to pick another fight with his more popular brother and it works. Mrs. Claus states that she has no other choice but to "go over their heads" as the Miser Brothers blame each other for her going to see their mother. This leads to Mrs. Claus visiting Mother Nature who convinces her sons to compromise.
As Christmas approaches, the world's children send their own presents to Santa, setting off international headlines. One little girl is saddened by Santa's decision to skip his Christmas Eve journey, and she writes that she'll have a "Blue Christmas".
Touched by the outpouring of caring and generosity, Santa awakens from a sleep and declares "I've dreamed unhappy things!" (contributing to a theory that the entire film was a dream [3] ). He then gets up from his bed to dress himself, hitches his reindeer up and his sleigh loaded with gifts, and he takes off to make his Christmas Eve journey after all, bringing the joy of Christmas to the children of the world.
On Christmas Day, the children of Southtown were very happy ("Here Comes Santa Claus") with their presents they found 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 somehow Santa Claus always comes", and the soundtrack's chorus sings "There'll Be No Year Without a Santa Claus".
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 as part of the Best Christmas Ever block. [4] Warner Bros. Entertainment currently distributes the special through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library.
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 Video released 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.
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. [5] It follows largely the same plot as the original special.
Paul Mavis, for Drunk TV, wrote, "A live-action remake from The Wolper Company and Warner Bros. of the 1974 Rankin/Bass stop motion animated classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus is a nauseating, angry, joyless little holiday confection sure to poison any child unlucky enough to chance upon it. This hate-filled stocking stuffer has nothing but contempt for its intended audience, promoting the worst possible beliefs about people, while cloaking itself, incredibly, in the fake guise of a meaningful lesson about the holidays: the gall that the cretinous makers of this film have is really quite audacious." [6]
A sequel, titled A Miser Brothers' Christmas , was produced in 2008 by Warner Bros. Animation and Cuppa Coffee Studios, and it 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.
Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment was an American production company located in New York City, and known for its seasonal television specials, usually done in stop motion animation. Rankin/Bass's stop-motion productions are recognizable by their visual style of doll-like characters with spheroid body parts and ubiquitous powdery snow using an animation technique called Animagic.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 stop motion Christmas animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. and currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. It first aired December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special was based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS. The network unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005, re-scanned frame-by-frame from the original 35 mm film elements.
'Twas the Night Before Christmas is a 1974 American-Japanese animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions which features Clement Clarke Moore's famous 1823 poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas, the opening line of which is the source of the title of this animated special. The special first originally aired on CBS on December 8, 1974 where it aired annually until 1994, when The Family Channel took over its syndication rights. AMC took over syndication rights for the special in 2018.
Rudolph's Shiny New Year is a 1976 American-Japanese Christmas and New Year's stop motion animated television special and a standalone sequel to the 1964 special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The special premiered on ABC on December 10, 1976.
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman is a 2005 Canadian-American Christmas animated television special film which was simultaneously released direct-to-video, and produced by Classic Media, Studio B Productions, and Top Draw Animation.
Here Comes Peter Cottontail is a 1971 Japanese-American Easter stop-motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, currently distributed by Universal Television and based on the 1957 novel, The Easter Bunny That Overslept, by Priscilla and Otto Friedrich. The special is narrated by Danny Kaye, and stars Casey Kasem, Vincent Price, Joan Gardner and Paul Frees. The special also features Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins's Easter song, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail".
Julius Caesar Bass was an American director, producer, lyricist, composer, and author. Until 1960, he worked at a New York advertising agency, and then co-founded the film production company Videocraft International, later named Rankin/Bass Productions, with his friend, Arthur Rankin Jr. He joined ASCAP in 1963 and collaborated with Edward Thomas and James Polack at their music firm and as a songwriting team primarily with Maury Laws at Rankin/Bass.
Frosty's Winter Wonderland is a 1976 Japanese-American animated Christmas television special and a standalone sequel to the 1969 special Frosty the Snowman, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions and animated by Topcraft. It is the second television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. It returns writer Romeo Muller, character designer Paul Coker, Jr., music composer Maury Laws and actor Jackie Vernon as the voice of Frosty, while Andy Griffith stars as the narrator with the rest of the cast consisting of Shelley Winters, Dennis Day, and Paul Frees. The special premiered on ABC on December 2, 1976.
Frosty Returns is a 1993 American animated Christmas television special starring the voices of Jonathan Winters as the narrator and John Goodman as Frosty the Snowman. The special was directed by Bill Melendez and Evert Brown and features music by Mark Mothersbaugh. The special was produced in 1992, and released on VHS by Family Home Entertainment in 1993. It was first aired on the CBS television network on December 1, 1995, and continues to be broadcast. It is the fourth special in a series beginning with Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment's 1969 television adaptation of Steve Nelson and Jack Rollins' 1950 holiday song.
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town is a 1970 American stop motion Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions in New York, New York. The film is narrated by Fred Astaire and stars the voices of Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Robie Lester, Joan Gardner and Paul Frees, as well as an assistant song performance by the Westminster Children's Choir. The film tells the story of how Santa Claus and several Claus-related Christmas traditions came to be. It is based on the hit Christmas song, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", which was written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie for Leo Feist, Inc. and introduced on radio by Eddie Cantor in 1934; and the story of Saint Nicholas.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys is a 2001 American-Canadian direct-to-video animated Christmas adventure musical film directed by Bill Kowalchuk for GoodTimes Entertainment. It was released on VHS and DVD on October 30, 2001. The film takes place after the events of the original special. The film thus revisits classic characters like Yukon Cornelius, Hermey the elf, Abominable Snow Monster, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, who is now famous in the North Pole.
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is the first television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network in the United States, airing immediately after the fifth showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas; both scored high ratings. The special has aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season every year since.
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Jack Frost is a 1979 American-Japanese Christmas, Winter, and Groundhog Day stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It was directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr., written by Romeo Muller, narrated by Buddy Hackett, and starring the voices of Robert Morse, Debra Clinger, and Paul Frees. The special premiered on NBC on December 13, 1979, and tells the tale of Jack Frost and his adventures as a human. It airs annually on AMC as part of its Best Christmas Ever programming block.
Pinocchio's Christmas is a 1980 American-Japanese Christmas stop motion television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions that is a holiday adaptation of the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The special was originally aired on ABC on December 3, 1980. It aired annually during the Christmas season on Freeform and as of 2018 airs on AMC.
A Miser Brothers’ Christmas is a 2008 American-Canadian Christmas stop motion spin-off special, based on the characters from the 1974 Rankin-Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Distributed by Warner Bros. Animation under their Warner Premiere label and Toronto-based Cuppa Coffee Studios, the one-hour special premiered on ABC Family on Saturday, December 13, 2008, during the network's annual The 25 Days of Christmas programming.
The First Easter Rabbit is an American-Japanese animated Easter television special that premiered April 9, 1976 on NBC and later aired on CBS. Created by Rankin/Bass Productions, it tells the story of the Easter Bunny's origin. The special is loosely based on the 1922 children's book The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams. Burl Ives narrates the special, which also featured the Irving Berlin song "Easter Parade". It marked Ives's return to a Rankin/Bass special for the first time since the company's 1964 stop motion television special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer twelve years prior.
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