| Director: | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Voices: | Shirley Booth Mickey Rooney Dick Shawn George S. Irving |
| Narrated: | Shirley Booth |
| Composer: | Maury Laws |
| Country: | United States Japan |
| Producer: | Jules Bass Arthur Rankin Jr. |
| Cinematography: | Akikazu Kono Ichiro Komuro |
| Runtime: | 51 mins |
| Company: | Rankin/Bass Productions |
| Network: | ABC |
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book. It is narrated by Shirley Booth (her final acting credit before her retirement from acting) and stars 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 awakens with a cold in early December. When a Christmas elf doctor sarcastically says that nobody cares about Christmas anymore, Santa decides to forego his annual Christmas Eve journey. Hoping to change Santa's mind, Mrs. Claus instructs two elf brothers named Jingle and Jangle to seek evidence of Christmas spirit. Jingle and Jangle leave with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen and land in a small town in the Southern United States called Southtown. Unfortunately, their efforts to find Christmas spirit are fruitless, and Vixen is detained by a dog catcher and taken to the local pound.
After learning that Vixen is missing, Santa travels to Southtown, disguised as a civilian named "Klaus". There, he meets a boy named Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite and his family. After Santa leaves to rescue Vixen, Iggy realizes Santa's true identity and resolves to help the elves. Jingle, Jangle and Iggy visit the town's mayor, who agrees to release Vixen if they make it snow in Southtown.
Mrs. Claus collects the trio, and they ask Snow Miser, the keeper of cold weather, to dispatch snow to Southtown for a day. He says that he cannot oblige because Southtown is situated within his brother Heat Miser's domain. They approach Heat Miser, and he offers to cooperate if Snow Miser hands over the North Pole. When neither brother proves willing to cede to the other's wishes, Mrs. Claus consults Mother Nature, who persuades her sons to reach a compromise.
As Christmas approaches, the children of the world send presents to Santa, generating international headlines. Touched by the outpouring of generosity, Santa decides to embark on his yuletide journey after all. Mrs. Claus remarks that "yearly, newly, faithfully and truly, somehow Santa Claus always comes".
Warner Bros. Entertainment currently distributes the special through their ownership of the post-1974 Rankin/Bass Productions library.
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, American Movie Classics airs the uncut special as part of the Best Christmas Ever block.[3] The special also airs on Warner Bros.-owned TNT and TBS as part of the All I Watch for Christmas block, the only Rankin/Bass special that TNT and TBS air.[4] [5]
The special was 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 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.[6] It follows largely the same plot as the original special.
Paul Mavis of 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."[7]
A sequel titled A Miser Brothers' Christmas was produced in 2008 by Warner Bros. Animation and Cuppa Coffee Studios, and it also uses stop-motion animation. Mickey Rooney reprises his role as Santa Claus, and George S. Irving reprises his role as Heat Miser. Dick Shawn and Shirley Booth, both of whom died prior to the film's production, were replaced by Juan Chioran and Catherine Disher as Snow Miser and Mrs. Claus, respectively.