This is about the animated film. For the live-action adaptation, see The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006 film).
The Year Without a Santa Claus.
The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 animated film.
Cast[]
Singing cast[]
- Shirley Booth - Mrs. Santa
- Mickey Rooney - Santa Claus
- Dick Shawn - Snow Miser
- George S. Irving - Heat Miser
- Ron Marshall - Mr. Thistlewhite
- Christine Winter - Blue Christmas Girl
Non-singing cast[]
- Bob McFadden - Jingle Bells
- Rhoda Mann - Mother Nature
- Bradley Bolke - Jangle Bells
Plot[]
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.
Santa, dressed in civilian clothes, arrives in Southtown to rescue Vixen. He discovers that some people still believe in him and in the spirit of Christmas when all the world's children make him presents. This sets off headlines around the world.
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 all the caring and generosity, Santa decides to pack the sleigh and make his Christmas Eve journey after all, including a public stop in a snowy Southtown. On Christmas Day, the children of Southtown were very happy with their presents they found under their trees; even Ignatius have his own bicycle and gives his parents their presents as Mrs. Claus explains that for "yearly, newly, faithfully and truly," Santa somehow always comes. The special ends with a reprise of the title song in the present as Santa got up from his bed to dress himself, and with his reindeer hitched up and his sleigh loaded with gifts, he took off to bring the joy of Christmas to the children of the world.
Musical numbers[]
- "The Year Without A Santa Claus" - The Wee Winter Singers
- "Anyone Can Be Santa" - Mrs. Claus
- "Snow Right Here in Dixie" - Mayor of Southtown
- "Snow Miser" - Snow Miser and Minions
- "Heat Miser" - Heat Miser and Minions
- "Blue Christmas" - Blue Christmas Girl and The Wee Winter Singers
- "Here Comes Santa Claus" - The Wee Winter Singers
- "I Believe in Santa Claus" - Santa and Mr. Thistlewhite