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With: Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, George S. Irving
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Written by: William J. Keenan, based on a book by Phyllis McGinley
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Directed by: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin Jr.
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MPAA Rating: NR
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Running Time: 51
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Date: 12/10/1974
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The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)
Too Much
By Jeffrey M. Anderson
Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass were the kings of the holiday TV specials, with over a dozen Christmas specials alone. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) was their first, and best, but the stop-motion The Year Without a Santa Claus deserves to be a cult classic. To begin, the hero of the story is actually Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth), trying her best to save Christmas when Santa Claus (voiced by Mickey Rooney) comes down with a bad cold, and is told by his doctor that no one cares about Christmas anyway.
Two elves, Jingle and Jangle, and the reindeer Vixen get stuck in a small town where it doesn't snow. Disguised as a dog, Vixen is captured and taken to the pound. The mayor agrees to free the reindeer, if the elves and Mrs. Claus can make it snow. So the trio journeys to visit the feuding brothers, Heat Miser (voiced by George S. Irving) and Snow Miser (voiced by Dick Shawn), to broker a deal. Their respective theme songs ("I'm too much!") are insanely catchy, and are guaranteed to perk up even the grinchiest viewers. And a little girl singing "Blue Christmas" to Santa will elicit a tear from the sternest scrooges.
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