The Year Without a Santa Claus

Santa Claus wakes up with a cold sometime before Christmas in the early 20th century. His doctor, who thinks nobody cares about Santa anymore, advises him to make some changes to his routine, so Santa decides to take a holiday instead of delivering gifts. Mrs. Claus unsuccessfully tries to convince him otherwise, so she enlists two elves named Jingle and Jangle to find proof that people still believe in Santa.

Jingle and Jangle set out with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen, but are shot down by crossfire between the conflicting Miser Brothers: Snow Miser, who controls the world's cold weather, and Heat Miser, who controls its warm weather. Vixen saves her guardian elves from falling to their doom and they continue on their uncertain path.

Jingle, Jangle, and Vixen come upon Southtown, a small community in the southern United States. They ask a group of children, including a boy named Iggy, if they believe in Santa, but they are skeptical. To make matters worse, Vixen grows sick due to the warm weather and is sent to the local animal shelter after Jingle and Jangle disguise her as a dog. The town's police officer refers them to the town's mayor, who laughs at their story but agrees to free Vixen if they can prove they are elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas.

Jingle and Jangle call Mrs. Claus to pick them up. As she leaves, Santa discovers Vixen is missing and travels to Southtown himself to retrieve her while disguised as a civilian named "Klaus". While there, he meets Iggy and his family. Klaus reveals his belief in Santa, and Iggy's father reveals that Santa personally visited him one Christmas, and he still believes as well. When Claus leaves to retrieve Vixen, Iggy realizes his true identity and resolves to help Jingle and Jangle.

Iggy joins Mrs. Claus when she arrives to pick up Jingle and Jangle, and together they visit the Miser Brothers. They ask Snow Miser 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 says he will only comply if Snow Miser turns the North Pole over to him in exchange. When the brothers begin bickering again, Mrs. Claus goes over their heads and visits their mother, 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. Touched by the outpouring of generosity and appreciation, Santa decides to make his journey after all. On Christmas Eve, he makes a public stop in Southtown during a snowfall. The next day, the children, including Iggy, are delighted to receive their presents. As the special ends, Mrs. Claus narrates that somehow, "yearly, newly, faithfully and truly", Santa always comes. Santa is shown getting out of bed to prepare himself, his reindeer, and his gift-loaded sleigh, remarking he could never imagine "a year without a Santa Claus".

• Shirley Booth as Mrs. Claus
• Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus
• Dick Shawn as Snow Miser
• George S. Irving as Heat Miser
• Bob McFadden as Jingle Bells, Elf Doctor
• Bradley Bolke as Jangle Bells, Police Officer
• Rhoda Mann as Mother Nature, Mrs. Thistlewhite
• Ron Marshall as Mr. Thistlewhite, Mayor of Southtown
• Colin Duffy as Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite
• Noelle Magargle as the Blue Christmas Girl
• The Wee Winter Singers as the Children Choir

1. "Sleigh Ride" (instrumental)
2. "The Year Without a Santa Claus"
3. "I Could Be Santa Claus"
4. "I Believe in Santa Claus"
5. "It's Gonna Snow Right Here in Dixie"
6. "The Snow Miser Song"
7. "The Heat Miser Song"
8. "Blue Christmas"
9. "Sleigh Ride" (instrumental)
10. "Here Comes Santa Claus"
11. "The Year Without a Santa Claus (reprise)"

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.[3] 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.[4] It follows largely the same plot as the original special.

Paul Mavis, for Drunk TV, wrote, "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.”[5]

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.

• List of Christmas films
• Santa Claus in film
• List of animated feature films
• List of stop-motion films
• List of Rankin/Bass Productions films

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Year Without a Santa Claus.

• The Year Without a Santa Claus at IMDb
• Review by critic Jayson Harsin at Blogcritics Magazine