Long before Tim Burton produced Disney’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and before Nick Park and Peter Lord directed Chicken Run (2000) for Dreamworks, there was Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr. Do either of those names ring a bell? These two men founded Rankin/Bass Productions Inc. on September 14th, 1960, remaining in busyness together for 27 years. If you’re like me, and look forward every year to watching “Rudolph,” you have these two men to thank.
Rankin/Bass produced a variety of feature films and television specials, unitizing stop-motion animation. Several of the television specials they produced were holiday-themed and the very first special was the beloved Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) starring Burl Ives—a huge hit. Ten years later, they produced The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), based on the book of the same name by Phyllis McGinley. “Year Without a Santa Claus,” was also a success, and while it didn’t quite outdo the success of “Rudolph,” it ultimately resulted in more modern versions: a live-action remake released in 2006 and a sequel, A Miser Brothers’ Christmas, released in 2008. And it’s no slouch either, rating 7.8 on IMDB’s 10-point scale.
This story is heartwarming: Santa Claus comes down with a cold at Christmas time and decides to take the year off when his doctor tells him that fewer kids are believing in Santa Claus. Mrs. Claus takes matters into her own hands by sending two elves named Jingle and Jangle down to the city to find people who still believe in Santa Claus. On their way the elves encounter a friendly boy named Iggy who says believing in Santa Claus is for little kids, but when Santa himself shows up, Iggy soon changes his mind. A fight over the town ensues between “Snow Miser” and his brother, “Heat Miser” but, Mother nature helps her sons learn to compromise, and the first snowfall in ages help Santa realize how much he means to children.
The “Year Without a Santa Claus,” includes a very talented voice cast, some of whom reprised their characters for other Rankin/Bass specials and who appeared together in other projects:
- The film starred Mickey Rooney as the voice of Santa Claus. Rooney had previously voiced Santa Claus in the Rankin/Bass special Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970) and he reprised the role for Rankin/Bass’s Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (1979) and in A Miser Brothers’ Christmas (2008) which was produced by Warner Brothers Animation and directed by Dave Thomas.
- Dick Shawn voiced the frosty Snow Miser, and he and Mickey Rooney appeared together in the film It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963).
- George S. Irving provided the voice of the hot-headed Heat Miser and he reprised that role in “Miser Brothers’ Christmas,” as well.
- Shirley Booth, who won a Best Actress Oscar in Come Back, Little Sheba (1952) lent her voice to the spunky Mrs. Claus and this was her last acting credit before she retired from acting permanently.
Why does a film like this continue to hold up today? First of all, it’s a beautiful reminder how one is “never too old to believe.” It’s also full of amusing tidbits: Mother Nature having two sons (Makes you wonder who the father could have been too?), and the chuckles that from watching Jingle and Jangle resemble their namesake bells.
Christmas is a time for fun, and this film brings loads of it—it’s definitely a kid film first, but adults will enjoy the great animation, and the silliness of Snow Miser and Heat Miser fighting over control of the city’s weather. In any case, it’s become a family tradition for many, and is one of those movies, like “Rudolph,” that helps us usher in the wonderful Holiday season!
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