A Year without a Santa Claus
Rankin/Bass produced many of the beloved tv specials of the American Christmas season. The Year Without a Santa Claus was made in 1974 in their style of stop motion animation.
Shirley Booth is Mrs. Claus and Mickey Rooney is Santa. Santa believes that nobody cares about Christmas and decides to take this year off. Jingle and Jangle take a flying reindeer to "Southtown" to find someone who still believes in Christmas. They run afoul of the law and to free the reindeer (disguised as a dog now) they must prove they are Santa's elves by making it snow in Southtown on Christmas day.
Let's pause here and note a few inconsistencies, No one is going to believe a reindeer is a dog, no matter how much you disguise it, not even as a Great Dane. as for making it snow in Southtown? Uh, it snows in the south all the time.
Mrs. Claus gets involved and goes to the two controllers of all weather, Heat Miser and Snow Miser. When they won't compromise and help her, Mrs. Claus goes to their mother, Mother Nature (who at the time was also selling margarine on tv) who forces them to compromise.
It's all so silly and overly complicated. Even as a child I thought this was a stupid plot. I watched it anyway because it has the best musical numbers brought to you courtesy of Snow Miser and Heat Miser.
1 comment:
I love when those two sing!!!
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