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'''''The Year Without a Santa Claus''''' is a [[Rankin/Bass Productions]] [[Stop Motion]] puppet-animated [[Christmas Special|holiday special]] (called "Animagic") from 1974.
A [[Rankin/Bass Productions]]' [[Stop Motion]] puppet animated (called "Animagic") [[Christmas Special|holiday special]] from 1974. This time, [[Santa Claus]] (voiced by Mickey Rooney, reprising his role from 1970's ''[[Santa Claus is Comin' to Town]]'') decides to take a holiday from Christmas when he becomes convinced that nobody really cares anymore. In an effort to get Christmas back on, [[Mrs. Claus]] (voiced by Shirley Booth) sends a pair of elves out to find enough Christmas spirit left in the world to make Santa change his mind. [[Hilarity Ensues]], contributed to in no small part by the memorable obstructiveness of the climate-ruling Miser Brothers, Snow Miser (Dick Shawn) and Heat Miser (George S. Irving).▼
▲
The script was written by Wiliam Keenan (instead of Rankin/Bass stalwart Romeo Muller) based on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZDKdCdL0ls the 1956 book] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9CjpskT_NY by Phyllis McGinley], with the studio's usual mixture of classic Christmas tunes with original songs by Maury Laws and co-producer Jules Bass. ▼
▲The script was written by [[Wiliam Keenan]]
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{{tropelist}}
* [[A Day in the Limelight]]: One of the few Christmas specials where [[Mrs. Claus]] is the star. More or less.
* [[Adaptation Expansion]]:
* [[All Animals Are Dogs]]
* [[All Just a Dream]]: It's implied in the closing song that the whole story is something Santa dreamed. Though that wouldn't explain the sequel -- or Mrs. Claus narrating everything up to and including the dream [[Reveal]].
* [[Anticlimax Boss]]: Mother Nature is hyped up to be a dangerous, hot-headed woman, whom even her vicious children fear. The main characters are nervous but bravely go to confront her... only to have a charming friendly lunch with her and have all of their problems peacefully solved without any hesitation from
* [[Ascended Extra]]:
* [[Aside Glance]]: The Mayor gives one to the camera when he acknowledges that maybe the elves were on the level.
▲* [[Ascended Extra]]: Ignatius Thistlewhite. In the original poem he makes a brief appearance halfway through, where he is the instigator of the children's campaign to send presents to Santa (a role acknowledged by his appearance as a manager of sorts in the animated version of the sequence), and is seen asleep in his bed at the very end. He never leaves home, and never has adventures with elves and Mrs. Claus.
* [[
* [[Blatant Lies]]: The Miser Brothers' mother says that "
* [[Cain and Abel]]: The Miser brothers represent opposing elements, so naturally they don't like each other much.
* [[Can Not Tell a Lie]]:
▲* [[Blatant Lies]]: "They're really very nice boys." Said of the Miser Brothers by their mother. As they snarl at and threaten each other behind her back.
▲* [[Can Not Tell a Lie]]: Mrs. Claus is pathetically unable to hide her scheming from Santa. [[Metaphorically True|She still makes Jingle and Jangle's mission sound like their idea, though.]]
* [[Can't Argue with Elves]]: Enthusiastically averted -- almost ''no one'' listens to anything Jingle and Jangle have to say.
* [[Christmas Elves]]:
* [[Christmas Special]]
* [[Convection, Schmonvection]]:
* [[Cool Old Lady]]: Mrs. Claus.
* [[Deus Ex Machina]]: When Mrs. Claus can't persuade the Miser brothers to cooperate, she goes over their heads and calls on their mother. Their mother happens to be Mother Nature.
* [[Does Not Like Shoes]]:
* [[Don't Tell Mama]]!:
* [[The Dreaded]]:
* [[Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas|Even Elemental Demi-Gods Love Their Mamas]]: "See what you did, you old blizzard? She's ''gonna tell Mother!''"
* [[Evil Is Hammy]]: Both the Miser brothers. Their hamminess is even lampshaded by Mrs. Claus. (The sharp-eyed will catch Ignatius rolling his eyes at the Heat Miser.)
* [[Fire, Ice, Lightning]]: The Miser Brothers supply the first two, of course, while Mother Nature causes bolts of lightning when she summons and scolds them.
* [[Flat Earth Atheist]]: Apparently, most children don't believe in Santa anymore. The question is, how do they explain the presents that their parents never bought
* [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven]]:
* [[Four-Fingered Hands]]:
▲* [[Fluffy Cloud Heaven]]: A variation: the metaphysical realm where Heatmiser and Snowmiser are holding a battle early in the story. Everyone is standing knee-deep in cloudtops.
* [[Funny Background Event]]:
▲* [[Four-Fingered Hands]]: Everyone. And Heatmiser's minions have feet with ''two toes''.
* [[The Gay Nineties]]:
▲* [[Funny Background Event]]: At one point during the Mayor's song, "It's Gonna Snow", [[Charlie Chaplin]]'s "Little Tramp" character can be seen at the front of a group of bystanders. He waves his cane to the beat of the Mayor's song, almost like a bandleader or cheerleader with a baton.
* [[Generation Xerox]]:
▲* [[The Gay Nineties]]: Judging from the fashions and architecture in Southtown, the "terrible year" seems to be in this decade, or shortly afterward.
▲* [[Generation Xerox]]: Except for hair color, Iggy is a dead ringer for his father at the same age.
▲* [[Glad I Thought of It]]: Inverted:
{{quote|'''Jingle:''' Mrs. C! If anyone can think a way out of this mess, it's Mrs. Claus!
'''Jangle:''' Why don't we try calling Mrs. Santa Claus?
'''Jingle:''' Why didn't I think of that?}}
:* Mrs. Claus then does this with the mission she gives Jingle and Jangle, describing it in a way that hides her responsibility while suggesting it was their idea.
* [[Hemisphere Bias]]:
* [[Hot Line]]:
* [["I Am" Song]]: The Miser Brothers.
* [[An Ice Person]]: Snow Miser.
* [[Incoming Ham]]:
* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: When Santa learns that Jingle and Jangle are AWOL in the mortal world, he says, "Poor little guys. They must be scared to death
▲* [[Ironic Echo Cut]]: When Santa learns that Jingle and Jangle are AWOL in the mortal world, he says, "Poor little guys. They must be scared to death," which is followed by a hard cut to Jangle in a tree-top saying "I'm scared to death!"
* [[Large Ham]]: The Miser Brothers are, well, ''too much''.
* [[Let There Be Snow]]
* [[Live Action Adaptation]]: The [[The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006 TV movie)|2006 TV movie]] with John Goodman as Santa, [[Designing Women|Delta Burke]] as Mrs. Claus, [[This Is Spinal Tap|Michal McKean]] as Snow Miser, Harvey Fierstein as Heat Miser, and Carol Kane as Mother Nature (among other famous faces). Despite rather dramatic changes from the original story, it still retained [[Ear Worm|those ''songs''.]]
* [[Metaphorically True]]:
* [[Mini-Mook]]s:
* [[Mother Nature]]:
* [[Mrs. Claus]]: The [[Narrator]] and one of the main characters, if not ''the'' main character.
* [[North Is Cold, South Is Hot]]:
* [[One-Gender Race]]:
* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Okay, so they've got slightly larger parts. The one thing people remember from this special is the Miser Brothers, in no small part because of [[Ear Worm|those ''songs''
▲* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Okay, so they've got slightly larger parts. The one thing people remember from this special is the Miser Brothers, in no small part because of [[Ear Worm|those ''songs''.]] Half this page is devoted to the guys, even.
* [[Our Elves Are Better]]: The elves here are rather Keebleresque, and a bit shorter than the children.
* [[Painful Rhyme]]: Heat Miser rhymes "degrees" with "degrees" in his song.
* [[Painting the Frost on Windows]]: Snow Miser, Heat Miser and Mother Nature.
* [[Paper-Thin Disguise]]: The elves disguise the reindeer Vixen as a dog by putting a pair of brown socks over her ears and antler nubs, while doing nothing about her
* [[Playing with Fire]]: Heat Miser.
* [[Polar Opposite Twins]]: The Miser Brothers, of course. Aside from the obvious, Snow Miser seems to be more of an easy-going joker who likes the Clauses while Heat Miser is, well, [[Incredibly Lame Pun|hot-headed]].
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* [[Saving Christmas]]: From Santa's ennui, no less.
* [[Sibling Rivalry]]: Between the Miser brothers.
* [[Sue Donym]]: Santa mispronounces his surname when passing among the people of Southtown, calling himself "Mr. Clowz".
* [[Sweet Home Alabama]]: Part of the plot depends on bringing a snowy day to "Southtown, U.S.A.", but
* [[Triumphant Reprise]]: "There'll be no year without a Santa Claus".
* [[The Unintelligible]]: The Mayor's wife on the phone, late in the show. To be fair, it is possible to make out the occasional word, mostly "galoshes".
* [[Villain Song]]: The Miser Brothers' songs
* [[Volcano Lair]]: Heat Miser's base of operations.
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