“The Year Without a Santa Claus” is an animated film and musical released in 1974, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr, and I just love everything about this film. This is a stop-motion animated TV special using puppets made of wood, cloth, and metal armatures, produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, a company famous for its stop-motion holiday specials like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
In the film, Santa falls ill and feels like no one appreciates him or the Christmas spirit anymore, leading Mrs. Claus to try to fill the gap he left in the season of cheer.
Mrs. Claus (Shirley Booth) performs wonderfully in her role, and I personally love the “Anyone Can be Santa Claus” song. Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about it, but it made me think of how women often tend to the home while men receive all the acclaim.
From there, we follow the elves Jingle and Jangle, who feel like a gay couple the studio just decided not to label. They share a dog (Vixen in drag, wearing socks on her ears), they sit back-to-back flying through the sky, and they bicker like two people who have co-signed a lease. Their whole vibe adds this goofy sweetness to the whole story.
I absolutely love this animation style; there’s something so nostalgic about it. The little character’s mouth flapping somewhat off-pace with what they were speaking is so adorable. The stomping run that Santa does across the snowy field is so silly, and AI could not replicate this.
The songs are absolutely hilarious, touching, and catchy. Heat Miser and Snow Miser are a hilarious combination; their costumes fit the characters perfectly, and the attention to detail is astounding. The mini versions of the Misers dance around as the big, main characters sing, and it’s so cute and left me giggling for minutes. I loved how Snow Miser’s hair was made out of ice, with icicles dripping off his nose.
Same praises for Heat Miser – I loved how the mini Heat-Misers use tanning mirrors on the Big Heat Miser; these small details just add so much character to the film.
There’s so much subtle humor in this film; a cop arrests Jingle and Jangle for “Wearing funny-looking suits on a Sunday.” These elves got arrested for having no drip? That is the funniest thing ever.
I remember watching this film as a kid, and even though it has a short runtime (less than an hour), it always brings back memories of sitting in my tiny old house on a couch scratched up by my cats, watching it with my family.
Iggy, one of the children who doesn’t believe in Santa at the beginning of the film, is the cutest kid ever. He yells, “Don’t you make fun of Santa Claus!!” Ten minutes after singing the song “I Believe in Santa Claus,” he just started believing in him again. This little kid, who spends half the movie insisting Santa isn’t real, hears one song and immediately becomes Santa’s number-one defender.
The finale, “Here Comes Santa Claus,” feels like it comes straight from a snow globe, and puts the biggest smile on my face. And Santa’s little recovery arc, where he just needed to feel appreciated? He’s so me.
The songs are catchy, the animation style is classic, and I would recommend this film to anyone during the holiday season.
