The Year Without a Santa Claus

Published on December 2, 2006 By Dodyas In Movies & TV & Books

First up in my 31 Days of Christmas* one of my favorite Rankin & Bass cartoons.:

The Year Without a Santa Claus

Synopsis:
Santa sick with a cold and believing no one cares anyway follows his Dr.'s advice and takes a vacation this year. (Never listen to Doctors! Especially ones looking suspiciously like Ebenezer Scrooge!) Mrs. Claus determined to show Santa that people do still believe in him sends out two elves, Jingle and Jangle along with a young reindeer, Vixen, to find people that do still believe in him. (Never send bell festooned little people and a baby reindeer to do a Jolly mans work!)

Because of the antics of Heat Miser and Cold Miser the trio end up in Southtown, USA on a Sunday where no one except the mayor speaks with a southern accent. Vixen gets mistaken as a dog, while wearing Jangle's socks on his antler nubs and gets thrown in the pound. Meanwhile Santa wakes up finds they are gone and heads out after them. In his search to find the elves and his youngest reindeer Santa begins to see that people do still believe in him.

Not having any money to free Vixen from the pound Jingle and Jangle go to the mayor along with a Southtown boy, Iggy. (Doesn't anyone in Southtown go to church? I mean this is Dixie!) The mayor laughs at them when they try to explain Vixen is a reindeer and needs to go home to the North Pole because the heat makes him sick. He says the only way he will believe them is if they can make it snow in Southtown. But that happening is like "..a snowball's chance in Southtown!" says the mayor. So the boys call Mrs. Claus for help. Meanwhile Santa pays the fine and takes Vixen home.

Mrs. Claus and the elves go to Cold Miser asking for him to make it snow in Southtown but (after doing a cheeky dance) he says his brother Heat Miser won't allow it.

So off they go to Heat Miser and he agrees only if Cold Miser will give him the North Pole. He refuses (after doing his own dance number of course. Does anyone else think the Miser brothers are gay? They sing, they dance, they call each other names using words like "flaming" and "tutti-fruity".)

Mrs. Santa takes matters into her own hands goes over their heads.
"See what you've done" says Heat Miser to his brother, "she's going to tell MOTHER!"

Mother ends up being Mother Nature. Mrs. Claus explains the problem to her and while Mother Nature is telling her of course the boys will cooperate, "...they really are good boys." ole flamer and the ice queen are making faces at each other behind Mother's back.

So it snows in Southtown and the Mayor declares a holiday for Santa. All the leaders in the world get together (who knew all it took for world peace was for it to snow in Dixie!) and give Santa a Day off. He accepts the offer and he sleeps in leaving Mrs. Claus shaking her head.

The scene changes so we never get to see Mrs. Claus tell Santa what she thinks about this but I imagine the conversation went a little something like this:

"What do you mean you aren't going to work today?"
"Hey, they gave me a day off. I'm gonna spend it in my underwear catching a few games."
"Like Southtown you are! Get your lazy butt up and go make those children happy!"
"Oh blow it out your bonnet."
"Men! You are all alike...One day of the year you have to work and instead you sit around watching reindeer games. My mother warned me about you, you know. I shoulda married that dentist!."
"That misfit? He's nothing but a nitwit. I tried to fire him, but he quit. Cause he didn't fit in."

Meanwhile all the children of the world decide to bring Christmas to Santa. (Man, what a logistics nightmare!) Santa gets in the Christmas spirit finally and does his thing. (Bout darn time jelly belly!)
The End.

My favorite quote:
When a cop stops Jingle, Jangle and Vixen on the street and writes them a ticket, the elves ask what for.
The cop replies, "For driving a....what is this thing?"
"It's Vixen"
"For driving a vixen the wrong way on a one way street, crossing the white line and wearing funny suits on a Sunday!"

Best use of manipulation:
Mrs. Claus convincing Jingle and Jangle to do Santa's PR. See first she says SHE will be Santa Claus and that no one will notice cause they will only see her from behind. I think she chickened out cause she calls Jingle and Jangle and they see her from behind and think it really is Santa, then she turns around and ALL they say is, "Mrs. Claus?" and she goes off about how it will never work! So she sends them off instead and then when Santa wakes up tells him it was all Jingle and Jangle's idea. Typical woman, blaming it on the guys with pointy shoes!

I give The Year Without a Santa Claus

Five Charlie Brown Christmas Trees!

*Like most kids I grew up watching Christmas cartoons. Okay, well "grew up" is perhaps the wrong choice of words since I'm still a kid at heart. I still get as excited as I did as a child when I see the Rankin & Bass classics, Charlie Brown, the Muppets and the black and whites. Possibly more so now. So this year I have decided to put my obsession to good use. I plan to watch and review a Christmas cartoon or program every day of December!

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Comments

1

Locamama

on Dec 02, 2006

Cute. I'll be watching for your other write ups. Maybe it made my heart grow three sizes because I was feeling very bah humbug before I read this. Now not quite so much.

2

Dodyas

on Dec 02, 2006

Cute. I'll be watching for your other write ups. Maybe it made my heart grow three sizes because I was feeling very bah humbug before I read this. Now not quite so much.

Aww..I am glad I could cheer you up! My next movie is supposed to be Elf, but I am knee deep in housework today so it might be midnight before I get to it.

3

ParaTed2k

on Dec 03, 2006

That's one of my favorites! The production numbers are cheezy, but hilarioius!

4

Dodyas

on Dec 04, 2006

That's one of my favorites! The production numbers are cheezy, but hilarioius!

Yeah, the cheese is what makes it great!

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