The Year Without A Santa Claus

Animation, Children, Family, Holiday

Shirley Booth	Mrs. Santa
George S. Irving	Heat Miser
Mickey Rooney	Santa Claus
Dick Shawn	Snow Miser
Bob McFadden	Jingle Bells
Rhoda Mann	Mother Nature
Bradley Bolke	Jangle Bells
Ron Marshall	Mr. Thistlewhite
Colin Duffy	Ignatius Thistlewhite
Christine Winter	Blue Christmas girl
Roger Miller
Brenda Vaccaro
Paul Frees
Don Messick
Linda Gary

Director	Jules Bass; Arthur Rankin Jr.
Producer	Jules Bass; Arthur Rankin Jr.
Writer	William Keenan; Phyllis McGinley
Musician	Maury Laws

Mrs. Santa Claus (Shirley Booth) tells the story of the year Santa (Mickey Rooney), saddled with a bad cold and convinced no one really cares about him or Christmas anymore anyway, decides to take the year off. Two of Santa’s elves, Jingle (voice of Bob McFadden) and Jangle (Bradley Bolke), hoping to prove that Christmas does matter, take off on reindeer, Vixen, to search the world for those who still believe. But they run into trouble in Southtown, USA, where folks think they’re crazy and mistake Vixen for a stray who’s taken away by the dogcatcher. When Santa learns Vixen is missing and ill from the heat, he dons normal clothes to travel south to try and rescue her while Mrs. Claus, herself, pays a visit to Mother Nature (voice of Rhoda Mann) enlisting her help in convincing her sons, the Heat Miser (George S. Irving) and Snow Miser (Dick Shawn), to call a truce and just once, let in snow in Southtown. Will Santa see that people still care, that he is important, and that the Christmas spirit is alive in the world while there’s still time to save Christmas?