The Year Without a Santa Claus Review

Beyond good, beyond evil, beyond your wildest

imagination. Have you been told, did you ever

hear of the curious, furious, fidgety year when

Santa Claus unhitched his sleigh and vowed he

was taking a holiday? How do I know so much about

Santa? Well, I'm Mrs. Claus. It was long ago

before you were living. Not yet Christmas, but

past Thanksgiving though. I can't give you the

very date Santa got up that morning late pulled

on one boot and then it's twin Ruffle the whiskers

on his chin and sat back down on the side of

the bed great north star, but I'm tired He said

painting wagons red and bright sharpening ice

skates after night wrapping presents and ribbons

gauze His ward be weary, said Santa Claus. Merry

Christmas everybody, this is TF2 and Mike and

welcome to the first annual Tooncast Beyond 25

days of Tooncast Beyond Christmas. Joining me

for day one of the 25 days of Tooncast Beyond

Christmas is Steve Magatron. Hello. Hello. Are

you ready to get your Jolly on? I don't think

that's the appropriate word, but okay. Well,

I could've said happy ho -ho -ho, but that, no.

No, no, no. No rock sugar references, please.

Okay, so today we're gonna start this off with

one of Steve's favorites, the year without a

Santa Claus. Now, I had said on social media

before recording this that I don't think I'd

ever seen this one. I know this is a rankin'

bass one, but I don't, this is one of the ones

where... Don't think I had ever seen it and watching

it watching it today. I really When we recorded

this I really did enjoy it. I thought it was

great but this came out in 1974 and I'll say

this right now folks the 25 days to gas beyond

Christmas We're not going in any order. We're

just going in the order that I put them on the

thing We're not going in any year date orders

the years are gonna be all over the place so

this is 1974 Rankin -Bass Productions. The story

is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the

same name. Illustrated by Kurt Orth. It was originally

broadcast December 10th, 1974 on ABC. When was

the first... had you seen this as a kid? Yes.

I grew up with all of these produced by this

company. Okay. Now what were your thoughts of

it like do you remember that far back when you

first saw this? Yes, this is actually one of

my favorites as a kid still one of my favorites

and We'll get into that why but it has to do

with some characters that are in it, okay So

yeah, that's that's kind of how this is gonna

play out here on the 25 days of to cast me on

Christmas I've seen some stuff Steve's seen some

stuff some of the other hosts that are gonna

show up I've seen some stuff and some of us haven't

seen certain stuff until we actually did these

this series of podcasts Basically the the plot

here to set the stage is that Santa Claus is

tired. He's got a cold and He doesn't really

think that anyone has any Christmas spirit left,

so he's just gonna take the year off. That's

essentially the main plot. The cast in this is

actually pretty interesting. You've got Mickey

Rooney. No surprise. As... Okay. Or I'm just

saying, like, that era. Oh, okay. Well, yeah,

the 70s. You got Mickey Rooney as Santa, Shirley

Booth as Mrs. Claus, you got Dick Shawn as Snowmiser,

George as Irving as Heatmiser, you got Bob McFadden

as Jingle Bells, and Bradley Bulk as Jangle Bells.

Now, there are other characters in here like

Mother Nature, Mr. Thistlewhite, the Mayor, Iggy

Thistlewhite. The only reason why I'm not really

mentioning some of these others is because I

don't recognize most of their names. But with

Jingle Bells, Bob McFadden, did you know that's

Snarf. That's Mumrah. Or not Mumrah. That's Snarf

from Thundercats. I only recognize two names

from this and that's the top two of Shirley Booth

and Mickey Rooney. Mickey Rooney, yeah. Mickey

Rooney, I mean, the man was a legend. He really,

really was. He only died two years ago. Wow,

I did not know that. Hopscotch. Yep, an old hopscotch.

But I mean, his filmography reads like... You

know, just amazing, amazing stuff. Yeah, it's

extensive. Yeah, very extensive. Going all the

way back to 1934 with A Midsummer Night's Dream.

He was in Night at the Museum, too. Yep. All

three. Yep. That's where I got the hopscotch

thing from, because he's telling me Ben Stiller's

character. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Watch your

whys. Or quit cracking whys, hopscotch. The funny

thing is is that where where I noticed him most

from and I know this is kind of bad But about

16 years ago, he played a character named movie

Mason in a Disney Channel original movie called

Phantom of the Megaplex But obviously he's done

so much more than just that he was in Black Stallion

in 79 I Just I love his voice for Santa. I think

that really really works I didn't even know it

was him, but of course it was that far back that

his voice was totally different. Yeah. Yep. Uh,

Shirley Booth. This, I think this is the first

time I've seen anything with her. So I'm not

really that, that sure on that one. Um, cause

this was her last, uh, her last role. Really?

Yeah. I almost made a joke about that. I'm glad

I withheld it. Good because yeah, she well She

died in 1992, but what you do retire or something.

I guess it's possible. We're Sean Connery I Know

he's don't he's not doing anything though Yeah,

he's not been in anything. Yeah, that's kind

of true So the plot here like I said What I liked

about this was just the fun of Jingle and jangle

The antics that the two of those guys get into

it is pretty humorous Yeah, I thought that was

hilarious, and then they've got the in training

Reindeer yeah Vixen mm -hmm, and it's so interesting

to see Vixen or any of the reindeer younger because

normally when I see Santa and his reindeer. It's

you know the traditional reindeer that we always

see it's you know Dasher and dancer and prancer

and vixen comet and cupid and Donner and blitzen

and then the one that doesn't matter at all Hey

That's another special. We'll talk about that

later. I love that joke though I thought that

was hilarious that they they can't even They

can't even bring up the guy who you know leads

the way with his bright and shiny red nose So

funny So basically the plot here as I said is

mrs. Claus wants to show Santa that people do

still care, people do still have joy at the season,

so he'll go on his run. And she does this by

sending out Jingle and Jangle out into the world

and to find kids who still care about Santa Claus

and Christmas and all that. Along the way, they

have to talk to the Snowmiser and the Heatmiser.

The Miser Brothers. Do what? I love that song.

My favorite character in this movie, hands down,

even though he's not in it very much, is still

is Snowmizer. Yeah. Love the voice. Love the

sarcasm. Love the character. Always love that

character in this film. And that's one of the

reasons why I've always liked watching this every

year. It's just it resonates with me well because

I just I like the characteristics of him. Yeah,

and The the the miser brothers are Your typical

brotherly relationship Neither one of them can

get along to save their lives. No you share no

you share Yeah See I was an only child so I don't

have to worry about this unless you're gonna

talk to me about me and my cousins But yeah,

it does happen so So in your family, if you're

a snowmizer, which of your two brothers is heatmizer?

It'd be like having three snowmizers almost.

That's no fun. Yeah, it is because they're all

sarcastic and they all like mess with each other

equally, so it's... We all take turns at being

the heatmizer or snowmizer. It's kind of fun.

Okay. Okay, that's that's cool when tempers are

flared heat heat miser comes out, but yeah When

sarcasm is rampant you can look for freeze miser

or snow miser. I wish it was called freeze miser,

but What else did you like about this when you

okay, so not not what else did you like about

it, but what? Comparing it to when you watched

it as a kid to when you watch it now what do

you see as the differences? Was there anything

as a kid that, were there any jokes as a kid

that went over your head that you kind of get

now? I appreciate Snowmizer more. I also referred

to him as Freezemizer because I couldn't remember

his name for the longest time until I rewatched

it again a few years ago with Mary. So yeah,

I, that's again one of the best parts, but then

seeing like Mrs. Claus dressing up as Santa and

Jingle and jangle stuck on earth and then Santa's

Mr. Klaus When it comes down to save them Mm

-hmm, which was just interesting to see Absolutely

Absolutely Yeah, there's not I thought there

was gonna be a little bit more trivia bits on

this one, but like I said before It's, according

to IMDB, it's Shirley Booth's last filmed acting

project. Jingle and jangle each, both jingle

and snowmizer resemble one another, and jangle

and heatmizer resemble one another for some trivia.

This is the second Rankin -Bass Christmas special

where Mickey Rooney voiced Santa Claus, the first

being Santa Claus is coming to town, which we'll

talk about tomorrow, actually. And of course,

Jessica slash Mrs. Claus has red hair, and Santa

Claus is coming to town, while Mrs. Claus in

this film has red highlights. Well, and again,

because we're doing these, maybe we should have

flip -flopped these two. We had coming to town

as day one, and year without as day two, but

in this film, she's older. She's not as young

as she was as in... coming to town so of course

the hair is going to be a little bit different

I just I mean I wasn't sure what to expect out

of this and I really really enjoyed it I'm not

sure if it's a film that I will add to my yearly

regiments to watching it's because it's only

because I didn't really grow up with it I don't

really have that connection that you have to

it because you grew up with it but I could probably

watch it you know Every now and then every other

Christmas maybe Was there anything else we wanted

to bring up Before we get to the ratings um I

would definitely recommend this is one of those

films that people should watch just because it's

got a lot of fun in it It's got a lot of that

family dynamic which is kind of fun between the

the miser brothers and Mother Nature as well

as between jangle and jangle and mrs. Claus having

to being Dug out of this hole that they've created

for themselves trying to make Santa happy and

he's the one that still has to come and say hey

guys You messed up. I appreciate it. But uh,

we're gonna we're gonna give this a go my way

so it's it's been pretty fun watching that whole

thing play out, but um I definitely enjoyed the

film. There's enough seriousness and sarcasm

and family dynamic that it gets all the notes

that make a pretty decent, not only a clean and

decent kids' film, but just, I don't know, it

resonates really well, and that's probably why

I remember it so well and don't have a problem

with it. I like the songs. I like the way that

that mrs. Claus in the very beginning she She

starts narrating and she's half sing songs at

a little bit in the beginning I thought that

was kind of cool interspacing with some of the

songs the end the stop -motion animation from

rank and bass has always been Very well done

for its time. I think I like this. I think where

I like this stop -motion animation from them

is Heat Mizer and Snow Mizer. Oh yeah, I loved

that. Especially when they're arguing when Heat

Mizer's in person and Snow Mizer's on the video

phone thing on the window phone. I thought that

was hilarious. And they throw stuff through it.

Yeah, I thought that was so funny. I really did

enjoy this one after... after really watching

it and kind of thinking about it and stuff. So

on a scale, on the GCR and Universal rating scale,

zero to five stars, what would you give the year

without a Santa Claus? Honestly, I'd have to

give it a five just because it's one of those

that, like I said, resonates really well with

me. And I remember a lot of it and a lot of the

nostalgia still held true for me, even today.

So it made it a lot simpler of a movie to make

that choice on, whereas some other ones I may

not have that same affection based on the fact

that it may not hold up to my memory. Know this

is on the at least it's on DVD I don't know if

it's on blu -ray and I don't know if it's on

digital But I do know it's on DVD because I see

it in the stores all the time around Christmas

time For me I will give You're the Santa Claus.

I'll give it a four It's not that I want to take

a point away from it. But again, I think it's

more so that It didn't I enjoyed watching the

film, but it didn't emotionally impact me as

much as it does you because you grew up with

it and I didn't. And four is still a really good

grade out of five, so there's that. I like that

a lot as far as some of the, like I said, the

animation and things like that and the way that

the film is paced out. Know these are some of

these are gonna be short podcast folks because

some of the I mean this special is what 48 minutes

50 minutes something like that But unless you

want us to go through every single plot beat

which we probably won't You know these these

25 days of Christmas episodes are gonna be kind

of short so Anything you want to pimp out or

talk about before we get out of here and head

on over to day two of Christmas No, I think I'm

good. Like I said, I really recommend this to

people that they check it out. And if you have

any thoughts on the year without Santa Claus,

if there's anything that we left out, please

comment on the post. Thank you for joining us

here on Tooncast Beyond's 25 Days of Christmas

2016, first annual one of these. As I mentioned,

I've mentioned on several other podcasts, this

25 day event here, it's been rattling around

in my head for about three years. Trying to get

it off the ground, trying to get it off the ground,

just never could. And finally I have various

ways to find all the ones that we're gonna be

doing. But what happened was, if anyone remembers

the old Tooncast classic episode 30, The holiday

show where optimus solo myself and the television

talked about six different Christmas cartoons

This is an improvement on that Because back then

Kevin was without audio or without Without internet

so we were using his cell phone and of course

this was you know 2009 2010 somewhere around

there, so I've been kind of figuring out a way

to get more, you know, do another holiday show,

and I figure, oh hey, why not just do the standard

25 days of this, this, and this? So I actually

had this planned out. I remember one afternoon

I went on Wikipedia. I just looked up every single

animated Christmas cartoon I could find. Tried

to find a list of every single US released animated

Christmas cartoon I could find Found it and I

came up with two full years 50 podcasts folks

So you're gonna get one gonna get 25 days this

year and then 25 days next year in 2017 Thank

you for joining us here on tune cast beyond there

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we will be playing them in a special New Year's

podcast that we're gonna be doing. So there's

that. I think... Unless I have it in another

unless I have it in 2017. I think we're gonna

do yeah, I'll figure it out later I Was thinking

Rudolph's shiny new year we could do but anyway

We hope you enjoyed this episode to gasp beyond

I wish you'll join us tomorrow When we will be

giving you our thoughts on Santa Claus is coming

to town For now, I am TFG on Mike with Steve

Megatron Phillips Thank you for listening until

next time and everybody Bruce Springsteen. rehearsal

real hard now so Santa bring your new saxophone

everybody out there been good or what oh that's

not many not many you guys in trouble out here

yeah you better watch out you're better now