[.ca] The Year Without a Santa Claus (Full Screen)

From Amazon.com:
This DVD contains three holiday titles from Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. The Year Without a Santa Claus Even Santa can suffer a case of the holiday blues. In this 1974 stop-motion holiday family favorite, a sparkly eyed Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth) sings and tells about the year her hubby felt too weary and too unappreciated to prepare for his annual Christmas rounds. Mickey Rooney stars as the voice of Santa, a rosy-nosed puppet who travels incognito to Southtown in search of his tiniest reindeer, Vixen, and two well-meaning elves. Seems Mrs. Santa sent them to find proof of Christmas spirit--but all they've discovered is ambivalence about Santa's year off. Luckily, when Santa arrives and befriends a buck-toothed lad named Ignatius Thistlewhite, spirits begin to lift rapidly. Adult fans of this cousin to the 1970 television special Santa Claus Is Coming to Town will remember it as the Heat and Snow Miser movie. Their vaudevillian theme songs, complete with trombone and piano riffs, are hard to forget, but other treasured musical moments include "I Believe in Santa Claus," "I'll Have a Blue Christmas Without You," and "Here Comes Santa Claus." --Liane Thomas Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey The wondrous story of Christ's birth is told by an unlikely source: Nestor, a gentle donkey with incredibly long ears and a first-hand knowledge of life in a stable. This simple tale, which takes place in the days of the Roman Empire, is about a humble couple about to take a long journey to Bethlehem and a small, insignificant donkey that is destined to help them along. By all outward appearances, Nestor does not deserve such a privilege. Stable animals tease him incessantly for his long appendages until, finally, he is cast out of the barn into the winter cold. Snow and ice bring about even greater calamity for Nestor until he receives a dose of divine goodness. Nestor meets Tilly, a heavenly cherub (voiced by Brenda Vaccaro) who imparts guidance to the despairing burro and tells him that soon he will be chosen to participate in a miracle involving a star, a baby, a lowly stable, and some travelers named Mary and Joseph. Short and sweet, this stop-motion Christmas gem from Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass is narrated by Roger Miller. Get out the hanky for an understated holiday classic that will appeal to families of all ages. --Lynn Gibson Rudolph's Shiny New Year Rudolph is legendary for saving Christmas, but did you know he saved the New Year as well? While Santa Claus is recuperating from his December sleigh ride, he receives a letter from an old friend, Father Time. Seems that Baby New Year is missing, and if the little tyke isn't found, Old Year will continue forever--a catastrophe for Father Time, whose job it is to keep things moving forward. A search party is essential, yet with such thick fog, there's only one reindeer fit for the job. "Rudolph with your nose so bright, you've six days left to set things right," says Santa. Trouble hits immediately when Rudolph discovers that Aeon the Terrible, a big-beaked monster bird, is also searching for the missing baby. Rudolph gets help from a giant whale and a good-natured caveman, who dish up plenty of song and dance in between narrow escapes in their race against the end of the calendar year. Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but it contains as much magic as its predecessors, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, all produced and directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., and written by the esteemed Romeo Muller. The same stop-motion animation we've grown to love is here as well, and narrator Red Skelton has as trusted a voice as Burl Ives and Fred Astaire. While the New Year holiday will never be as celebrated as Christmas, this title is a welcome addition to any Rankin and Bass collection of holiday films. --Lynn Gibson

I Can't Believe I'd Never Heard of this one before!!!:
I'm 16. My mother and I were watching a Rankin/Bass Christmas marathon. For years we had known and loved "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Peter Cottontail," and we'd seen a few minutes of "Jack Frost" here and there, but somehow we had let "The Year Without a Santa Claus" get passed up. Luckily we saw it this year and were thoroughly delighted; it's now among our favorites. This story was totally charming. Right from the beginning, those two dumb elves were funny. Mrs. Claus was awesome...I recognized the voice of "Hazel" the maid! I ALWAYS knew Vixen was a female reindeer...the only one on Santa's team, I might add. And Vixen is a central figure in this movie. She's adorable. A feminist Christmas special?! COOL! Santa and the elves travel to a hot southern town in Dixie that never gets any snow. Santa helps a non-believing but still very good little boy change his mind and believe in him (even though the boy doesn't know it's him!) Okay, okay, so I'm going to say what everyone else already said and knows: The best part of this, the show-stealing scenes, were those with Snowmiser and Heatmiser. The two constantly bickering brothers who seem kind of villanous but are actually pretty nice. (They seriously reminded me of my own brothers.) Their songs are SO catchy, they had my mom literally up and singing them while dancing up a storm. (This was, mind you, the first time we'd ever seen this!) Soo...there you go. The children singing "Blue Christmas" to get Santa to come back to the job was a tender moment. And of course, the Mother Nature scene rocked the house. Again, we see a female taking the screen, and in her cute little house with a nice green lawn and rainbow too. Unlike some of the other stories in this 'family' of videos, this one doesn't-as someone pointed out-center on the historical meaning of Christmas. But it still gets its point across and manages to be a touching, enjoyable treat for all. And then there's the question, does it touch upon goddess-worshipping neo-paganism? Well, all I have to say is that never occured to me...but if it does...then ROCK ON RANKIN/BASS!! Or..well..you know what I mean. Keep being watched faithfully by fans each year. And the Miser Brothers can rock on, too. Ya gotta love it when Mother Nature starts talking about her two sons and they go calling her "Mother dear." She tells Mrs. Claus: "They gave you a hard time?" And Mrs. Claus says, "Yes, but I'm sure they didn't mean to..." And Mother Nature tells her honestly, "Oh, yes they did!" Great stuff. Great, great stuff.

Nestor:
If you haven't seen this movie, then you haven't experienced a true joy at Christmas. This is a wonderful movie. I own it and can't imagine not letting my children know how truly important little Nestor was to the creation of Christmas and its true meaning.

Most Awesome Christmas Cartoon:
The Year Without A Santa Claus is the most awesome Chirstmas show of all time. I have loved this one since I was a child myself. I was always disappointed that they didn't show it more often. Now that I have it on DVD I can watch it anytime I want and do. I love all the songs in the movie from the Heat Miser and Snow Miser songs to Blue Christmas although I absolutely love the I Believe in Santa Claus song and can't believe that someone hasn't recorded it on their Christmas CD. My family thinks I am crazy since I know every word of this show. I can recite it word for word and always do when watching it. It is totaly awesome. I give this show 5 stars. Everyone should see this show. It is the BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE these classics. And they me.:
Try this: walk into a public space singing "Nestor, Nestor, The Long-eared Donkey/He's a friend at Christmas for all the World To see" and I bet you that by the time you are at the "world to see" part the whole group of what-were-strangers is clapping and whirling. Let alone singing along! To me, these DVDs are about these things: happy, whirling happiness; love among long-departed friends; having fun. Watch these DVDs. Watch them in slow motion (if you must.) Sing along. Spray the words out. That is Christmas. For me. And for you.

3 Wonderful Reasons to buy this DVD:
Wow, 3 Rankin/Bass specials on 1 DVD, and they are such great stories individually. The First is "The Year Without a Santa Claus", when Santa gets the blues over humans attitudes towards Christmas. Narrated by Mrs Claus, it includes as usual a great soundtrack and excellent characters. Most fans loving the best, Heat Miser and Snow Miser. Jingle and Jangle, two of Santa's elves are pretty cute also. The Second is "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey", which I think is the most touching movie of the R/B collection. It is a re-telling of the birth of Christ with a sweet twist. It brings tears every watching. If you haven't seen this, it is a must. Wonderful inclusion on this DVD, especially if you want a break from the commercialism of Christmas. And Thirdly "Rudolph's Shiny New Year", which tells the story of time, our calender year. Rudolph is asked to help Father time, when Baby New Year Dissapears. This is a must have to keep your R/B appetite filled. When Christmas is over, and you have watched all your favourite R/B Christmas specials......oh no.......but wait, there's one more to keep you entertained! This DVD is definitely coming out at my house this Season, and everyone there-after.