Featured in the 1974 holiday classic TV special, The Year Without a Santa Claus, the brothers — voiced by actors George S Irving (Heat Miser) and Dick Shawn (Snow Miser) — memorably performed their signature tunes, with their minions as backup singers.
The Year Without a Santa Claus: When old Santa takes a year off
Have you been told.
Did you ever hear,
Of that curious, furious fidgety year,
When Santa Claus unhitched his sleigh
And vowed he was taking a holiday?
“The Year Without a Santa Claus,” based on a story by the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Phyllis McGinley, will be presented as a Christmas special on the ABC television network as an addition to the holiday season schedule.
The program will be presented in Animagic, the unique three-dimensional process, created by Rankin-Bass Productions, which combines stop-motion photography with animation. The show will feature the vocal talents of Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn and George S. Irving.
The musical tale tells of the year Santa Claus woke with a cold and decided that instead of climbing into his sleigh and delivering gifts to people who didn’t believe in him anyway, he would just stay in bed and catch up on his sleep.
Mrs. Claus is distressed about this bit of news and sends Santa’s head elf, Jingle Bells, and his number two elf, Jangle Bells, “down there” to find an example of Christmas spirit to bring back and thereby convince Santa that all is right with the world. They hop aboard the littlest reindeer of Santa’s team, Vixen, for the long journey.
Santa is very upset when he learns where the two elves are headed, because he is worried about them getting into a mess of trouble with Snow Miser and Heat Miser. Snow Miser controls the northern part of the world, and attempts to turn everything into icicles; and Heat Miser, his nasty brother, tries to keep the south so hot that there are never any snowflakes. Santa, disguised in ordinary civilian clothes, goes after them.
For a while, things look very grim for Santa and the elves, but eventually, he does run into some people who haven’t lost the Christmas spirit. That changes his mind about taking a holiday on Christmas much to everyone’s joy.
Shirley Booth, winner of an Academy Award for “Come Back Little Sheba” and a Tony Award for “Time of the Cuckoo,” narrates the story, and steps into the cast as Mrs. Santa Claus. Mickey Rooney stars as the tired and disillusioned Santa Claus.
Ms. Booth was incredulous, but Jules Bass, who coproduced and codirected the animation film along with Arthur Rankin, Jr., offered a simple explanation.
According to him, Ms. Booth sang “The Year Without a Santa Claus” in their New York studios where it was recorded on a 16 track. It was then shipped to Chicago where Mr. Rooney’s voice (as Santa Claus) was added. Later, the Wee Winter Singers, the choir, contributed their part on another tape with was combined with Mr. and Mrs. Claus’ duet.
Ms. Booth hopes that children will be delighted with the show. She views Christmas as “a very wonderful thing as long as it is not a mechanical affair motivated by the wrong reasons such as money.”
Her involvement with “The Year Without a Santa Claus” was motivated largely by her great respect for Phyllis McGinley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author who wrote the story upon which the special is based. “I was very impressed with much of her writing, and was carried away with her when I read ‘Saint-Watching.’ I wanted to be associated with her work and was anxious to do the show,” said Ms. Booth.
‘It was a very pleasant and painless procedure. It was all over before I knew it,” she sighed, as she explained that like Santa she was a bit weary and wanted a rest.
“Have a happy holiday,” she added.
The Year Without a Santa Claus: Rankin-Bass TV special production notes
There will be six original songs in “The Year Without a Santa Claus”, plus three favorite Christmas tunes — “Here Comes Santa Claus”, “Blue Christmas” and “Sleigh Ride”. The original music was written by Maury Laws, with lyrics by Jules Bans. The script is adapted by William Keenan and the production designed by Paul Coker, Jr.
Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Jules Bass, who will co-produce and co-direct the special, have created many perennial holiday programs for television, including “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “The Drummer Boy,” “Frosty the Snowman” and the ABC special, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” which encores for the fifth season on Friday, December 6.
Heat Miser: He’s Mister Hot
Snow Miser: He’s Mister Snow
Mister Snow Miser & Mister Heat Miser’s song
Take a look back with the video below, and now you can even sing along with the lyrics below!
“The Snow Miser Song” lyrics
I’m Mister White Christmas
I’m Mister Snow
I’m Mister Icicle
I’m Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser.
Whatever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch.
I’m too much!
He’s Mister White Christmas
He’s Mister Snow
He’s Mister Icicle
He’s Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser.
Whatever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch.
He’s too much!
I never want to know a day
That’s over forty degrees.
I’d rather have it thirty, twenty —
then five, then let it freeze!
He’s Mister White Christmas
He’s Mister Snow
He’s Mister Icicle
He’s Mister Ten Below
Friends call me Snow Miser.
Whatever I touch
Turns to snow in my clutch.
Too much.
Too much!
“The Heat Miser Song” lyrics
I’m Mister Green Christmas
I’m Mister Sun
I’m Mister Heat Blister
I’m Mister Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser.
Whatever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch.
I’m too much!
He’s Mister Green Christmas
He’s Mister Sun
He’s Mister Heat Blister
He’s Mister Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser.
Whatever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch.
He’s too much!
I never want to know a day
That’s under sixty degrees.
I’d rather have it eighty, ninety —
One hundred’s a breeze!
(spoken) Oh, some like it hot, but I like it REALLY hot!
He’s Mister Green Christmas
He’s Mister Sun
Sing it!
He’s Mister Heat Blister
He’s Mister Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser.
Whatever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch.
I’m too much!
Too much!
