The Year Without a Santa Claus

The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 stop-motion animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions.

Hoping to change Santa's mind, Mrs. Claus instructs two elves named Jingle and Jangle to seek evidence of Christmas spirit.

Jingle and Jangle leave with Santa's youngest reindeer Vixen and land in a small town in the Southern United States called Southtown, loosely based on Oxford, Mississippi.

Unfortunately, their efforts to find Christmas spirit are fruitless, and Vixen is detained by a dog catcher and taken to the local pound.

Jingle, Jangle and Iggy visit the town's mayor, who agrees to release Vixen if they make it snow in Southtown.

The special was released on VHS by Vestron Video on September 5, 1991, as part of their Christmas Classics Series, which is distributed by Family Home Entertainment.

A live-action remake of The Year Without a Santa Claus premiered on NBC on December 11, 2006, and was released on DVD the following day.

Dick Shawn and Shirley Booth, both of whom died prior to the film's production, were replaced by Juan Chioran and Catherine Disher as Snow Miser and Mrs. Claus, respectively.

An advertisement for a rerun of the special in 1998.