The live-action version premiered on NBC December 11, 2006; a widescreen DVD was released on the following day.
[1] This remake follows the same basic concept as the original: Santa, disillusioned by children's lack of belief in him and in the spirit of giving, decides not to deliver toys this Christmas Eve, despite the arguments by Mrs. Claus and two of his helper-elves, Jingle and Jangle.
Paul Mavis, for Drunk TV, wrote, "The Year Without a Santa Claus is a nauseating, angry, joyless little holiday confection sure to poison any child unlucky enough to chance upon it.
This hate-filled stocking stuffer has nothing but contempt for its intended audience, promoting the worst possible beliefs about people, while cloaking itself, incredibly, in the fake guise of a meaningful lesson about the holidays: the gall that the cretinous makers of this film have is really quite audacious.”[2] Lavanya Ramanathan of The Washington Post praised the performances of Griffin and Goodman, who "manage to give nice touches to their roles", as well as McKean, who "gives us the icy keeper Snow Miser with a pleasantly cunning twinkle."
"[3] Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the film a 2 out of 5 star rating and called it a "disappointing mix of a slow plot, poor writing, and subpar visual effects.