The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974)

The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Christmas stop motion animated television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name, illustrated by Kurt Werth. It was originally broadcast on December 10, 1974 on ABC.

The film was Shirley Booth's final acting credit as she retired from acting after its completion.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Interesting and heartwarming story.
 * 2) Decent stop-motion animation.
 * 3) Catchy songs such as the Snow Miser and Heat Miser songs.
 * 4) The song Blue Christmas was pretty emotional.
 * 5) The rivalry between the Snow and Heat Misers is genius.
 * 6) "Ma'am, kindly state your business to that drippy snowman, and GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The lip-sync is pretty off for some reason despite the film is an English-language American film.
 * 2) It is rarely mentioned nowadays, let alone leave it to become obscure. However, this Christmas special got a sequel in 2008.