Holiday History (Part 2)

51 years ago on this day, December 10, 1974, my all time favorite Christmas special aired for the first time. Long time readers of this blog are familiar with it for sure – The Year Without a Santa Claus. Back in 2019, I wrote an entire piece on the special for a blog-a-thon. Here it is updated a bit:

Rankin and Bass Productions produced many holiday television specials. Many of these were based on songs (1964’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1968’s Little Drummer Boy, 1969’s Frosty the Snowman, and 1970’s Santa Claus is Coming to Town). Along with How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas, these holiday specials were something that I (and many children) looked forward to watching every year.

So what makes these specials so special? Here are my thoughts: First of all, many of them were produced using a stop-motion animation process called “Animagic”. Animagic was used on shows like Puppetoons, Gumby, and Davey and Goliath. Compared to the advances we see in animation today, these specials shot with this primitive process still hold up and are entertaining.

Second, many are based on familiar Christmas songs. We know the songs and the stories, but the specials elaborate on them. We know the story of Frosty – but the song doesn’t mention Professor Hinkle (and we know we need his magic hat). We know the story of Rudolph – but there is no mention of Yukon Cornelius, Hermie, or Bumbles in the song (and we know Yukon saved Rudolph’s life). We know the story of Santa Claus – but the song doesn’t mention the Burgermeister Meisterburger (who is responsible for him going down chimneys) or the Winter Warlock (who gives Santa his magic snowball so he can see if you’ve been bad or good).

Next, you have the wonderful musical score and additional songs throughout the specials. Maury Laws, who sadly passed away in March of 2019 at age 95, was the music director for almost every Rankin and Bass production. He conducted and arranged so much of the wonderful music heard in these specials. Along with the title songs, who can forget “Holly Jolly Christmas”, “We Are Santa’s Elves”, “Silver and Gold”, “There’s Always Tomorrow”, “Put One Foot in Front of the Other”, “No More Toymakers to the King” and so many others?!

Finally, and maybe most importantly, the voice work of some very talented actors and actresses make the Rankin and Bass specials so very entertaining. I read somewhere that they really tried to find unique voices for their characters. They did have their own company of actors (Paul Soles, Larry Mann, Billie Richards, Paul Klingman, and Paul Frees), but they were able to get some “star power” for narrators and other characters. Think about the voices of Jimmy Durante, Jackie Vernon (who was known for his blue comedy work), Buddy Hackett, Shirley Booth, Mickey Rooney, Fred Astaire, and Burl Ives. They all had very unique voices that were perfect for these characters!

The Year Without A Santa Claus

The Year Without a Santa Claus originally aired on the ABC TV Network on December 10, 1974. The story is not based on a song, but is based on a poem/book. In 1956, Good Housekeeping magazine published the poem “The Year Without a Santa Claus” which was written by Phyllis McGinley. It was so popular that it was turned into a picture book the following year with illustrations by Kurt Werth.

In 1968, 6 years before the Rankin and Bass special, just a few months before he passed Boris Karloff (who narrated How The Grinch Stole Christmas) narrated an LP record version of the story/poem that was available on Capitol Records.

The poem tells of a year where Santa decides to take a vacation because he is feeling old and worn out. As the children of the world hear of this, they become very sad and cannot imagine a Christmas without Santa. There is one boy, Ignatius Thistlewhite, who takes a stand and explains that even Santa needs a vacation. He explains that Christmas is not only about receiving, but about giving. The children of the world launch a big campaign to give back to Santa and send him gifts to show him how much they love him. He is so moved by this gesture that he decides not to take the vacation and goes out on his annual flight like every other year.

Rankin and Bass Version

(Note: Spoilers) For the most part, the special follows the poem/book, with some minor and major changes. Shirley Booth plays Mrs. Claus, who tells us the story. This would be Shirley’s last acting role, as she retired after her part was completed. Santa is played by Mickey Rooney, who also played Santa in the Rankin/Bass special Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

In the special, Santa is sick. He is advised by his overly honest and grumpy doctor to stay home. The doctor also tells him nobody care about Christmas, and that no one believes in him anymore! Santa, feeling that his doctor may be right, decides to cancel Christmas for the first time ever.

Mrs. Claus, however, feels that it wouldn’t be fair to the children, and has a plan. She sends two Christmas elves, Jingle and Jangle, along with reindeer Vixen into the world to prove that there is still Christmas Spirit and that children still believe in Santa. Jingle and Jangle provide some comic relief (I always sensed a Laurel and Hardy vibe with them). Bob McFadden voices Jingle, while Bradley Bolke (best known as Chumley in the Tennessee Tuxedo cartoons) voices Jangle.

Santa knows his wife is up to something and gets her to explain just what she’s got going on. He is aghast to learn that the elves and Vixen are heading into the world. In a bit of foreshadowing, he mentioned that they’ll be lucky to make it past the Miser Brothers. The Miser Brothers are easily two of the most memorable characters ever created by Rankin and Bass, more on them shortly. As the elves fly directly into their path, the are shot down by Heat Miser (who calls them members of “the Santa Claus Gang”). Vixen and the elves narrowly escape and wind up landing in a place called Southtown USA.

While in Southtown, they find a lack of Christmas Spirit, and children (one of them Ignatius “Iggy” Thistlewhite, mentioned earlier) skeptical that Santa even exists. Things go from bad to worse in Southtown, as the elves receive a ticket and then Vixen is taken to the pound by the dog catcher (who thinks she is a dog). The elves are told by the policeman to see the mayor if they want to free Vixen.

Santa, who is now on a mission to save Vixen and the elves, has also flown down (on Dasher) to Southtown in search of them. He seems to be a step or two behind them. He runs into Iggy as he is coming home, introduces himself as “Mr. Clowze” and asks if he has seen his friends. Iggy replies that he has, but when Santa sneezes, Iggy’s mom invites him in for tea to help his cold.

While at the table, he learns that the elves were asking if he believed in Santa Claus. Iggy asks the old gent if HE believes in Santa Claus. He admits that he does in song, and we learn that Iggy’s dad actually saw Santa as boy, and he still believes. Iggy then tells Santa about the mess that the elves were in and that the dog catcher has their “dog”. Santa, worried about Vixen, jumps on his reindeer and flies away, not caring that he is in plain sight of the family. Iggy now realizes who Mr. Clowze really is and decides he is going to help Jingle and Jangle.

Santa pays a fine to the dog catcher and decides it is best to take Vixen home. Meanwhile, Iggy and the elves tell the mayor their story and the mayor laughs in disbelief. He does not believe that they are Christmas Elves, or any bit of their story!

He does, however, agree to free Vixen (and give Santa a holiday) if they can PROVE they are elves (who he says can do magic) and make it snow in Southtown, where it hasn’t snowed in over 100 years! Knowing that they are in a spot, they call Mrs. Claus to help. When she arrives, they go to see Snow Miser.

The Miser Brothers, Snow Miser and Heat Miser, are the offspring of Mother nature. Snow Miser controls all of the cold weather on the earth, while Heat Miser controls all the warm weather. There is no doubt that these two characters are the stand outs in this holiday special. The characters are larger than life. They are two step brothers, who obviously dislike and despise each other. We got a glimpse of them both early on, but now we get their official “introductions”.

Each Miser Brother has his own introductory song, with choreography and dancing minions. Each song is a boost to their egos as they admit that they are both “too much”!

Snow Miser is voiced by the amazing Dick Shawn, while Heat Miser is voiced by George S. Irving. Both were very well known character actors and each play their roles to the utmost. Shawn’s Snow Miser is a friendly guy who is full of puns and energy, while Irving’s Heat Miser is a miserable grouch!

It would just be wrong for me NOT to post a link to their songs – which are truly the highlights of the special!

Mrs. Claus arrives and asks Snow Miser for a snow storm. He will gladly oblige! However, when he hears where they need it to snow, he tells them he cannot help because the South is under Heat Miser’s control, and they must get his permission. Upon arriving at Heat Miser’s volcano, and listening to his song, he is obviously miffed at his visitors. He even accuses Santa of going out “doing commercials” for his brother. When the ask to let it snow in Southtown, he refuses at first, but then says he will allow it to snow there if he can provide a nice sunny day at the North Pole. The two brothers bicker on the phone and Mrs. Claus stops them and says that she is going over their heads. She is taking this to their mother – Mother Nature!

Despite the fact that the brothers, the elves, and Mrs. Claus are all a bit scared of Mother nature, she is a pleasant lady. She summons her boys with thunder and lightening (very reminiscent of the old Chiffon margarine ads that featured Mother Nature). With some initial bickering, she eventually gets the boys to agree. Snow Miser will allow a nice warm day at the North Pole and Heat Miser will let it snow in the south.

Once the snow hits Southtown, the mayor finally believes Jingle and Jangle and gets on the phone with all the mayors around the world. They officially declare a national holiday for Santa. The newspapers proclaim this “Day Off For Santa!” and the word spreads from pole to pole! With this news, all of the children begin to send letters and presents to Santa to show their appreciation for him and wish him a happy holiday. Santa receives one letter from a little girl who says she’ll have a Blue Christmas without him (and the song accompanies this)…

Santa is very moved by this letter, and the outpouring of gifts and love by the children of the world. He decides that it is ridiculous for him to take the night off! Christmas is back on again! He tells the elves to load up the sleigh and his ride begins by going down “Santa Claus Lane” in Southtown, USA.

At the end of the special, Mrs. Claus reminds us that somehow, “yearly, newly, faithfully, and truly” Santa ALWAYS comes!

Final Thoughts

In 2006, NBC remade this classic into a live-action special that was a huge disappointment. In 2008, ABC Family aired “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas” which, despite having a few of the original voice actors, was also something that never achieves the magic of the original.

Had The Year Without a Santa Claus simply told the story of the poem or book, it would easily be classified as a typical and standard Christmas special. However, Rankin and Bass take it above and beyond that. They make it a truly wonderful story with great characters, wonderful voice actors, well known and original music that brings a smile to my face each and every year! When I listen to the radio and hear “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, “Frosty the Snowman” and “Holly Jolly Christmas” from other TV specials, I find myself wondering why stations don’t take a chance and play the Miser Brothers songs? Every time I mention this special to someone – they IMMEDIATELY know them and their songs!! It’s a missed opportunity!

I can still remember the first time my brother and I sat in front of the TV to watch this. I remember over the years checking the TV guide to see if and when it would air again. When it was available on home video/DVD, I made sure I had a copy. It was one of the first specials I shared with my sons. I still tear up when Santa is reading about the little girl’s Blue Christmas. I sing along with the Miser Brothers. My heart doubles in size when Santa declares that Christmas isn’t cancelled. And every time I watch it, I am laying on the floor in front of the TV with my younger brother next to me … and I am 6 years old all over again.

Moose and Squirrel

It was 66 years ago that we were first introduced to Rocky and His Friends. Rocky debuted on this day in 1959 along with his friend Bullwinkle, the evil Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale, Dudley Do-Right, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and even Aesop! They debuted on the ABC Network.

The show was sort of a variety show which featured Rocky and Bullwinkle on an adventure that always ended in a cliffhanger. Their portion of the show was surrounded by Fractured Fairy Tales (narrated by Edward Everett Horton), Peabody’s Improbable History, and the adventures of Dudley Do-Right. The show has been described as “a radio show with pictures” and I would tend to agree.

While the animation isn’t all that great (it was done by Gamma Productions in Mexico and there were plenty of mistakes), the series is still held in high esteem. The show was fun for kids and adults. The humor consisted of puns, satire, and characters poking fun at themselves.

Production on the show began in 1958 with voice work being done by the amazing June Foray, Bill Scott, Paul Frees, Hans Conried and William Conrad. Conrad acted as narrator for the show and his frantic narration was a highlight for me. Wiki says at the end of the episode (at the cliffhanger) he would announce two humorous titles for the next episode that typically were puns of each other (and usually related more to the current predicament than to the plot of the next episode). For example, during an adventure taking place in a mountain range, Conrad would say, “Be with us next time for ‘Avalanche Is Better Than None,’ or ‘Snow’s Your Old Man.'”

https://youtu.be/0yZ3hEpyaD8?si=Pll5MhjWc373v9QX

Here is Conrad and Paul Frees in a promo for the show:

https://youtu.be/uEzTYtzLRz0?si=2kGD-4ux_9rSbsuP

In between the various acts of the show, we’d be treated to Bullwinkle as Mr. Know It All. He would claim to be an authority on just about any topic. Things never seem to go his way in the segment.

Then there was a segment where Bullwinkle would tell Rocky he was going to pull a rabbit out of his hat. Often times it would be a rhino or a lion. Bullwinkle would then say, something about the hat.

https://youtu.be/kRW7pITY5Cg?si=3XBnbIYAPouEZbAU

As a kid, I loved that the characters would break the fourth wall. They either spoke to you, the viewer, or interacted with the narrator, which was always funny…

https://youtu.be/oUf7YR7gl64?si=CVioEoGyDwZlT99v

I used the music from Fractured Fairy Tails as an open to my radio show. I had Richard D, my program director, do a hokey British accent and say, “WHND now cautions you that the following program may contain extreme silliness, ridiculous situations and partial nudity. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Keith Allen Experience.”. The music made it sound even more ridiculous.

This was the version I used:

https://youtu.be/PcSpOonwsJo?si=TPpO6oBPZNi8eNZR

There were three other versions with different music:

https://youtu.be/H926TwAkhjM?si=G1dFH9Id9oReKhAB

Mr. Peabody and Sherman also had three different themes:

https://youtu.be/HWXEM2Qo1c0?si=tqaGo05-DiUyGpt4

I love how Dudley Do Right’s theme has that section with music that is so reminiscent of the old movie and radio melodramas.

https://youtu.be/Npfi0UZL2ow?si=n1cIMayF4lpWlNq8

The Rocky and Bullwinkle show was a groundbreaking. And though there have been many attempts at rebooting the cartoon, and movies based on the characters, nothing tops the original!

TV Show Draft – Round 10 – The Untouchables

We have reached the final round of the Hanspostcard TV Show Draft. I want to take a moment and thank Max from the Power Pop Blog for taking up the reigns and helping us continue this round in Hans’ absence. It truly has been a fun draft!

For my final pick, I have gone back to another classic – The Untouchables. The show ran from 1959 to 1963 and starred the great Robert Stack as Eliot Ness. It is hard to imagine anyone but Robert Stack in the role of Ness, but believe it or not, Desi Arnaz had originally offered the role to actor Van Johnson. Supposedly, he wanted double what they were offering to pay for the role, and it ultimately went to Stack.

When asked about the character some years later, Stack said, “Ness was a precursor of Dirty Harry. He was a hero, a vigilante in a time when breaking the law meant nothing because there was no law because Capone owned Chicago, he owned the police force.”

The show was based on the book of the same name written by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley. Brian De Palma would use the book as the basis for his 1987 film of the same name.

According to Wikipedia:

The series originally focused on the efforts of a real-life squad of Prohibition agents employed by the US Department of Justice and led by Eliot Ness (Stack) that helped bring down the bootleg empire of “Scarface” Al Capone, as described in Ness’s bestselling 1957 memoir. This squad was nicknamed “The Untouchables” because of its courage and honesty; squad members could not be bribed or intimidated by the mob. Eliot Ness himself had died suddenly in May 1957, shortly before his memoir and the subsequent TV adaptation were to bring him fame beyond any he experienced in his lifetime.

The pilot for the series, a two-part episode entitled “The Untouchables,” originally aired on CBS’s Westinghouse Desilu Placyhouse (and was introduced by Desi Arnaz) on April 20 and 27, 1959. Later re-titled “The Scarface Mob”, these episodes, which featured Neville Brand as Al Capone, were the only episodes in the series to be more-or-less directly based on Ness’s memoir, and ended with the conviction and imprisonment of Capone. CBS, which had broadcast most of Desilu’s television output since 1951 beginning with I Love Lucy, was offered the new series following the success of the pilot film. It was rejected it on the advice of network vice president Hubbell Robinson. ABC agreed to air the series, and The Untouchables premiered on October 15, 1959. In the pilot movie, the mobsters generally spoke with unrealistic pseudo-Italian accents, but this idiosyncratic pronunciation was dropped when the series debuted.

The weekly series first dramatized a power struggle to establish a new boss in Capone’s absence (for the purpose of the TV series, the new boss was Frank Nitti, although this was, as usual for the series, contrary to fact). As the series continued, there developed a highly fictionalized portrayal of Ness and his crew as all-purpose, multi-agency crime fighters who went up against an array of 1930s-era gangsters and villains, including Ma Barker, Dutch Schultz, Bugs Moran, Lucky Luciano, and in one episode, Nazi agents. On many occasions during the series run, Ness would blatantly violate suspects’ Fourth Amendment rights with no legal ramifications.

The terse narration by gossip columnist Walter Winchell, in his distinctive New York accent, was a stylistic hallmark of the series, along with its ominous theme music by Nelson Riddle and its shadowy black-and-white photography, which was influenced by film noir.

The series produced 118 episodes which ran 50 minutes each. Though the book chronicled the experiences of Ness and his team against Capone, and in reality the Untouchables disbanded soon after Capone’s conviction. The series continued after the pilot and book ended, depicting the fictitious further exploits of the Untouchables against many, often real life, criminals over a span of time ranging from 1929 to 1935.

The show came with some controversy. Italian-American groups protested over what they felt was an unfair presentation of their people as Mafia-types. “We are plagued with lawsuits after certain shows” one of the show’s producers Josef Shaftel explained, noting that the series was “heavily insured against libel.” With good reason – the first lawsuit against the show was instigated by Al Capone’s angry widow. She didn’t like the way her deceased husband was made into a running villain on the show and wanted a million dollars for unfair use of his image. (She lost.)

The FBI and J. Edgar Hoover were ticked off too. They were the ones who collared the famous names that Ness was supposedly busting each week on TV and they rightfully wanted credit for it. The second episode of the series, for example, depicted Ness and his crew involved in the capture of the Ma Barker gang, an incident in which the real-life Ness played no part. The producers agreed to insert a spoken disclaimer on future broadcasts of the episode stating that the FBI had primary responsibility for the Barker case. Even the Bureau of Prisons took offense, complaining that the show made their treatment of Al Capone look soft.

The show itself was considered one of the most violent television shows of its time. Of course, by today’s standards it’s not that bad, but it was violent enough at the time to spark protests from parents who were worried about their children seeing this violence.

My Thoughts

This is one of those shows that I just love! Robert Stack’s delivery of almost every line as Ness is perfect. He won an Emmy in 1960 for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series for his portrayal of Ness.

Despite the fact that many of the stories are fictionalized to work the Untouchables into them, they are great! The show really was a forerunner to shows like The FBI, Crime Story, and even Hawaii 5-0. I love the film noir feel of it. Every episode plays like a good 50 minute movie.

The Lebanon Pennsylvania Daily News said of The Untouchables: “Between the hard-nosed approach, sharp dialogue, and a commendably crisp pace (something rare in dramatic TV at the time), this series is one of the few that remains fresh and vibrant. Only the monochrome presentation betrays its age. The Untouchables is one of the few Golden Age TV shows that deserves being called a classic.” It really does hold up well.

As I have mentioned before, one of the things I love about these old shows is seeing big stars (who are not quite yet stars) show up. In regular roles throughout the series you could see Raymond Bailey (Mr. Drysdale on the Beverly Hillbillies), Barbara Stanwyck, Barbara Nichols, Ed Asner (Lou Grant), Harry Morgan (Col. Potter on MASH), and Henry Silva.

The list of guest star appearances is long and amazing. They include: Jack Elam, Paul Frees, Jim Backus, Sam Jaffe, Martin Balsam, John Dehner, William Bendix, Whitt Bissell, Charles Bronson, James Caan, James Coburn, Mike Conners, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, Norman Fell, Alan Hale Jr., Brian Keith, Jack Klugman, Cloris Leachman, Jack Lord, Lee Marvin, Telly Savalas, Elizabeth Montgomery, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Redford, Ricardo Montalban, Rip Torn, Jack Warden, Dick York, Cliff Robertson and so many more!

“The Untouchables” Paul Picerni, Robert Stack circa 1961

You know, they play reruns of Law and Order on TV all the time. Many of the shows I have seen numerous times. I know what’s going to happen, yet I still watch (a lot like my previous picks – Perry Mason and Columbo). The Untouchables is a show that could very easily be rerun like a Law and Order. It is that good.

I love Walter Winchell’s narration

And I love the theme song!

It has been so much fun writing on some of my favorite shows. It’s been just as fun to read about the shows picked by other members of the TV Show Draft. I hope you have enjoyed my picks…

Thanks for reading!