Clickable Advent Calendar, 11: Cold Miser & Heat Miser
December 11, 2008 at 8:00 am by Curt Holman in A&EMention “A Year Without a Santa Claus” to people, and you’ll probably be met with blank stares. But sing a few lines like “I’m Mr. Cold Miser, I’m Mr. Snow…” and they’ll probably join in with “… He’s Mr. Icicle, He’s Mr. Ten Below.” People may not remember much about “Year Without a Santa Claus,” the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated holiday special from 1974, but the rival brothers Cold Miser and Heat Miser, particularly their catchy, vaudeville-style theme songs, seem to have lodged in pop cultural consciousness. In fact, 34 years later, Cold Miser and Heat Miser are starring in their won new one-hour spin-off special, “A Miser Brothers’ Christmas,” debuting on ABC Family on Saturday, Dec. 13. “A Year Without a Santa Claus” airs tonight, Dec. 11, if you need to catch up on the backstory. He’s a tribute video to the Miser Brothers, set to the Big Bad Voodoo Daddy version of their signature song:
December 11th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Oh. My. God. “Year Without a Santa Claus” is one of my favorite stop-motion Christmas specials of all time, but I haven’t seen it in YEARS! And you’re right: Mostly I remember the vaudeville numbers… and I think there’s an appearance from Mother Goose, right?
I heard about the spin-off — and am… nervous about it — but thanks for tipping me off to the airing of the original tonight. I’ll be watching. And singing.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
You’re close, Tom: Mother Nature, not Mother Goose, is parent to Heat Miser and Snow Miser.