Un anno senza Babbo Natale

When you watch the original claymation films it's always amazing how much visual impact and story they pack into a relatively short amount of time. This remake had nearly the opposite effect and had the viewer begging to reach the conclusion and put this nightmare behind them. Something tells me this will not be a 'classic' for the entire family to gather around and watch together - year after year.

Delta Burke is a beautiful woman with a gentle spirit and wonderful acting style so it's disappointing to see her grouped with the Zany antics of Carole King and the wanna be sympathetic John Goodman. It may just be me but Mrs. Claus' shy nature and quiet voice almost represented Delta being apologetic for her role in this movie.

The film retells the story of Santa's growing frustration with the commercialization of Christmas and the apparent apathy from children all over the world. Santa decides he's had enough and plans to skip Christmas altogether. Two elves and one reindeer leave the North Pole in search of one child who can sway Santa's heart and reverse his decision. Yada yada yada - eventually all the characters and pieces come together and bring the spirit of Christmas back to life.

This version lacks the charm and timeless wit from the original. The live actors appear to intentionally overact as their feeble attempt to capture the claymation's over-animation. The story has been 'updated' to incorporate a techno-saavy Claus and ELF incorporation - hahaha - wow, that's really clever (pause) NOT. The producers of this film would be smart to bundle the ensuing DVD with the original and offer some kind of bonus features in order to push the 2-pack. I can't imagine too many children or adults wanting to add this to their DVD collection. Next time, remake the little drummer boy - nobody liked that one too much anyway.

In ranking this film we should always start off with a 5 - neutral - then give it 2 pts for costume and effects for a 7, remove 1 point for being a remake for 6 pts and 2 more for remaking a classic, 4 pts, finally lose a point for being absolutely horrible for a 3 out of 10. Why the 3 pts you ask? Because this is so bad that any casual fan of the original claymation/puppet version must watch this for themselves in order to fully appreciate how truly bad this really is. I suppose a live action 'Great Pumpkin' is just around the corner, sad :(

Not unwatchable, but definitely low budget. The movie had potential, but most of the performances were flat. The only person who remotely kept my interest was Eddie Griffin, playing jingle. It put my kids to sleep in the first hour. I usually like John Goodman, but his acting was almost forced. AS was most of the person's acting in this show. It reminded me of someone simply reading a teleprompter. Chris Kattan was OK, but even he seemed to be holding back from being funny. Harvey Fierstein did play a good Heatmiser and he definitely had the better looking groupees vs those with his brother, Coldmiser! I finished watching it, but won't go out of my way to see it again next year. Believe me, its not a modern classic.

It's too bad that this couldn't have been a year without "The Year Without a Santa Claus" remake.

I'll have a blue Christmas (since I've seen you.) This belongs on the Island of Misfit Remakes. Where's the Burgermeister when you need something burned? Rankin/Bass are probably spinning like the original Snow Miser after this. I let my six-year-old stay up for this...how do I justify letting him stay up past his bedtime for a waste of two hours of his young life. Whoever was approached with this idea should have told the instigator to put one foot in front of the other and walk right out the door.

When a "Christmas movie" contains the line "Santa, you suck" and M-rated video game carnage in the first half-hour, you know it's time to check out.

Cheap, tacky sets and costumes, atrocious "in-jokes" about other Xmas specials, and no observable comedy anywhere in sight. When you add in the really inappropriate language and visuals, as well as a complete lack of fun, well even my 4-year-old lost interest very quickly.

Besides, Chris Kattan's disgusting pinkeye infection was making it hard to pay attention to anything else but how inflamed his eye was! Seriously, in HD, you could almost feel the burn yourself!

Acting=bland, storyline=contrived, pacing=dirge-like, charm=none. A live action "Year Without a Santa Claus" seems like a great idea, unless the people involved turn it into a remake of the Salkind's "Santa Claus: The Movie" instead. And that's what happened.

Not everything about this movie is worthless. The first Heat Miser/Snow Miser scene was well done, but then again it's the only thing left over from the original. At least the powers that be recognized the appeal of that number.

Everyone else was just sleepwalking through their parts, which is a shame. I was excited to see John Goodman as Santa, but he wasn't weary enough in the scenes where Santa is weary, and certainly wasn't jolly enough when Saint Nick needed to be his old self. And Delta Burke? Did she really have a part in this? Mrs. Claus was an important part of the original...here she just seemed like an observer.

I was looking forward to this...I'm no purist. I'm open for all kinds of remakes. But this just didn't cut it.

Watch the original instead. It's a classic, despite its age.