The Characters who appeared in The Year Without a Santa Claus, and its sequel, A Miser Brothers' Christmas.
Santa Claus
- Played by: Mickey Rooney (1974 film, A Miser Brothers' Christmas), John Goodman (Live-action remake)
The jolly rotund man who gives children presents on Christmas Eve. After getting a cold, he starts to feel that his job of delivering Christmas presents to children is pointless, so it is up to his elves to find proof that Christmas spirit still exists.
In A Miser Brothers' Christmas, his back is broken by the North Wind as part of a scheme to take Santa's place, which leads to the Miser Brothers reluctantly working together to save the day.
- Papa Wolf: When told that the elves Jingle and Jangle took Vixen with them, he expresses grave concern because Vixen is only a baby, and despite being sick, gets dressed and flies off to find them.
- Santa Claus: Like this needs an explanation.
- You Don't Look Like You: His appearance in A Miser Brothers' Christmas doesn't look a thing like how he appeared in the original 1974 special, instead looking closer to how he looked in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Mrs. Claus
- Played by: Shirley Booth (1974 film), Delta Burke (Live-action remake), Catherine Disher (A Miser Brothers' Christmas)
Santa's wife. When her husband falls ill and loses faith in his job, Mrs. Claus sends the elves Jingle and Jangle to find proof that Christmas spirit still exists. When the elves need to make it snow in Southtown to prove they are really elves, they visit the Miser Brothers in order to get it to snow there. When they refuse to cooperate, Mrs. Claus solves the problem by talking to their mother Mother Nature.
In A Miser Brothers' Christmas, she does what she can to keep the Miser Brothers from fighting and do a good job in filling in for Santa Claus.
- Cool Old Lady: A kind and tenacious elderly woman who can talk back to two elemental Physical Gods without any sign of fear.
- Demoted to Extra: This happens to her in the live-action remake, as she is given less screen time and Santa himself ends up being the one who negotiates with the Miser Brothers to let it snow in Southtown.
- Mrs. Claus: The very same. The original 1974 special is noteworthy in that it's one of the few Christmas specials to put her front and center among the cast.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Her initial plan to save Christmas is to dress up as Santa herself and do the work, but she gave up on it when Jingle and Jangle recognized her.
- You Don't Look Like You: As with Santa Claus, she has a completely different appearance in A Miser Brothers' Christmas, being more gaunt and wearing glasses.
Jingle and Jangle Bells
- Played by: Bob McFadden and Bradley Bolke (1974 film), Ethan Suplee and Eddie Griffin (Live-action remake)
Two elves chosen by Mrs. Claus to find proof that there are still people who believe in Santa Claus. They ride Vixen to Southtown and end up being challenged by the mayor to prove that they are elves by making it snow in Southtown.
- Ambiguously Related: It's unclear whether they're brothers or if they just happen to have the same last name.
- Fat and Skinny: Jingle is a bit chubby while Jangle is very thin.
- Simpleton Voice: Jangle talks with one.
Ignatius "Iggy" Thistlewhite
- Played by: Colin Duffy (1974 film), Dylan Minnette (Live-action remake)
A young boy who is initially incredulous that Santa exists, but is convinced otherwise when his father informs him that he still believes. He ends up joining Jingle and Jangle in their quest of getting it to snow in Southtown.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: At first he doesn't believe in Santa Claus and insists that only little kids do, even though all the newspapers have just announced Santa's decision to take a holiday, complete with photos of him.
- Kid Hero: He's only a child, yet he does not hesitate in renewing Christmas spirit in Southtown.
Mayor of Southtown/Mayor Thistlewhite
- Played by: Ron Marshall (who also plays Iggy's father) (1974 film), Robert C. Treveiler (Live-action remake)
The mayor of Southtown. When Jingle and Jangle come to him and claim to be Santa's elves, he laughs at them and makes a deal that he'll believe them if they can get it to snow in Southtown. After some difficulty, the mayor eats his words.
In the live-action remake, Iggy's father is made the mayor and never encounters Jingle and Jangle.
- Composite Character: The mayor and Iggy's father are one and the same in the live-action remake.
- Fat Bastard: Subverted. He is a bit rude when he first meets Jingle and Jangle, but he stops acting that way when it starts snowing in Southtown. Even before that he doesn't display any type of attitude towards them and at worst just seems more amusedly skeptical towards Jingle and Jangle.
- Flat-Earth Atheist: He laughs incredulously at Jingle and Jangle's claim that they're two of Santa's elves, even though Santa's existence is well-known enough that his decision to take a holiday made front-page headlines in every paper.
- Repeating So the Audience Can Hear: Happens when he gets a phone call from his wife to bring his galoshes when he comes home.
Snow Miser
- Played by: Dick Shawn (1974 film), Michael McKean (Live-action remake), Juan Chioran (A Miser Brother's Christmas)
One of the two Miser Brothers. He has power over cold weather and controls the weather of the northern hemisphere. He does not get along well with his brother Heat Miser. Mrs. Claus, Jingle, Jangle, and Iggy come to him to get it to snow in Southtown. He tells them that he'll need permission from Heat Miser. When Heat Miser refuses to do so without permission to melt the snow in the North Pole, Mrs. Claus decides to instead tell their mother Mother Nature, who gets her sons to compromise.
In the sequel A Miser Brothers' Christmas, he is forced to work together with Heat Miser to save Christmas after Santa Claus is injured by the North Wind. In the end, he and Heat Miser not only save Christmas, but also set aside their differences.
- Adaptational Sympathy: His bickering with his brother in A Miser Brother's Christmas lands him on the naughty list. This, combined with him and Heat Miser seemingly injuring Santa in a sleigh accident, forces the two to work together, and eventually reconcile.
- Affably Evil: Although Santa describes him as somebody who'd freeze a person just for the fun of it, Snow Miser is very friendly towards Mrs. Claus and company, explaining to Iggy that he's grateful towards Santa for the positive publicity he brings to winter. He's more than happy to create a snowstorm for them, only stopping when he learns the town is in Heat Miser's territory.
- An Ice Person: Whatever he touched turns to snow in his clutch. (He's too much!)
- Big "WHAT?!": He lets out one of these when Mrs. Claus reveals that yes, Heat Miser does want the North Pole in exchange for snow in South Town.
- Breakout Character: He and Heat Miser are the most popular characters in the special. Their song and personality has caused them to have their own movie in 2008 on ABC Family.
- Chromatic Arrangement: Sports a majority blue color scheme, paired with Heat Miser's red and Mother Nature's green.
- Elemental Hair Composition: His hair is nothing, but ice.
- Expy: His personality is very similar to another famous Dick Shawn character, the manic momma's boy in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Ice to his brother's Fire and his mother's Lightning.
- Jack Frost: Sort of. While he is never referred to by the name "Jack Frost" once, being a personification of ice, snow, and the cold in general make him a close match for this trope.
- King Mook: Has several servants who are smaller versions of him
- Large Ham: Mrs. Claus even calls him a "big ham" when our heroes first encounter him.
- Leitmotif: Snowy's "Snow Miser" song consists of fast-paced Dixieland ragtime music with banjo and piano musio in the background.
- Manchild: Snowy and Heat Miser tend to be childish when Mother Nature asks them to cooperate.
- Momma's Boy: He takes quite a lot of pride in being Mother Nature's favorite, with Heat Miser describing him as being such explicitly. He too is horrified when Mrs. Claus goes to their mother to get them to cooperate.
- The Nicknamer: Has the tendency to give others snow-related nicknames, most often Mrs. Claus. He gives Heat Miser much harsher high temperature-related ones much more maliciously, however.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His appearance was based off of Spiro Agnew, Richard Nixon's first vice-president.
- Oh, Crap!: When Mrs. Claus announces she intends to go over the Miser Brothers' heads, Snow Miser reacts with a quietly horrified "You're kidding!", as he knows fully well what this means.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Heat Miser's red.
- Sibling Rivalry: He and his brother Heat Miser do not get along well, though they learn to get along by the end of A Miser Brothers' Christmas.
- Totally Radical: Uses cheesy slang in A Miser Brothers' Christmas.
- Villain Song: His version of the Snow Miser/Heat Miser song, though he isn't really a villain.
Heat Miser
- Played by: George S. Irving (1974 film, A Miser Brothers' Christmas), Harvey Fierstein (Live-action remake)
One of the two Miser Brothers. He has power over warm weather and controls the weather of the southern hemisphere. When asked by Mrs. Claus to let it snow in Southtown, he refuses unless he is given permission to make the snow in the North Pole melt. He ends up being forced to compromise with his brother and let him make it snow in Southtown in exchange for bringing Spring to the North Pole after Mrs. Claus tells on them to Mother Nature.
- Adaptational Sympathy: His bickering with his brother in A Miser Brother's Christmas lands him on the naughty list. This, combined with him and Snow Miser seemingly injuring Santa in a sleigh accident, forces the two to work together, and eventually reconcile.
- Ambiguously Evil: At least in the first half of the film. He's described by Santa Claus as the type of person who would lay the heat on Jingle and Jangle Bells for no particular reason, and once we see him for the first time, sure enough, he shoots them out of the sky with fire and throws a tantrum when he finds that they've survived. Not to mention, he describes the two as being "goody-goody" in disgust, implying he might be the type of villain who hates goodness. Curiously, when he encounters the two later on, he doesn't even try to harm them nor do either of them acknowledge what happened earlier.
- Berserk Button: Anything to do with cold and winter. He goes on a massive rant against Santa Claus giving winter much more positive publicity than summer gets and wanting the same attention. His reaction to Mrs. Claus' request is a massive shout of: "What?! Let it snow in the South? Never!"
- Big "WHAT?!": His initial reaction to letting it snow in the south.
- Breakout Character: He and Snow Miser are the most popular characters in the special. Their song and personality has caused them to have their own movie in 2008 on ABC Family.
- Chromatic Arrangement: His color scheme is primarily red, paired with Snow Miser's blue and Mother Nature's green.
- Elemental Hair Composition: His hair is colored like fire and glows from within, implying that his hair is supposed to be made of flames in the same way his brother's hair is made of ice.
- Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Fire to his brother's Ice and his mother's Lightning.
- Fiery Redhead: Quite literally, actually.
- King Mook: Has several servants who are smaller versions of him.
- Large Ham: He gets pretty over-the-top when he describes how much he detests winter.
- Leitmotif: His "Heat Miser" musical number consists of a slow-paced melody of brass musical instruments in the background.
- Manchild: Both he and Snowy are prone to bickering, until Mother Nature puts a stop to it.
- Momma's Boy: Implied. He gets angrier than usual when he's talking to his brother and mentions that Mother Nature liked Snow Miser better, indicating he wants her approval. He's also the first to react with horror when Mrs. Claus decides to go straight to Mother Nature, at which point he freaks out more so than usual.
- The Nicknamer: Unlike Snow Miser, Heat Miser gives only malicious nicknames, most often disparaging low-temperature themed ones towards Snow Miser.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: His personality and facial appearance were based on Richard Nixon.
- Oh, Crap!: When Mrs. Claus announces she intends to go over the Miser Brothers' heads, Heat Miser reacts with a shocked cry of "You wouldn't dare!", as he knows fully well what this means.
- Playing with Fire: He is able to project balls of fire.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Snow Miser's blue.
- Sibling Rivalry: He often fights with his brother Snow Miser, but they learn to get along in A Miser Brothers' Christmas.
- The Unfavorite: Believes himself to be this.
- Villain Song: While not really a villain, his version of the Snow Miser/Heat Miser song qualifies as he is a rather vain obstacle in the story and serves an antagonistic role by refusing to let it snow in Southtown.
Mother Nature
- Played by: Rhoda Mann (1974 film), Carol Kane (Live-action remake), Patricia Hamilton (A Miser Brothers' Christmas)
The Miser Brothers' mother and head of everything in nature. When Mrs. Claus confronts her, she makes her sons compromise so that it snows in South Town and the North Pole gets warm weather for a day.
In A Miser Brothers' Christmas, her other son the North Wind breaks Santa's back as the result of an accident and frames the Miser Brothers. She punishes her sons by having them fill in for Santa and later punishes the North Wind when she finds out that he is to blame for Santa's accident.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Has a noticeably more youthful appearance in the live-action version, to the point that Sparky (futilely) flirts with her at one point. That said, this adaptation also emphasizes the fierce temper that we didn't see a lot of in the original.
- Ambiguously Related: The original special refers to the Miser Brothers as stepbrothers. They both refer to her as their mother, however. Of course, they could just be close to their stepmother. Or know better to stay on her good side. It's also possible the Miser Brothers simply pretend they aren't related.
- Berserk Button: Her patience reaches the breaking point when Snow and Heat Miser stubbornly bicker, and she jolts some sense into them both with a little thunder and lightning.
- Beware the Nice Ones: As pleasant as she is, you don't want to make her mad with petty squabbles; otherwise, she'll call for some thunder and lightning to break up the argument.
- Brutal Honesty: Cheerfully mentions to Mrs. Claus that her sons almost certainly gave her a hard time on purpose and calls them "nasty little boys".
- Chromatic Arrangement: Her color scheme is mostly green, pairing with Snow Miser's blue and Heat Miser's red. She gains more green color scheme additions in the sequel.
- The Dreaded: Everyone is very intimidated at the thought of getting her involved in the Miser Brothers' squabble — the Brothers immediately know they'll be in big trouble, Jingle and Jangle hope at first that Mrs. Claus is bluffing, and even Mrs. Claus herself admits in her narration that she was nervous about doing it. While Mother Nature is revealed to be a generally friendly woman, the fear does appear to be warranted, as she's implied to be all-powerful and shown to be the only one who can rein in her two sons.Mrs. Claus: All right, enough of this! I hate to do this to you, boys, but you leave me no choice. [beat] I'm going over your heads.
Snow Miser: [shocked] You're kidding.
Heat Miser: You wouldn't dare...!
Mrs. Claus: I would, and I will!
[...]
Iggy: Who? Where are we going? Who are we going to see?
Jingle: We're going right to the top, Iggy, my boy.
Jangle: Mrs. C is through foolin' around. - Fire, Ice, Lightning: The Lightning to her sons' Fire and Ice.
- Informed Attribute: One of the things that makes her The Dreaded is the claim that she has a Hair-Trigger Temper and doesn't like to be disturbed for any reason. Neither of these attributes show when we see her. While she does get angry at her sons while trying to get them to see reason, the reason for her anger was pretty standard (the brothers refused to cooperate and she yelled at/scolded them for it). It is possibly a case in universe of people making her out to be worse then she is.
- Mama Bear: Mrs. Claus gets so fed up with the Miser Brothers' bickering, she goes straight to the top with Mother Nature, who summons them before her, bringing up a little thunder and lightning to jolt some sense into them, and calls for their cooperation to display the proper Christmas spirit. In the sequel, she is very disappointed with her other son North Wind when he tries to banish his two brothers to where they'll never return from.
- Mother Nature: Duh, it's in the name. She's shown to be a kindly, earthy woman wearing a bird nest as a hat, and her children are all personified forces of nature.
- Never Mess with Granny: She looks like an old lady (and given what her domain is, she's likely MUCH older than she appears to be), but she's also the one who controls all of nature and the only one who can calm the fierce tempers of her sons.
- Physical God: Implied, and justifiably so, being the one in control of all nature.
- Shock and Awe: Uses lightning an awful lot, though this is almost certainly not her only elemental power.
- Tsundere: Implied to be a type B — sweet and nurturing, but has a hidden temper.
Sparky
- Played by: Chris Kattan
One of Santa's elves who is in charge of marketing. He attempts to replace Santa with a more modern superhero persona dubbed "Extreme Santa".
- Small Name, Big Ego: Is completely unaware that the other elves loathe him and doesn't understand why people would prefer the regular Santa Claus to his Extreme Santa proposal.
- Totally Radical: He thinks it would be a good idea to rename Santa Claus "Extreme Santa", for crying out loud.
The North Wind
- Played by: Brad Adamson
Another one of Mother Nature's children who attempted to replace Santa Claus as the one who gives children Christmas presents. He frames the Miser Brothers for causing the accident that breaks Santa's back, but this backfires when the Miser Brothers are given the duty of filling in for Santa and end up foiling his plan.
- Big Bad: He serves as the main antagonist of A Miser Brothers' Christmas when The Year Without a Santa Claus was a work with No Antagonist.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He acts nice when Mother Nature is around, but behind the scenes is shown to be a narcissistic jerk.
- Blow You Away: Being the embodiment of the north wind, this isn't surprising.
- It's All About Me: He only cares about himself and wishes to take over Christmas so that he is admired instead of Santa.
- Large Ham: He nearly beats the Miser Brothers at being hammy.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Once Santa is saved from another assassination attempt, the Misers quickly call Mother Nature, who immediately punishes North Wind by forcing him to do chores for the next several thousand years.
- The Man in the Mirror Talks Back: A variation. Several mirrors with his reflection at one point act as a chorus during his Villain Song.
- Nobody Touches the Hair: Says "Don't touch the hair" to one of his Mooks when they put his Santa hat on.
- The Old North Wind: Although, unusually for this trope, he's depicted as a scheming young man.
- Villain Song: "My Kind of Christmas", where he sings about his plans to take Santa's place in giving presents to children.
