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A Miser Brothers' Christmas

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Kari Croop

With Christmas fast approaching, Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney) and his elves are working overtime to prepare for the big day. But the spirit of the season hasn't helped the warring Miser brothers -- hot-headed Heat Miser (George S. Irving) and cold-hearted Snow Miser (Juan Chioran) -- get along any better. Things only get worse when the Miser brothers' megalomaniacal sibling, the North Wind, sets his sights on bringing down Santa so that he can take over the job and get all the glory. Now that Santa's out of commission, can the Miser brothers set aside their differences and save Christmas?

Is It Any Good?

2

Although it was inspired by the 1974 Rankin-Bass holiday special The Year Without Santa Claus, A MISER BROTHERS' CHRISTMAS is unlikely to become a Christmas classic that stands the test of time. The award-winning animation is stellar, to be sure. But the story loses major points for a convoluted plot involving Mother Nature, a failed assassination attempt, and mostly lackluster characters who fail to capture our hearts. The North Wind -- a devilish blend of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast and Stephen Colbert -- is a notable exception. Without him, A Miser Brothers' Christmas would be utterly skippable.

The odd thing is that, even though they're central to the plot, the Miser brothers and their petty rivalry get pretty old, pretty fast. (And if kids haven't seen The Year Without Santa Claus, they probably won't even know who the Miser brothers are, making them even less likely to care about what happens to them.) When it comes to holiday programming, A Miser Brothers' Christmas will do in a pinch. But it doesn't measure up to the classic Christmas fare it pays homage to.

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