WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Mehdi Hoffman There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

jahremusic Everything connected to the Miser Brothers characters was good and could have translated to a simple story about learning to work together.The North Wind was a completely unnecessary character that was not needed to tell the story... but of course every story NEEDS a villain... oh, except The Year Without a Santa Claus, where this story comes from.Also, hire decent songwriters. REAL songwriters. Contemporary songsters DON'T necessarily write properly for musicals.If you're going to revisit a story and characters, you need to try a little harder than this. This just felt like an obligatory release in order to keep a recently acquired intellectual property... oh like one from Rankin Bass to Warner Bros....But the animation was good, and the character design was fun. I didn't understand the many critiques against this, when the crime was in the storytelling and the songwriting.

beccad90 Finally, after 34 years, the brothers are BACK! Produced by Warner Brothers Animation, who hold the rights to the original Rankin/Bass classics, and Cuppa Coffee studios, this special turns the spotlight to the Misers, turning them into heroes. When Santa is outed with a bad back, the two brothers are forced to cooperate and deliver toys in the big man's place. While the Miser Brothers' mischief and constant bickering have been blamed for Mr. C's condition, this is truly the doing of the North Wind, a semi-dashing, conniving spirit who wants to take Christmas for himself. Now, the brothers must band together not only to do Santa's job, but save Christmas from their blustery windbag of a brother...pun GLADLY intended!I must say I was ecstatic when I heard my favorite characters from The Year Without a Santa Claus would be getting the spotlight. While that is a good thing, I am kind of sad to say that it doesn't hold up as well as the original film from which they came. Granted there are some good things: George S. Irving and Mickey Rooney, both actors pushing 90 at the time, reprised their roles as Heat Miser and Santa Claus, respectively. Though sounding a bit aged, both held their own (Rooney and John Goodman have always been the best to portray The Big C, in my opinion), and that's pretty impressive. The new voice of Snow Miser, Juan Chiron, though different from the late Dick Shawn, was pretty darn good, maintaining Snowy's lighthearted demeanor. But, with every good thing, there must be a bad thing.First of all, the plot is flimsy. We've seen it before, we'll probably see it again, but the writers could have been a little more original. Second, a lot of the voices are HORRIBLE. Mrs. Claus, for instance, was voiced by the late Shirley Booth in the original; and while I can't say that I particularly liked Booth's voice, at least it was tolerable. This version's Mrs. C was just ridiculous! The actress was just trying way too hard to impress the kiddies instead of the audience as a whole, which, to me, is what a family movie--or special, in this case--is truly about: finding something everyone can like. But, I digress. I also didn't really care for the North Wind. He was just a clichéd, full of himself villain, and while vanity is a good point for developing many villains, they could have made him a bit more threatening. Again, balance is essential for good family entertainment.That being said, while the movie's condescending tone can grate on my nerves, I can say that the Misers themselves were still fun to watch and you should check it out. However, I do recommend the original 1974 movie, The Year Without a Santa Claus, being that it was a bit more enjoyable. You'll also understand the characters a little more after seeing it. But, still look at this special, as well. You'll still see that the brothers still got it!

xplipbonx I'd give this a eight and a half out of ten. Pretty good actually. Or maybe the haters are louder than the lovers (or likers?) Hmmmm.... where can i start? If you hadn't seen the first one, you wouldn't think this was too bad. But the music is pretty bad. The one and a half point for me is taken off from the new character North Wind's song and Mrs. Claus's song. And the fact that in this, Snow miser seems more PUSHY AND SARCASTIC and not so much with the ridiculous PUNS AND RANDOM BURSTS OF LAUGHTER. And why'd Snow Miser get the new haircut and lose his hat? But I do like (better than the original) X Snow Miser's new SINGING voice- Juan Chioran (because when you listen to Dick Shawn's, it sounds a bit choppy) X Heat Miser's new clothes X when they show the flashbacks of the childhoods Overall, it's okay. But it will never beat the original. But I love the original.

PatrickLMT The bickering brothers are back, this time called upon to save Christmas as Santa Claus suffers from a minor back injury incurred when flying between the feuding Miser Brothers.While the premise has potential, the execution was faulty. It was a mistake to reintroduce these characters for this special, because it invites comparison to their original appearance in "A Year Without A Santa Claus," and between the two Christmas specials, it's no contest."The Miser Brother's Christmas Special" opens with Tinsel, Santa's chief mechanic, working on a new Super-Sleigh for Santa to use, which Santa intends to test.Mother Nature meanwhile is holding an annual get-together with all of her children (and apparently has a very large number). One of her sons, North Wind (whom both Miser Brothers actively dislike) has learned that if something were to happen to Santa Claus, then he himself would take over Santa's business.Unlike any of the characters in the previous special, North Wind discloses an unsettling duplicitous nature. Seemingly doting and adoring of his mother, he is actually vain and narcissistic, possibly even sociopathic. He has become obsessed with the idea of taking over Santa's business for his own personal adoration and seemingly has no compunction whatsoever about eliminating Santa Claus permanently to accomplish this.He dispatches his minions to sabotage the Super-Sleigh, which forces Santa to crash land between the feuding Miser Brothers, causing them to be blamed for his injuries. North Wind is ready to assume Santa's duties, but Mother Nature has decided that the Miser Brothers should fill in for Santa Claus this year.Operations in Santa's workshop stagnate as the brothers continue to battle. Thanks to Mrs. Claus's delicate touch, the Miser brothers are finally persuaded to put aside their differences and cooperate. The history of the Miser Brothers is revealed at this point (and it may be apocryphal), as we learn they have been on Santa's "naughty" list for mutual bickering since infancy. This is inconsistent with what is known for about them in "A Year Without A Santa Claus," since they refer to each other as "step-brother," but this special suggests that they're actually fraternal twins.I guess we're to assume that Mother Nature is not bound by normal human laws of gestation and can have step-children obviously very close in age, if not the same age.North Wind has not stopped his machinations and has attached heating and cooling units to the bottom of Santa's sleigh, apparently capable of heating and cooling vast regions of the planet. The Miser Brothers are convinced that the other is responsible in a plot to heat or cool the entire planet, and they resume feuding. Santa, despite his injuries, decides to do the route himself, and the North Wind attacks, cutting Santa's reindeer loose and conjuring up a vortex to consume Santa forever.The brothers, who have learned that neither is to blame for Santa's injuries and that Santa was the victim of sabotage by the North Wind, come to the rescue and through some tricky maneuvering, manage to pull Santa out, although nearly becoming swallowed by the vortex themselves. But all are rescued and North Wind has been captured. The Miser Brothers have made Santa's "nice" list for the first time, and North Wind is consigned to doing chores for Mother Nature for the next several thousand years.Where this special fails is the introduction of malice. The Miser Brothers had a mutual animosity, but this special takes it too far. Where they were once content to annoy and frustrate each other, even to causing minor injuries in the style of slapstick comedy, they have since escalated their hostility and seek genuine harm. And even more disturbing is the North Wind's apparent amorality. Mother Nature's sentence of doing chores, even for a few thousand years, seems rather lenient for someone who tried to murder Santa Claus.Were it not for the repeated reuse of the Miser Brothers' ragtime song from A Year Without A Santa Claus, the songs would have nothing to redeem them. In contrast with the dynamic styles used in "Year," such as the Dixieland-style "It's Gonna Snow-Ho-Ho Right Here in Dixie," and the poignant numbers, such as "Blue Christmas" and "I Believe In Santa Claus," the new songs for this special are vapid. It gave me the distinct impressions that they were written at the last minute.It is indeed regrettable, because the Miser Brothers are worthy characters and deserving of their own Christmas special. Sadly, this special has failed them miserably, and it would have been better for this special had they not been used for it. I'd prefer to remember the Miser Brothers as they were in "A Year Without A Santa Claus" and forget this special even exists.