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Here he comes now, the big ham.

Mrs. Claus commenting on Snow Miser's entrance

Snow Miser is a supporting character in the Rankin/Bass television special The Year Without a Santa Claus. He controls the cold weather of the Earth, not unlike Jack Frost. He and his siblings are the children of Mother Nature. (It should be noted that both Snow Miser and Heat Miser were not actually in the original poem that the special is based on.) He and his six minions live in an ice castle, and serve as backup dancers for the welcoming reception each guest receives upon arrival to their icy domain.

Appearance[]

Snowmiser-comparison

Snow Miser's original design in The Year Without a Santa Claus vs his redesign in A Miser Brothers' Christmas.

Snow Miser has pale skin portrayed as either snow white or light blue. His hair, whether made of or covered in ice, is shoulder-length with long sideburns, reflecting the hair of the time. He wears a blue shirt and silver leggings, a blue striped scarf, blue gloves and long, blue pointed shoes. He has a long nose that usually has an icicle hanging from it, a chin that juts out and he is usually seen grinning. Like Heat Miser, Snow Miser is abnormally tall as he towers over both humans and Mother Nature in stature, but out of the two brothers, is the taller one and he is very slim and lanky.

In A Miser Brothers Christmas, he is slightly redesigned where he has his hair styled in an Elvis pompadour and he wears a blue suit with white pants. However, he retains his signature scarf from the 1974 special.

Personality[]

Snow Miser towers over elves

Snow Miser with Jingle and Jangle.

Snow Miser is portrayed as a smooth and fast talking guy who speaks and behaves like a Hollywood styled agent, regularly using pet names, buttering people up and overall speaking very charismatically.

Between himself and Heat Miser, Snow Miser is the friendlier and more easy-going of the two brothers who tells bad jokes and puns about snow and cold weather, and he applauds the existence of Santa Claus as "the best advertisement snow biz ever had", even considering Santa and his wife to be his friends.

However, despite being shown as the nicer of the two brothers, he is shown to not only dislike his brother, but regularly insults Heat Miser when given the chance, and when Mrs. Claus tries to calm the two down, he coldly replies, "Well if I can't have a little fun, I might as well leave" implying he enjoys antagonizing Heat Miser. Santa also expresses his concerns that Snow Miser might freeze Jingle, Jangle and Vixen as they pass by, "For the fun of it" suggesting Snow Miser may have a strong mischievous streak, and may have a history of freezing people for fun.

Like his brother, he is obedient to Mother Nature and he is visibly afraid when Mrs. Claus threatens to speak directly to her.

In A Miser Brothers' Christmas, his personality is drastically different as he is more flamboyant and seems to be trying too hard to be "cool" while ironically is more apt to lose his cool than in previous incarnations.

Abilities[]

Snow Miser is shown to be able to transform anything into snow and back again, as well as firing ice from his hands and making snow appear out of thin air. He also is shown to be able to create ice with his breath and create simple structures made out of ice. At one point during his song, he is shown to be able to hold his head still while spinning the rest of his body, a feat that would snap the neck of any mortal character.

In A Miser Brothers Christmas, he can also instantly summon ice in the shape of a lightning bolt, which he can hurl at enemies.

Appearances in Christmas specials[]

In The Year Without a Santa Claus, Snow Miser is first seen fighting his brother, Heat Miser, when the latter shoots the elves Jingle and Jangle Bells out of the sky. After the elves survive this encounter, Snow Miser laughs in amusement, right before Heat Miser shoots him in the back with a beam of sunlight.

As he considers the Clauses to be friends since they essentially advertise his season, Snow Miser easily agrees to help Mrs. Claus when she comes to ask a favor of the snow elements. However, his power must bow to that of his brother in the south who controls the weather in that region. When he's reluctant to cede to his brother's terms for the sake of Southtown's Christmas merriment, he is transported to the realm of Mother Nature to answer for the petty argument.

Miser Brothers glare at each other

Snow Miser would later star alongside his stepbrother in the sequel, A Miser Brothers' Christmas. This time, he was voiced by Juan Chioran, since Dick Shawn (Snow Miser's original voice actor) had died in 1987. The special focuses on Snow Miser and Heat Miser learning to work together after they are forced to take charge of Santa's operations when their evil brother North Wind attempts to sabotage him.

Mentions in other Christmas specials[]

In the Christmas-themed intro sequence for The Simpsons episode "White Christmas Blues", when Bart Simpson is snowboarding past other Springfield citizens, his aunt Selma Bouvier can be seen cosplaying as Snow Miser, with her sister Patty as Heat Miser.

Gallery[]

External links[]

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