We all know The Charles Dickens classic Christmas Story "A Christmas Carol". A story about a greedy man named Scrooge, who is visited by three ghosts to show him the true meaning of Christmas, which in the end, turns Scrooge into a generous man. Well, surprisingly, this story is such a classic that there are multiple film and TV adaptations of this timeless Christmas Story. Each of them were told in a different way, but kept the same basics of the story and kept the same moral. Even cartoon characters such as Mickey Mouse, Mr.Magoo, The Muppets and more do their own adaptation of this story. Every year during The Holiday Season, I will be reviewing one of those adaptations. Since we all know the story by heart, I'm going to break all my reviews on "A Christmas Carol" into 6 parts. First, part will be when we meet Scrooge; the 2nd part is Marley's Ghost; part 3, 4 and 5 will be about each visit of the Three Ghosts; and part 6 will be about the reformed Mr. Scrooge. Now I will warn you that there will be spoilers on my reviews on "A Christmas Carol" since it's a timeless story. With that out of the way lets start with the first one I saw as a child...
For those that don't know the animated character Mr.Magoo he was a nearly sighted old man who accidentally causes trouble. He was voiced by comedic actor Jim Backus.
THE PROLOGUE
In this adaptation there's a Prologue and a Epilogue. The Prologue is about Mr.Magoo getting ready to be in a Broadway Musical of "A Christmas Carol". Throughout the Prologue we see Mr.Magoo singing "It's Great To Be Back On Broadway" and see a lot of Mr.Magoo's classic nearsighted jokes that are so funny that I'm not going to tell you any of them. All I'm going to say is, it's a great way to open the special. The lights are now low, the curtain rises, and the play begins, which now officially starts my review.
EBENEEZER SCROOGE
We are Introduced to Mr.Scrooge (Played by Mr.Magoo),a man of greed who only cares about his money and thinks Christmas is a "Humbug". This has to be one of the greediest versions of meeting greedy old man Scrooge because he loves his money so much that he sings a song called "Ringle, Ringle" which shows his greediness. When he meets the two men collecting the for poor the only one that talks is the fat, happy man while his assistant his the silent funny character. When they ask Scrooge for a donation, Scrooge says the coldest response (Taken from The Novel") and scares them away. Not only does he scare away the two men that collect for the poor, but he also scares away poor hungry orphans who sing Christmas Carols for change. Not only does he scare them, but also kicks their donation cup and slams the door on a sad little boys face.
Does he treat his workman Bob Cratchit like dirt, yes he does. Instead of Mr.Scrooge dealing with the cold he's in a warm room counting his gold, while Cratchit works in a room that is as cold as a freezer and gives him only one lump of coal for his stove. This defiantly shows Scrooge's selfishness because it shows he can provide comfort for himself, but doesn't provide comfort for others. When Scrooge sings "Ringle, Ringle" a second time Cratchit is in his room singing how cold his workroom is and is begging Mr.Scrooge for one more lump of coal, does Scrooge respond? No, he just sings and counts.
So far most of the dialogue is taken from the story which a lot of the adaptations do and so far it fits in well. Is the animation good? Well, it looks like it's done on a low budget but it's not bad...so far. What shocks me is this special is taking the story seriously instead of being a cartoon parody, and seeing Mr. Magoo being nasty and greedy instead of being a happy nearsighted man is shocking. With the exception of the Prologue I've only seen one nearsighted joke so far and that's when he's having trouble putting on his scarf.
MARLEY'S GHOST
This is the part of the story where people get scared. The Ghost of Scrooge's partner, Jacob Marley, comes to warn Scrooge about his terrible fate, and to save him from that fate, he must expect the visits of Three Ghosts to help reform Scrooge. Do they do a good job of keeping Jacob Marley Scary? Let's find out.
When Scrooge first encounters Jacob Marley's ghost we get a bit of a fright when he responds "SCROOGE!" on his door knocker. Well, when Scrooge sees Jacob a few times in this first version, it's all clever nearsighted jokes. They're funny, but not scary. When we finally meet Marley's Ghost things get scary. As we see him walk up the stairs with chains dragging on the steps, we get a creepy build up. When we see him, he looks scary; almost looks like a zombie; and looks like a poor lost soul that's about to fall apart. One of the many things I find frightening about him is his eyes, they're not red or anything, but they show his emotions and anger. What I think really makes the character terrifying is his voice. He has an evil, God like voice that sounds threatening and demanding. His scream of pain is so stunning that it's hard not to get a haunting chill.
The animation for him is obviously creepy (Not to mention that we can see right through him), but when he shows Scrooge the ghosts that suffer the same fate he did, they're hard to see; they move very slow; and look more funny then scary. Once again, the dialogue from the story fits in well and Marley's Ghost still manages to be scary.
THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Our first ghost that visits Scrooge is (You know it)...The Ghost Of Christmas Present. Wait a minute in all of the adaptations I've seen The Ghost Of Christmas Past comes first. Why is the second spirit first? I don't know. We all know The Ghost Of Christmas Present is the one that shows Scrooge the Holiday cheer, but that's like in the middle of the story. Is this a good idea putting the second spirit first or is it a bad idea?
The Ghost Of Christmas Present is as jolly as saint nick himself. When you first see him, already you smile and laugh at his cleverly written nearsighted joke on Scrooge. His voice is a mixture between God and Santa Claus and it fits his character perfectly. When he tells Scrooge about Tiny Tims future, you get a bit of teary eye, which also results to a flashback that Scrooge said about people dying, which really makes our main character think.
The people he shows Scrooge having a Merry Christmas is Bob Cratchit's family. I personally think this is the best scene of the Cratchit family out of all the others versions of the story and sticks with people more, including the younger audience. When you first see the family, you see them in a poor house, but they're smiling and laughing and The Ghost tells Scrooge why they're happy and that is "Love". As Bob Cratchit walks in with his crippled son, Tiny Tim; Tiny Tim smiles and giggles, but at the same time Bob tells his wife about what he said about hoping that somebody would help him.
The part that really sticks the moral of this visit is the song "Lord's Brights Blessing" sung by the Cratchit family. You see the kids singing and asking if they could have a tree; toys; and a hen, while Tiny Tim keeps adding his cute and funny line with Razzleberry (Insert which kind). As Bob Cratchit sings with powerful vocals, he tells his children, we can't afford it, but we have the lord's bright blessing and we're together and that's what matters. As the song ends, we get a look at the Christmas Star and cut back to the Cratchit family saying "God Bless Us" adding with Tiny Tim's well known line"God Bless Us Everyone".
It was weird putting the second ghost first. but it fitted to the story pretty well. The moral to this visit is powerful and the song is memorable.
THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
This is the tragic part of the story. The Ghost Of Christmas Past shows Scrooge his past on why he became a greedy man. The Ghost Of Christmas Past (I'm assuming) is a boy with a small flame on his head with a spring of holy as a wand. The Ghost doesn't really show too much personality, but he's cute and you can tell he's trying to teach Scrooge a lesson; also if you look carefully he probably enjoys tormenting Scrooge. At the beginning of this visit, Scrooge is acting as if he hasn't been visited by one of the three ghosts yet by denying to leave for reasons that he could have said to the first ghost; the clock strikes 1 regularly instead of moving fast like the first visit; and he looks completely confused. Did he think he was dreaming like in the other versions, or what?
Our first visit is seeing a young Scrooge. When I saw him I immediately got depressed, seeing him all alone in an empty school house crying; drawing pictures of his (I'm guessing) deceased family on the chalkboard; and singing a song with emotional lyrics called "I'm Alone In The World". What really gets the emotions going is Scrooge's expression seeing his young self and singing with him (Even though his young self can't hear him but somehow does). As a kid and even now I just want to cheer the kid up and I'm sure I wasn't the only one.
Our second visit is seeing a happy Scrooge working with Jolly old Man Fezziwig and his buddy Dick before he met Jacob Marley. This part is like all the other adaptations of this scene. It releases you from the sad flashback you just saw and makes you feel the Christmas spirit. It's just wonderful to see a happy Scrooge; a fantastic Christmas party; a good partner; and seeing Scrooge dance with the love of his life.
The last visit is Scrooge's break up with his lover Belle. Those scenes in the other adaptations are just heartbreaking, but in this one I feel a piece of my heart being chipped. After the sad conversation (Directly from the story) Belle holds a snow globe with a love couple Sleigh riding, remembering the day when Scrooge asked her to be with him while they were sleigh riding. She shakes the snow globe and says "It was Snowing, but we didn't notice". She then sings "Winter Was Warm" of her loss of love and the seasons are allusions to that loss. Spring and Summer were Scrooge's love for her; Fall was their love fading; and Winter is their lost for love.
A very sad visit and if you're not feeling sad, depressed, or at least get a tear drop after seeing any of these flashbacks, something must be wrong with your emotions.
THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS YET TO COME
This our final spirit, The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come AKA Ghost Of Christmas Future. I'm going to be honest, I didn't find The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come that scary in this version. However. now that I look at him now, I do feel a bit scared with his red hood and robe; skeleton hands; floating in mid air; and has no face and no voice. I'm surprised I wasn't stunned by this as a kid.
Our first visit in the future is when we see three business men sniffing snuff boxes IN A KIDS ADAPTION. Wow, talk about what they got away with back then. It mostly just the same dialogue, but it did have a few funny moments. One of the three men has a high pitched voice; and one of them sneezes on his snuff box.
The second visit is when Scrooge sees criminals take away a dead person's belongings and are sold to the fence. Each of these crooks has their own personality. The Fence is cackling old man with one eye; the old hag is bossy; the tall man (Who kind of looks like Goofy) looks dumb, but is smart; and the shortest person is a comic relief character. They also sing a catchy Villain song called "We're Despicable" singing about their love of stealing and how much they enjoy being nasty.
Our Third Visit is Bob Cratchit's house. We go there and instead of seeing a happy family as we did before, we see a sad family, why because Tiny Tim is dead. Whenever this scene comes on, all the happiness you got from the villains song is sucked out of you and makes you sad. With one of the world's saddest dialogue. Not only are you sad, but Scrooge is also as sad as you are.
Our last and final visit is seeing The Future Scrooge. Where is he...DEAD. The animation for the cemetery is really dark and looks as scary as the ghost. When Scrooge sees his grave and begs the ghost for another chance, you're crying for him, but what does the spirit do just coldly points at the grave and disappears in a weird way. When Scrooge is alone in the creepy cemetery sitting by his tombstone surrounded by scary looking trees with branches that look like claws, he sings a sad, beautiful reprise of "I'm All Alone In The World". Every time I hear the reprise I get the same emotions I had when I saw him as a kid.
This visit is as scary and emotional as all the other great adaptations of the story.
CHRISTMAS DAY
Knowing that Mr.Scrooge has a second chance, he now becomes a kind hearted man of charity.
In his first act of kindness right after he discovers that he's alive, he asks a kid to to buy a big turkey for the Cratchit family and promises to give him gold. This first act of his kindness is full of funny nearsighted jokes that fit Magoo's portrayal of the reformed Scrooge very well. Best nearsighted joke in the whole special is when Scrooge sees the turkey. When Scrooge literally runs into the two men collecting for the poor, Mr. Scrooge gives them a bag full of gold. The two men (especially the silent one) are funny and so is Mr.Scrooge. What makes me sad is Scrooge doesn't meet the orphan boys he yelled at when he was this greedy miser. Think about how sweet that would be.
Our finale is when Scrooge visits the Cratchit family. At first he's acting mean and then becomes generous by giving them money, a Turkey, toys, and Razzleberry (Insert what kind). He begins to sing a reprise of "Ringle, Ringle" as he's giving out gifts and instead of it being about his love for money, it's about his love of giving away his money to make people happy. After this funny and heartwarming ending, we end with a reprise of "The Lord's Bright Blessings". It's really a beautiful ending to this special. WAIT IT'S NOT OVER YET....
THE EPILOGUE
After the bows, all I'm going to say is, Mr. Magoo "brought down the house".
This has to be one of the best adaptations to "A Christmas Carol". It tells the same classic story; has great voice acting; memorable songs that bring the Christmas spirit; the animation is decent; and stars an iconic cartoon character who is excellent at being funny, emotional and serious.
RATING 5/5
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