Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
by Abe Levitow
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Jack Cassidy, Jane Kean, Jim Backus, Les Tremayne, Royal DanoDirector: Abe Levitow
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: Animated, Color, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 60 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Classic Media
Movie Reviews of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
Movie Review: Inexplicable Power -- In a "Simple" Cartoon!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," made, according to one online source, during the "decline" of the UPA animation studio that produced it -- is one of the most affecting, unforgettable works of art I've ever seen. There, I've said it.
I'm realizing that I'm putting "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" in the same category as other works of art I've seen, including epic films like "Lawrence of Arabia," sculptures like Michelangelo's David, and novels like "War and Peace." Don't get me wrong - I loved all these works of art. "War and Peace" is a mighty fine piece of work.
What I'm saying is that this little cartoon made me cry, and moved me, and frightened me when I saw it as a child, and that I never forgot any of those reactions. It also made me sing. "I'm all alone in the world . . . millions of grains of sand in the world . . .why such a lonely beach?" "We have the lord's bright blessing, as long as we're together..." I've been singing these songs for decades. With no prompting, I've remembered the lyrics - not the way you remember an annoying advertising jingle, but with genuine gratitude that I had these songs in my head, and with real emotion.
I saw "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" when I was a small child. I haven't seen it in the decades since. I was given the DVD as a Christmas present. As soon as the images began to appear on the screen, I was transported. The cartoon's imagining of The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appeared. I shuddered! Utterly without irony! I wasn't shuddering for old time's sake. I wasn't shuddering as a salute to my childhood self. I was shuddering because that crude, two-dimensional cartoon of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, an image so simple I could sketch it myself, scared the beejammers out of me!
The images kept having an impact. Scrooge slams his door on a lone child caroler. I started to cry! Scrooge sang an ode to his coins, while Cratchit sang about how cold he was. Their harmony was terrific! Professional! Sophisticated! I wanted to see this number on a Broadway stage, with a full, live, chorus and orchestra backup! I wondered why I haven't heard a similarly tuneful, memorable, song, that drives the story and conveys the gist of the characters and their relationship, in a recent musical.
The illustrations are simple and yet evocative. The subtly, pastel-colored snowdrifts in the child caroler scene are reminiscent of the lovely snowdrifts in the Caldecott-Medal-winning children's classic "The Snowy Day." Simple lines trace the essentials in all scenes: the patches on the Cratchit's rugs, the coal scuttle in Scrooge's office, Jacob Marley's sunken, toothless cheeks. The only complaint I have with the illustration is that I wish the editing had been smoother, and I wish that young Scrooge, when tracing his hand on a blackboard, had been given five, instead of the usual four, for a cartoon figure, fingers.
The fear I felt for the scary Ghost, the rejoicing for Scrooge's redemption, the glow cast by the love of the Cratchit family, the overwhelming compassion and empathy I felt for the lonely boy with his face to the wall -- I've gotta tell ya, i want to jump into the cartoon and rescue that kid: this cartoon aroused the panoply of emotions one associates with Christmas.
I had to stop watching the DVD and look up the talents behind this. Jack Cassidy wonderfully voiced Cratchit. Jim Backus, of course, was Scrooge. The songs were written by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, Broadway and Hollywood professionals with lengthy and impressive resumes. The whispery, tender, challenging Ghost of Christmas Past was voiced by Joan Gardner.
On the web I read other salutes to this cartoon. I read more or less the same thing, again and again: "Saw this as a kid . . . never forgot it . . .still my favorite."
Some modern movies with much larger budgets, working much harder to frighten or move me, often arouse no feeling. Do I cherish "Magoo's Christmas Carol" so much, am I moved by it so greatly, because I saw it as a child? Am I just reliving strong, stored reactions? Is that why we baby boomers post as effusively as we do about this?
I don't think so. I saw a lot of pop culture as a child. I've forgotten most of it. I sometimes see these things again and they just look silly to me.
I do think that something special was going on with the making of this cartoon. I do think, too, that there is much to be said for the bare essentials. That little caroler in the snow on whom Scrooge slams a door: there's nothing extra in that scene, and your mind fills in all kinds of blanks. You imagine a back-story for the kid, imagine why that kid has to sing for his/her supper, imagine why he/she lagged behind after the other carolers were chased away. Before you know it, you have fallen into the scene. It's Christmas Eve; you are shivering on a gaslit street and the richest miser in town has just slammed his door on you. Would that movie makers today could learn something from such craft.
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