Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol

I love Magoo.

Jim Backus, one of Cleveland’s favorite sons. May his star continue to shine!

It's the animators' take on how Dickens described the spirit: an androgynously characterized figure that illuminated the past through its own light.

From the original text:

"It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare... But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.

Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever."

I wasn't alive when this first aired (12/18/62) but I realize its historical significance.

It was the first animated Christmas special made for television.

I'm guessing this paved the way for Rudolph (1964) and Charlie Brown (1965).

It sounds faintly Pentecostal to me.

The music is excellent. "Winter was Warm" is a beautiful ballad, and the other songs are great comic operetta pieces.

The character of Magoo makes a great Scrooge - crotchety but also baffled and helpless.

[quote]It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare... But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.

Dickens was smokin’ the good stuff.

St. Jude also has a flame over his head.

I always have a Flaming Mame when I watch it.

I absolutely love this show!

It’s the first version of Christmas Carol I ever heard/saw. My sister and I were SO excited that evening, waiting for it to come on tv. It didn’t just kick off a lot of Christmas animations it also kicked of what became tv’s “Christmas season” from the 60s to about 1980.

My ALL TIME favorite Christmas special bar none! Those songs are by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. Love it love it LOVE IT!!

I love it too. I remember when there were lots of Magoo cartoons on TV; this was just the Xmas special.

Those were the days!

So sweet -

I think most people don't realize the fine singing voice of Bob Cratchit is provided by Jack Cassidy

R15. Which may explain why there was a character with flames in his head!

I only ever saw it in color as an adult. It was eerier in b&w. My favorite Christmas viewing along with DIE HARDER.

Ive seen millennials & others on twitter deploring boomers for watching something that makes fun of a differently-abled person (Mr Magoo).

“Ok boomer, laugh at jokes about a blind person who walks into walls!”

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in this show terrified me when I was a small child. I love most of the 1960s animated Christmas specials, especially this one and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Me too, R19.

I was a spooky kid - afraid of everything.

At Christmas time: Ghost of Christmas future, Rudolph’s Abombinable Snowman, the Winter Warlock, etc.

I haven’t watched any of these for years & thought Silver & Gold was sung by Belle, Scrooge’s fiancé, and that it was about his love for silver and gold over his feelings for her. My sister did too, when we were talking about the song.

Talk about Mandela effect

Cassidy had a voice

My favorite film version of A Christmas Carol. Despite the cuts that had to be made for time, it's a very straightforward telling of the story with no gimmicks. Magoo is perfectly cast and I love the score.

This was my favorite song in it. It still makes me laugh all these years later.

Haven't seen this in years, ty for the reminder of it. I need to check it out again. I loved all those 1960s and '70s holiday specials for both kids and families that marked, as someone posted up-thread, the "Christmas Season." I also remember when many of them were sponsored by a single advertiser -- e.g., Dolly Madison Snacks for several of the earlier "Charlie Brown" holiday specials. I dislike how today you can have a holiday or other special-themed program on and, out of nowhere and completely unrelated to the program's theme, there can be a range of commercial options almost anywhere from an upcoming news program promo to a 1-800 phone sex advertisement (?!).

That's my favorite Ghost of Christmas Past. I like the flame and its little whispery voice.

Does Greg have a recipe for razzleberry dressing?

I love that Tiny Tim is played by Gerald McBoing-Boing.

I believe this is the only time Gerald ever spoke outside sound effects.

I remember Rudolph was sponsored by Norelco electric razors. I can still see the commercials.

R19 and R20--me too, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come didn't scare me anywhere near as much as Jacob Marley in the other animated version that was popular in the late 60's/70's. Click on the image and see if you remember this one too!

When I was little, it wasn't Christmas until I'd seen this version. Still love it!

[quote] "Jim Backus, one of Cleveland’s favorite sons. May his star continue to shine!"

Fellow Clevelander Margaret Hamilton was his kindergarten teacher. She also taught actor William Windom. I love that bit of trivia.

I love that it is framed as a Broadway show, with the curtains closing after each act, and curtain calls at the end.