Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

From my favorite movies..

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

What a wonderful surprise! Unlike a lot of Magoo fans, I actually didn't grow up with "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol", and so this was a delightful special to be experiencing for the first time. I picked up a set of Christmas specials (Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty, the Snowman, etc.) that had this featured as an extra, but it could easily be a headlining cartoon instead of an additional feature. With that wonderfully distinctive voice of Gilligan Island's Jim Backus as Magoo, and the character being transplanted into the Dickens' classic so familiar to those of us who watch all the different versions of "A Christmas Carol" (well, Magoo is performing the role on Broadway; it opens with Magoo driving haphazardly through NYC and entering the wrong building instead of the theater for which he was to perform), I now fully understand why this is heralded as a classic to be enjoyed and revered. If you enjoy the cartoon animation of the period of Hanna-Barbara, then this should be a real treat.Oddly, the version has Scrooge visited by Ghost of Christmas Present first, then Christmas Present afterward; I wonder if this was intentional. It certainly changes things up a bit. Besides that, this Christmas Carol adaptation (with even songs performed; my favorite is "We're Despicable (Plunderer's March)") is surprisingly faithful. While not covering the sister he lost (and not acknowledging his nephew), it does follow Cratchet and his family's plight, Scrooge's lonely Christmas childhood abandonment, Fezziwig's dance on Christmas Eve where Scrooge fell in love with Belle (and Belle's leaving him because she knew he loved profit more), Tiny Tim and Scrooge's death, and Scrooge's transformation after realizing the error of his ways. Interestingly, the bitter reaction of Mrs. Cratchet's wife regarding her husband thanking "the founder of their feast" and Scrooge's "raising of Bob's salary" after startling him with his character change are side-by-side with Scrooge actually coming to Bob's house (the wife complaining actually appears during the visit of Christmas Present & typically Scrooge startles Bob with his transformation at the cold business establishment), but little tweaks on the familiar are commonplace when it comes to "A Christmas Carol". Every adaptation sort of leaves a little out or adds a little to "A Christmas Carol". The finale has a curtain call that goes badly wrong when a nearly-blind Magoo winds up trying to do a good thing (allow the theater audience to see the director of their stage production; he's wrapped in bandages thanks to Magoo's clumsiness), destroying the sets on the stage in the process!!! The "We're Despicable" musical number has the laundress, undertaker, and maid celebrating how terrible they are when bringing taken items of Scrooge (after his death!) to a black-market buyer/seller! The animation of Grim Reaper is another cool presentation of the Ghost of Christmas Future. Apparently there's a scene cut from this version that I watched involving Belle...this is a disappointment since I was hoping this was an unedited version considering its good quality and rather new release.

When I started watching this, I expected it to be more like how The Simpsons portrayed it, with Magoo missing up his parts due to his blindness. Surprisingly, that is not the case. This is a very heartfelt adaptation with Magoo himself making a great Scrooge. The songs are very touching, sweet and memorable and while the animations aren't that great, hey, it's old-school Hanna-Barbera. What can one expect, Disney quality? The only thing that's a little off-putting (This may be a spoiler) is that the Ghost of Christmas Present appears before Christmas Past, but that's a minor detail and they made it work.Anyway, this is a very good adaptation of A Christmas Carol and I highly recommend it, especially now that it's finally on DVD.

I remember watching this when it first came out at Christmas time in 1962. It is the best animated Christmas show ever. Watching Scrooge alone in the classroom singing "a hand for each hand..." still brings a tear to my eye and I'm 57 now. My kids all grew up watching this show and I will soon be watching it with my new grandson. This is a classic and should be a part of everybody's Christmas viewing. Watch it with your kids and grand kids. You won't be sorry. Don't be "all alone in the world" and not watch this show. I usually watch this 4 or 5 times during the Christmas season. It's part of the staple of Christmas shows I watch every Christmas...Home for the Holidays, Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, It's a Wonderful Life, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Miracle on 34th St and Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol. I don't really get into the Christmas spirit until I see Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol. It's my very favorite of them all!

"A Christmas Carol" is 100 pages long and would take 2 hours to read, however it has generated so many variations on screen and stage(and probably the Internet). Here is the first animated one, after reading the original last year(cost 25 cents)I was surprised to find out that the cartoon version took great pains to preserve much of the exact wording of the novel. There is not even a hint that it is not the mid 1800s in the cartoon. One particular scene always gets me- the ghost of Christmas past's(a young boy or girl)face turns profoundly sad when Scrooge/Magoo sings "why such a lonely beach" and it seems like the ghost understands Scrooge's sadness. When you are a kid, there is NOTHING scarier than the ghost of Christmas future, and nothing more desolate than Scrooge/Magoo on the grave singing "I'm all alone in the world" with the camera panning the cemetery. A close second in scariness is when Marley jumps out the window(as a ghost) and bellows as he merges into all the other ghosts flying around London. Music, dialog, and even the chintzy animation is just right. I must go home and play my VHS tonight!