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Summary: Best Christmas Carol Ever!...
Review: I think this is one of the best Christmas movies of all time!It tells the story very close to the original and the music is very good. I am so glad this came back out in dvd. I had an old copy on vhs that broke. It is the only tape I ever had break that I though enough of to take the case apart and splice back together. Buy this one!
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Summary: My first laugh
Review: My father continues to tell this story that in December of 1982, 4 months after I was born, he was bathing me in the sink (Which he jokes that I no longer fit into) and Mr Magoo's Carol was on tv. In the scene where the pillagers are singing about stealing the dead Scrooge's things, they sing a section that simply goes "LA LA LA LA LA LA LA" in a wide mouthed, very loud voice. It was at this moment, my dad swears, that I laughed for the first time. As such, we are a Jewish family, that continues to watch our crappy, taped from tv bootleg every year on Christmas eve. I finally decided to buy my father a real copy of the tape so that the memory will live on with much better quality. I adore this movie and still have to laugh when that song comes on.
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Summary: '70's Babies Rejoice!!
Review: Those of us born in the late '60's and early '70's have great memories of decidedly odd holiday cartoons, and this was one of the most beloved. One reviewer mentioned 'forgettable songs' but my friends and I had "Razzleberry dressing" and the rest in our heads for decades! The undertaker throwing the flowers gets me everytime, awesome to see this on VHS and DVD to share with our own kids.
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Summary: Wonderful Christmas treat
Review: This has been a holiday favorite since I saw it on its first airing back in 1962 (doesn't seem like it has been 40 years!). The film utilizes rather simple animation but makes up for that in character development and a wonderful musical score. Regarding the latter, I'm surprised that the song "Winter Was Warm" didn't become some sort of semi-standard. If this doesn't put you in the proverbial "Christmas spirit", nothing will, in my opinion. This is for all ages, not just the kids. The DVD transfer is quite good and it appears to be the complete original version. (I recall seeing edited versions on TV in the '70's or '80's--- they had to cut out the beginning and ending portions in order to allow for the increased time for commercials.) A great Christmas DVD to own. Now if only the 1970 musical "Scrooge", another great favorite of mine, were available on DVD.
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Summary: Make New Memories - Relive the Old!
Review: This was always my favorite Christmas cartoon/musical since it first aired back in 1962 (I was eight). I watched it year after year, and was dissapointed and filled with a sense of longing for many years because I could not ever find it being broadcast since I was about 14. I finally got the DVD (2 copies! - one for my neice) in March, but I didn't watch it until just this week (I was putting it off to savor). While I was contemplating watching, but before I had done so, the music of "The Lord's Bright Blessing" (one of two "show stoppers") was running through my head, even though I hadn't heard it in over thirty years! That's how memorable this was to me. When I actually saw the scene, it brought tears to my eyes (really!). If you remember this as fondly as I do, by all means, go ahead and get it. The extras are nice, particularly the "Magoo Meets Gerald McBoingBoing." If you've never seen this, and whether you have kids or not, but especially if you do, you owe it to your family to add this to the suite of holiday traditions. Right up there with "Miracle on 34th Street," "It's a Wonderful Life," "White Christmas," and all the rest!
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Summary: Magoo, You've Done It Again!
Review: I can't honestly say that, given a choice of The Big Three (designations mine!) productions of A Christmas Carol (Owen, Sim, Magoo) that I can choose a favorite: I love all three equally. They each shine in their own way and I can't find anything to complain about in any of them--I think they're all perfect.
I remember the first time Magoo's version aired when I was a child back in the early '60s. Even though I wasn't particularly a Magoo fan, I fell in love with this rendition of A Chrismas Carol (we watched it every year thereafter). It retains the essence of the Dickens classic and the songs are wonderful. I don't watch much TV and therefore am not certain if this is still a network tradition, but even if it is, buy it so you can enjoy it uncut and without commercials, especially if you have young children. It can be purchased quite reasonably as either a VHS or DVD and it's a perfect candidate for inclusion as part of your Christmas tradition.
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Summary: It's Great to Be Back...Back...Back...On Broadway!!!
Review: I first saw this animated version of the Dickens classic when I was 9 years old. It ran every year on some station or other for about the next ten years, then dropped out of sight. However, it stayed very much alive in my family's folklore, with a gaggle of annual snickers about preparing the "woofle-jelly cake" and "razzle-berry dressing." I was delighted to learn it was available on video a few years back, and after much searching happily found a copy!I think there was never any finer Scrooge than Magoo...his miserly tendencies make him nearly typecast. (Visualize, if you will, J. Thurston Howell III playing Scrooge in the Gilligan's Island production...same idea!) Technically, the production is notably one of a bygone era of animation; so what? The musical score is top-drawer Broadway quality, written by an award-winning team of composers; and the actors selected to provide the voices of the characters were perfect choices. (There's even a "cameo" appearance of Gerald Mc Boing-Boing as Tiny Tim!) Those viewers from generations succeeding the Baby Boom will probably require some background explanation (how many kids today have actually seen Magoo?), but the smaller fry should enjoy Magoo's antics. The Baby Boomers will enjoy many pleasant memories...this one needs to be added to your holiday viewing archives!
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Summary: GREAT CLASSIC.......HORRIBLE VIDEO TRANSFER !!!!!!!
Review: The classic film is now available on video but BEWARE!!!! I detest GoodTimes Home Video who released this classic in the LP (slow mode) on VHS. The pictue is poor and the sound is muted as a result of the budget transfer. Buy the SONY VERSION of this timeless classic. SONY has FULLY RESTORED and RECONSTRUCTED the film and re-recorded the soundtrack in STEREO. THE SONY VERSION (WITH THE BLUE COVER) IS DUBBED IN THE SP MODE (high quality picture and sound).
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Summary: When Christmas was Christmas
Review: It's difficult to say if this wonderful little telling of "A Christmas Carol" is as good as I think it is, or if I'm just moved by the joy of the nostalgia for a simplier, less commercial Yuletide that "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" rekindles. I was 10 when I saw its debut (40 years ago!). The songs will leave you humming, and the message of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" is made midnight clear for young ones who maybe need to know what the holiday used to represent. This is a glorious musical animated work that was shown annually for several years on NBC during an hour's primetime. Imagine that now. You wouldn't even be able to fit a 50-minute cartoon in an hour time slot on TV now with all the commercials. Watch this jewel and get joyously teary-eyed with your kids. It's great to be back...back...back on Broadway!!
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Summary: Ever since I was a little girl...
Review: This movie has been a holiday tradition for my parents and I for as long as I can remember. Every year on Christmas Eve, we fill up on delectibles, while watching Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol and laughing our butts off! The three beggars' song is the GREATEST, and the part that always made me sad as a child was when Scrooge (Magoo) went back to his childhood... "A hand for each hand is grand in the world, why won't my fingers reach? Millions of grains of sand in the world, why such a lonely beach? Where is a voice to answer mine back? Where are two shoes that click to my clack? I'm all alone in the world..." This is by FAR the best version of the classic Christmas Story, short of MAYBE Albert Finney's Scrooge. Great to watch with kids, and trust me when I say they'll enjoy it well into adulthood. Make it your family's tradition starting NOW!
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