So, before we say goodbye to Mister Magoo for now, it's time for some wacky observations!
It's fun to have the bookends of Mister Magoo being his nearsighted self, including driving around in his Stutz Bearcat. It's kind of like the musical was plopped into one of his regular cartoons. He even gets to say his catchphrase, "Ah, Magoo you've done it again!" at the end. I think it's a really neat way to get the audience into the whole thing.
I recall sometimes seeing the special on TV and the bookends were omitted for additional commercials. Very disappointing. It's even worse than Shermey's one line getting cut out of "A Charlie Brown Christmas!"
That's why I only will watch these things on DVD or streaming!
Magoo does a good job of covering up his nearsightedness while acting in his role, but it's fun that the Ghost of Christmas Present makes a reference to Scrooge being too cheap to buy a pair of spectacles.
It's also amusing when he does his typical Mister Magoo-ness after he wakes up on Christmas morning. It fits the jovial mood well.
Being a cartoon, there are certain liberties taken with the idea of this being a Broadway show. Some of the effects would be really hard to pull off. But in a cartoon world, a lot of things are possible, such as the ghosts being transparent and walking through walls with Scrooge.
But my biggest question is who plays young apprentice-age Scrooge? It's not Quincy Magoo, right? He's still on the stage as old Scrooge! But this other actor is perfect for the part. Some other relative more competent than Waldo? Hmmm...
And is the undertaker in the plunderers' scene actually Worcestershire, the butler of Mister Magoo's rich uncle? It kinda looks like him, with a bit of makeup. Did Magoo get him the part?
And are cartoon actors more expensive than live-action ones? Is this why we have only four Cratchit kids instead of six? There's Tiny Tim plus two other boys, one of whom is presumably Peter, but only one daughter. She seems fully grown, so she must be Martha, but none of the other kids are called by name.
And on the subject of families, we do not see Fan during the scene where young Ebenezer is at school. He does write "Sis" on the chalkboard in addition to "Poppa" and "Moma." So, is "Sis" Fan? And is his mother still around?
These are thing we may never know, as it's notoriously difficult to get info out of cartoon stars!
An interesting thing I found while digging around the internet is this TV Guide listing from 1964, which would be the third airing of the special. Jane Kean is listed as Belle Fezziwig! They don't mention in the show that Belle is supposed to be Fezziwig's daughter. She's not his daughter in the book, although she is in some adaptations. Was there some mention of this in an earlier draft of the script and that's what TV Guide used in their original listing which had not been updated? Hmmm...
A wacky throwaway bit is the Ghost of Christmas Present opening the door for Bob and Tiny Tim to enter their house. Bob goes right on through like it's an everyday occurrence and the family doesn't think it's odd either! This actually makes sense within the context of the show, though. They want Bob to come in quickly, but since he's carrying Tiny Tim, he might've had trouble with the door. Problem solved due to an obliging spirit!
A neat touch in this scene with a clever special effect is Scrooge flashing back to himself making the "surplus" population remark rather than the ghost repeating it to him. Scrooge strokes his chin as he recalls this and it's another powerful moment!
Scrooge was obviously paying attention during this scene, as he remembered to bring razzleberry dressing and woofle jelly cakes in addition to a Christmas tree when he surprised that Cratchits on the "real" Christmas Day. Good for him!
That scene at the end is interesting in other ways. We get to see more of the Cratchits' dinner before Scrooge comes in, including the toast that Mrs. Cratchit objects to. And it's good to see the turkey cooked and ready to eat for a change.
I also find the curtain call at the end of the show to interesting. It's fun to see the actors come out to take their bows. Interesting, though, in that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is not there, however. Nor is Martha, although the other Cratchits are. Hmmm...
And don't sleep on the door knocker breaking the fourth wall and winking at us!
So, to sum up, what we have here is a cartoon adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" with more emotional depth than most straight dramas and better songs than most musicals. Throw in some well-timed comic moments, and you've got a real classic! Those Magooverse critics were right!
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