The Stingiest Man in Town (1978) - Part 3

The voice cast supporting Walter Matthau in the 1978 animated version of "The Stingiest Man in Town" is an interesting group.

The narrator of the show is B.A.H. Humbug (get it?) who's sort of a road company Jiminy Cricket. He's voiced by Tom Bosley, well-known at the time for his role as Mr. Cunningham on the "Happy Days" TV show.

He seems like an odd choice, as his voice doesn't seem bug-like. He also sings, and I'll say he's better than you might think, but not exactly good.

Tom Bosley just doesn't have the cache of such other Rankin/Bass narrators such as Burl Ives, Fred Astaire or Jimmy Durante, but he was recognizable to 70s TV viewers.

You say "Robert Morse" to me, I say "Boatniks!"

Some more wacky casting is Robert Morse as young Scrooge. I'm not sure why they didn't just have Walter Matthau use a younger sounding voice, as Morse doesn't sound like a younger Matthau or all that young for that matter. Morse is a better singer (who wouldn't be?), but I think he's more of a stylist than a vocalist. I think they should have gone with a younger actual singer, a la Vic Damone in 1956.

Rankin and Bass must have liked Robert Morse, though, as he played the title role in their "Jack Frost" special the following year.

Theodore Bikel plays Marley's Ghost and he's good. His singing style fits pretty well, adding a much needed gravitas. He was in a ton of movies and TV shows in addition to his folk singing and a big credit on his resume was originating the role of Captain Von Trapp in the Broadway musical "The Sound of Music" opposite Mary Martin.

Dennis Day is cast as Scrooge's nephew Fred. I'm a fan of his, especially from his work on Jack Benny's radio show, where he displayed sneaky comic chops in addition to his excellent Irish tenor singing.

Here, though, he seems miscast. He was 62 at the time, but sounds relatively youthful. The character design looks nothing like him, however, so it's strange to hear his voice coming from that character. And he barely gets to sing!

I think Dennis was used to better advantage in "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" (1976), another Rankin/Bass special, in which he played Parson Brown/Snow Parson, officiating Frosty and Crystal's wedding.

I had this album as a kid and loved it!

As for a cartoon that really gives you the whole Dennis Day experience, check out the Johnny Appleseed segment of Disney's "Melody Time" from 1948!

Going back to the special at hand, Belle is played by Shelby Flint, who had/has a good voice and is used well. She's best known for her hit record of "Angel on My Shoulder," her own composition from 1961.

Bob Cratchit is played by Sonny Melendrez. I'm not familiar with him, but he's apparently a very successful radio personality and motivational speaker.

I am familar with Debra (Debbie) Clinger, who voices Martha Cratchit and sings that "Santa Claus" song. She's very 70s to me, having portrayed Superchick in the Kaptain Kool and the Kongs musical group on "The Krofft Super Show," one of many wacky productions from Sid and Marty Krofft. She also co-starred with Priscilla Barnes in the short-lived TV series "The American Girls" (1978), which was a "Charlie's Angels" knockoff.

She even sang with Shaun Cassidy on a "Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" episode! So, yeah, she's totally 70s!

Clinger vs. Winger

Debra Clinger was doing this stuff about the time that Debra Winger came on the scene as Wonder Woman's younger sister on that TV show, and I thought that they were pretty similar, mainly because of their names, I suppose, but they also fit the same general description.

Prolific voice artist Paul Frees is on hand to voice both the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, as well as Old Joe. I think Frees is talented, but I also can recognize a few of his stock voices. He uses one of those for each character, so it seems especially weird for him to voice the two spirits that talk. He had also worked on "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" back in the day.

Oddest billing for this show is the absolutely enormous size of the credit for Charles Matthau, Walter's son. This must be some concession to Walter, as Charles's role as "the boy" is not that big and he doesn't really sell it.

By and large, this is a talented group of performers, but I don't know that this production makes the best use of their particular talents.

And they all seem so American!

Next we look at the story elements...