If you've seen the 1997 direct-to-video adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" staring Tim Curry, you'll think, "Oh, yeah, it's the one with the dog!"
If you haven't seen it, you'll think, "A dog?"
Yeah, so in this kid-friendly, animated, musical version, Scrooge has a wacky comedy relief dog named Debit.
So, let's deal with the dog in the room...
Do I think that Scrooge having a dog makes any snese? No, none whatsoeevr! Scrooge is cheap and he would presumably look at a dog (or any pet) as another mouth to feed.
Am I skeptical that Scrooge's having a dog might humanize too much? Yes, if Scrooge cares for a dog, he's already not so bad!
Do I like the idea of a dog being added to make this kid-friendly? On general principal, no!
Do, I like the dog anyway? Yes!
I do have to admit that I think Debit is cute and he adds a little something without hurting the story. There are so many animated versions of "A Christmas Carol" that anything different is welcome. And I do like animal sidekicks!
Debit's of the cartoon dog school popularized by Pluto in that he has human-type thoughts but is still very dog-like. He does say, "Rah! Rum-rug!" in an Astro/Scooby Doo manner at the beginning, which is cute, but he doesn't really talk or act like those two.
It's probably not a shock to find that Debit is voiced by Frank Welker, who has voiced Scooby Doo for quite some time and continues to do so through the current release "Scoob" (2020). So, that's some good talent!
The cartoon dog Debit makes me think of most is Bandit from the "Jonny Quest" series. He kind of looks like him and also has similar reactions to events as they unfold. And Bandit's awesome, so that's not a bad thing!
As far as somewhat out-of-place animal sidekicks, Debit reminds me of the mad scientist's pet bird (raven?) in the first "Superman" cartoon from the Fleischer studio in 1941. The Fleischers couldn't resist adding a funny animal!
Debit's not evil, however, and doesn't need to reform. And he's happy when Scrooge reforms.
In the context of this video trying to compete with Disney animated musicals, Scrooge having a wacky animal sidekick makes sense. There, I said it!
Next, does the rest of the cast make any sense?
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