We roll along with our All-Star Team and encounter the iconic character of Tiny Tim!
Everybody knows Tiny Tim, the very sickly child of Bob Cratchit. Scrooge was unaware of Tiny Tim until he saw him with the Ghost of Christmas Present. Scrooge was immediately taken with the child and Tim's potentially unpleasant fate was a large factor in Scrooge's conversion.
Because Tiny Tim is supposed to be so small and frail and young and sick that you can't really cast a kid who meets that criteria in a live-action version without breaking half a zillion child labor laws!
Generally speaking the TTs in movie and/or TV adaptations tend to be too big and healthy.
Audio dramas, such as radio broadcasts have a bit of an advantage since you don't see Tiny Tim, but a lot of those have adult actors doing a kid voice and you know it!
So, I think the key to a good Tiny Tim really comes down to likeability rather than authenticity.
And what version offers the most likeable Tiny Tim of all? The great 1962 "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" special:
Who can forget the razzleberry dressing?
This special was produced by the UPA cartoon studio and I had previously mentioned here how Tiny Tim definitely resembles UPA's other (beside Mr. Magoo) superstar Gerald McBoing Boing, subject of the brilliant and ground breaking, Oscar-winning, eponymous short from 1950.
The chatter is always how Gerald could play Tiny Tim when he can only talk in sound effects.
I stand by my take that in the Magooverse (or UPAverse) in which Mr. Magoo is an actor that "Gerald" is also an actor who starred in cartoons. A versatile performer, he could imitate sound effects and speak dialogue.
We know that Joan Gardner does the voice here, so no Denise Bryer/Olive Gregg controversy this time!
Whatever the case, he's a great Tiny Tim and a important part of the TV special!
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