"A Christmas Carol" (1982) - Part 2

The 1982 Australian animated version of "A Christmas Carol" from 1982 has a generous running time of 70-odd minutes, so it's able to fit in just about every main story element from the original book.

They add in a few little interesting things here and there. I'm mainly going to talk about those little things instead of rehashing the plot.

There's no narrator here, but we start with some very limited animation of people going about their holiday business. I believe this same animation is used at the end to represent Christmas morning, but in order to make sure, I'd have to watch this again and I really don't want to!

We see Scrooge walking to his office, being mean along the way.

The opening scenes include some business with Scrooge's nephew and a wreath and we see Bob Cratchit playing blind man's buff (bluff) with his family. It must also be noted that the tavern where Scrooge eats is by no means melancholy!

There's an interesting montage of flashbacks when Marley's Ghost talks about his past offenses. In one  scene Fred says hi to him and then we see Marley die! His face turns to a skull and his ghost rises out of him. Marley's Ghost does not have a flaming skull in this version, though!

The Ghost of Christmas Past has an odd appearance. He has blond, curly hair and wears a very short tunic. He looks ancient Greek or Roman or something.

The scene where they see lonely young Ebenezer at school is really odd, as Scrooge perhaps doesn't know that the boy is him at first?

Who wore it better?

In the scene with Fan, Ebenzer looks like Johnny Appleseed to me and Fan giggles like Theodore from "The Alvin Show." Just thought I'd point those things out!

The party at Fezzwig's is not well-attended. It's Just Ebenezer, Dick Wilkins, Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig and their two daughters plus a fiddler. I guess that's to save on animating more characters, but it reminds me of the BBC radio version with Alec Guinness. Old Scrooge dances around very oddly in this scene.

In the breakup scene with Belle, Scrooge says he was 25, but the spirit says he looks 35. I say at least 45!

The Ghost of Christmas Present has an appearance that seems more in line with how we've come to expect him to look.

At the Cratchit house, this version also seems to just have Martha, Peter, Belinda and Tiny Tim for the kids. I actually laughed when Scrooge yelled out to Bob that Martha was hiding behind the sofa!

When Bob talks about Tiny Tim and their church visit, we actually see them there.

Throughout this scene, Scrooge mentions a couple of times that he doesn't like turkey and would rather have some cold toast and a cup of tea. So, the spirit conjures that up for him!

The Ghost of Christmas Present also shows Scrooge a husband and wife celebrating at a lighthouse and they drop into Fred's house, where it's just Fred and his wife and the wife's sister and Topper.

In a rare animated appearance, we see Ignorance and Want. When the ghost repeats Scrooge's words, "Are there no prisons...?" he uses Scrooge's voice, which is an odd effect.

I realize that I've been using the word "odd" a lot. I stand behind that word choice!

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is not ovely scary here, but he's a bit better than the one from 1969. This character is perhaps hurt the most by the limited animation. The cloak just doesn't flow and it just winds up standing there.

This spirit brings Scrooge to the tavern where he usually eats lunch, but since Scrooge isn't there, he thinks he's working through the lunch hour! At Old Joe's Scrooge recognizes his charwoman, but he's pretty slow on the uptake, not realizing that the spirit is trying to show him that he's deceased.

They also drop in on the Cratchits, but when we see Tiny Tim's room, only his crutch is there, not his body. (Thank you!)

The most bizarre future scene is where they drop onto Scrooge's old office, where some other gentleman is tending to a fairly big fire, then makes a donation to the charity collectors.

On Christmas morning, Scrooge talks to the kid out the window. The kid is actually playing with a couple of other kids, so it seems less weird than him just loitering. The odd thing here is that Scrooge doesn't give the kid any money for the turkey until after the kid came back with it, and even at that, the kid was going to bring it to the Cratchits' house without asking for money.

Humorously, the kid asks him if he's indeed Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge. Scrooge asks if he's heard of him and the kid says he thought he had. Similarly, when Scrooge gives some money to a street urchin, that kid says, "Thank you, Mr. Marley!"

This is the final fade!

The show ends with Scrooge and Bob in the office and Bob tells Scrooge about the turkey that he got by mistake. Scrooge then raises Bob's salary and it all ends abruptly with the credits rolling. No real wrap-up.

All in all, this adapatation is extremely faithful to the book as far as plot points go, with some extra business added in to make it more kid-friendly, I suppose.

In the final analysis, though, the cheap animation and not-particularly-appealing character design make this less than ideal.

I like the idea of the extra runnimg time, but the slow pace of the whole thing makes it a bit of a chore to watch.

I wouldn't recommend this as a good way to spend an hour-plus unless you have OSD!

"A Christmas Carol" (1982) - Part 1

"A Christmas Carol" (1982)
Director: Jean Tych
Scrooge: Ron Haddrick

We skip ahead a few years to another Australian made-for-TV animated version of "A Christmas Carol," this one from 1982.

It's really easy to get this show mixed up with the one from 1969 for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that Ron Haddrick again provides the voice of Scrooge!

Another reason is that the animation is definitely not 13 years better! This has the same level of static, limited animation as the 1969 adaptation. I can't imagine that it's because Australian animation stalled at that level. I think it's just another case of a low budget.

You can tell which is which, though, as Scrooge wears a red night shirt and cap here!

The biggest difference between the two really seems to be the running time. This 1982 version runs about 70  minutes, which is very generous for something of this type.  That's plenty of time to tell the whole story.

So, how did the creators make use of that time?

"Famous Classic Tales" - "A Christmas Carol" (1969) - Part 3

The animated version of "A Christmas Carol" produced in Australia in 1969 and originally aired in the U.S. in 1970 as part of the "Famous Classic Tales" series on CBS is to me, a reminder of what kids TV used to be.

Back in the dark ages before home video of any sort, you had to watch whatever happened to be on the TV when you were in front of it.

And the newly produced cartoon shows of the late '60s had really limited animation without a lot of tricks to make it look better than it was. They were sometimes saved by clever stories and good voicework.

This show has extremely static animation that just looks cheap. In a few scenes they try some shots like the one above, which is just the outlines of Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present. At least it's different.

The story adaptation is pretty good. It doesn't seemed dumbed down for kids, but certain things like Fred completely disappearing after his beginning scene make me wonder. Did they not want to spend the money that it would have cost to "animate" those scenes?

With 45 minutes, a more complete version of the story could have been done.

And why does Fred sing? Was this supposed to be a musical, but the idea was abandoned for some reason?

Who knows, but I suspect the low budget is to blame for most of the problems.

In the end, we're left with this version of "A Christmas Carol" that is sort of fun from a nostalgia standpoint, but doesn't offer much else. I don't think it even has a cheesy charm.

And it was totally outclassed by the Richard Williams animated version featuring the voice of Alastair Sim, televised just a couple of years later.

That being said, the Scrooge isn't so bad and the series was sponsored by Kenner...

"Famous Classic Tales" - "A Christmas Carol" (1969) - Part 2

The 1969 Australian made-for-TV animated version of "A Christmas Carol" is fairly faithful to the source material, but, as expected, they omit some things and a few new things.

It has a generous running time of 45 minutes, which is plenty of time to tell the story, but this goes at something of a leisurely pace, so there are some curious cuts.

The program gets going with Marley's funeral, which Scrooge is reluctant to pay for. He gives only a couple of coins to the gravedigger(?), who throws them to the ground in disgust. Scrooge picks them up, so he made out on the deal.

This prologue shows we're getting a pretty mean Scrooge here!

A narrator advances us seven years and we see Scrooge walking to his office, being pretty surly to whomever he encounters in the street.

The story gets pretty faithful to the book now, with Bob Cratchit, Fred and the charity gentlemen all talking their turns being abused.

The odd thing is that Fred starts singing and Scrooge joins him, going back and forth, a la "The Stingiest Man in Town."

So, is this adaptation a musical? No, not really, as that's the only number. Very strange!

I don't find Fred's character design appealing at all, but I don't have to worry about that too much, as we never see him again after this scene. Scrooge does not see Fred's party with the Ghost of Christmas Present nor does he visit him on Christmas Day.

In any event, there's a strange scene added in where a shopkeeper makes a joke about Scrooge being stingy, which gets a laugh from assorted customers.

Meanwhile, Scrooge goes home, but does not see Marley's face in his door knocker.

He wouldn't have recognized Marley in is present state anyeway, as when Marley's Ghost appears, he has a flaming skull! This is one time when Scrooge should really be scared, but this Scrooge isn't all that impressed!

Who wore it better?

Maybe Marley's Ghost should've ridden in on a chopper - that would've scared Scrooge!

Marley's Ghost warns Scrooge and advises him that the other spirits will appear one after the other.

The Ghost of Christmas Past comes along and he's got a long white beard, wears a robe and carries a staff. Not sure why he has a staff rather than a cap, but I get such a strong Noah vibe from him that I almost expect him to lead Scrooge onto his ark!

They go to the town where Scrooge spent his childhood, but leave without seeing lonely young Ebenezer at school. There's no Fan, so no mention of Scrooge's nephew.

Any talk of younger Scrooge being lonely is saved until they go to Fezziwig's, which is kind of odd, as usual Scrooge is happy there. Scrooge and the spirit have some interesting banter throughout this scene.

Young Scrooge does have a good time with Dick Wilkins and Fezziwig, but old Scrooge says they were "silly fools" to be so full of gratitude. This Scrooge is a tough nut, foreshadowing George C. Scott's take of 15 years later.

Belle was not at Fezziwig's aprty, so as in the book, we don't see her until the breakup scene. Old Scrooge shows no regret and we don't see Belle happily married, so we're done with the past.

The spirit asks Scrooge if he learned anything and Scrooge responds that he learned he was an "irresponsible fool" as a youth. Yikes!

Scrooge is back at home and seems really frightened at the first sight of the Ghost of Christmas Present, but regains his composure quickly and tells the ghost that he's anxious to end the ordeal.

This ghost also has a Biblical look to him. Moses, maybe? He carries a lantern rather than a torch. The lantern is in shape very unlike Plenty's horn!

They fly over Camden Town and Scrooge knows that Bob Cratchit lives there with his family.

When they enter the house Martha is already there, but she does hide when Bob comes in with Tiny Tim.

Martha looks about the same as Mrs. Cratchit, which I think can just be chalked up to uninspired character design.

In addition to Martha and Tiny Tim, I think there are just Peter and Belinda for additional Cratchit kids.

The Cratchits' dinner is about as expetced, but there's an extended argument when Bob proposes the toast to Scrooge.

Scrooge seems to soften a bit during this sequence, but the spirit says he'll have to learn the hard way from the next spirit and he pities Scrooge "in his unmerciful hands."

An interesting touch is that Scrooge keeps rubbing a coin through the scene, which he tells the spirit is the first sovereign he ever made. The spirit chides him for not spending it, but I actually think it's not that bad for Scrooge to keep it as a remembrance.

Anyway, Scrooge is back in his room when he meets the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Scrooge is pretty scared now, but the ghost doesn't seem all that threateneing. It just looks like a guy wearing a purple robe. The static animation is the problem.

We actually get a few scenes in the future, more than in any other sequnce.

We first see the other businessmen joking about Scrooge's death. One of them quips that maybe he died from trying to eat his money!

Next they go to Old Joe's where the laundress and charwoman sell Scrooge's stuff. Neither woman is called Mrs. Dilber. They also see Scrooge's body covered with the sheet.

Scrooge asks to see some emotion connected to "this man's" death, which would seem to indicate that we would see Caroline and her husband being happy that Scrooge died. Instead, the next scene is the Cratchit house after Tiny Tim's death. That's either a continuity error because there was a scene cut or just indifferent scripting.

Last stop is the cemetery where Scrooge sees his own grave, the marker of which has his birth and death dates, but they're a bit obscured.

Scrooge now sees the light and winds up back in his bedroom on Christmas morning.

Hey, Scrooge, would you please cover your mouth when you sneeze?!!

He talks to the boy outside of his window and has him buy the turkey. Scrooge then takes the turkey and some other presents to Bob's house. He doesn't say anything about giving Bob a raise, but he does finally sneeze!

That's the end of a pretty faithful version of the story here.

Next, some additional thoughts...

"Famous Classic Tales" - "A Christmas Carol" (1969) - Part 1

"Famous Classic Tales" - "A Christmas Carol" (1969)
Director: Zoran Zanjic
Scrooge: Ron Haddrick

We jump ahead to 1969 for this made-for-TV animated adapaaton of "A Christmas Carol." This was produced in Australia in 1969 by Air Programs International (API), then first aired in America in 1970.

In the States, it ws part of the "Famous Classic Tales" series on CBS. These were squarely aimed at kids and I remember seeing this version of "A Christmas Carol" a few times back in the day.

The thing I remember most about it and what made me recognize it as the version I remember is that there's a running gag of Scrooge not being able to sneeze, beause, as the Ghost of Christmas Presentssays, he's "too mean to give away a good sneeze."

I also remember watching the 1971 animated version from Richard Williams, which we've previously discussed, back then. Even at a tender age, I could tell that this 1969 one was inferior. Not the worst thing ever, but not great.

The main thing is really that the animation is cheap. 1969 was not a golden age for lushly animated TV programming, but this isn't even at the level of say, "Scooby Doo, Where Are You!" which also premiered that year.

I'm also not crazy about some of the the character design. I don't think it looks classic, just sort of dated.

I think Scrooge himself looks OK, though, and the voice acting of Ron Haddrick as Scrooge is pretty good. He was 40 at the time and is doing kind of a stock "old man" voice, but he adds a lot to the production.

Any version of "A Chrsmas Carol" is nothing without a strong Scrooge and this at least has that. (He does kind of look like a "Scooby Doo" villain, though, doesn't he?)

The adapatation isn't bad either, so this is something you can listen to without having to watch too closely.

Next, we'll take a look at the plot points of this adapatation and how the characters are presented.