Jane Kean Appreciation!

I had mentioned that Jane Kean appeared as Trixie Norton in 1977's "The Honeymooners Christmas Carol." 

She does a good job, but in typical Trixie fashion, she doesn't really get a lot to do. She does do a wacky kid voice as Bob Cratchit's daughter, though!

Jane was a versatile performer, having honed her performing skills as one-half of popular nightclub act with her sister Betty in the 1940s and 1950s.

She had an excellent singing voice, which was shown to advantage in her more famous "A Christmas Carol"-related role: that of Belle in 1962's "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol!"

She does a great job with the song "Winter Was Warm" in the Christmas Past sequence.

For fun, here's the extended version of the song before it was trimmed for time:

Pretty cool!

Intriguingly, as I had mentioned way back when, Jane's sister Betty had been married to "Mister Magoo" himself, Jim Backus, years before this special.

That's show biz!

Giddyup!

This is cool - a painted cel and the corresponding animation drawing from 1962's "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol":

Obviously this is from later in the special, after Scrooge has been reformed!

He's Done it Again!

This ad is from 1974:

I watched it that year - on a different station!

Magoo!

Not sure of the source of this:

Fun seeing all the ghosts together!

Ronald Searle Wrap-Up

So, Ronald Searle had an interesting take on illustrating the work of Charles Dickens, but I think his artwork is a lot of fun. Not the definitive versions, but a welcome breath of fresh air.

I started taking a closer look at his work because Darrell Van Citters mentioned in his book "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special" that Searle's illustrations from the 1961 edition of "A Christmas Carol" influenced some of the character designs in that special.

He specifically mentions the fiddler at Fezziwig's Christmas party:

You can definitely see that the fiddler from the special is a streamlined, UPA-ized version of the one from the book.

You can read more about this in this post from Darrell's blog:

Ronald Searle and Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol

He doesn't mention the "plunderers" but I think there are similarities there too. The cartoon version of Old Joe also has an eye patch and the characters in the book seem like they're doing a little dance number:

There's also a connection between Ronald Searle and another well-regarded version of "A Christmas Carol" (sort of):

Perhaps Searle's most famous work is his 1946-1952 British comic strip "St. Trinians's" which led to a series of movies. A couple of said movies featured Alastair Sim and George Cole, the respective old and young Scrooges of 1951's "Scrooge." 

Kind of fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (Collector's Edition) (2010)

While we're on the subject of "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol," the great animated TV special from 1962, I thought I'd mention that there's one video edition that's a must!

It's the Blu-Ray/DVD combo from 2010 billed as the "Collector's Edition."
Not only does it have a great looking transfer of the special, but it has some fun "making of" bonus features and an audio commentary.

Plus there's a little booklet, which is a basically a very condensed version of Darrell Van Citters's book "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special."

Throw in a little print of Scrooge and Tiny Tim with a Jim Backus signature and you've got a neat little package!

I don't think it's still in print, but if you find a copy at a good price - grab it!

"Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" Punch-Out Book (1963)

"Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" Punch-Out Book (1963)
Golden Press

One of the things brought to my attention by the book "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special" by Darrell Van Citters is that there was a merchandising tie-in to the special back in the day.

In 1963, Golden Press published a "punch-out" book based on the special, the idea being that you could punch out characters from the book and set up little scenes.

I don't know how many of these were floating around in 1963, but I imagine that a lot of them were punched out, as that's what you were supposed to do.

Some fun artwork, very on-model:

Is it just me, though, or does Belinda look a little too, ummm, shall we say, sophisticated?

Anyway, so, now when I get that time machine, I'll grab 29¢ (plus tax) and go back to 1963! Oh, and I'll bring an extra 29¢ and see if I can grab one of these too:

So much fun for 29¢ back then!

"Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special" (2020) - Darrell Van Citters

"Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special" (2020)
Author: Darrell Van Citters

So, this authoritative book on "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" is now back in print in a softcover edition, revised in 2020.

And if, like me, you got some gift cards over the holidays, the math is simple: you need to get your mitts on this!

I've been aware of earlier editions for a while, but they tended to sell out quickly (usually before I was even aware) and people that have it aren't likely to part with it, so it's good to see it back!

There's a tremendous amount of material here. Just a great job by Darrell Van Citters.

I really like the production sketches that show how the project evolved.

Early versions of the script did include Fred, who is famously not in the show, as well as Fan, who was expendable because you don't need Fred's mother without Fred. (SPOILER ALERT: Fred does not look like Waldo!)

They were dropped early on it seems, but a sequence showing Belle with her family was apparently deleted fairly late. That explains the abrupt cut at the end of the Christmas Past sequence when the spirit says "one shadow more," but the scene ends without that shadow.

I think this definitively ends the argument I've heard/read occasionally that there's some longer version of the special that did include Belle family segment. It was never included in the finished project, but some people are "misremembering" as they had seen a similar scene in another version.

It's like the famous lost "spider pit" scene from "King Kong" (1933) that people insist they've seen on TV.

There are lots of other interesting things that I won't give away, but there's one takeaway for me that was surprise:

The Cratchit daughter is Belinda! I always thought it was Martha, as she seems fully grown, but character sketches identify her as Belinda. There are some preliminary sketches for Martha, but she was not included. Maybe so there would be fewer characters to animate?

So, for tons of fascinating tidbits, this book is highly recommended!

"A Christmas Carol" All-Star Team - Day 22

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!

Carlton Cards Heirloom Ornament Collection - "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" (2004)

If you're still decorating your tree and have any money left over after getting that "Muppet Christmas Carol" ornament on the secondary market, you can spend even more cash to acquire this "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" ornament issued by Carlton Cards in 2004:

Pretty fun!

Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis 

We wrap up the Dick Tracy/Mr. Magoo cross-over with one more strip:

A nice little domestic scene with Dick, Tess and their son Joe.

This illustrates the interesting aging process in comic strips, including "Dick Tracy."

Joseph Flintheart Tracy (middle name important!) was born in 1979, so he'd actually be 36 here in "real time," but he's obviously a tween at most. At an earlier point in the comic strip continuity, he had been a teenager, but was retconned back to slightly younger.

Dick and Tess would have been well into their sixties in 1979, so there's that too!

One last thing about this particular strip: I have no clue as to where the John Wayne quote comes from!

Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015

 Dick Tracy - December 22, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

Now that intermission is over, we go back to the audience of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" starring Vitamin Flintheart:



Interesting that Quincy Magoo refers to Vitamin as a young buck!

I always find it interesting how characters in long-running franchise types things age or don't age.
The characters in the "Dick Tracy" comic strip do age, but at a slow pace. 

I believe Vitamin Flintheart said he was 50 years old when he debuted in 1944, but he's obviously not 120 here in 2015!

Dick Tracy himself was originally presented as 21 when the strip began in 1931, but he's not 95 in this strip.

Quincy Magoo never seemed to age at all. He started off already old in his first cartoon, "The Ragtime Bear," which was released in 1949. He didn't have his standardized "look" yet, though.

Since we only seem him in shadow in these comic strips, we can't say for sure how old he is, but it's interesting to remember that he had first met Dick Tracy 50 years prior.

I do realize that they're fictional characters, of course, but it's fun to think about!

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 21, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

After no daily strip on Sunday, we pick up the "action" with Vitamin Flintheart starring in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol" on Monday, December 21, 2015:

Fun! We see Vitamin backstage during intermission!

Of course, we know the song that Vitamin and his inappropriately young girlfriend (later wife) Kandikane Lane are discussing is "Alone in the World," a song that would indeed touch any audience!

Interestingly Kandikane Lane has hinted that she is the sister of both Margo Lane (from "The Shadow") and Lois Lane (from "Superman").

To which I say, "Awesome!"

Dick Tracy - December 19, 2015

Dick Tracy - December 19, 2015
Writer: Mike Curtis

Artist: Joe Staton

So, when Dick Tracy goes to see his friend Vitamin Flintheart perform in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol," who does he wind up sitting next to but Quincy Magoo himself!

What do they have to say to each other? Let's see:

Very fun!

The "Squinty Eyes" mentioned by Quincy is the gangster whom he impersonated while working with Tracy on the case mentioned a few panels ago.

What's next?

Dick Tracy - December 18, 2015

 Dick Tracy - December 18, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton
Writer: Mike Curtis

So, in early November, Vitamin Flintheart was telling Dick Tracy that he was playing the lead in a new production of "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol."

The strip carries on with Tracy's regular business until December 18, 2015, one week before Christmas.

Let's take a look:

Dick, Tess and Junior are at the sold out show, and who takes the one remaining open seat? Quincy Magoo himself! How awesome is that?

He's just shown in shadow, as I suppose there's some copyright issues  involved, but it's definitely him!

As Quincy points out, it's been years. Fifty in fact!

Here's a bonus color version of this strip:

What happens next?

Dick Tracy - November 5, 2015

Dick Tracy - November 5, 2015
Artist: Joe Staton

Writer: Mike Curtis

When we last left Dick Tracy and Vitamin Flintheart, Vitamin was telling "Richard" about his latest role: Scrooge in "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol!"

Let's pick up the action in the next day's script:

So, in the Tracyverse, Mr. Magoo is a real person!

This is not a surprise, actually, because as Tracy mentioned, he had worked with Mr. Magoo on a case once.

That was actually 50 years before, as chronicled in the "Dick Tracy and the Mob" episode of "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo" TV series in 1965.

That series was a spinoff of "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" in which Quincy Magoo is presented as a famous actor playing a variety of roles.

On the "Dick Tracy" episode, Tracy sought Magoo's help to infiltrate Pruneface's gang by impersonating the villain Squinty Eyes (as recapped by Tracy in the comic strip).

This meeting was presumably possible because UPA, the cartoon studio Mr. Magoo put on the map, had also produced the astonishingly non-PC "The Dick Tracy Show" cartoon series in 1961.

Another interesting, but no doubt unintentional, tie-in centers around Dick Tracy's voice. It was provided by veteran actor Everett Sloane, who had also done Tracy's voice on the earlier series.

Everett Sloane with Orson Welles in "Citizen Kane" (1941).

Everett Sloane being one of Orson Welles's cronies from the old Mercury Theatre radio days and the portrayer of Marley's Ghost in the famous 1939 Campbell Soup Playhouse broadcast starring Lionel Barrymore!

So, the 2015 Dick Tracy creative team of Joe Staton and Mike Curtis seems to be indicating that the TV episode is canonical, which is interesting because it features a bunch of classic Tracy villains, some of whom, such as Flattop and the Brow, had (SPOILER) previously met their demise in the comic strip years before.

But, hey, I think it's awesome to have a nod to that 50 years prior meeting of Tracy and Magoo!