I love adaptations of A Christmas Carol. I love seeing how cartoon shows shove the contructs of their universes into the formula of the Dickens story. Some of them are awesome. Mickey's Christmas Carol and The Muppet Christmas Carol are among the best adaptations of the story. Then there are ones like The Jetsons Christmas Carol, The Flintstones Christmas Carol, and the mother of them all Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.
Now, I know there are animation historians who will argue with me on this, but Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol stinks. There is a lot to be said for Magoo. It was the first animated Christmas special. But being the first doesn't always mean being great by today's standards. It also has some funny moments. But there is one thing about the Magoo Christmas Carol that has me yelling at the TV screen every year: the major conceit of the Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol is that Mr. Magoo is in a stage production of A Christmas Carol, and what we are watching is tantamount to a recording of a live production.
I'm going to let that sink in for a moment.
Animation is a medium that is so limitless, its only boundaries are that of the artists' imaginations. Theatre is a medium that is so limiTED that one of its major tenants is "the willing suspension of disbelief." Why would you take a cartoon version of A Christmas Carol, and give it the same restrictions that a stage production would have?! Why would...? You could just... Why not...?
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
Why not just bind all cartoons with the limitations of the stage. Tweety Todd: the Deamon Birdie of Tweet Street. What about A Huckleberry Hamlet? "Ta be er not ta be, y'all. That's a dang good question." Or maybe Scooby Doo meets the cast of Rent. "Reasons of ru-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uv! Reasons of ru-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uv!"
Stupid. Magoo's Christmas Carol is really the only one that makes me angry, yet every year I watch it. Oh well. It's over now and I have the rest of Christmas to find solace in Yogi's First Christmas.
CG
