- Scrooge McDuck
I come from A Christmas Carol family. Since I was a child and becoming more and more vicious as I got older, my family loves to eat, sleep, and breathe anything related or modeled after the Charles Dickens classic. I'm just waiting for the eventual moment in time where one of my family members would suddenly stop their life entirely in order to watch every single film and television adaptation ever made. That's how insane it is. Whether it has Cicely Tyson as Scrooge or has Behind the Music as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, we have seen it all.
Naturally, all of this massive exposure to Scrooge's cold night of reflection has led to all of us picking sides on what our favorites are. My parents, who have been willing to sit through an adaptation with Tori Spelling, tend to enjoy the older and classic versions, most notably the George C. Scott film. My siblings like the musical Muppets film the most. When I spread outward and ask my friends, the majority picked Scrooged as their favorite. For myself, I was spoiled in my earlier years with a television adaptation that still makes me sneer at any new Carol film. It also is the absolute best version of the story out of all the other versions in its same field of filmmaking. I'm talking about the animated short film from 1983, Mickey's Christmas Carol.
I have already said that Disney is very adapt in making magical Christmas animation, with this being their finest hour, or half-hour to be more precise. In my opinion, this adaptation truly brings the heart and soul of Charles Dickens' story. It's creative in its liberties of the material and the popular revisions and doesn't retain the boring stiffness and preachiness in the live-action works. The short may be too overall comedic for some but I feel that's what makes it more devastating and depressing during its somber scenes.
I often felt that comedic actors are better equipped in handling the Scrooge character in adaptations of the story. The majority of the actors playing Scrooge tend to bring the ultra-serious approach to the character, making them very bitter and cold. However, their performances are way too sedate and ruin the joy of seeing the transformation of Scrooge's morals and attitude. They only seem to show some acting range when the big important story moments happen, such as the arrival of Tiny Tim and the Christmas Yet To Come, to tap into easy exploitative showboating before the inevitable finale. That why I prefer the performances of Bill Murray in Scrooged and Scrooge McDuck in Mickey's Christmas Carol. By showing some three-dimensional behavior and bringing a "guilty pleasure" tone, they can capture the attention of the viewer and cause them to cheer for their Scrooges to live a better life.
I have to commend Alan Young and the animators of Scrooge McDuck for bringing exuberance and originality. This was Alan Young's first performance as the popular Scrooge McDuck and lead to a very successful partnership with Disney. He really punctuates the character's intelligence and his lust of being a very greedy miser. Young does a great job in a scene where Scrooge persuades two charity collectors, and the audience as well, from collecting money since it will cause them to lose their jobs. The animation of the character is expertly done with many fantastic little moments. I always enjoyed his insistence on constantly hitting his shop's sign to keep his name on display. Other great hidden sights include his close inspection on the books despite wearing glasses and the shaking of a piggy bank that is attached to Jacob Marley's chains. The animators of Scrooge do their best in a scene where he brushes off his former love while counting his money. After a violent door slam causes the money to fall, they gave Scrooge a minor shrug, as if he's happy to re-count and not moved by someone else's feelings. It's that extra depth in cruel black humor that makes the short entertaining to behold.
Another one of my favorite parts of Mickey's Christmas Carol is the decision to cut out many story elements and dialogue. The short only has a running time of 24 minutes, so of course some parts of the original story and the popular revisions to it had to be discarded. Except for the lack of story surrounding Fred, who is played by Donald Duck and his original voice actor Clarence Nash, I really like this truncated version of the story. It removes the fat and avoids the over melodramatic lines and nature many like to include. This is best shown when the story focuses on the Cratchit family. Their Christmas Eve dinner and home environment is very quiet and grim. Cratchit, played by Mickey Mouse and the debuting Wayne Allwine, doesn't have an argument with his wife about Scrooge. He says absolute nothing, knowing well of the cruelty of his boss and his inability to do anything. When Tiny Tim brings up that Scrooge should be given thanks for their "feast", everyone is silent. In a great cutaway shot, Mrs. Cratchit, played by Minnie Mouse, just looks downward and becomes more depressed.
And then, there is Tiny Tim. Maybe it is because Tim is simply a smaller Mickey Mouse but I am always touched by this version of the character and truly heartbroken when he dies. Tiny Tim is and acts like a kid in this short. He doesn't over express his emotions or becomes a sickeningly grotesque holy child that many like to implement. He is a weak but happy kid who loves his family and is willing to give his food to his father. These small and often silent scenes with him makes his death that more tragic. It affected me as a child and it still does from time to time. The sheer lack of any words coming from Mickey's teared up face says it all.
While it excels in its animation of comedy and drama, Mickey's Christmas Carol brings many other fun and interesting animated directions in its framing of the story. The short is filled with many cameos and appearances of characters from Disney films and shorts. It is a fun little guessing game for viewers to figure out the origins of those that fill in the background. There is also some great experiments with the cinematography; One of the most jolting moments is when a long shot of Scrooge's bedroom turns out to be the POV shot of the Ghost of Christmas Past. The short also takes some creative risks, such as having Goofy playing Jacob Marley. Even with the abundance of comedy given to the character, it's still very shocking to see the lovable dog become a doomed soul from Hell. However, this decision does work to a degree thanks to the performance of Hal Smith. The dark and frightening imagery during the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come section also needs to be commended, especially bringing a further toxic and despairing tone to it by having the eerie fog being created by immense cigar smoke.
I simply love Mickey's Christmas Carol with all my heart. It is one of favorite Christmas films and it is my favorite A Christmas Carol adaptation ever. Several times, this short has been my feature presentation on the night of Christmas Eve and it always touch me more than anything else. It makes happy for the next day to come, to celebrate Christmas with people I love.
TOMORROW'S ENTRY: The final day of Christmas entertainment.
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