Today was this first time I had watched Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol and I was unsure what to expect. I mean, I knew there would be 4 ghost (yes 4, because many forget about Jacob Marley’s ghost) and a tiny Tim because those are in every version of the Christmas Carol. I watched it today because it was included in one of my Christmas Classic Collection sets. Now with any Christmas Special I go into with an open mind and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol was no different.
Now, I realize that the Christmas Carol isn’t the happiest story, well at least til the end. There are many depressing aspects to this story. That being said, I have never seen an animated/family version of the Christmas Carol that was so gloomy. I was expecting more comic relief but the majority of that was just vague references to Mr. Magoo needing spectacles (for those who don’t know, Magoo is a pretty blind old man). Usually I can fully appreciate old cartoons but perhaps I just don’t get Mr. Magoo. I was able to look past the animation which is very basic but I just felt it needed more humor. It’s not that it was a bad special by any means. In fact, I liked how they switched up the order of the ghosts. They actually had the spirits come with the Ghost of Christmas Present first and then the Ghost of Christmas Past flowing right into the Ghost of Christmases yet to come. I’m just clarifying that I didn’t dislike this special.
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There were lots of musical numbers (probably because the premise is that Magoo is doing the Christmas Carol show on Broadway) which is always a plus for a Christmas Special. The problem is that the majority of them are kind of sad. There is one in particular that I really could’ve used some comic relief soon after, but it just didn’t come. The song I’m discussing is when Scrooge is a young lonely lad. He is in the school house alone singing about how alone he is and then the old Scrooge joins in the song. How depressing is that? Not all the songs are depressing though. There is this song the Cratchit Family sings about what they want for Christmas Dinner. It could be considered depressing but Tiny Tim gives it the old razzle dazzle (this is a great pun if you’ve seen it, because Tiny Tim keeps bringing up razzleberry sauce). It’s quite cute and the song ends up having a very good message at the end.
Alright, I feel like I’m forcing this blog. I guess I just need to relax and let it flow more. I feel I’m over thinking it because of my unfamiliarity with Mr. Magoo. The only experience I’ve had with Mr. Magoo before watching this special was the Leslie Nielson (I took a brief moment of silence after typing that in remembrance of him) movie in the late 90’s. Leslie was a great comedic actor. From Naked Gun to Airplane he has had some memorable roles. Surely you must have seen one of the many films he has been in (and I hope somebody out there said out loud, “Don’t call me Shirley”). Now, much like I said with Will Ferrel, I think Leslie is a hilarious actor, but I’m not necessarily a fan of all his movies. I must admit, most of his roles late in life were not in films that I never saw nor did I have a desire to see. He was in a lot of the recent spoof and satire movies which in my opinion aren’t quite as good as the older satire movies. Spaceballs being one of my favorite satire movies of all time (I realize Mr. Nielson was not in Spaceballs). Keeping with the Christmas theme I want to point out Leslie played Santa Claus in a TV movie called Santa Who?. Mr. Nielson will always be remembered whenever I watch the movie Airplane.
I hope the topic switch to a recently deceased actor didn’t depress you. If it did, I apologize and I recommend you not watch Mr. Magoo Christmas Carol because it may depress you as well. I don’t mean for this to sound like I’m coming hard on Mr. Magoo, but I guess it just isn’t the Christmas Carol for me. The Christmas Carol for me is more up the Muppets Christmas Carol route. Which I have been unable to locate in the stores so I count myself as blessed that I have friends who own it and will allow me to watch it with them (because that is what Christmas is all about).
Have a Razzle Dazzle Christmas
-LD
Even though I watched the Mr. Magoo cartoons as a kid, I did not remember Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. So when I got a collection of Christmas Special which included it last year, I was eager to watch it.
ReplyDeleteAnd it bafffled me a bit too.
It was better this year. I don't know if that was because I'd seen it once so I knew what I was in for, or possibly because when Scrooge Magoo asked the ghost what was wrong with Tiny Tim I said "Well, he's a little OCD about the razzleberry dressing" and Casey laughed so loud it frightened a few of the cats.
The show does need more laughs, unfortunately sometimes you have to provide your own.