CHRISTMAS CAROL, A (UK ANIMATED VERSION) (TV)
Summary
An animated adaptation of the novel “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens.
In London in 1843 at Christmastime, miserly banker Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by his nephew Fred, but he refuses his wishes for a good Christmas, and declines Fred’s invitation to his Christmas party. He also turns away a pair of solicitors looking to collect money for the poor, and mistreats his faithful clerk Bob Cratchit. That night, Scrooge is visited in his house by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his deceased business partner. He appears covered in heavy chains, and says that he must carry them because he did not care for his fellow man while he was alive. He hopes to help Scrooge avoid the same fate, and says he will be visited by three ghosts that night before leaving amongst a great crowd of other lost souls.
Soon Scrooge is visited by the first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, who transports him to a scene from his childhood at boarding school. Scrooge sees himself as a boy, left alone and unwanted over Christmas. The ghost then shows him a later scene, when he was a young man apprenticed to the shopkeeper Fezziwig. Fezziwig throws a Christmas party, and Scrooge comes to regret how coldly he has treated Bob after seeing how joyful Fezziwig made his employees. The ghost shows him a final vision of Scrooge and his fiancée Belle, wherein she calls off their engagement after realizing that Scrooge’s obsession with wealth has overshadowed any love he had for her. Suddenly Scrooge finds himself back in his bedroom.
An hour later, Scrooge comes face to face with the Ghost of Christmas Present, who brings him to the house of the Cratchit family. There Scrooge is moved by the sight of Tiny Tim, Bob’s young crippled son. He asks the ghost if Tiny Tim will live, and the ghost predicts that if nothing is done to improve the Cratchit family’s situation, Tiny Tim will not live to see another Christmas. The ghost also shows Scrooge groups of people in lonely places celebrating Christmas, such as a mining colony, a lighthouse, and a sailing vessel. He also brings Scrooge to Fred’s Christmas party; Fred still has faith in his uncle and hopes he will one day change his mind. The spirit rapidly ages and says he is about to die, but before he does he shows Scrooge a pair of emaciated children beneath his robe, calling them Ignorance and Want.
Scrooge, in darkness, encounters the final ghost, a silent black specter he identifies as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. He follows the spirit, who shows him a number of businessmen laughing about an upcoming funeral. He is also shown a number of thieves selling his possessions off to a pawnbroker. The spirit then takes Scrooge to his own dead body, but Scrooge is too frightened to uncover the sheet over it. He begs to be taken elsewhere and is brought back to the Cratchit household, where Bob grieves over the death of Tiny Tim. Finally, the spirit takes Scrooge to a graveyard, where he is shown his own neglected gravestone. Scrooge, frightened, vows to change his ways and prevent this future from unfolding. He awakens in his bedroom on Christmas morning, and he finds himself filled with joy. He purchases a large turkey to give to the Cratchit family for Christmas dinner, gives generously to charity, and attends Fred’s Christmas party. When Bob comes in for work the next day, Scrooge gives him a large raise in salary and vows to help him care for his family. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: December 21, 1971 7:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:25:00
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 109085
- GENRE: Animation
- SUBJECT HEADING: Animation
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1971
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Chuck Jones … Executive Producer
- Richard Williams … Director
- Ken Harris … Animation
- Bill Hajee … Animation
- Sergio Simonetti … Animation
- Roy Naisbitt … Animation
- Janet Chapman … Animation
- Anwar Rassam … Animation
- Charles Dickens … Based on the novel by
- Tristram Cary … Music by
- Michael Redgrave … Narrator
- Alastair Sim … Voice, Scrooge
- Michael Hordern … Voice, Marley's Ghost
- Diana Quick … Voice, Ghost of Christmas Past
- Joan Sims … Voice, Mrs. Cratchit
- Paul Whitsun-Jones … Voice, Ragpicker, Fezziwig
- David Tate … Voice, Fred, Charity Man
- Felix Felton … Voice, Ghost of Christmas Present
- Annie West … Voice, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
- Melvyn Hayes … Voice, Bob Cratchit
- Mary Ellen Raye … Voice, Mrs. Dilber