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Old 12-05-2021, 09:46 PM
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Today we have a roundup of Christmas Carol adaptations that I've never seen before.



1971 animated Alastair Sim



I'm not sure how to feel about this one. I don't want to throw too much mud at a classic, so I'll just say that too much attention was paid to inconsequential things (especially the detail in the art) and not enough on the important things (especially the pacing and rhythm of the dialogue).



1997 animated Tim Curry



Sadly I've seen too many cartoons voiced by Tim Curry, so his voice doesn't sound like "Scrooge", it sounds like his standard cartoon voice as heard in Mighty Ducks, Mighty Max, Gargoyles, or the Story of Santa Claus.



That being said, this is a competent version, even if the dog annoyed me at times.


1982 animated Ron Haddrick



This one has details often overlooked in adaptations.



One of my interests is the history of animation, and while I'm hardly an expert, it's fun to try to judge when a cartoon was made by the style. This one screams 1970s to me.



1954 live-action Fredric March



The musical interludes are a bit much. It's also odd to hear "Santa Claus" and "Kris Kringle" instead of "Father Christmas" for this setting. Furthermore, "Kris Kringle" was still in a transitory phase at this point in history (1843), you'd be more likely to use "Christkind".



Even so, it's a competent version.



1969 animated Ron Haddrick


Definitely a different sort of adaptation. The animation reminds me of the contemporary Arthur and the Square Knights of the Round Table.



1970 live-action Albert Finney


Turning this material into a musical rarely succeeds (Muppets aside, of course). You see, unless the director and composer are very careful about meshing the numbers and the plot, you get abrupt emotional shifts. And this story can't afford to have those, the emotional journey is supposed to be seamless.
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