The Stingiest Man in Town

Rankin/Bass do a highly abbreviated, musical version of "A Christmas Carol". It's fine, but it's a tough story to do justice to in under an hour, and inserting songs certainly doesn't help. What you essentially get is the high points and little else. Walter Matthau is a fine actor, but he's not quite what you want for Scrooge. The story is narrated by B.A.H. Humbug, an insect voiced by Tom Bosley. The less said about that the better.

This is the only animated version of "Stingy" I've seen,and it's great, but for years at the Cabaret Supper Theater in Fort Sill, OK, we did this show every year on the stage. The music is superb; the songs wonderful, and the opportunity for children to 'be in a show" are boundless. Our director, the late Ray Shermeyer (who played Scrooge, naturally) held open auditions and cast just about every kid who showed up. He started this around 1967 and when the Cabaret finally was forced to close its doors (as many "supper theaters" did) in 1989, many of those children, then in their late teens or early twenties, came to the mike and said it had given them the confidence to get into shows. Several went on to showbiz careers.

It's a wonderful show for the Christmas season, and it's even a more wonderful play for amateurs (and especially children) to feel the thrill of being on the stage for the first time. HOLLY-HO!

I am sure I have seen this tale in some other incarnation somewhere before, I swear.

In a bizarre, alternate history London, where everyone apparently speaks with an American accent, Ebeneezer Scrooge (Walter Matthau) is about to be visited by ghosts...sound familiar yet? As Bart Simpson once said, TV writers have been milking that goat for years. The Stingiest Man in Town is not the best version of Scrooged...I mean A Christmas Carol, but it's a nice intro to the story for kids. Back in the days when lots of obscure children's animation were released on VHS by flash-in-the-pan distributors I rented this 50-minute cartoon and it kinda stayed with me.

Still, Mickey's Christmas Carol is the best animated version.

I remember watching this special as a little kid in 1978. I still believed in Santa then. Walter Matthau, Tom Bosley, Theodore Bikel and Dennis Day make up for a delightful animated cast with their distinctive voices. Walter should have played Scrooge in a live action movie, he would have been delightful like he was with Oscar in The Odd Couple. The songs aren't exactly Oscar quality, but what the hell. Its a nice cartoon the kids will enjoy and even though we only hear his voice, Matthau does a splendid acting job, he just cannot sing very well. He makes Scrooge's transformation from miser to nicer very convincing. I remember one song that warmed my heart in particular was Yes there is a Santa Claus.

Review Date 8/5/2019

I have Reviewed OVER 600 "Christmas Films, & Christmas Television Movies , & Television Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare. I am on a mission to watch every Christmas Movie ever produced. Since 2014 I average 100 per year.

The Stingiest Man in Town is the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, told in the 1978 version through the perspective of the insect B.A.H. Humbug (voiced by Tom Bosley), obviously a word play on Scrooge's catch phrase, "bah humbug". Scrooge (performed by Walter Matthau) is portrayed as the tightwad Charles Dickens intended him to be with his consistent resistance to assist the poor or even have Christmas dinner with his nephew Fred (performed by Dennis Day) and his family. In hopes of resuscitating the goodness of his one-time friend, the ghost of Jacob Marley (voiced by Theodore Bikel), Scrooge's former business partner, visits Scrooge in his mansion, exhorting him to change his ways. Scrooge deems this to be madness and soon prepares for bed.

Nevertheless, Scrooge's attitude soon changes after a fateful night wherein three ghosts also visit him and take him through his past and present, and show him what his future would be like if he does not change.

Not that many twist and turns in this version but it is a great introduction to small children who are too young for the "Darker Versions" of the story!