The Stingiest Man in Town

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.

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!

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!

There were three main reasons why I wanted to see The Stingiest Man in Town. One was that I simply adore the story A Christmas Carol, for me the quintessential Christmas story and easily the most accessible of Charles Dickens' work. Two was that I have loved a lot of what Rankin/Bass have done, Rudolph The Red Nosed, The Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town, Frosty the Snowman and The Year Without a Santa Claus are classics. And three, anything with Walter Matthau, Tom Bosley or both are well worth watching. I found myself loving The Stingiest Man in Town, it doesn't quite surpass the 1969, 1971 and Disney animated versions of the story, but it is miles ahead of the 2001 one. The animation is similar to the style of Twas the Night Before Christmas, which is a good thing as that special was beautiful to look at as well with character designs that are distinctive traditional-animated Rankin/Bass and simple but atmospheric colours and backgrounds. The music is also great, with whimsical scoring and songs that are guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings in some way or another, Yes There is a Santa Claus is very touching. The dialogue is sweet and well-meaning while never falling into the over-sentimentality trap, while the story is charming, heart-warming and moving as well as true in spirit to the Christmas Carol story. If there was any complaint I had of the special actually, it was that I did find the Ghost of Christmas Future, admittedly though that part is not as lengthy as the past and present parts in the first place, part too brief and rushed. The characters all engage, Scrooge's change from miser to humble is very convincing as it ought to be, B.A.H.Humbug was a good narrator-character, the spirits are imposing and the Cratchit family you can always relate to. The voices are spot on, Walter Matthau isn't the best singer in the world but he still makes for a brilliant Scrooge, and Tom Bosley's voice work as Humbug is done with a lot of warmth. All in all, a lovely special and a more than worthy animated adaptation of the timeless story. 9/10 Bethany Cox