Un chant de noel

This little gem is something I saw on ABC, waaaaay back around '71 or '72. I know it aired several times in those days,around Christmases('71-'74)in prime time, and on their experimental but short-lived "Wide World of Entertainment".(At the time, there were two animated versions of this story. One was the CBS version which was an hour and, had traditional open-line art for the animation, including a skull-faced Jacob Marley.) This version miraculously managed to squeeze the entire story into 30 minutes and was out and out scary. The animation looked like an old etching, come to life with lines moving everywhere to indicate shadow and form. London became a creepy, Gormenghast-like city with spires, and arches, all sort of in this weird forced perspective. I remember the gap-mouthed Marley with his jaw dropping down to the middle of his chest as he screamed at Scrooge, and the eerie candle-headed Ghost of Christmas Past whom he forced back into a large cone that one would put candles out with in those days(but smaller). Creepy stuff even for it's time. Worth finding.

How can someone buy this film. My husband and I have been trying for two years but we can't find it. Is there a copy out there available, if so what is the price? It is not at all a cartoon but an excellent piece of Victorian art. The drawings evoke the sketches used in Dickens own time. There are moments that are intense, certainly frightening for young children.

The pacing causes one to feel as though Scooge has very little time left to mend his ways. The ghost of Christmas Present is much darker than in other versions. Ignorance and Want are included in a very effective and horrific manner. Marley's ghost is not to be missed.

This is anything but Mr Magoo or Mickey Mouse Dickens. Please post info as to where it can be found.

I wish someone would release this lost gem on DVD or even video. So much garbage is shown at Christmas I just don't know what goes on in the minds of television programming staff that they won't show this masterpiece. It looks beautiful and the writing, directing and acting are superb. I last remember seeing it on regular old commercial television when I was a child back in 1977. I also remember that during a commercial break they showed a 7-UP commercial starring Jeffrey Holder. I have never forgotten it. Truthfully, this version is better than any of the live action versions that I have seen except perhaps the 1951 production entitled "Scrooge" starring Alastair Simm who reprises the role of Scrooge in this version. Simm is the best Scrooge ever. If you like "A Christmas Carol" email the programming people at Turner Classic Movies, American Movie Classics and Cartoon Network and beg them and harass them to show this wonderful film.

This is by far the best animated version of the Dickens classic. The renderings and animation are dark and mysteriously sketch-like, with none of the shiny flatness that mars most commercial animation. And the script is amazingly faithful in tone to the original.

It's sometimes difficult to find on videotape, but it is well worth the effort.

This short, which won an Academy Award, is the best animated adaptation that I've yet seen and is better than a couple of the live-action versions. Everything is top-notch-animation, voice-casting (particularly Sim reprising his performance as Scrooge), production values. The adaptation is quite true to the tone and spirit of the original work, even with the necessary truncation imposed by the brief length. Good to have it in print. Most recommended.