A Christmas Carol

One of the unique aspects of this animated feature produced by Australia's Air Programs International in 1969 is Marley's Ghost. Unlike any other film or animated adaptation of Dicken's classic novella, Marley's Ghost here looks different than what Scrooge's seven-year- dead partner looked like in life (unless Jacob Marley in life looked like a skeleton with flames sprouting from the top of his skull).

Many who grew up in the 1970s probably remember watching this version on Sunday afternoons during the Christmas season on CBS as part of the network's series "Famous Classic Tales," which seemed to always be sponsored by Kenner. Ron Haddrick does an admirable job providing the voice of Scrooge. The animation doesn't hold a candle to the 1971 animated version directed by Richard Williams, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Unfortunately, this title, as of December 2006, has never been released on DVD. It was released on VHS at least twice, by Rhino Home Entertainment and again by Bridgestone Multimedia.

Other animated features from the Famous Classic Tales canon have, fortunately, been released on DVD from Delta Entertainment. Some of the titles include "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," "Treasure Island," "Swiss Family Robinson," "Legend of Robin Hood," "Robinson Crusoe," "Adventures of Sinbad," and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."

Another noteworthy title in addition to API's "A Christmas Carol" that never made it to DVD is "Tales of Washington Irving." The VHS versions of "Tales of Washington Irving" and "A Christmas Carol" have become extremely rare and you will be lucky to find them.

This is a classic that was released in 1969 by API productions and was part of CBS televisions "Famous Classic Tales." The animation in this Christmas special is familiar to us, as the team or Zoran Janjic and Walter J. Hucker also brought us "Tales of Washington Irving," which featured the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" Two more commonly known releases of "A Christmas Carol" were by Rhino Productions in 1993 and by Bridgestone Multimedia in 1998. What few people know is that this cartoon was also released by a company out of Anaheim, California know as Diamond Entertainment Corporation. Diamond Entertainment released it in 1992 as part of a Christmas collection known as "5 Hours of Christmas Cartoons." Diamond Entertainment also released A Christmas Carol by itself on VHS in 1994 as part of its Christmas Classics series. Then, in January 2003, Diamond released it on DVD entitled " A Christmas Carol - A Children's Animated Christmas." In 2005 it was then released again on DVD on a "Christmas Cartoon Collectors Edition Vol. 2." All are out of print. Check Amazon or Ebay for new or used copies.

There's something about the simplicity of the animation that works here, and I did quite enjoy that. It's an heavily abridged version of the Charles Dickens story of the miser who finds redemption at Christmas thanks to the intervention of his old (deceased) partner "Marley" and three ghosts. The characterisation of "Scrooge" as a scrawny, big-nosed, curmudgeon is maybe a little too much of a caricature, but it still delivers quite chillingly well as we learn a little more of how they unscrupulously made their fortune and of how they are now held by the population in general - rich and poor. There's even a song or two to help it along and on the whole it passes forty-five minutes entertainingly enough. It's always going to be difficult to find a new slant on this epitome of tales of venality and selfishness, but there's enough originality here to make it worth a watch.

A Christmas Carol (1969)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Highly entertaining and effective animated version of the Dickens' story is without question one of the better adaptations out there. By now everyone is familiar with the story itself so there's no real point in going into great details about it. It seems like each year I try to locate new versions of this famous story and each year it really makes me think that Dickens' original story has to be one of the greatest ever written. It's so perfectly mixes in so many emotions and comes across as being so real that it's impossible not to get caught up in it no matter how many times you've read it or how many versions you've seen. The animation here is certainly one of the high-marks as everything is drawn so perfect and with so much detail that it almost feels like a live action film. It also helps greatly that nothing is lost in the animation meaning that the characters still feel very much human and none of the stories power is missing. I was very much impressed with how much emotional connection you were able to have with the characters and especially with Scrooge. The film opens up at the grave site of his partner as the rich man throws a fit about having to pay to bury him. This perfectly sets up everything that's to follow. The four ghosts all have a terrific look and manage to be quite creepy as well. At 45-minutes the film goes by extremely quick and it never feels long for a single second. Fans of animation or the story itself should really enjoy this version.

Watch the 71 one instead! This one is ok - Bob Marley's ghost is excellent, for example - but it's just not the same quality.