Review of A Christmas Carol (1971) by Thomas W — 13 Dec 2013

This is a sorely forgotten gem, created by Richard Williams and Chuck Jones. A television short, I was too young to recall its debut, but, throughout the 70s, it was shown in the afternoon during the holiday season.

The animation is what sticks in my head, so vivid. Apparently, the primary animator, Ken Harris, adapted the look of the short on actual woodcuts used to accompany a late 19th century text of Dickens' tale, thus making this truly THE 19th century version .

.. so to speak. Alastair Sim, of the classic '51 British film, "Scrooge"/"A Christmas Carol" not only offers his voice to the character of Scrooge here, but plays it much more straight compared to the previous film (also, it doesn't hurt that he's much closer to the character's age, by this time).

To this day, when I see this version, it's not just the visuals that draw me in, but the sound. It's as if the voices and clocks and such ... are in the room with you. I'd easily give 5 stars to this, but if I had one criticism, it'd be that it's just too incredibly short, which is a little sad, for such a beautifully dark version of Dickens.