style92 (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} style92) wrote,@ 2007-11-27 15:41:00 |
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Christmas Carol Write up.
Okay, so it's getting to be that time of year again. And lately, I've been feeling like revisiting the story of Scrooge.
I kind of Didn't, last year. The last couple of years, I more likely checked out the Different iterations of the Grinch and finally caught the old stop-motion classic, Santa Clause is Coming to Town! (Which, if it were made today, would surely be entitled "Santa Claus Begins." )
But this year, is it encroaches, I've felt a longing for that sort of "Victorian Style" Christmas. Which I know is REALLY artificial for a suburban kid born in the '80s, but heck, that's how "traditional Christmas" was always presented to me. (As a side note, that's part of the reason I find the "War on Christmas" such a laughable notion. My Grandfather, God rest him, schooled me years ago how everyone had a communal celebration at winter solstice anyway, for thousands of years, and people just attached there own things to it along the way. Celebrating Christ's birth didn't START Christmas, it was just a thing Christians attached to an already-existing holiday. So who the hell are we to get possessive of it?)
Okay, I'm getting off-topic here. Victorian Christmas. Got it. So, there are several elements of a Victorian Christmas. One my favorites is setting up little "Christmas Villages," just miniature towns and buildings in a snowy scape with little people ice skating and kids awaiting santa claus. When my mom would put up our interior Holiday decorations, that was always my favorite part.
And ofcourse, you gotta revisit the story of Scrooge. Have to. It's one of Christmas's central stories. The story of Christ's birth is for spiritual edification. Santa Claus is a whimsical children's fairy tale. but "A Christmas Carol" skillfully sums up the sociological importance of the spirit of Christmas, and why helping your fellow human being is so vital. (Basically, it goes "Look Scrooge, we're living in a society here. At the end of the day, a society is basically all about people helping each other out to make life a little better. And if you're only ever going to take and never give back, not only does that make you a gigantic Dickwad, but also an evil son of a bitch." I guess it's good I didn't write the story, because I would have given that line to Jacob Marely.)
So, I want to revisit the Scrooge tale. But how so? There's the original short Novel, ofcourse, by Charles Dickens. And it's good. You should read it if you haven't yet. I did in High School, so maybe you did to. If not, it's public domain. Therefore, copies of it are cheap and abundant. In fact, they're even online. Look it up on Wikipedia, and they'll link you to Wikibooks, there site that presents classic novels online and you can read it there. Shoot, there's even audibooks of it online, as mp3s, for free. I swear it's legal, honest. So that's another way to go.
But you know, I'm really more in the mind of a film adaption. And there's a ton of those too. I've heard that Jim Carey will be doing Scrooge in one for Next year. Well, I don't wanna wait till next year, so I'll check the back catalog.
For straight up Christmas carol movies, there's one from the fifties, and I think it's called "Scrooge." Most experts say it's the best of the Christmas Carol movies. saw it 10 years ago, and I felt it was kinda dry. My father raves about a version made in the '80s staring George C. Scott as Scrooge. It's his favorite, but I still haven't seen it. I know that sounds weird, but hey. I guess he just didn't watch it in the 15 years I lived with him. (and no, that's not a dig at my dad on any count.) A few years ago, Patrick Stewart made one for cable. I saw it. I thought it was a competent but not exceptional take on it. Still, I see it make regular rounds on DVD and it exists for that subset of Geek fandom who insists that every piece of classical literature be made into a film staring Patrick Stewart. (Look it up. There's more of those than you might think, even if most of them were made for cable.)
Nah. Actually, you know what? I'm more in the mood for a novelty Christmas Carol. What do I mean by that? I mean a version of the story that was made that utilizes a cast of famous cartoon characters to play some or all of the characters in the story. And there are a ton of those. Virtually every cartoon cast of note has taken a run at this story too. So, what is there in this catagory?
-The Looney Tunes actually did 2 takes on Christmas Carol. But don't be surprised if you can't remember either. Both were done long after the prime of the Merrie Melodies. The first one, done in the seventies, had Yosemite Sam as Scrooge. But from there, it derailed wildly off the track of the original tale, as Bugs Bunny plays cratchit, but decides to get back at his boss, so he pretends to be each of the ghosts in the tale to torment Sam in his home. You know, that premise sounds pretty good, and had it been done in the late 40s or 50s, this would probably be a classic now. But, it was done in the '70s, and as such it's one of those embarrassing chapters in Looney Tunes best forgotten. I've read and seen on shelves though that they used the Looney Tunes yet again for a tale of Scrooge, called "Bah Humduck!" and it's a DTV released just last year. It features Daffy Duck this time taking a turn as scrooge. Come to think of it, that sounds promising too. Maybe I'll have to check into that one...
The Flintstones did a Christmas Carol as a special in the 90s. Caught this one a few years ago. What's inspired about this one is that it's premise take the Flintstones, in their real, every-day regular situation, living and working in Bedrock, and has "A Christmas Carol" be a PLAY that Wilma is staging at a community center for the town to perform in and watch. And Fred lands the coveted role of Scrooge, which really inflates his ego. So, "A Christmas carol's" story is juxtaposed against a very traditional type Flintstones story. That touch really sold the special for me.
I remember an episode of the animated Back to the Future did this too, with animated Marty trying to prove the point to Scrooge. I wish that show would be compiled on DVD. Or was it already?
Didn't Animaniacs do Christmas carol too at one point?
Well, obviously I'm just killing time now until I hit upon a couple of the most famous Cartoon Christmas Carols: Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppet's Christmas Carol. taking them in turn:
Mickey's Christmas Carol may be the version of the story that hits nearest and dearest to my heart. I grew up with it. it was the first version of the tale I ever remember seeing. And I've watched it many times over the years. So, for sheer, brute-force childhood nostalgia, it's my favorite version, even if I've come to acknowledge some of it's shortcomings as an adult. Despite the name, Mickey doesn't play Scrooge but Cratchit. So, he spends most of the film looking mopey. I mean, it was such an obvious opportunity to cast Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. I mean, way no brainer. And sometimes, when things seem really obvious like that, they'd want avoid doing it just because it IS so "well duh." But no. They didn't buck the trend. Scrooge Mcduck is Scrooge. And it's really cool. Still, I do have to note that this is probably the must abridged telling of the Scrooge tale of any adaption EVER. Only, I think, two stops in time with the ghost of Christmas past. The ghost of Christmas present ONLY drops by the Cratchits, and the ghost of Christmas future ONLY drops by long enough to show us and scrooge that by next Christmas Tiny Tim has died and so has Scrooge. Still though, I must say, the film added a fairly intense touch to the future visit. Scrooge peers into the open grave, and Pete pushes him in, laughing maniacly. Scrooge clings dearly the edge of the grave, trying to pull himself back up, and he looks below to see that his coffin has opened, revealing nothing less than THE GATE TO HELL. Scrooge loses his hand holds, and falls in, screaming "I'll change!!!" as we fade to black. If the scene didn't immediately shift to him safe in his bed, it might all have been too much.
The other version is Muppets Christmas Carol. I actually saw that in theaters when it was first out but had not seen it since. Well, I knew it was considered one of the better adaptions, so I picked it up to watch last week. It was good, but I thought a little TOO faithful to the text to take full advantage of the muppets. But hey, it's probably the best adaption I've seen.
And... that's it.
Coming Soon: A review of The Batman Season 4 and a spoiler-laden review of Bender's Big Score.
Okay, so it's getting to be that time of year again. And lately, I've been feeling like revisiting the story of Scrooge.
I kind of Didn't, last year. The last couple of years, I more likely checked out the Different iterations of the Grinch and finally caught the old stop-motion classic, Santa Clause is Coming to Town! (Which, if it were made today, would surely be entitled "Santa Claus Begins." )
But this year, is it encroaches, I've felt a longing for that sort of "Victorian Style" Christmas. Which I know is REALLY artificial for a suburban kid born in the '80s, but heck, that's how "traditional Christmas" was always presented to me. (As a side note, that's part of the reason I find the "War on Christmas" such a laughable notion. My Grandfather, God rest him, schooled me years ago how everyone had a communal celebration at winter solstice anyway, for thousands of years, and people just attached there own things to it along the way. Celebrating Christ's birth didn't START Christmas, it was just a thing Christians attached to an already-existing holiday. So who the hell are we to get possessive of it?)
Okay, I'm getting off-topic here. Victorian Christmas. Got it. So, there are several elements of a Victorian Christmas. One my favorites is setting up little "Christmas Villages," just miniature towns and buildings in a snowy scape with little people ice skating and kids awaiting santa claus. When my mom would put up our interior Holiday decorations, that was always my favorite part.
And ofcourse, you gotta revisit the story of Scrooge. Have to. It's one of Christmas's central stories. The story of Christ's birth is for spiritual edification. Santa Claus is a whimsical children's fairy tale. but "A Christmas Carol" skillfully sums up the sociological importance of the spirit of Christmas, and why helping your fellow human being is so vital. (Basically, it goes "Look Scrooge, we're living in a society here. At the end of the day, a society is basically all about people helping each other out to make life a little better. And if you're only ever going to take and never give back, not only does that make you a gigantic Dickwad, but also an evil son of a bitch." I guess it's good I didn't write the story, because I would have given that line to Jacob Marely.)
So, I want to revisit the Scrooge tale. But how so? There's the original short Novel, ofcourse, by Charles Dickens. And it's good. You should read it if you haven't yet. I did in High School, so maybe you did to. If not, it's public domain. Therefore, copies of it are cheap and abundant. In fact, they're even online. Look it up on Wikipedia, and they'll link you to Wikibooks, there site that presents classic novels online and you can read it there. Shoot, there's even audibooks of it online, as mp3s, for free. I swear it's legal, honest. So that's another way to go.
But you know, I'm really more in the mind of a film adaption. And there's a ton of those too. I've heard that Jim Carey will be doing Scrooge in one for Next year. Well, I don't wanna wait till next year, so I'll check the back catalog.
For straight up Christmas carol movies, there's one from the fifties, and I think it's called "Scrooge." Most experts say it's the best of the Christmas Carol movies. saw it 10 years ago, and I felt it was kinda dry. My father raves about a version made in the '80s staring George C. Scott as Scrooge. It's his favorite, but I still haven't seen it. I know that sounds weird, but hey. I guess he just didn't watch it in the 15 years I lived with him. (and no, that's not a dig at my dad on any count.) A few years ago, Patrick Stewart made one for cable. I saw it. I thought it was a competent but not exceptional take on it. Still, I see it make regular rounds on DVD and it exists for that subset of Geek fandom who insists that every piece of classical literature be made into a film staring Patrick Stewart. (Look it up. There's more of those than you might think, even if most of them were made for cable.)
Nah. Actually, you know what? I'm more in the mood for a novelty Christmas Carol. What do I mean by that? I mean a version of the story that was made that utilizes a cast of famous cartoon characters to play some or all of the characters in the story. And there are a ton of those. Virtually every cartoon cast of note has taken a run at this story too. So, what is there in this catagory?
-The Looney Tunes actually did 2 takes on Christmas Carol. But don't be surprised if you can't remember either. Both were done long after the prime of the Merrie Melodies. The first one, done in the seventies, had Yosemite Sam as Scrooge. But from there, it derailed wildly off the track of the original tale, as Bugs Bunny plays cratchit, but decides to get back at his boss, so he pretends to be each of the ghosts in the tale to torment Sam in his home. You know, that premise sounds pretty good, and had it been done in the late 40s or 50s, this would probably be a classic now. But, it was done in the '70s, and as such it's one of those embarrassing chapters in Looney Tunes best forgotten. I've read and seen on shelves though that they used the Looney Tunes yet again for a tale of Scrooge, called "Bah Humduck!" and it's a DTV released just last year. It features Daffy Duck this time taking a turn as scrooge. Come to think of it, that sounds promising too. Maybe I'll have to check into that one...
The Flintstones did a Christmas Carol as a special in the 90s. Caught this one a few years ago. What's inspired about this one is that it's premise take the Flintstones, in their real, every-day regular situation, living and working in Bedrock, and has "A Christmas Carol" be a PLAY that Wilma is staging at a community center for the town to perform in and watch. And Fred lands the coveted role of Scrooge, which really inflates his ego. So, "A Christmas carol's" story is juxtaposed against a very traditional type Flintstones story. That touch really sold the special for me.
I remember an episode of the animated Back to the Future did this too, with animated Marty trying to prove the point to Scrooge. I wish that show would be compiled on DVD. Or was it already?
Didn't Animaniacs do Christmas carol too at one point?
Well, obviously I'm just killing time now until I hit upon a couple of the most famous Cartoon Christmas Carols: Mickey's Christmas Carol and Muppet's Christmas Carol. taking them in turn:
Mickey's Christmas Carol may be the version of the story that hits nearest and dearest to my heart. I grew up with it. it was the first version of the tale I ever remember seeing. And I've watched it many times over the years. So, for sheer, brute-force childhood nostalgia, it's my favorite version, even if I've come to acknowledge some of it's shortcomings as an adult. Despite the name, Mickey doesn't play Scrooge but Cratchit. So, he spends most of the film looking mopey. I mean, it was such an obvious opportunity to cast Scrooge McDuck as Ebenezer Scrooge. I mean, way no brainer. And sometimes, when things seem really obvious like that, they'd want avoid doing it just because it IS so "well duh." But no. They didn't buck the trend. Scrooge Mcduck is Scrooge. And it's really cool. Still, I do have to note that this is probably the must abridged telling of the Scrooge tale of any adaption EVER. Only, I think, two stops in time with the ghost of Christmas past. The ghost of Christmas present ONLY drops by the Cratchits, and the ghost of Christmas future ONLY drops by long enough to show us and scrooge that by next Christmas Tiny Tim has died and so has Scrooge. Still though, I must say, the film added a fairly intense touch to the future visit. Scrooge peers into the open grave, and Pete pushes him in, laughing maniacly. Scrooge clings dearly the edge of the grave, trying to pull himself back up, and he looks below to see that his coffin has opened, revealing nothing less than THE GATE TO HELL. Scrooge loses his hand holds, and falls in, screaming "I'll change!!!" as we fade to black. If the scene didn't immediately shift to him safe in his bed, it might all have been too much.
The other version is Muppets Christmas Carol. I actually saw that in theaters when it was first out but had not seen it since. Well, I knew it was considered one of the better adaptions, so I picked it up to watch last week. It was good, but I thought a little TOO faithful to the text to take full advantage of the muppets. But hey, it's probably the best adaption I've seen.
And... that's it.
Coming Soon: A review of The Batman Season 4 and a spoiler-laden review of Bender's Big Score.
