A Christmas Carol (1971) Animated.
Christmas Carol is a 1971 animated film adaptation of Charles Dickens'
venerable novella which was a made-for-television production originally
shown on ABC television in the United States.
Production
A Christmas Carol was directed by Richard Williams and its visual style is
also largely due to Ken Harris, credited as "Master Animator". It starred
Alastair Sim as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge — a role Sim had previously
performed in the 1951 live-action film Scrooge. Michael Hordern likewise
reprised his 1951 performance as Marley's Ghost in the same film. Michael
Redgrave narrated the story and veteran animator Chuck Jones served as
executive producer. Williams' son Alexander Williams, then aged four,
provided the voice for Tiny Tim.
This adaptation of A Christmas Carol has a distinctive look, created by
multiple pans and zooms and by innovative, unexpected scene transitions.
The visual style, which is unusually powerful, is inspired by 19th century
engraved illustrations of the original story by John Leech and the pen and
ink renderings by illustrator Milo Winter that graced 1930s editions of the
book. The intended audience does not include young children and some
regard the film's bleak mood, including the scene from the book when the
Ghost of Christmas Present reveals the horrid embodiments of Want and
Ignorance, and emphasis on darkness and shadows as making it by far the
most frightening of the many dramatizations of the Dickens classic.
Academy Award
Originally produced as a 1971 television special, A Christmas Carol was
considered so well done, that it was subsequently released theatrically
(thereby rendering it eligible for Oscar consideration). The film did in fact
win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for 1972 and to this
day remains the only film adaptation of the story to be so honored.
However, some industry insiders were unhappy that a short originally
shown on TV was awarded the Academy Award, which led to the Academy
subsequently changing its policy, disqualifying any shorts that were
shown on television first.
Narrated by Michael Redgrave
Starring Alastair Sim
Michael Hordern
Melvyn Hayes
Joan Sims




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