Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
Mr Magoo plays Scrooge in a Broadway musical, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill.
Put the story inside a show, give it real Broadway songs, and an hour is long enough.
What it keeps and what it changes
Keeps: the ghosts and the redemption, played mostly straight once the show begins.
Changes: the frame and the order: Magoo is an actor arriving late to play Scrooge, and Christmas Present comes before Christmas Past.
Whose story is it?
Scrooge’s, as played by Magoo.
How much time does it ask?
52 minutes, first shown on NBC on 18 December 1962.
Jim Backus, Morey Amsterdam, Jack Cassidy, Royal Dano. Directed by Abe Levitow.
Where to find it
Other ways to get it: Blu-ray + DVD — Amazon · Find where it’s streaming — JustWatch
More Christmas Carols: A Christmas Carol (MGM, 1938) · Scrooge (1951), with Alastair Sim · A Christmas Carol (1984), with George C. Scott