Quiney Magoo aka Mr. Magoo

A song a day keeps the coronavirus blues away:

“A hand for each hand was made for the world,

Why don’t my fingers reach.

Millions of grains of sand in the world,

Why such a lonely beach.

Where is a voice to answer mine back

Where are two shoes that click to my clack.

I’m all alone in the world.”

Back in 1949 a new animation studio that was trying to be the non-traditional, rebellious studio (essentially anti-Disney) established their first actual character Quiney Magoo, or simply Mr. Magoo, a short sighted, at times temperamental, and often hilarious charmer voiced by the great Jim Backus.  It was rather rare for an animated leading character of cartoons to be a human, so he was unique right from his being a person and not an animal.  They’d have several classic cartoons, winning Academy Awards for two of the Magoos, and Mr. Magoo would star in his own feature film in 1959, the classic “1001 Arabian Nights”.

The studio went through some hard times in the late ‘50s, and was venturing into television by 1960.  In 1962 they would be the producers of the very first animated special ever done for television, the classic musical “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”.  Considering Magoo’s comedy background it’s amazing how perfectly he fits into the role of Scrooge.  Magoo was already a very sympathetic character in the cartoons, and a perfect center for “1001 Arabian Nights”, so having him in the role of the miserly Scrooge was a fascinating leap.

The story is framed with Magoo as an actor in a stage production of the Christmas classic in the lead role, but still as blind as a bat.  The animation is quite pleasing, with the colors being quite stunning, and the detail being nicely rich, the attention to the period setting making it really quite visual.  The drama is 100% believable, with Magoo being a perfect representation of Ebenezer Scrooge, and Jim Backus bringing out all the drama that comes from such a great Dickens’ character.

The voice cast has great performers like Jack Cassidy as Bob Crachit and Dick Wilkins, his musical talents on full display.  He was married to Shirley Jones and appeared on Broadway, but was still trying to get really established.  Royal Dano is a wonderful Jacob Marley, with his rich voice.  Les Tremayne is a bigger than life Ghost Of Christmas Present, with his powerful voice.  Joan Gardner is delightful as Tiny Tim (the UPA animated character Gerald McBoing Boing created by Dr. Seuss making a rare talking appearance), and as the Ghost Of Christmas Past, a ghost that actually openly laughs at Scrooge, a nice touch.  Paul Frees adds fun as the stage director and as Fezziwig, one of the great voices of animation.  Still it is Jane Kean whose small role as Belle that still has the most power.

The songs are classics by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, every one of them adding beautifully to the telling of the story:

“It’s Great To Be Back On Broadway” gives a wonderful bigger than life joy to the opening of the production, showing off Jim Backus’ immeasurable talents.  It wasn’t known if it would be best to have Backus do his own singing for the film, but he showed that he was more than up to the task.

“Ringle, Ringle” is gorgeous, while still conveying Magoo’s greed and Cratchit’s plight, a wonderful balance. 

“The Lord’s Bright Blessing” shows the character and beauty of the Cratchit family, as well as the spirit of Christmas.  It even has Razzleberry gravy.

“Alone In The World” is one of the three masterpieces of the musical, with Jim Backus as current Scrooge and Marie Mathews as the young boy Scrooge expressing the incredible pains about loneliness.  From the moment this song is finished we are on the side of Scrooge, understanding that he has lost his way in dealing with the harsh realities of life.  It is Jim Backus’ finest moment probably in his whole career.  It is unbelievably deep, and just as powerful when reprised when Scrooge is sitting on his grave, realizing how empty his actions have left him.

“Winter Was Warm” is the second of the masterpieces, and probably the greatest of the songs of the film.  Jane Kean as Belle, Scrooge’s fiancé who breaks off the engagement, is magnificent in delivering an unbelievably beautiful love song.  It is a love song of a past love, a love that has been lost to his greed and ambition, but that once was good and whole.  The melody and lyrics are staggering in their beauty, and Kean gives each phrase great meaning.  It is the song used in the closing credits, and it really deserves that honor, for it encapsulates all of the meanings of the production.

The last masterpiece is a comedic, joyous, and slightly sinister one, the delightful “We’re Despicable”, where the opportunists try to take the belongings of the dead Scrooge to make a buck.  These four reprobates are a delight, thieving, even potentially murderous, but by being cartoons, and quite adorable, it provides some much needed comedy to the very serious Dickens tale.    

In 1962 there had yet to be an animated Christmas special, amazingly no one having done one before that, the Disney classic “From All Of Us To All Of You” technically being a compilation program with new footage bridging those segments, as had the first two Disney Christmas specials.  When “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” aired on NBC on 12/18/62 it was a huge hit, being given on the network until 1969, when it went to syndication.  It did well in syndication, but started to disappear by the end of the decade.  The special even got the unique distinction of being released in 1970 theatrically, being shown on the big screen, being paired in a program titled “Mr. Magoo’s Holiday Festival”.  Not even Rudolph has had that honor (though he did have a theatrical sequel).

I first saw the special in syndication on WNEW Channel 5 around 1974, and then later on Channel 11.  I always loved it, and when I first got to videotape it when I got cable in 1981 on TBS,  I first realized how beautiful the depth of the songs were.  It was then when I heard “Winter Was Warm” in the end credits that its beauty really hit me, as did “All Alone In The World”. 

It is unfortunate that the special didn’t get as much attention with yearly showings as other classics have, but “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” is in the top 10 best Christmas specials of all time.  It is to many the best, and it definitely is on that level. 

On the fantastic DVD commentary that Darrell Van Citters guides us through about the history of the special (having also written a fantastic book on the special, one of the greatest books ever written on animation) there is a priceless story said by the widow of Lee Orgel, who produced the classic special.  On the night of the airing on NBC they were having a party at their house, renting a color TV, something still rather rare at that point.  After the airing there was a phone call, and his wife picked up the phone.  It was Walt Disney calling, and Mr. Disney congratulated Lee about the wonderful special he had just made.  He told him that it would live on for generations and generations to come, it being that special.  There is no one who would know better of such possibilities.

“Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” will always be warm.

“Oh how I wish to be,

To be in love again.

This year the winter is cold,

Will it ever be warm,

As it was then.”