TheLittleSongbird I do concur with those who say this 1971 film is the best animated version. Not only that, alongside the 1951 Alastair Sim film, the 1984 George C.Scott film and 1992's Muppet Christmas Carol this is one of my favourite versions of the timeless story.Including this film which is outstanding, I have seen four animated versions. The others are the 1969 version which is excellent, the 1997 one which is decent and the 2001 one which is pretty bad and my least ever favourite of the story thus far. There's also one from 1994 I think that I haven't seen in years, but I remember not being that fond or impressed.The story itself is timeless, not just in the characters but also in its evocation of the period it's set and the magical feel you get when reading or talking about it. This does exactly that. The story sticks faithfully in spirit to the timeless story we know and love today, with an enchanting atmosphere, some very well done scenes including the touching scenes with the Cratchits, the intense sequence with Ghost of Christmas Yet-to-Come and the marvellous ending and a literate script.The animation is lovely, with the backgrounds especially impressive while the colours are easy on the eyes and the characters apart from the occasional entirely excusable stiff movement are drawn well. The music is wonderful as well, not just in how its composed but also in how effective it is in putting us into the Christmas spirit, while all the characters are very memorable and the voice acting particularly from Alastair Sim and Michael Hordern, both men splendid, is very good.Overall, outstanding and for me it is by far the best of the animated versions. 10/10 Bethany Cox

MartinHafer This animated version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was directed by the legendary Chuck Jones, though the film doesn't at all appear like any of his typical work. This is NOT the Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes or Tom & Jerry!! For this nice rendition of the classic story, the film received the Oscar for Best Animated Short. In many ways the film seems a bit ordinary today, though for 1971 it was a rather extraordinary film. In other words, at that time, low frame rates and cheap animation was the norm and compared to the rest of the animated films it was lovely--particularly the painstakingly drawn backgrounds. While the characters lack some smoothness in animation, it isn't that bad--especially for the day.The only real problems I see with the film aren't really the animation but the story itself and its presentation--it is a bit on the dull side. That's because much of the film is word-for-word Dickens and is like so many, many other versions. Plus, a few places where it could have been more dramatic or warm, it wasn't. But, this is a minor quibble and some of the scenes in the film were very, very good--such as the old ladies talking about the haul they got off the corpse--the voice work was excellent here. And, speaking of voice talent, some of the voices were weak--with too little energy--especially Scrooge himself. Marley and the old ladies, however, were very good.Overall, I'd give this film a 7--though it's almost good enough to get an 8. It's well worth seeing--just don't expect anything particularly better (or worse) than most of the other 247392 versions of the tale. However, if you are looking to see perhaps the best version of the story, the George C. Scott version is terrific--and really emphasizes the social commentary aspects of the story. In other words, the film makers realized it's less a film about Christmas and more a tale of greed and concern for your fellow man.

[email protected] Years ago, GLOBAL TV would air an animated version of A Christmas CAROL that was very different from the Alistair Sim version profiled here: In this version, Marley's Ghost had a skull for a face, and Scrooge had a coin in his hand that he kept rubbing. It is this coin that he gives the boy whom he sends to fetch him the Christmas turkey. In this version the story ends when Scrooge brings the turkey to Bob Cratchit's place for Christmas Dinner. The last scene - and I shall never forget it as long as I live! - was where Scrooge is sitting in a chair with his head bobbing in time to the Cratchit's Christmas music. And this was before MICKEY'S Christmas CAROL came to theaters! It was a wonderful version of the old Christmas chestnut, I can tell you!

Robert Reynolds This short, which won an Academy Award, is the best animated adaptation that I've yet seen and is better than a couple of the live-action versions. Everything is top-notch-animation, voice-casting (particularly Sim reprising his performance as Scrooge), production values. The adaptation is quite true to the tone and spirit of the original work, even with the necessary truncation imposed by the brief length. Good to have it in print. Most recommended.