Year One. Day Eleven: "A Christmas Carol" (1971)

Day Eleven of my Advent Christmas Carol Challenge:

"A Christmas Carol" (1971)

This animated version of the classic tale is best known for starring Alastair Sim, who many people regard as the greatest Scrooge ever in his 1951 live action version.

This cartoon comes from the days where people were pushing the limits of imagination in traditional animation, and as such, it's quite the most gorgeous animated film I can remember seeing. Not only is Victorian London captured in all its wintry beauty, but the descent of Scrooge is vividly realised.

There is a reason why this version has become so popular with festive stoners, as the imagery on screen is so wildly abstract that at times it seems to have come from the mind of a deranged animator.

To everyone's surprise, this made for TV version was given a brief cinema release in the US and subsequently went on to win an Oscar.

While the visuals are strong, the story is brief (only 25 minutes,) and as such has to rush through the action at such a breakneck speed, it never has time to properly sink in.

Alastair Sim is brilliant, of course. Which makes viewing his seminal version all the more exciting (Christmas Eve awaits for that one!)

As short and as depressing as the ghosts of Ignorance and Want.

"A Christmas Carol" (1971) 3/5