Posted 23 December 2018
I decided to take a break from formulating my next posts and write a review about a Christmas special I’ve never seen before. Also before I write reviews about the anime I’ve been watching, I’ll take this opportunity to say the animation company who animated this special was a Japanese company called Top Craft. They animated other Rankin/Bass specials (yes, this is a Rankin/Bass special). This Christmas special is called “The Stingiest Man in Town” (1978).
On Thursday night I watched Rankin/Bass’ “The Stingiest Man in Town” for the first time. It was a remake of the 1956 live-action version aired on NBC during The Alcoa Hour anthology series. When I first read the title, I thought it said, “The Most Singingest Man in Town,” assuming there would be a man going around town and singing to everyone. Not exactly but there was lots and lots of singing in it possibly in an attempt to keep the original songs from the original movie. This movie is another adaptation and retelling of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This special stars Walter Matthau as Ebenezer Scrooge and was directed by Arthur Rankin, Jr and Jules Bass.
The Jolly Good
One thing I liked about this special was the fact that the voice of B. A. H. Humbug, Esq. was provided by Tom Bosley (well known as Howard Cunningham in “Happy Days” (ABC, 1974-1984)). Another voice Mr. Bosley has done that makes his work special to me was the kindness and warmness he put in the voice of David, the title character in “The World of David the Gnome” (originally from Spain, Nickelodeon US, 1987-1996(?)). “David the Gnome” was an animation I never really appreciated until later in life. Another point about this special that captures my attention is the fact is it a Rankin/Bass Production. Whenever I hear the name “Rankin/Bass” I automatically think of the stop-motion Christmas classics of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.” I have forgotten that the iconic company has also released hand-drawn products as well and this is one of them. The fact it’s a Rankin/Bass production (especially a Christmas one) makes me want to watch it more because the two previously mentioned special are the models of how Christmas specials should be made.
The “Bah humbug!”
There were also some drawbacks to this special. These include the amount of songs squeezed into this one 50 minute movie. I couldn’t breathe another breath between the time one song ended and another one began. Was this some kind of opera in English? Did the original 1956 movie have that many songs? Another downside to this special was the fact it was another retelling of the classic Christmas story about compassion that is A Christmas Carol. I’ve seen many other Christmas specials in my lifetime that goes by the same blueprint:
- Some selfish grouch dreads Christmas.
- He then gets visited by three ghost that show him the error of his ways.
- That same grouch learns his lesson then starts showing love to everyone to show how he’s changed.
There was even a “Simpsons” episode that mentions that fact (‘Tis the Fifteenth Season; season 15, episode 7).
A Christmas Standard?
The Stingiest Man in Town is a classic Christmas animation that can be a tradition for families to view together during the holidays. Would I watch this many times during a Christmas season? It would be something nice to add to your rotation of Christmas specials to watch at least every other year. This special gets 3 stars. Everything good about this feature makes it an absolute classic while everything not so good can drag it down quite a bit.