A Happy New Year! Though it is now 2020, Scrooge Countdown 2019 continues until Epiphany, the end of Christmas season. I haven’t put as many animated versions as I have in the past, so it’s an animated one tonight.
When I decided to start gathering different versions of A Christmas Carol in the 1980’s, I came across the first VHS release of this Australian outing. Admittedly, I thought I had found the 1969 Australian animated version (which was the first one I has seen as a child). It was a great disappointment as I watched and realized this was a completely different animated ACC I had seen earlier in the decade on some cable pay station. Disappointed remains the key word.
This second Australian rendering was made for television in 1982. The year is almost surprising considering the poor animation. I’ve known opinions that have gone both ways with this version. Some see it as a complete version from Dickens text while others see it as another incomplete, choppy version. Admittedly, I see it as containing more of ACC than other animated offerings. Whether the story is a complete text adaptation or not, it is still lacking. Interestingly, Australia produced a live-action television version the same year.
The animation is poor. The issue with the obviously poor animation is that it distracts. As to the story, it includes many parts or details that aren’t seen in other animated accounts. The problem is how odd it seems when it draws from its source then garbles it at the same time. Many a famous and familiar line drawn from the novella sounds like a bad translation from a foreign text. Another problem is it’s pacing. It somehow manages to make the great story drag – sometimes to point where it feels tedious.
The Ghost of Christmas Past is the most painful item to watch. The Ghost is presented as a young man barely clothed in a Greek style costume. There are some strange lines to accompany it, too. The Ghost of Christmas Present would look fairly traditional if not that his robe is completely red!
This is an odd undertaking, Australian accents and all. This is one to watch when the options are low.
