The 1971 version of ‘A Christmas Carol‘ is almost impossible to find nowadays.
However, this version features outstanding animation by Richard Williams (who went on to win two Academy Awards for his animation work on ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’).
It also features characters voiced by Alastair Sim (as Ebenezer Scrooge; yes, he also played this role in the 1951 live action movie) and Sir Michael Redgrave (as Narrator).
It’s probably the best animated version of Dickens classic Christmas tale ever brought to the screen.
Originally produced for television, this 25-minute long short actually won an Academy Award for best animated short. It remains the only film adaptation of the story to date to have done so.
As one fan commented, “This is no assembly-line cartoon; this is a Victorian lithograph brought to life. Splendid artwork, dizzying camera angles, magnificent and painstaking animation at its best. There are master craftsmen at work here; no shortcuts or sloppy work.”
Good luck finding a copy of this on DVD or VHS or randomly finding it streaming or playing on TV somewhere. Not sure why it’s so obscure but we wish it wasn’t. It deserves to be more well-known.
