Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Darrell Van Citters has written a thoroughly researched book which tells the story behind the 1961 UPA film, Magoo’s Christmas Carol. He spent considerable time contacting all surviving cast and crewmembers of the production and also interviewed surviving family members of those who are deceased. He worked closely with the estates of the producer, director, writer and songwriters in assembling the material for this book. Information and photos were also gathered from several archives.

Darrell writes:

There are dozens of photos, including extremely rare shots from the song recording session. A great deal of art from the film illustrating all phases of production has been scanned or acquired for use in the book. There are over 230 pieces of art, including rare early concept sketches and at least two dozen background paintings, all of which were thought to be lost.

The story of the making of Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol will reveal
previously unknown information regarding the production as well as
dispel a number of myths currently circulating on the internet.

A labor of love, this book will be self-published by Darrell Van Citters who is a director at Renegade Animation.

According to Cartoon Brew, it will be on sale at the San Diego Comic Con, July 23-26. I won’t be there, but I’m looking forward to this book.

- I can remember waiting with great anticipation for that very first airing of this show. I had seen 1001 Arabian Nights with Mr. Magoo two years earlier and loved it. As a kid, I was more than a bit partial to high design in animation. I haven’t lost that thrill of beautifully designed artwork for the medium.

TV Guide had printed a fraction of a treasure that I studied endlessly; it was a bit of the storyboard for this film. I saved it to this day. (It’s in storage or I’d post some of it.)

The show won me over, and I’ve seen it dozens of times since. It’s still about my favorite holiday tv special. What’s not to like? Jule Styne and Robert Merrill were at the top of their game and had just come off the high of writing Funny Girl for Broadway. They brought equally fine, melodic songs to this show. Walter Scharf who orchestrated it, was a strong film musician. he’d worked on everything from Danny Kaye’s Hans Christian Andersen to Jerry Lewis’ Nutty Professor. He had scored or orchestrated many other films, even working on Mr. Bug Goes To Town as an orchestrator.

The animation was limited, but it was superb. Abe Levitow was at his height as a director and animator, and he
directed with snap and intelligence. Duane Crowther and Gerard Baldwin offered superb animation. To this day, I think the tight script stands as a lesson in how to adapt a story. It has to be one of the two best adaptations of the Dickens classic.

It’s a staple that should be aired every christmas.

For more on Abe Levitow and this film check out his site: here.

Trackback This Post | Subscribe to the comments through RSS Feed