Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol Turns 56
Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol Turns 56
Fifty-six years ago today, on Tuesday, December 18, 1962, “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” premiered on NBC. Charles Dickens’s 1843 book had been filmed many times before, but the Magoo version bears the distinction of being television’s first animated Christmas special.
The special was not Mr. Magoo’s television debut; two years earlier, the “Mr. Magoo” syndicated series began to air. But the “Christmas Carol” may be the finest hour of the Henry Saperstein-era UPA.
To learn more on the making of the show, turn to chapter 10 of Adam Abraham’s “When Magoo Flew” or the 2009 book “Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol,” by Darrell Van Citters.
Read a New York Times article on the occasion of the special’s 50th anniversary here.
December 18, 2018