The Stingiest Man in Town
On another Scrooge Sunday edition of the Advent Calendar House, we fly back in time to 1978 to revisit Rankin/Bass’s turn at “A Christmas Carol,” “The Stingiest Man in Town.”
On This Episode
- Mike Westfall (@fallwestmike), your ghost host of Christmases Past and Present.
- Michael DiGiovanni (@theatomicgeeks), the scariest door knocker in all of Scroogedom, from the Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, and The Atomic Geeks podcasts.
- Michael May (@michaelmaycomix), hobo insect taking a break from rockin’ and rollin’ all week long, from his Adventure Blog and the Sleigh Bell Cinema, Mystery Movie Night, and AfterLUNCH podcasts.
Topics and Tangents
- This is specifically an adaptation of a 1956 production on “The Alcoa Hour,” starring Basil Rathbone as Scrooge. Rankin/Bass uses most of the songs from that special.
- The original “Stingiest Man in Town” on Sleigh Bell Cinema.
- Michael May’s annual coverage of scenes from this and other “Christmas Carol” adaptations.
- Sonny Melendrez (Bob Cratchit) in “You and Me, Kid.”
- This has my all-time favorite, super creepy version of Marley’s face appearing on Scrooge’s door knocker.
- This special gets older Belle completely wrong.
- Tiny Tim has skinny robot legs.
- The eldest Cratchit sibling, Martha, is Debbie Clinger of the Clinger Sisters, a.k.a. Superchick from the “Krofft Supershow” host band Kaptain Kool and the Kongs.
- Rankin/Bass should have made a south seas-themed special called “Christmas Island.”
- Scrooge’s grave morphing into a giant devil face is a reminder in hindsight that this special was animated in Japan by Topcraft, the predecessor to Studio Ghibli.
Previous Podcast Episodes Mentioned
- The First Easter Rabbit (Season 1, Bonus)
- ’Twas the Night Before Christmas (Season 2, Episode 3)
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Season 3, Episode 1)
- Cricket on the Hearth (Season 3, Episode 4)
- Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July (Season 4, Episode 2)
- The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold (Season 4, Episode 9)
“The Stingiest Man in Town” © 1978 Rankin/Bass Productions.
Commercial Break: Glad Trash Bags Commercial starring Tom Bosley, 1981.
The Advent Calendar House is on the web at adventcalendar.house, on Twitter @adventcalhouse, and part of the Christmas Podcast Network.
Listen to this episode of the Advent Calendar House podcast
Author:
Title: The Stingiest Man in Town
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!