Although it first aired during the same TV era that also produced the Peanuts Xmas special and Chuck Jones' Grinch, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol isn't a perennial holiday favorite like the other two cartoons. In fact, if I were to go by the turnout on this quiz, I'd conclude that it's practically forgotten today. As a kid, I always liked it best of the three, and after a recent re-watch, I was surprised by how decent it was, especially for a low-budget network show for kids. And compared to most of the TV cartoons that have come since, it looks like Fantasia.

Taking a single, so-so gag-- a half-blind old man who goes around muttering and walking into things-- the Mr. Magoo series went on for decades, mainly thanks to the muttering part, which was supplied by Jim Backus. Backus, most remembered today as Gilligan's rich pal, Thurston Howell III, first played Magoo in 1949, so by the time of Christmas Carol, he'd been doing the character for 13 years. He'd even done a musical Magoo once before, in 1001 Arabian Nights, a putrid version of Aladdin.

Fortunately, with the exception of a typical havoc-wreaking Magoo in the opening and closing, Backus and his character played it straight. So did the rest of the cast, which included veteran Jay Ward players Paul Frees and June Foray (whose career spanned Rocky & Bullwinkle to The Simpsons). It also starred Jack Cassidy as Bob Cratchit-- he sang the first song in last week's audio clue about having "the Lord's bright blessing." As I watched that part, I couldn't help recalling that Cassidy burned to death after passing out drunk with a lit cigarette.

The songs were written by Jules Styne, and as you can tell by the audio clue, they're pretty annoying in places. They're better when they accompany a minor-key scene, like young Ebenezer left alone on Xmas. After Styne finished the score, he and his partner Bob Merrill wrote a song that they thought would be perfect for the show, but animation being what it is, there was no way to shoehorn a new song into the final cut. They included it in their next project, instead: Funny Girl. So next time you hear "People," just remember it was originally written for Mr. Magoo.

Merry Xmas and a stake of holly to the three wise men of the movie quiz, perhaps the only guys old enough to remember this lame cartoon: Wayne Palmer (still the record holder almost 3 years later, with one win over his nearest competitor), E. Yarber (Wayne's nearest competitor, and a longtime friend of this weblog), and Hank Parmer (likewise longtime blog friend, and fellow Casablanca non-friend).

(I got the last two pics from an enjoyable website dedicated to all the Christmas Carol adaptations.)

Once again, we'll withhold the name of last week's movie and quiz winners for a little while longer (although the quick answer to the latter is Palmer, Yarber, and Parmer), and instead get right to this week's quiz. It's a sound quiz with one audio clue. Hints: the male star is in two of the greatest movies ever made, and the film's director has been mocked mercilessly on South Park. If you know the title, send me an email by late Sunday night. If you're right, expect to see your name in next week's anguished winners circle.

Here it is, a 1942 recording of Dickens' story with Basil Rathbone as Scrooge. Merry Xmas, everybody-- see you next week.

Sometime on Xmas eve, I'll be posting an mp3 of an old recording of A Christmas Carol, with Basil Rathbone as Scrooge. It was written by Edith Meiser, who scripted Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes series, and features Arthur Q. Bryan in multiple roles. (If you don't know, Bryan was the voice of Elmer Fudd.) But even if you don't know who Basil Rathbone was, it's still a nice way for the family to pass a little time together while waiting for Santa. Stay tuned, and merry Xmas.

From 1953

One of the wonderful, beautiful Dell kids' comics done by the great Walt Kelly

Dell Four Color #607

Monster World #6, 1965-- the bastard son of Famous Monsters of Filmland, which featured comic stories by Wallace Wood (my excuse for including it)

When this blog began in 2003, a fair amount of space was spent on one of my favorite movies, Dancing Outlaw, a documentary made in 1991 for public-TV about tap-dancer and Elvis impersonator Jesco "Jesse" White. It's a film where the eye of the beholder is everything: watching it can evoke shock, fear, revulsion and high hilarity, depending on the viewer.

My own reaction was instant affection. Not since Pete and Ray and the "Shut Up, Little Man" tapes (a longtime staple of this blog) have I found such an outrageous, yet oddly lovable real-life maniac. Taking up the tap-dancing trade from his father, who was the best hoofer in Boone County, West Virginia, Jesco entertains at parties and dreams of the bigtime. The film could also be called "The Three Faces of Jesco," since besides the light and dark sides of his personality, it reveals his secret identity: Elvis Presley.

It also introduces us to the rest of Jesco's family, living and dead (the lawyers in Boone County made a nice living either prosecuting or defending them), as well as his wife, Norma Jean, aka Priscilla. Jesse recounts the story of how his father was killed by a couple enemies of his brother, his days of huffing gasoline and sniffing butane (for his "double-super buzz"), and how the love of Elvis saved his life. All in 30 minutes!

The original Dancing Outlaw, and its sequel, Jesco Goes to Hollywood, are finally out on a legit DVD. (These movies have been bootlegged forever.) The price, however, is prohibitive ($60), and makes one wonder if Jesco isn't right about everybody making money from the film except him. My recommendation to those who know how to use BitTorrent or newsgroups is to check there, since it shows up fairly often.

As you might imagine, the cult of Jesco has led to some interesting websites and archived stories. Here's an interview with Jacob Young about finding Jesse in the first place, and this is a sweet fanpage about meeting Jesco years later. There's some more recent news online, too, and sad to say, it's not that great. A 2003 piece in Creative Loafing ends with Jesse topping off 36 beers with several lines of coke ("It's like drinking a whole lot of coffee at once!"), and this Jesco update mentions his water-free trailer and other travails.

So congratulations to the following unstumpable friends of this weblog who recognized the movie: Wayne Palmer, E. Yarber, Bill Hearne, and Hank Parmer.

I'll post last week's unknown movie and the quiz winners a little later in the day (or evening), but let's get this week's quiz going now. It's a sound-clip quiz-- listen to it here. A hint and a warning: we're not really dealing with a movie this time (although it just played a theater in Des Moines). If you know the title, send me an email by late Sunday night (yeah, it's Xmas, but I still have to work). If you're right, expect to see your name in next week's Dickensian winners circle.

From EC, the company that begat Mad-- the first issue of Panic, cover by Al Feldstein

Little Lulu #19, 1949-- no comment

What's in the pipe, Santa? Santa Claus Parade, 1952

Merry Xmas from Fat Freddy of the Fabulous Freak Brothers (possibly the source of what's in Santa's pipe)

Long-time Monday Movie Quiz winner E. Yarber introduced me to a collection of answering-machine messages left by Jonathan Winters to one of his friends, and it's as funny as I've ever heard him (Winters, not E.). Each call starts with the cheery greeting of Winters' friend, J.B. Smith, and then Winters goes off on whatever morbid tangent he feels like. He rambles sometimes for minutes, and his insults are frequent, such as, "All my career, I was too smart for the room-- and, of course, you were in the room." Here's a cut where he channels Jack Kevorkian, offering to fly to his buddy's side and put him down if his prostatitis gets to be too much.