2015年12月07日
A Christmas Carol
Hello, all!
A couple days ago, Kristen told you about her favorite Christmas movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol. I love that movie too! ("Cheese, please! We want some cheese!") My family watches it every Christmas. But I really love the original, Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol.
My best friend's family reads the novella out loud every Christmas Day, and I often join them! It takes about three hours to read out loud, but Dickens' English is always snappy, funny, insightful, and a pleasure to listen to. (Dickens made a lot of money reading his own works out loud!) Every English-speaking family that celebrates Christmas knows the story: Ebeneezer Scrooge is an old, bitter man. Greedy and selfish, he has no compassion for other people. One night, four spirits visit him, including the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They show Scrooge his own life, and he learns to celebrate Christmas by having compassion for everyone.
But Dickens' story is much sharper then modern readers think. A Christmas Carol is not just a heartwarming story of redemption! It's also a powerful social critique. Dickens hated the mistreatment of the poor in his time. His story contains many, many direct attacks on government policy and corporate greed. (He even has two allegorical children named "Ignorance" and "Want," who live in the shadows of Christmas' cloak!) Furthermore, A Christmas Carol is scary. It's a ghost story! At one point, Scrooge looks out his window and sees that "air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went." But the scariness also has a point: "The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever." You can read the whole story (with original illustrations) at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm (copy and paste; I don't know why Ashita-Sanuki breaks that link every time I make it)!
Even though I love the Muppet version, only one adaptation of A Christmas Carol has captured the spirit of the original. It's an amazing 1971 half-hour short animated by Richard Williams. I really, really like interesting animation, and Williams is one of the greatest animators of all time. You've probably seen his animation without even knowing it! He animated the Pink Panther title sequences and supervised Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His A Christmas Carol is pure joy: scary, funny, imaginative, and incredibly interestingly-animated. You can watch it online for free!
Remember to fullscreen—it's HD! My favorite moment is the cut at 14:28, when the Ghost of Christmas Present is animated with such incredible vigor you'd think he was being rotoscoped. Amazing animation talent!
Enjoy, and happy holidays!
—Matthew
A couple days ago, Kristen told you about her favorite Christmas movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol. I love that movie too! ("Cheese, please! We want some cheese!") My family watches it every Christmas. But I really love the original, Charles Dickens' novella, A Christmas Carol.
My best friend's family reads the novella out loud every Christmas Day, and I often join them! It takes about three hours to read out loud, but Dickens' English is always snappy, funny, insightful, and a pleasure to listen to. (Dickens made a lot of money reading his own works out loud!) Every English-speaking family that celebrates Christmas knows the story: Ebeneezer Scrooge is an old, bitter man. Greedy and selfish, he has no compassion for other people. One night, four spirits visit him, including the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. They show Scrooge his own life, and he learns to celebrate Christmas by having compassion for everyone.
But Dickens' story is much sharper then modern readers think. A Christmas Carol is not just a heartwarming story of redemption! It's also a powerful social critique. Dickens hated the mistreatment of the poor in his time. His story contains many, many direct attacks on government policy and corporate greed. (He even has two allegorical children named "Ignorance" and "Want," who live in the shadows of Christmas' cloak!) Furthermore, A Christmas Carol is scary. It's a ghost story! At one point, Scrooge looks out his window and sees that "air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went." But the scariness also has a point: "The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever." You can read the whole story (with original illustrations) at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm (copy and paste; I don't know why Ashita-Sanuki breaks that link every time I make it)!
Even though I love the Muppet version, only one adaptation of A Christmas Carol has captured the spirit of the original. It's an amazing 1971 half-hour short animated by Richard Williams. I really, really like interesting animation, and Williams is one of the greatest animators of all time. You've probably seen his animation without even knowing it! He animated the Pink Panther title sequences and supervised Who Framed Roger Rabbit. His A Christmas Carol is pure joy: scary, funny, imaginative, and incredibly interestingly-animated. You can watch it online for free!
Remember to fullscreen—it's HD! My favorite moment is the cut at 14:28, when the Ghost of Christmas Present is animated with such incredible vigor you'd think he was being rotoscoped. Amazing animation talent!
Enjoy, and happy holidays!
—Matthew
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