I saw this as a child, and my family always remembered it as the best version of A Christmas Carol we'd ever seen. Rewatching it many years later, it may not be the epitome of wonder we remember, but I think it may still be my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. It has weathered far better than most of my childhood loves.

Mr. Magoo appears as an actor in a stage production of A Christmas Carol. Not only does this explain how the easy-going Magoo becomes a selfish miser, but it allows for a bit of the typical Magoo slapstick before and after the 'performance.' Magoo-ness is kept at a minimum through the actual story, with a couple of mild verbal jokes about his eyesight, but no physical humor.

The Broadway setting is also slightly disruptive, though--the graveyard scene was very well done, frightening and emotionally intense (wonderful voice acting by Jim Backus, of course) and the cut back to show the audience watching as the curtain came down really put a damper on the scene's impact (though that may have been intentional, an attempt to traumatize the kiddies less.)

The animation is limited--about what you'd expect from 60's TV animation. Frankly it was dull work making screen caps, waiting for a scene with interesting composition, because everything was so flat and basic that there really WAS no interesting composition.

On the other hand, it has the wonderfully stylized, cartoony settings you'd also expect from that era. (I particularly liked Magoo's armchair in front of the fire!) The songs are cute, and one or two of them may rattle aound in your head after the show, but they didn't hit me as particularly excellent or memorable. They are tolerable and brief and create the atmosphere they mean to, however.

All in all, there is little to dislike about this old classic, and since you're going to watch A Christmas Carol sooner or later, you might do worse than give this vintage version a try.