The Creator of Bugs Bunny Also Created an Incredibly Unsettling Animated Version of ‘A Christmas Carol’

With the number of times A Christmas Carol has been remade and rebooted, at least a couple versions are gonna fall through the cracks. Some deservedly so, like the cash-grab comedy remakes that look more like a cell-phone commercial than a genuine feature film. Others, though, just seem to draw the short straw, even missing out on things like DVD releases, probably because the Christmas movie shelf at Best Buy had already hit its safe-rated weight limit. 

So it wasn’t surprising to me to find out that there’s a version of A Christmas Carol I hadn’t seen. What was surprising was that it was executive-produced by a man most famous for co-creating Bugs Bunny and being the big papa of classic Looney Tunes: Chuck Jones.

Three things piqued my interest further: 

1. It was known for being extremely creepy.  
2. It won the Oscar for Best Animated film in 1972. 
3. It was a tight 25 minutes. 

Strangely, for a movie that won pretty much film’s highest honor, this is one of the Carol iterations that never received a DVD release. Originally, it aired on ABC, but received a theatrical release based on its (seemingly forgotten) success. It exists to watch now both on YouTube thanks to one individual's upload of a 16mm library print, and, of course, on Tubi. 

If you want a very efficient retelling that also features some art that wouldn’t be out of place on a horror illustrator’s Instagram, it’s worth checking out.

Right away, it’s clear that the fact that it’s animated doesn’t mean it’s for kids. Art aside, the tack it takes is definitely darker than other versions with the hateful edges sanded off. Right away, Scrooge follows up his classic “Bah, humbug” with a suggestion that he’d like to see everyone who says “Merry Christmas” killed by a stake of holly stabbed through the heart. Christmas is a real thing for you, isn’t it, pal? 

There’s also a couple unsettling frames, like a needlessly close close-up of the face of Scrooge’s nephew Fred. It’s a weird vibe, and this is all before any of the ghosts show up.

In fairness, A Christmas Carol is, at its essence, a ghost story. It’s just that most productions lean away from that, rather than making something that seems like a horror movie that happens to be set during the holidays. Immediately on the appearance of the ghost of Marley, who promptly unhinges his jaw and lets out a horrific scream that’s anything but a gift for your ears, you realize this isn’t just going to be a “guys in robes” interpretation. Which is cemented by the appearance of the Ghost of Christmas Past, a bone-white child with three faces who should be giggling her way through the hallways of an empty mansion somewhere.

Even the comparatively jolly Ghost of Christmas Present only lulls you into a false sense of security before he yanks his robe up to reveal two horrible little draugr-like children. The reveal of these children is definitely a scare point for all Christmas Carol cinematic interpretations, but even with that in mind, the hissing, bony, shifting-faced tots he’s toting are beyond the pale. Also, by this point, the other off-putting vibes have settled in, like people’s strange, lilting movement and the notable absence of music for much of the movie.

All of which is to say: It’s kind of awesome. The quality of the animation is genuinely very good, and serves as yet another reminder of what we’ve lost on that theatrical front. Not to mention, 25 minutes, if we’re being frank, is more than enough time to get across the story’s central journey of “what if a guy who sucked ass realized how much he sucked ass?” If goths were capable of the Christmas spirit, it would be a cult classic in the subculture. 

Just maybe don’t make it family viewing — unless you want your kids to develop a strange, formative fear.