That particular "Christmas Carol" has been residing in brain cells apparently dormant until you wrote this article. I haven't seen it since my mother was younger than I am now so I really can't comment on it any further than to say I remember always enjoying Mr. Magoo. If it's possible to find it on DVD at a local rental place I'm going to sit down with the family and kick awake a few more bits o' grey matter.

Huh. Well, that's a bummer.

'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol' ran last Tuesday night at 7 pm on the Cartoon Network, so I taped it to watch it again. (Even though I watched it Thanksgiving weekend on DVD at my brother's house.)

Even getting an hour in the schedule, the special was still horribly butchered to make room for commercials.

Three songs were missing - "It's Great To Be Back On Broadway", "Winter Was Warm", and two reprises of "Jingle Jangle".

With that first song excised, that meant the entire opening sequence about Magoo getting to the theatre in time was gone; the show started with the play within the cartoon's opening scene. We never get to meet the long-suffering director.

And that meant the ending - where Magoo "brings the house down" on the director - was also chopped off.

And there were a few other scenes that were lost. For example, the scene where Magoo as Scrooge sits before his fire and eats his gruel.

It's always been one of my favorite of the Christmas specials, and with the songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, definitely one of the best of the musicals. So to see this mangled version made me angry as well as disappointed.

If you really want to enjoy the special, especially if it's to be your first time, go out and get the DVD rather than bother getting up at 6:30 am that day to watch this version.

This is one of my all-time favorite Christmas TV specials. Not only is it hilarious, well-written and brilliantly voiced, it's also heartfelt and traditional. You didn't even mention that it's a musical! The score was written by Jule Styne & Bob Merrill, right before they collaborated on the Barbra Streisand Broadway show "Funny Girl" -- and their work here is great. Tape or TIVO this one -- you won't be sorry. It'll become one of your all-time favorites, too.