The Stingiest Man in Town

{{Infobox television

| image = The Stingiest Man in Town logo.jpg

| caption = Title page

| genre = Christmas Family-musical

| director = Katsuhisa Yamada,
Jules Bass,
Arthur Rankin Jr.

| producer = Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Jules Bass

| writer = Charles Dickens
Romeo Muller

| music = Fred Spielman, Janice Torre

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| network = NBC

| runtime = 51 minutes

| released = {{Start date|1978|12|23}}

| related = {{Plainlist|

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964){{efn|Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Billie Mae Richards), Santa Claus (voiced by Stan Francis), and Mrs. Claus (voiced by Peg Dixon) in this special. Various actors portray the other reindeer.}}
Frosty the Snowman (1969){{efn|Recurring characters include Frosty the Snowman (voiced by Jackie Vernon), Santa (voiced by Paul Frees), and Professor Hinkle Tinkerton (voiced by Billy De Wolfe) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.}}
Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970){{efn|Recurring characters include Santa (voiced by Mickey Rooney), Mrs. Jessica Claus (voiced by Robie Lester), and S.D. Kluger (voiced by Fred Astaire) in this special. Rudolph and Santa's other reindeer also feature.}}
Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971){{efn|Recurring characters include the Easter Bunny (voiced by Casey Kasem), and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.}}
'Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974){{efn|Recurring characters in this special include Santa (voiced by Allen Swift), alongside his featured reindeer.}}
The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974){{efn|Recurring characters include Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Shirley Booth), Snow Miser (voiced by Dick Shawn), Heat Miser (voiced by George S. Irving), and Mother Nature (voiced by Rhoda Mann) in this special. Rudolph and Santa's other reindeer also feature.}}
The First Easter Rabbit (1976){{efn|Recurring characters include Easter Bunny (voiced by Robert Morse and Burl Ives), and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.}}
Frosty's Winter Wonderland (1976){{efn|Recurring characters include Frosty (voiced by Vernon), Mrs. Crystal Frosty (voiced by Shelley Winters), and Jack Frost (voiced by Frees) in this special.}}
Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976){{efn|Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Richards) and Santa (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's other reindeer also feature.}}
The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (1977){{efn|Recurring characters include Easter Bunny (voiced by Skip Hinnant), and S.D. Kluger (voiced by Astaire) in this special.}}
Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977){{efn|Recurring characters in this special include Santa (voiced by Frees), alongside Rudolph and his other featured reindeer.}}
The Stingiest Man in Town (1978){{efn|Recurring characters in this special include Santa Claus during a scene which compares the Ghost of Christmas Present to him (both characters were voiced by Frees).}}
Jack Frost (1979){{efn|The recurring character is Jack Frost (voiced by Robert Morse) in this special.}}
Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979){{efn|Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Richards), Frosty (voiced by Vernon), Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Darlene Conley), Crystal (voiced by Winters), and Jack Frost (voiced by Frees) in this special. Santa's other reindeer also feature.}}
Pinocchio's Christmas (1980){{efn|The recurring characters in the special include Santa (voiced by Swift), alongside his featured reindeer.}}
Frosty Returns (1992){{efn|The recurring character is Frosty (voiced by John Goodman) in this special. Mother Nature is also referenced in the short.}}
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys (2001){{efn|Recurring characters include Rudolph (voiced by Kathleen Barr), Santa (voiced by Garry Chalk), and Mrs. Claus (also voiced by Barr) in this film. Santa's other reindeer, and various other characters from the 1964 original also feature.}}
The Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2005){{efn|Recurring characters include Frosty (voiced by Bill Fagerbakke), and Professor Tinkerton (voiced by Kath Soucie) in this special.}}
A Miser Brothers' Christmas (2008){{efn|Recurring characters include Snow Miser (voiced by Juan Chioran), Heat Miser (voiced by Irving), Santa (voiced by Rooney), Mrs. Claus (voiced by Catherine Disher), and Mother Earth (voiced by Patricia Hamilton) in this special. Santa's reindeer also feature.}}

}}

The Stingiest Man in Town is a 1978 animated Christmas musical television special based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol.{{cite book |last1=Lenburg |first1=Jeff |title=The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons |date=1999 |publisher=Checkmark Books |isbn=0-8160-3831-7 |access-date=6 June 2020 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780816038312/page/330/mode/2up |page=330}} It was created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, and features traditional animation rather than the stop motion animation most often used by the company.{{cite news |last=VanDerWerff |first=Emily Todd |url= https://www.vox.com/2014/12/24/7446181/worst-christmas-specials |title=The makers of Rudolph also created some of the most off-the-wall Christmas specials ever |work=Vox |date=December 22, 2017 |access-date=September 30, 2019}} It was an animated remake of a long-unseen, but quite well received, live-action musical special (also called The Stingiest Man in Town) which had starred Basil Rathbone, Martyn Green and Vic Damone. The live-action version had been telecast on December 23, 1956, on the NBC anthology series The Alcoa Hour, and was released on DVD in 2011 by VAI.{{cite news |last=VanDerWerff |first=Emily Todd |url= https://www.avclub.com/the-stingiest-man-in-town-1798170822 |title=The Stingiest Man In Town |work=The A.V. Club |date=December 14, 2011 |access-date=September 30, 2019}} The animated remake first aired December 23, 1978, in the United States on NBC, and was telecast in Japan the next day.

Plot

The Stingiest Man in Town is the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, told through the perspective of the insect B.A.H. Humbug, a word play on Scrooge's catchphrase, "bah humbug". Scrooge is portrayed as the tightwad Charles Dickens intended him to be, with his consistent resistance to assist the poor, or even have Christmas dinner with his nephew Fred and his family. In hopes of resuscitating the goodness of his friend, the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner, visits Scrooge in his mansion, exhorting him to change his ways. Scrooge deems this to be madness and soon prepares for bed.

Nevertheless, Scrooge's attitude soon changes after a fateful night, wherein three ghosts visit him and take him through his past and present, and show him what his future will be like if he does not change. Scrooge sees a younger version of himself and realizes how greedy and miserly he has become. The Ghost of Christmas Present proceeds to take Scrooge to the home of his diligent employee Bob Cratchit, and discovers just how much poverty Cratchit and his family wallow in. Cratchit's crippled son Tiny Tim touches Scrooge's heart and instigates a transformation within his personality. The Ghost of Christmas Future then brings Scrooge to a cemetery to show the result of his once greedy behaviour. The production concludes with Scrooge assisting those less fortunate than himself.

Cast

Walter Matthau as Ebenezer Scrooge
Robert Morse as Young Ebenezer Scrooge
Tom Bosley as B. A. H. Humbug, Esq.
Theodore Bikel as Jacob Marley's Ghost
Dennis Day as Nephew Fred
Paul Frees as The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present
Sonny Melendrez as Bob Cratchit
Debbie Clinger as Martha Cratchit
Robert Rolofson as Tim "Tiny Tim" Cratchit
Steffani Calli as Belinda Cratchit
Eric Hines as Peter Cratchit
Darlene Conley as Mrs. Cratchit
Shelby Flint as Belle
Charles Matthau as The Boy
Dee Stratton as Fred's Wife
Diana Lee as Voice

Staff

File:The Stingiest Man in Town - ad.jpg

Producers/Directors - Arthur Rankin, Jr., Jules Bass
Associate Producer - Masaki Iizuka
Writer - Romeo Muller
Based on the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Music - Fred Spielman
Book and Lyrics - Janice Torre
Design - Paul Coker, Jr.
Animation Coordinator - Toru Hara
Animation Supervisor - Tsuguyuki Kubo
Animation Director - Katsuhisa Yamada
Background Design - Minoru Nishida
Backgrounds - Kazusuke Yoshihara, Kazuko Ito
Layouts - Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Tadakatsu Yoshida, Hidemi Kubo
Animation - Yoshiko Sasaki, Masahiro Yoshida
Sound Recording - John Curcio, John Richards, Dave Iveland, Robert Elder
Sound Effects - Tom Clack
Vocal Arrangements - Jerry Graff
Music Supervision - Maury Laws
Music Arranger/Conductor - Bernard Hoffer

Production

As with previous Rankin-Bass specials, animation duties for the 1978 version were provided by a Japanese studio, in this case Topcraft, many of whose animators would later form the core of Studio Ghibli.{{cite book |last=Clements |first=Jonathan |title=Anime: A History |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing p. 109 |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-8445-7884-9}} The Stingiest Man in Town was broadcast in Japan on Christmas Eve of 1978 (under the title Machi Ichiban Kechinbō). The Japanese version was directed by Katsuhisa Yamada, better known for his work on Mazinger Z and Devil Hunter Yohko and the characters were designed by Paul Coker Jr.