Customer Reviews

Rich Little's Christmas Carol and Robin Hood

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this for my dad because he likes watching it every year and it is a great show. I looked around for a long time to find the DVD version and I was excited to get it but the excitement was soon over after I watch the DVD and the Video and Audio are as if you were watch an old warn out VCR tape, I thought for the high price of this item that it was professionally premastered but it not. You could get the same quality by just recording the VCR version onto a DVD. If you don't have the VCR version I guess I might buy the DVD then.

This DVD is very funny. The Christmas Carol is just how it was shown for the first time on TV. Although the Robin Hood one had some scenes removed such as when Robin Hood met Friar Tuck for the first time. Other than that it was fun to watch those two programs again. I most definately recommend this DVD. Signed Erin Eastwood

Sure it's made in 1978 but that's its charm (before CGI ruled the world film makers had to be a bit more special effects creative). I really think this is a great blend of characters, comedy and story. It's a shorter version, of course, not as involved, basicaly made just for the comedy. Rich Little's impersonations are right on and it all just makes for some dated, a little cheesy, Christmas, leave reality behind fun. It may not be for all but those that 'get it' will enjoy it. I'm glad this is out on DVD again. I remember watching this on HBO back in the early 80's during Christmas and just laughing.

I used to watch his Christmas Carol show on HBO about 10 times every Christmas when I was younger. Ever since I've searched in video stores for it but no one had even heard of it. FINALLY I've found it, watched it, and still LOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been looking for this on DVD or VHS for YEARS! One of my all-time fave Christmas movies! I didn't know who half the impersonations were when I was young, but I memorized them all nonetheless, and frequently performed my James Mason/John Wayne impressions for family and friends. If you never saw this as a kid, you missed out.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Though this package also includes Rich Little's comedic variation on the "Robin Hood" story, I will be reviewing his ingeniously offbeat adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol."

REVIEW

Overflowing with creativity and the expected cultural references in a Rich Little production, "Rich Little's Christmas Carol" stands apart from the mass of both traditional and non-traditional tellings of the Dickens tale.

In an amazing performance, Rich Little plays every single major character in this production. I still shake my head in awe when I think about it. He plays the characters through a couple of prisms, as well. He is projecting his performance through Dickens' classic characters as well as through various cultural figures. For instance, here one gets Rich as Bob Cratchit projected hilariously through the persona of Paul Lynde. Additionally, there is Rich in drag to give a very humorous impression of Edith Bunker as Mrs. Cratchit. At the head of Mr. Little's long list of cultural references, he gives us W.C. Fields as Ebenezer Scrooge. This is the single best inspiration for a character in this production. It references Mr. Fields' legendary sourness and his famed actual appearance in a film adaptation of what is arguably Dickens' other most famous work, "David Copperfield."

If I had a qualm with this production, it would be that it was filmed in the late 1970's, and thus many of the references that were fresh then have lost their cache, and thus their humor. However, it is still very worth seeing for Rich Little's wonderful virtuoso performance.

I remember watching Rich Little's Christmas Carol multiple times each Christmas on HBO as a kid back in the 80's and loving it. after they stopped airing it I never saw it again until now thanks to this wonderful DVD. It was a Christmas tradition for me as a child and now I have reinstated that tradition once again. I had searched for this title for years both on TV and on home video so I was thrilled to see it once again. Rich Little's impressions are great and work very well in this condensed version of the Dickens classic.

If you know Rich Little's classic impersonations - this 1978 Christmas Special is Great Fun. Two of the impersonations later in the film I have not yet been able to identify - but I'm hopeful :-)

I grew up watching this and still enjoy it. I cant wait to watch this classic with my own children!

I've loved this since 1982 when it came on HBO. I've had trouble finding it at a good price and Amazon had it! It is Rich Little at his best; a must see. For me, it's now a tradition, along with other versions of A Christmas Carol. Wonderful!