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Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

#1
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5/9/09 at 1:58am
  • Joined: April 2003
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Dear Guys:

One of my Holy Grails that hasn't quite made it out to DVD yet, is Richard Williams adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" that came out on 1971. It won the Oscar for best short film of that year, and was televised twice before it disappeared till it came out on VHS in the late eighties. And I fortunately have my copy which now draws astronomic prices on amazon and ebay.

People who've seen it, love it--thought it might be a bit intense for younger viewers. It's beautifully done and the research done on Victorian London shows. Chuck Jones also worked on this interpretation and Alastair Sim who starred in the 1951 film version, reprised his role as Scrooge.

I hope it does come out on DVD eventually, and I wish I knew who owned the rights.

Any other fans of this version out there?

James
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#2
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5/9/09 at 8:40am
  • Joined: May 2001
  • Location: Georgia, USA
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

Richard Williams owns the film itself, but home video rights are probably still with ABC. They released the first video (which also had editions distributed by Fisher Price) and the second edition was from Anchor Bay, as part of the ABC package sublicensed to them along with all the Selznick and ABC Films films.

So, the DVD rights, unless they've been completely reverted to Williams, would be part of the ABC package sublicensed to MGM, which in turn is distributed by Fox. Most likely, they're completely unaware they hold the rights.

Tell The Weinstein Company to release Richard Williams' animated masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler on DVD in Panavision widescreen and uncut! See and hear what you're missing from their Bitsy Award winner of Worst Standard Edition DVD of 2006 on YouTube!
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#3
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5/9/09 at 11:24am
  • Joined: April 2009
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
Richard Williams owns the film itself, but home video rights are probably still with ABC. They released the first video (which also had editions distributed by Fisher Price) and the second edition was from Anchor Bay, as part of the ABC package sublicensed to them along with all the Selznick and ABC Films films.

So, the DVD rights, unless they've been completely reverted to Williams, would be part of the ABC package sublicensed to MGM, which in turn is distributed by Fox. Most likely, they're completely unaware they hold the rights.

Hehe maybe we should tell them
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#4
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5/10/09 at 5:09pm
  • Joined: April 2003
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

Whatever it takes to get it out on DVD. I'm a Christmas Carol collector, and I pick up various versions on VHS and DVD. And I love this version.

Not looking forward to Disney's version this year though.

James
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#5
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5/11/09 at 5:43pm
  • Joined: May 2001
  • Location: Georgia, USA
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

I contacted Fox's home entertainment department about ACC. Looks like it's not in the ABC Films package, so it must have reverted back to Williams after all.

(They also don't own the rights to his Raggedy Ann & Andy feature anymore, so there's no telling who hold home video rights now)

Tell The Weinstein Company to release Richard Williams' animated masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler on DVD in Panavision widescreen and uncut! See and hear what you're missing from their Bitsy Award winner of Worst Standard Edition DVD of 2006 on YouTube!
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#6
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5/11/09 at 10:56pm
  • Joined: January 2009
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

Quote:
Originally Posted by photogray
Hehe maybe we should tell them

Maybe we should... it would be interesting to say the least.
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#7
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5/12/09 at 3:18pm
  • Joined: April 2003
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Re: Richard Williams "A Christmas Carol"

Whoever we need to beg, ask, please, or cry to is fine with me.


Can anyone contact Mr. Williams and tell him there are fans who want to see his work out on DVD. . . so we can feast upon his art.

James
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#8
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9/29/09 at 12:16pm
  • Joined: April 2003
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Any news or has anybody heard about any unreleased Christmas Carol's coming out on DVD?

I'm really hoping that the Richard Williams version will make it out soon?

James
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#9
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9/29/09 at 6:12pm
  • Joined: September 2003
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I'd like to own the '71 animated version of this holiday classic as well. I'm surprised it hasn't been released by a company like Hen's Tooth or something. Somebody should write to them or maybe VCI about it.
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