That F*ing Monkey Podcast (feat. Me)

Ken O and Brandon from the That F*ing Monkey blog have started a podcast with their pal Eron and allowed me the honor of joining them for Episode 1.

As promised by the logo, the podcast focuses on comics, games, and booze. We talked about Kill All Monsters! some, but also Hawkeye, Rocketeer, JJ Abrams, the state of North American genre TV, and Eron reviews Batch 19 beer.

I don't remember if video games came up, but they definitely did in the team's Episode 0, a test episode that they decided to release for public consumption. They're a bunch of funny guys talking about alcohol and nerd stuff, so check them out.

'Merry Christmas, Uncle!' | Scrooge McDuck (1983)

In Mickey's Christmas Carol, Fred doesn't enter abruptly (he's announced by the clanging of Scrooge's bell on the door), but he does enter boisterously. He's played by Donald Duck, after all, who's never been known for having a subdued personality. He enters with wreath in hand and shouts, "Merry Christmas!"

Donald's an interesting choice for Fred. Of course, he is Scrooge McDuck's nephew, so the casting is a no-brainer on that level, but Donald's famously short temper doesn't fit with how Fred is usually portrayed. That's why we see none of it in this short film. Here, Donald is all about enthusiasm for the Day and he makes a delightful, if somewhat dim Fred.

Most of Dickens' dialogue is right out the window in this version, replaced with jokes that still manage to get across the point of the scene. Fred loves Christmas; Scrooge doesn't see the point. In a variation on Dickens, Scrooge declares that Christmas is "just another workday and any jackanapes who thinks else should be boiled in his own pudding." As with the other short versions of the story, Scrooge and Fred's bad relationship is centered entirely around Christmas, with no mention of Fred's marriage.

I mentioned before that Donald's Fred is a bit dim. That fits with Donald's personality, but it does mean that someone else will have to do the heavy lifting in expressing the true meaning of Christmas to Scrooge. As you might expect, that's Mickey's job. He bravely inserts himself into Scrooge and Fred's conversation a couple of times, good-naturedly defending Christmas to his boss. There's no fear of his being fired here, but that's to be expected too. An integral part of Mickey's personality is his pluckiness and optimism, so his Cratchit can't be timid and afraid of Scrooge. Especially not when Scrooge is already being played for laughs. Scrooge's grumpiness is comical, not frightening, and Cratchit reacts accordingly.

He does show a little timidity though when there's a laugh to be had from it. For instance, he quickly explains his applause at Fred's "speech" (actually just Donald's shouting "Merry Christmas!" some more) as an attempt to keep his hands warm.

Scrooge ultimately kicks Fred out of the office, so there's no time for Fred and Cratchit to exchange Christmas greetings at the end of the scene. They did a little of that when Fred came in though, and once he's gone we also hear Cratchit remark that Fred is "always so full of kindness."

"Aye," Scrooge says. "He always was a little peculiar."

Kill All Monsters!, Chapter 3 is out!

I've been neglecting some personal announcements in favor of getting Christmas Carol posts up every day, but I shouldn't do that. Some of this stuff really ought not to wait until January.

Like how Kill All Monsters!, Chapter 3 is now on Artist Alley Comics and available for owning at only 99 cents!

For the past two issues, the Kill Team has been worried about the development of a giant, killer robot that works completely outside of any human control. This issue, he shows up. And so do some mutant pig-people.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

'Merry Christmas, Uncle!' | Marvel Classic Comics #36 (1978)

I like Fred's sudden appearance in Marvel's adaptation. He walks into the office unannounced as the caption is still talking about how cold and miserable Cratchit is. Fred's a dapper, young man who looks like a sea captain once he takes off his top hat. He's not festively decked out, but he's mostly smiles except for one bit where he loses his temper.

Though Marvel only uses a page-and-a-half for this scene, the dialogue between Scrooge and Fred is pretty much unaltered except for some very minor trimming and a couple of interesting substitutions. Instead of "What reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough," Doug Moench writes, "You're poor as a door mouse." That's just a weird simile and I have no idea why Moench uses it. It doesn't make anything clearer, unlike another change when Scrooge threatens that Cratchit's in danger of losing his "job" instead of his "situation."

The main page of this scene is rather text heavy, but I like how much of Fred's speech it includes. It's during the speech that he looks angry, or at least passionate, so that's appropriate. In general, this scene is a lot better done than the introductory one. I also dig how as soon as Fred finishes his speech, he plops himself into a chair and lackadaisically invites Scrooge to dinner. It creates an almost bipolar Fred, but communicates the character pretty well in an abbreviated way. Fred is generally easy going, but he's also passionate about Christmas and what it represents. Moench's script even includes the line that I like so much about thinking "of people less fortunate as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

When Scrooge refuses the dinner invitation, Moench tweaks it just a little to read, "The day I dine with you will be the day we're both roasting in --" He leaves it as unfinished as Dickens does, but also intensifies it. I wish he'd completed the line though, because there's no good reason for Scrooge to cut it off. Fred does speak next, but it's in a different panel, so it doesn't appear that he's interrupting. The rhythm sounds like Scrooge was ready to swear, but inexplicably censored himself.

The comic stays focused on Scrooge and Fred, so though Cratchit applauds Fred's speech and Scrooge threatens Cratchit's job, it's only in one panel that shows Cratchit clapping from the shadows of the office. We don't learn anything more about Scrooge and Cratchit's relationship in this scene, except for when Fred leaves and says goodbye to the clerk. Moench includes the line (slightly altered), "There's another lunatic - my clerk, earning fifteen shillings a week, with a wife and family, talking about being merry."

He closes the scene with another interesting dialogue change. In Dickens, Scrooge says, "I'll retire to Bedlam," indicating that all this Christmasing is driving him crazy. Moench changes that to, "He'll (referring to Cratchit) retire to bedlam." It doesn't have as nice a ring to it as Dickens' line, but it's actually funnier since Scrooge has just been talking about Cratchit's wages. The only retirement plan Bob has is the insane asylum.

It also fits well with Dickens' segue to the next scene when he writes, "This lunatic (again, referring to Cratchit), in letting Scrooge's nephew out, had let two other people in." In Dickens, that makes two potential lunatics: Cratchit and Scrooge. Moench condenses it to one.

'Merry Christmas, Uncle!' | Classics Illustrated #53 (1948)

I did this last year, too, but I forgot Classics Illustrated #53. I think I've got that fixed so I won't do it again next year, but here it is, out of chronological order.

Classics Illustrated devotes two pages to Fred's introduction.The nephew is drawn young and cheery; carrying a Christmas wreath and wrapped packages. He's not overly jolly, but he's obviously enjoying the holiday season and doesn't seem to resent the duty of coming to visit Scrooge. The text says that he "suddenly" announces himself, so there's the abrupt entrance.

The conversation is true to the text for a while, with only minor edits, until it gets to Fred's speech, which is trimmed way down to fit into a single panel. Cratchit's reaction to the speech is pretty funny, but unintentionally. He claps, Scrooge threatens his job, and it's at that point that Cratchit starts poking the fire and accidentally makes it go out. Unlike Dickens' version, the fire's going out isn't what's funny in the scene. In fact, because of the way the panel is colored with bright yellow and orange filling the fireplace, it's impossible to tell visually that there's not a raging fire in there. Only the caption box explains what's going on, so the joke is lost. What's funny is Cratchit's humbly poking the fire and thinking to himself, "When will I ever learn to control my emotions?" Indeed, Bob.

It doesn't look like Cratchit's genuinely afraid for his job though. Scrooge is unpleasant, but he's already threatened Cratchit a couple of times in this adaptation, so one would think that those threats are pretty toothless by now.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Scrooge does finish the "I'll see you in Hell first" line in response to his nephew's invitation, though he substitutes "Hades." It's kind of odd that they choose to keep it, because the rest of their conversation is severely trimmed down in the last part of the scene. There's no discussion of Fred's wife or any hints as to why Scrooge dislikes his nephew. It's just, "Come to dinner," then, "Go to hell." Fred takes off right after that.

Without any other clues, Scrooge's refusal is all about Christmas and not about his nephew. That's the second time we've seen this in an abridged version, and I bet it won't be the last.

Merry Christmas, Uncle: Walter Matthau (1978)

As we noticed last time we looked at The Stingiest Man in Town, Cratchit announces Scrooge's nephew as a diversionary tactic to get the boss' attention off himself. Since this happens before Fred can get to the door, some of the nephew's boisterousness is lost, but Cratchit's strategy supports an idea introduced in the previous scene that the clerk has a deceptive side. B.A.H. Humbug has already revealed that he and Cratchit have been smuggling coal behind Scrooge's back for some time. This Cratchit is a wily character, but Matthau's Scrooge is so dull and unpleasant that I don't care.

Fred's jolly enough. In fact, he's literally skipping up the street as he approaches the counting house. Scrooge of course thinks he's a fool, but Cratchit boldly states that he likes Fred. "His smile warms my heart."

What bluster was lost by Cratchit's announcing Fred is picked up again when the nephew (looking sort of like Bilbo Baggins from Rankin-Bass' The Hobbit) bursts through the door, singing. Scrooge turns the number into a duet by disagreeing as often as possible. I'll put Scrooge's lines in parenthesis:

Merry Christmas, Uncle Scrooge!
(Humbug!)
Oh, be merry, Uncle Scrooge!
(Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!)

(What's so merry on Christmas Day?
The merry money you throw away?
The merry bills you have to pay?
When you say "Merry Christmas," I say "Bah!")

Here's a present, Uncle Scrooge!
(Humbug! I think you are a fool to waste your cash.)

(What's the present you always buy?
A handkerchief or an awful tie?
Look at this tie and you'll know why
When I get Christmas presents, I say, "Trash!")

But everything at Christmas is so jolly
And lively!
The Christmas trees and wreaths of holly...
(Poison ivy!)
The boys and girls who dream about St. Nicholas!
(Saint Nicholas? Ridiculous!)

Don't you like him, Uncle Scrooge?
(Humbug!)
Good old Nicholas?
(That's a lot of slush!)

(I abominate old Saint Nick.
His reckless spending makes me sick!
I think St. Nick's a lunatic!
When you say, "Old Saint Nicholas," I say, "Bosh!)

As they sing, Fred does indeed give Scrooge a tie that Scrooge tosses at Cratchit. The nephew also offers a poinsettia and Scrooge throws that to the ground, smashing it. The gift-giving is an interesting addition to Dickens' story and I almost wish that some of the other versions tried it just to see how their Scrooges would've reacted. Matthau's reaction sort of makes sense in light of Scrooge's principles, but I could also believe a Scrooge who selfishly kept the gifts rather than refusing or destroying them.

I also like what the gift-giving does to Fred's reason for coming to see Scrooge. This isn't some half-hearted attempt made from habit (as in Richard Williams' cartoon). It's obviously an annual occurrence, but a sincere one. Even if his gifts do kind of suck.

The song takes a short break while Fred invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner. Scrooge refuses, but his reason is again all about the occasion, not about Fred himself. In this simplified version, his only beef with his nephew seems to be about the holiday, but it defines their relationship.

Oh, don't you like a juicy Christmas turkey?
(Detest it!)
Plum pudding with a brandy sauce?
(Can't digest it!)
You'll get a mellow feeling for humanity.
(Humanity? Insanity!)

You'll enjoy it, Uncle Scrooge!
(Humbug! It may be fun for you, but not for me!)

(I'm not merry on Christmas Day.
I'm never happy; I'm never gay.
If you think I could feel that way,
Then you are just as stupid as can be.)

(If you think I'd be merry
And chirp like a canary,
Then you are even dumber than a dumb bug.
When you say, "Merry Christmas," I say, "Nonsense! Fiddlesticks! Poppycock!"
And just plain, "Humbug! Humbug! Humbug! Humbug! Humbug!")

Fred gives up after that, but tells Scrooge that he pities him. "Maybe I'll never be as rich as you," he says, "but I'll go to my grave still believing in a Merry Christmas."

That's where Scrooge starts his "Good Afternoons" as Fred continues throwing laudatory adjectives in front of Christmas until Scrooge throws him out. All the best lines have been cut out of their conversation in favor of the song. Disappointing, but not surprising.

'Merry Christmas, Uncle!' | Alastair Sim (1971)

In Richard Williams' animated version, Scrooge's nephew is introduced with the tinkling of the bell over the front door and a flurry of wind that scatters Scrooge's papers. He intrudes on what till now has been a soundless scene except for the ticking of a wall clock and the scratching of quills on paper. His intrusiveness is further emphasized by the animators' having him lean in close to the camera - his face filling the screen - as he questions his uncle's calling Christmas a humbug.

At first I thought this might just be the animators' showing off a bit - the shot is rather fancy and highlights the smoothness of the character's movement as well as the detail in his face - but when we cut to both the nephew and Scrooge in the same shot, the nephew's face is still very close to Scrooge's.

The nephew is friendly, but not overly jolly. That's a weakness in the animation. Though the characters are well-designed, they're not very well-animated. Their expressions don't change much and while their movements look natural, they're far too slow. That gives the conversation the feeling of sort of just going through the motions. Which is perhaps what the nephew's doing. He doesn't seem to really want Scrooge to come to dinner; he's performing an obligation as a family-member. Is he purposely being invasive too in hopes that that'll discourage Scrooge from accepting?

Unfortunately, Scrooge also seems to be just performing his duty as a character in the story. He recites his lines about boiling celebrants in their own pudding, but he stammers his way through them without seeming to mean them. There's no juice in him.

Cratchit is all but absent from the scene except for a reaction shot to... well, it's hard to tell what he's reacting to because the cartoon cuts to him at "every idiot" and cuts away again at "Merry Christmas on his lips," well before the mentions of boiling pudding and holly stakes. It's like Cratchit's cued in on the word "idiot," but it's equally difficult to tell what he's thinking about it. He looks surprised and a little mortified. Does he think Scrooge means him? So what if he does?

In the interest of time, Williams cuts the nephew's big speech and any mention of the wife. So there's no applause from Cratchit and no apparent reason for Scrooge's refusal to come to dinner other than his not liking Christmas. Partly because of this; partly due to the limitations in the characters' acting, Scrooge doesn't seem to dislike his nephew so much as simply disagree with him on this particular issue.

His first couple of Good Afternoons are even pretty laid back. He doesn't get really cranky until Cratchit opens the door for the nephew and the two exchange Merry Christmases. Is Scrooge less tolerant of his clerk's celebrating than he is of his nephew's? It's impossible to tell yet because we've had so little interaction between Scrooge and Cratchit.

‘Merry Christmas, Uncle!’ | Albert Finney (1970)

When we last saw Finney's Scrooge, he was roaring at the front door, thinking that the knocking there was some carolers returning to inflict more misery upon him. Instead, it's his nephew, played by Michael Medwin, who's a comical-looking fellow with large teeth. "Uncle Ebenezer!" he smiles. "I can't tell you what a joy it is to see your happy, smiling face." Behind the scowling Scrooge, we see Cratchit crack another smile. That's good, because my first impression of Scrooge's nephew is that he might be a witless buffoon. Cratchit hints that there's some intelligence there though and that he and the nephew are in on a joke. Unfortunately, it'll prove to be rather a cruel one.

As the nephew enters, the familiar conversation begins. "A Merry Christmas, Uncle Ebenezer! God save you!"

Scrooge rightly suspects that Cratchit may be deriving some entertainment from this and glares at the clerk before returning to his desk. "God save me from Christmas. It's a lot of humbug!"

The dialogue proceeds mostly as Dickens wrote it while Scrooge returns to his desk and uncovers his money to begin working again. There's a clever, added line after the nephew says, "What right have you to be miserable? You're rich enough!" Scrooge retorts, "There's no such thing as rich enough!" He continues his rant as he takes the tray of money and locks it away in a safe, making him seem a bit distracted as he recites the line about "buried with a stake of holly." Is he not really thinking about what he's saying?

On the other hand, the nephew grins and shrugs at the comment as if he doesn't believe Scrooge is serious. This fits with the pitiful old curmudgeon that Finney seems to be playing. His Scrooge doesn't have a lot of teeth, figuratively speaking. The nephew smiles patronizingly throughout the conversation like he doesn't believe that Scrooge is all there. Like Scrooge is a child. It's kind of infuriating actually.

This nephew is also weakened by having his big speech cut out. After Scrooge asks to be allowed to "leave Christmas alone," he adds, "And be good enough to leave me alone during business hours."

At this, the nephew finally turns serious and with all the passion he can muster says, "Seven o'clock on Christmas Eve! That's not business hours! That's drudgery for the sake of it and an insult to all men of good will!"

At which Cratchit sort of sighs, "Hear hear."

Scrooge gets quiet for a moment and walks over to Cratchit's desk. When he speaks again, it's to threaten Cratchit's job and he seems very serious about it. Cratchit apparently takes it that way. Scrooge seems to have some power at last.

In spite of the nephew's weak "speech," Scrooge still pays him the "powerful speaker" compliment. That gets the nephew laughing again and he invites Scrooge to Christmas dinner with "my wife and me."

Scrooge has never stopped walking around the office and working throughout the entire discussion. He doesn't look up at his nephew here, so we can't see his face, but from the way he inquires about his nephew's marriage it sounds like this is the first he's hearing about it. His objections don't appear to be financial though, but prejudicial. "If there's one thing in the world more nauseating than a Merry Christmas, it's the hypocrisy of a happy marriage with some idiot, love-sick female. Good afternoon."

The nephew allows himself to be dismissed with the clarification that the offer still stands. On his way out, he and Cratchit exchange pleasantries and it's interesting that I sort of despise them both right then. I seem to have gained some genuine sympathy for Finney's Scrooge - unlikable though he is - who doesn't seem so hateful as much as just wanting to be left alone and constantly having this Christmas stuff shoved in his face. Cratchit and the nephew's pleasant greetings to each other - completely ignoring the tension of the scene that's just played out - feel like passive aggressive platitudes. I don't doubt that the two men like each other and are genuine in their well-wishes, but the subtext is that they're teaching Scrooge a lesson of some kind by showing him how regular people behave at Christmastime. That cheapens what they're doing and makes me like them less.

To make matters worse, the nephew turns at the door for one more dig. "Oh, and uncle... Happy New Year!" His smile as he cheerfully ducks Scrooge's final "Good afternoon!" is malicious.

James Biggie's Kill All Monsters! print

Today would be where we talked about Scrooge's nephew in the Teen Titans #13 version of A Christmas Carol, if the comic actually included that character. Since it doesn't, I'll use the break to show you this awesome poster James Biggie made for Kill All Monsters!.

James writes Robot God Akamatsu, an awesome comic that also happens to feature giant robots slugging it out with giant monsters. Though Frankie B. Washington draws RGA, James is a talented artist and designer his own self as you can see. He's given us permission to use the poster as a Kickstarter reward once we get that up and running, so you'll soon have the opportunity to own one of these for yourself.

Thanks again, James!

‘Merry Christmas, Uncle!’ | Fredric March (1954)

With its run time of less than an hour, the Christmas Carol episode of Shower of Stars had to be super efficient with its storytelling. As we noticed last year, it begins not with Scrooge and Cratchit, but with the charity solicitors. We’ll look at their scene next year (and how it’s a suitable introduction to Marley), but this year we’ll pick up with their leaving Scrooge’s office.

Before Fred arrives, Cratchit comes into the office from a side door just as the solicitors are leaving through the front. The clerk is holding a coal shovel and Scrooge scolds him for having been gone five minutes. “Let it go out,” Scrooge orders, referring to Cratchit’s neglected fire. Cratchit seems especially timid in this version. He stammers and shuffles about uneasily, walking on egg shells.

As he disappears back into his alcove, the door opens and in walks a jubilant Fred with a boisterous, “Merry Christmas, Uncle! God save you!” Ray Middleton plays the role in a cartoonish, overly expressive way like a department store Santa. He’s deepening his voice and flourishing his arms in big, sweeping movements. He preaches at Scrooge about Christmas as if he’s instructing school children. In short, he’s trying way too hard.

The dialogue sticks close to Dickens with a few edits. He gets to give most of his speech, but there’s an interesting change when he gets to the part about Christmas’ being a time when folks “think of people below them as if they were really fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.” Instead of “people below them,” he refers to “their neighbors.” Then he changes “another race of creatures bound on other journeys” to “customers to be sold something at a profit.” In other words, his concern is more about commercialism than humanitarianism. That’s a weaker Fred, in my opinion.

His speech still elicits applause from Cratchit, but not as humorously as Dickens described. In this version, since Cratchit’s fire is dying, Cratchit’s staying warm by sweeping the office, but he puts down the broom long enough to clap. His face is pretty priceless though when he realizes Scrooge is glaring at him. When Scrooge threatens to fire him, Cratchit goes back to work with a disgruntled glance in Scrooge’s direction. He doesn’t seem actually afraid for his job; just troubled by the general tension Scrooge creates in the office.

The adaptation also includes Scrooge’s comment about seeing Fred in… “Well,” he interrupts himself, mumbling, “You know the place I mean. I’ll see you there first.” Fredric March (best known as 1931’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, though he’s almost unrecognizable in his Scrooge makeup) plays Scrooge with a weird sense of humor that we’ll look more closely at next year, but it comes up again in this line. He seems embarrassed that he almost said “Hell,” which is pretty funny after all his other meanness. Fred looks pretty amused by it too.

On his way out, Cratchit whispers “a very merry Christmas” to him and thanks him for his speech about the day. I like Bob Sweeney’s soft-spoken Cratchit. He’s got a nice, gentle spirit when he’s alone with Fred and it’s a shame that Scrooge suppresses it. I’m looking forward to watching him more closely.

‘Merry Christmas, Uncle!’ | Alastair Sim (1951)

Like the 1910 silent version, the ’51 Alastair Sim adaptation puts the Charity Relief Committee in front of the nephew. I wasn’t sure what the purpose of that was in 1910, but it makes more sense in this one. The Sim’s version began by showing us Scrooge at work, interacting with other businessmen. When he gets back to his office, he has more ‘business’ to conduct, but with people looking for handouts. Seeing how he reacts to them makes a nice transition from the business world to the purely personal visit of Scrooge’s nephew.

The two solicitors have just left Scrooge’s office and he’s started working when he hears a noise and looks up, startled. In this version, Scrooge has a separate office from Cratchit with its own door, so we never see Fred burst in from outside. He still manages to surprise Scrooge though, and Scrooge never fully recovers for the rest of the scene.

Fred comes in from the outer office and Scrooge tries to go back to work, dismissing his nephew. “Oh, it’s you, is it? What do you want?”

Fred offers his hand and assures Scrooge that he’s not there to borrow money (interestingly, he phrases this in a businesslike way, not even entertaining the idea that he could possibly be there for a handout), but simply to wish Scrooge a “Merry Christmas.” Fred’s not particularly cheery. In fact, he’s quite serious. He doesn’t expect Scrooge to receive him very well and looks like he’s politely going through the motions. Ignoring Fred’s hand and not even looking up, Scrooge skips most of Dickens’ dialogue for the scene and goes right to, “Keep Christmas in your own way and let me keep it in mine.”

The conversation proceeds like the book for a couple of lines until Scrooge points out that not “much good [Christmas] has ever done you.” The nephew protests that it’s certainly never done him any harm either, which gives Scrooge the opening to voice his objections about his nephew. “No, your wayward nature has done that. And your marriage.”

They argue for a second about whether Fred’s marriage was the making or the ruin of him, and Fred sees his opening. “Why don’t you come and see for yourself if you won’t take my word for it? Come and dine with us tomorrow.”

That finally gets Scrooge to look up from his work. He actually looks hurt by the suggestion, as if surely Fred knows Scrooge’s answer already and how dare he make them both go through this conversation. Scrooge shakes his head, but is surprisingly polite. “No, thank you.” No mention of seeing Fred in Hell first. Though there’s an obvious rift between Sim’s Scrooge and Fred, Scrooge seems oddly vulnerable around his sister’s son.

Fred is baffled by the degenerated relationship and goes back to Dickens’ text. “But why? Why?”

As in Dickens, the issue is Fred’s marriage (though we’ll learn later in a non-Dickensian scene that there’s actually more to it than that). The conversation proceeds more or less according to Dickens from there, with a couple of noticeable variations. First, when Fred says that he married because he fell in love, Scrooge doesn’t growl at the idea, he simply mocks it, pointing out that Fred’s wife is “a woman as penniless as yourself.”

As they continue to argue, Fred becomes angrier at Scrooge’s stubbornness. He more or less shouts his final “And a Happy New Year!” The affect this has on Scrooge is startling. He’s visibly shaken as he raises his own voice to bid Fred, “Good afternoon!” His hand is still trembling as Fred goes back to the outer office and Scrooge shouts a lame “Humbug!” at the retreating nephew and attempts to return to work.

The Scrooge we saw on the Exchange and Scrooge as he is around his nephew are very different characters. On the Exchange, Scrooge is energetic and dangerous. Where his sister’s boy is concerned, Sim’s Scrooge is much less sure of himself. It’s the first chink we see in the armor he so effectively wears around other people of business, including the charity solicitors. By switching Fred and the solicitors around, the film can head into the next events with Scrooge less at ease and less on his guard. It’s a great piece of character development.

The scene’s not quite over when Fred leaves the inner office. We get to see him stop and chat with Cratchit a bit, which is important since this is the first real look at Cratchit the film offers. Cratchit was all business with the solicitors, just taking their coats and whatnot. With Fred, we learn a little more about the clerk as Fred asks after the various Cratchits, including “the little lame boy” Tim.

Fred’s demeanor with Cratchit is pleasant and warm, as if he’s relieved to be away from his uncle and interacting with a normal person. Cratchit seems a bit nervous though. Scrooge is in the other room and not paying attention as far as we can tell, so maybe Cratchit simply feels socially inferior to Fred. That fits with the way he talks about Fred later on during the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, when he acts pleased and grateful that Fred would condescend to offer condolences about Tim and again ask after Cratchit’s family. In spite of Scrooge’s insult about Fred’s being penniless, Fred and Company celebrate Christmas much more luxuriously than the Cratchits, so there’s something of a class difference there. You don’t feel it from Fred, but Cratchit may have a different view.

Another explanation for Cratchit’s unease though could be that it’s just the way he generally is at work. We haven’t seen any real interaction yet between him and Scrooge, but knowing the kind of businessman Scrooge is, it’s not surprising that his clerk would be a nervous fellow. We’ll see more of their relationship in coming scenes, but I like how the film gives us hints already without our having to see them so much as speak to each other. Unfortunately, the movie cuts out Fred’s big speech and Cratchit’s comical reaction to it, but by doing that it adds a subtle, sinister element to the Scrooge-Cratchit relationship that’s quite effective.