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YMMV / Mr. Magoo

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Series and Shorts

  • Alternative Character Interpretation: Is Magoo's nephew Waldo an idiot, or is he an ordinary college student who isn't allowed to get a word in edgewise? In The Mr. Magoo Show, when Waldo is cast as sidekick to scheming Prezly, the former's definitely the case. The original theatrical shorts, and especially the movie, tend toward the latter.
  • Ethnic Scrappy: Charlie the house boy has stereotypes, like having buck teeth, a thick accent, and squinty eyes. And probably, his voice sounds a little bit like Joe Jitsu due to them having the same voice actor.
  • Fair for Its Day: Magoo blindly stumbling through the world was originally a comment on old men who were "blind to progress." Nowadays, he's simply remembered as being a cheap excuse to make blindness jokes.
  • He Really Can Act:
    • In-universe Magoo is actually an accomplished actor despite his visual problems.
    • Out of universe, Jim Backus sings a truly heartwrenching song in the Christmas Carol.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Mr. Magoo was the star character of UPA, an animation studio that was founded by animators who left the Walt Disney studio in the aftermath of the 1941 strike. He was later adapted into a live-action movie... by Disney.
  • It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Fans of UPA cite Magoo's popularity as the beginning of the end for the studio, the point when they transitioned from the "artisy" alternative to Disney and Warner Bros. to just another cartoon studio pumping out formulaic gag-based shorts with stock characters.
  • Nightmare Fuel:
    • In Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol, there are some truly frightening scenes when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows up, such as when Scrooge sees the undertaker, the charwoman, and the maid selling his wretched goods off to the pawnbroker with much twisted glee all around.
    • There were some even nastier moments in The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo. For instance, in the ones (very loosely) adapting Frankenstein and Gunga Din, they actually kill Magoonote  at the end — on screen!
  • Tear Jerker: Young Ebenezer's song in Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, which gets an equally — if not more — heartbreaking reprise by adult Ebenezer later.
    Where is the voice to answer mine back?
    Where are two shoes that click to my clack?
    I'm all alone in the world.
    • Winter Was Warm is a sad song too. Video

Live-Action Film

  • Overshadowed by Controversy: The Disney live-action adaptation, which attracted the wrath of many blindness advocacy groups who found the film to be insensitive towards those with such visual impairments. The closing disclaimer addressing this didn't convince them otherwise, and the film was eventually pulled from theaters.
  • Retroactive Recognition: Pre-Alias Jennifer Garner as Stacey.

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