Mr Magoo

I am legally blind and have been called "Mr. Magoo" by taunting jerks with great frequency since childhood. So, I was hoping the near-sighted cartoon character had died with his voice, the late actor Jim Backus. But, the studio viewed as synonymous with family values announced recently (Morning Report, Calendar, Sept. 29) that it has purchased the film rights to "Mr. Magoo" and has hired a producer and writer to make a live-action film (humans instead of animated characters).

'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol' Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica When: 4 p.m. Saturday Price: $11 Info: http://www.americancinematheque.com

We, at UPA, are the creators and owners of "Mr. Magoo." Rob Wishart ("A Word to Disney: Pass Up Rights to 'Mr. Magoo,' " Calendar, Oct. 16) totally misses the point that in more than 200 films, Mr. Magoo, despite his nearsightedness, is courageous, heroic, dignified and always emerges a winner over the 20/20-vision opponents who try to take advantage of his myopia. Yes, Mr. Magoo is myopic, but so is 52% of the U.S. Wishart "sees" Magoo as a pathetic buffoon. Yet, Magoo films have been honored by the motion picture academy, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Kennedy Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many others.

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" embodies the true spirit of the holidays with its indelible characters: miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who learns the meaning of the yuletide when he's visited by three spirits during Christmas Eve; his earnest employee Bob Cratchit; and Cratchit's youngest son, Tiny Tim. The story also has captured the imagination of filmmakers over the last century, with some of the most accomplished -- and often unusual -- actors...

Nobody gives ideas for free in Hollywood. Especially when they could lead to a job. So when Film Clips decided to ask casting directors who they could see playing crotchety and near-sighted cartoon character Mr. Magoo in the recently announced Steven Spielberg movie, some were a little crotchety themselves, and declined to participate. "What? And give away an idea to Mr. Spielberg?" laughed one casting director who preferred anonymity. But others took a good-natured plunge. The consensus?

As I hydroplaned to work last Tuesday morning in the torrential downpour, with visibility only Mr. Magoo could appreciate, 19 cars without headlights on passed me. Without exception, each car was driven by a man. Coincidence or chromosomes? SHARIE LIEBERG Oxnard

Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" embodies the true spirit of the holidays with its indelible characters: miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who learns the meaning of the yuletide when he's visited by three spirits during Christmas Eve; his earnest employee Bob Cratchit; and Cratchit's youngest son, Tiny Tim. The story also has captured the imagination of filmmakers over the last century, with some of the most accomplished -- and often unusual -- actors...

'Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol' Where: Aero Theatre, 1328 Montana Ave., Santa Monica When: 4 p.m. Saturday Price: $11 Info: http://www.americancinematheque.com

A bank robbery in Westlake Village this week was the work of the "Mr. Magoo Bandit," who is suspected of robbing a dozen banks in the South Bay and Orange County, sheriff's deputies said Thursday. The bandit--nicknamed after the nearsighted cartoon character because he wears thick glasses--robbed the Coast Savings bank in the 32100 block of West Agoura Road shortly after it opened at 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Lt. Frank Woodall of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

In the opening sentence of his letter (Calendar, Oct. 23), Henry G. Saperstein wrote: "We, at UPA, are the creators and owners of 'Mr. Magoo.' " "Magoo" was created by John Hubley and me in the late '40s. Our names appear on the credits of the first "Magoo": he as the director, I as the writer. At the time of "Magoo's" origin, UPA was under the executive aegis of three men: Steve Bosustow, Dave Hilberman and Zack Schwartz, who had formed the company. Mr. Saperstein bought the studio and its backlog of animated cartoons [in 1960]

Millard Kaufman, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "Bad Day at Black Rock" and the co-creator of Mr. Magoo who waited until he was 90 to become a first-time novelist, has died. He was 92. Kaufman died of heart failure Saturday, two days after his birthday, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said his son, Frederick Kaufman.

As I hydroplaned to work last Tuesday morning in the torrential downpour, with visibility only Mr. Magoo could appreciate, 19 cars without headlights on passed me. Without exception, each car was driven by a man. Coincidence or chromosomes? SHARIE LIEBERG Oxnard

Among those who attend early movie screenings with some regularity, there is a man who is known as the Laugher. He's always in the front of the house, always ahead of the crowd, and his laugh is loud and lusty. You would hear him anyway, because when the Laugher laughs, the Laugher laughs alone. It was a virtual aria the Laugher performed at last week's screening of "Mr. Magoo," which stars the usually hilarious Leslie Nielsen as the myopic millionaire and '60s cartoon character Quincy Magoo.

Democratic donor Johnny Chien Chuen Chung did not attend Thursday's House hearing on campaign fund-raising abuses, but he was the center of attention nonetheless. Lawmakers displayed photographs of him, blown up to life-size proportions, and denounced the deep-pocketed Torrance businessman as a hustler, an opportunist, a political groupie and a wealthy Mr. Magoo.

In the opening sentence of his letter (Calendar, Oct. 23), Henry G. Saperstein wrote: "We, at UPA, are the creators and owners of 'Mr. Magoo.' " "Magoo" was created by John Hubley and me in the late '40s. Our names appear on the credits of the first "Magoo": he as the director, I as the writer. At the time of "Magoo's" origin, UPA was under the executive aegis of three men: Steve Bosustow, Dave Hilberman and Zack Schwartz, who had formed the company. Mr. Saperstein bought the studio and its backlog of animated cartoons [in 1960]

We, at UPA, are the creators and owners of "Mr. Magoo." Rob Wishart ("A Word to Disney: Pass Up Rights to 'Mr. Magoo,' " Calendar, Oct. 16) totally misses the point that in more than 200 films, Mr. Magoo, despite his nearsightedness, is courageous, heroic, dignified and always emerges a winner over the 20/20-vision opponents who try to take advantage of his myopia. Yes, Mr. Magoo is myopic, but so is 52% of the U.S. Wishart "sees" Magoo as a pathetic buffoon. Yet, Magoo films have been honored by the motion picture academy, the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Kennedy Center, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and many others.

The FBI on Tuesday released a photograph of the "Mr. Magoo" bandit who is believed to have staged five bank robberies in Orange County during the past year. Dubbed "Mr. Magoo" because of his thick-lensed glasses and his resemblance to the cartoon character, the bandit struck again a week ago at the Laguna Hills branch of Wells Fargo Bank, the FBI said. FBI officials say investigators have linked the bandit to the robbery of a Household Bank branch in Westminster on Jan. 30, 1989.

I am legally blind and have been called "Mr. Magoo" by taunting jerks with great frequency since childhood. So, I was hoping the near-sighted cartoon character had died with his voice, the late actor Jim Backus. But, the studio viewed as synonymous with family values announced recently (Morning Report, Calendar, Sept. 29) that it has purchased the film rights to "Mr. Magoo" and has hired a producer and writer to make a live-action film (humans instead of animated characters).