During the UPA television era came "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol", an abbreviated but largely faithful retelling of Charles Dickens' tale. It was the first ever animated Christmas special made for television and the first hour-long animated TV special and is considered to be a holiday classic of the 1960s, ranking alongside "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!". The special inspired the production of an animated TV series titled "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo", which placed Magoo as an actor in other well-known stories. After an introduction in Magoo's backstage dressing room, Magoo was depicted in such roles as The Count of Monte Cristo, Merlin in an upbeat retelling of the story of King Arthur, Friar Tuck in "Robin Hood", and Puck in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".