A Christmas Carol

• Also known as Disney’s A Christmas Carol
• Co-Produced, Written, and Directed by Robert Zemeckis
• November 3, 2009 (London) / November 6, 2009 (US)
• Based on the 1843 novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Voice Cast

• Ebenezer Scrooge, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come-Jim Carrey
• Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley-Gary Oldman
• Fred-Colin Firth
• Mr. Nigel Fezziwig, Old Joe-Bob Hoskins
• Fan, Belle-Robin Wright Penn
• Portly Gentleman #1, Dick Wilkins, Mad Fiddler, Guest #2, Business Man #1-Cary Elwes
• Mrs. Dilber-Fionnula Flanagan
• Funerary Undertaker, Topper-Steve Valentine
• Undertaker’s Apprentice, Tattered Caroler #1, Beggar Boy #1, Peter Cratchit, Well-Dressed Caroler #1-Daryl Sabara
• Tattered Caroler #2-Sage Ryan
• Tattered Caroler #3, Well-Dressed Caroler #2-Amber Gainey Meade
• Tattered Caroler #4, Beggar Boy #2, Young Cratchit Boy, Ignorance Boy, Young Boy with Sleigh, Tiny Tim-Ryan Ochoa
• Tattered Caroler #5, Well-Dressed Caroler #3-Bobbi Page
• Tattered Caroler #6, Well-Dressed Caroler #4-Ron Bottitta
• Beggar Boy #3, Young Cratchit Girl, Want Girl-Sammi Hanratty
• Fat Cook, Portly Gentleman #2, Business Man #3-Julian Holloway
• Mrs. Allie Fezziwig, Fred’s sister-in-law, Well-Dressed Caroler #5-Jacquie Barnbrook
• Mrs. Emily Cratchit-Lesley Manville
• Belinda Cratchit-Molly C. Quinn
• Martha Cratchit, Guest #1, Caroline-Fay Masterson
• Janet Holywell (credited as “Fred’s Wife”)-Leslie Zemeckis
• Guest #3, Business Man #2-Paul Blackthorne
• Guest #4-Michael Hyland
• Adult Ignorance-Kerry Hoyt
• Adult Want-Julene Renee-Preciado

A miserly old man is visited by three Christmas spirits on Christmas Eve where he begins a journey to mend his ways.

Talking about the story of this version of A Christmas Carol would be borderline repetitive. Any mentions of a plot or narrative would be retreading very familiar territory since most if not all of the public is familiar with the story. Disney’s A Christmas Carol is one more iteration of the timeless Dicken’s tale of a greedy and heartless man who must confront his own spiritual shortcomings.

Here Jim Carrey pulled a minor voice work equivalent of Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor or any number of films of that era where Murphy played most every character. Not only is Carrey the main character but all three of the Christmas ghosts. He does his best to provide an authentic English (or Irish depending) accent and it’s all a little mid in my opinion. Not everybody can do an accent and sometimes it is best just to go with your own voice or to do a voice within your nationality rather than to do an accent outside of it. George C. Scott, born in Virginia, had a turn as Scrooge and did almost nothing with his voice.

Sometimes it can be a little unsettling seeing Jim Carrey’s face on a CGI character. I’m particularly disturbed by its grafting upon the representation of Ghost of Christmas Past. It has never really sat well with me and the older I get the worse it feels. It is not uncommon in animation for characters to be stylized after a famous actor voicing them, but such a one-to-one transposition looked like some demonic approximation.

In some instances the animation has aged very well. In others, well, not so much. Mostly to me it is in the eyes. The close shots of the characters have life even in the eyes but when the camera pulls back to show group shots some of them look like soulless creatures from the depths of hell who are merely impersonating humans. The Power of Christ compels you!

Scrooge is perhaps the one given the most interesting look of any of the designs. He looks a bit like Mr. Burns with slightly long hair that appears both greasy and wet. The character is as icky on the outside as he is unpleasant on the inside.

There was a bit of a 3-D craze in home entertainment and thus film for a while. I’m not talking the one with the cardboard glasses linked to black-and-white films. I’m talking the most recent one for TVs that required its own glasses and this came out during that. Right or wrong there are clear instances of sequences and certain shots being done for the purpose of marketing the 3-D technology. Some lend to the on the authenticity of the Victorian era while others are straight up examples of marketing. Think back to the garish colors of many programs from the 60s and early 70s. That was to help market the then brand-new color television technology.  Unlike color television though this 3-D tech does not seem to have caught on.

I think this is fairly book accurate aside from instances inserted to sell the technology. Those stick out painfully. The long shots where the camera moves through the city, Scrooge is miniaturized and flees, or the rocketing of the cap all are meant to get the viewer hooked on this new thing. Personally I just have no need to spend more money on my home or theatrical viewing for a novelty the does not enhance the story.

Robert Zemeckis has always struck me as a filmmaker looking to make films and not just product for the studio. Maybe not always great artistic achievements but certainly movies that entertain and this does that. It packs emotion with Scrooge clearly at the end regretting his life choices-especially the ones that separated him from his love. I don’t think there’s nearly enough poignancy that aspect of the story needed. He may miss his sister Fan but Belle was his one chance at romantic love. Your heart should be broken and not just sad.

The glimpses of Ebeneezer’s future death and how he’s remembered does need a sense of bleakness which is achieved here. Having treated others poorly in life, the vultures come out and steal what they can from him and make jokes about his lonely demise. We all share a level of concern over how we will be remembered and seeing someone recalled with such disdain is shocking.

What can be surprising to viewers since this is a Disney release is that there are no musical numbers. Nobody sings about how miserly Scrooge is nor does Scrooge break into a song about being reborn or anything like that. The Albert Finney film is among my least liked adaptations because of its many absurd numbers. Better still there are no moments of fourth wall breaking.

It does in my opinion pay homage to the first film version of the story after we see Marley. That one is noted in part for the ghosts of others who have forged their own chains roaming the streets. This has a similar one as well that looks very similar.

Eyes aside, I found Disney’s A Christmas Carol entertaining. Not original and maybe a little safe but never truly disappointing. Excellent family or solo viewing. Just do not get hung up on those eyes.