First edition cover.
| “ | There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate. | ” |
— Charles Dickens' narration establishing a prime fact about the story | ||
A Christmas Carol is a novel written by Charles Dickens, first published by Chapman & Hall on December 19, 1843. The story is about a bitter and miserly moneylender named Ebenezer Scrooge, who goes through an ideological, ethical, and rather emotional transformation resulting from supernatural visits from the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come.
Since its first publication, the story has been adapted for theatre, film, television, radio, and opera numerous times. The various adaptations have included straightforward retellings, modernizations, parodies, and sequels.
Adaptations[]
Theatrical films[]
| Picture | Production | Year | Protagonist | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Scrooge; or Marley's Ghost | 1901 | Daniel Smith | Joe Breckenridge & James Sapulich |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1908 | Thomas Ricketts | Jason Smith |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1910 | Marc McDermott | J. Searle Dawley |
|
|
Scrooge | 1913 | Sir Seymour Hicks | Leedham Bantock |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1914 | Charles Rock | Harold M. Shaw |
|
|
The Right to be Happy | 1916 | Rupert Julian | Rupert Julian |
|
|
Scrooge | 1922 | H. V. Esmond | George Wynn |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1923 | Russell Thorndike | Edwin Greenwood |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1928 | Bransby Williams | Hugh Croise |
|
Scrooge | 1935 | Sir Seymour Hicks | Henry Edwards |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1938 | Reginald Owen | Edwin L. Marin |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1943 | William Podmore | George Lowther |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1947 | John Carradine | unknown |
|
Scrooge | 1951 | Alastair Sim | Brian Desmond Hurst |
|
Scrooge | 1970 | Albert Finney | Ronald Neame |
|
Mickey's Christmas Carol | 1983 | Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young) |
Burny Mattinson |
|
Scrooged | 1988 | Bill Murray (as Frank Cross) |
Richard Donner |
|
The Muppet Christmas Carol | 1992 | Michael Caine | Brian Henson |
|
Christmas Carol: The Movie | 2001 | Simon Callow | Jimmy T. Murakami |
|
The Northern Ballet Theatre presents A Christmas Carol | 2005 | Jeremy Kerridge | |
|
A Christmas Carol | 2009 | Jim Carrey | Robert Zemeckis |
|
The Man Who Invented Christmas | 2017 | Dan Stevens as Charles Dickens | Bharat Nalluri |
Television specials and made-for-TV movies[]
| Picture | Production | Year | Protagonist | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1948 | Dennis King | unknown |
|
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A Christmas Carol | 1949 | Taylor Holmes | Arthur Pierson |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1950 | Bransby Williams | unknown |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1951 | Ralph Richardson | Gordon Duff |
|
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A Christmas Carol | 1952 | Malcolm Keen | unknown |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1953 | Noel Leslie | unknown |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1954 | Fredric March | Ralph Levy |
|
The Stingiest Man in Town | 1956 | Basil Rathbone | Daniel Petrie & Janice Torre |
|
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The Trail to Christmas | 1957 | John McIntire | James Stewart |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1958 | Basil Rathbone | Neil McGuire |
|
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol | 1962 | Quincy Magoo (voiced by Jim Backus) |
Abe Levitow |
|
|
Carol for Another Christmas | 1964 | Sterling Hayden (as Daniel Grudge) |
Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
|
|
Mr. Scrooge | 1964 | Cyril Ritchard | Bob Jarvis |
|
|
Carry on Christmas | 1969 | Sid James | Ronnie Baxter |
|
Famous Classic Tales: A Christmas Carol | 1969 | Ron Haddrick | Zoran Janjic |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1971 | Alistair Sim | Richard Williams |
|
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A Christmas Carol | 1977 | Michael Hordern | Moira Armstrong |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1978 | Warren Graves | John Blanchard |
|
The Stingiest Man in Town | 1978 | Walter Matthau | Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr. |
|
Rich Little's Christmas Carol | 1978 | Rich Little (as W. C. Fields, as Ebenezer Scrooge) |
Trevor Evans |
|
A Special Sesame Street Christmas | 1978 | Oscar the Grouch (puppeteered by Carroll Spinney) |
Russ Petranto |
|
An American Christmas Carol | 1979 | Henry Winkler (as Benedict Slade) |
Eric Till |
|
Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (part of Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales) |
1979 | Yosemite Sam (voiced by Mel Blanc) |
Friz Freleng |
|
|
Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol | 1979 | Hoyt Axton (as Cyrus Flint) |
unknown |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1981 | William Paterson | Laird Williamson |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1982 | Richard Hilger | unknown |
|
The Gospel According to Scrooge | 1983 | Robert Buchanan | Mark S. Vegh |
|
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Scrooge's Rock 'N' Roll Christmas | 1984 | Jack Elam | unknown |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1984 | George C. Scott | Clive Donner |
|
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Christmas Carol II the Sequel | 1985 | James Whitmore | unknown |
|
|
John Grin's Christmas | 1986 | Robert Guillaume (as John Grin) |
Robert Guillaume |
|
Blackadder's Christmas Carol | 1988 | Rowan Atkinson (as Ebenezer Blackadder) |
Richard Boden |
|
|
Scrooge: A Christmas Sarah | 1990 | Sarah Greene (as Sarah Scrooge) |
Peter Leslie |
|
Brer Rabbit's Christmas Carol | 1992 | Brer Rabbit | Al Guest |
|
A Flintstones' Christmas Carol | 1994 | Fred Flintstone (voiced by Henry Corden, as Ebonezer Scrooge) |
Joanna Romersa |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1994 | unknown | Toshiyuki Hiruma Takashi |
|
Ebbie | 1995 | Susan Lucci (as Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge) |
George Kaczender |
|
Ebenezer | 1998 | Jack Palance | Ken Jubenvill |
|
Ms. Scrooge | 1997 | Cicely Tyson (as Ebenita Scrooge) |
John Korty |
|
A Christmas Carol | 1999 | Patrick Stewart | David Hugh Jones |
|
Maxine's Christmas Carol | 2000 | Jacques (as Ear-a-Corn and one of the elves) | Jennifer Combs |
|
A Diva's Christmas Carol | 2000 | Vanessa Williams (as Ebony Scrooge) |
Richard Schenkman |
|
A Christmas Carol | 2000 | Ross Kemp (as Eddie Scrooge) |
Catherine Morshead |
|
Scrooge and Marley | 2001 | Dean Jones | Fred Holmes |
|
A Carol Christmas | 2003 | Tori Spelling (as Carol Cartman) |
Matthew Irmas |
|
A Christmas Carol: The Musical | 2004 | Kelsey Grammer | Arthur Allan Seidelman |
|
Chasing Christmas | 2005 | Tom Arnold (as Jack Cameron) |
Ron Oliver |
|
A Christmas Carol: Scrooge's Ghostly Tale | 2006 | unknown | unknown |
|
|
The Carol Project | 2006 | Bill Bourne | Tim Folkmann |
|
|
A Christmas Carol | 2019 | Guy Pearce | Nick Murphy |
Television episodes[]
| Picture | Production | Year | Protagonist | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The Jetsons: "A Jetson Christmas Carol" | 1985 | Mr. Spacely (voiced by Mel Blanc) |
unknown |
|
Alvin and the Chipmunks: "Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll" | 1989 | Alvin Seville (voiced by Ross Badgasarian Jr.) |
unknown |
|
|
Camp Candy: "Christmas in July" | 1989 | Vanessa (voiced by Willow Johnson) |
Scott Shaw |
|
Fox's Peter Pan & the Pirates: "Hook's Christmas" | 1990 | Captain Hook (voiced by Tim Curry) |
unknown |
|
|
Back to the Future: "Dickens of a Christmas" | 1991 | Ebiffneezer Tannen (voiced by Thomas Wilson) |
Rick Cunningham, John Loy, & John Ludin |
|
Animaniacs: "A Christmas Plotz" | 1993 | Thaddeus Plotz (voiced by Frank Welker) |
Rusty Mills |
|
Avenger Penguins: "A Christmas Carol" | 1994 | Caractacus P. Doom (voiced by Mike McShane) |
unknown |
|
Beavis and Butt-head Do Christmas | 1994 | Beavis (voiced by Mike Judge) |
Mike Judge |
|
Xena: Warrior Princess: "A Solstice Carol" | 1996 | Peter Vere-Jones (as King Silvas) |
John T. Kretchmer |
|
101 Dalmatians: "A Christmas Cruella" | 1997 | Cruella De Vil (voiced by April Winchell) |
Victor Cook, Peter Ferk, & Kelly Ward |
|
Sabrina: The Animated Series: "Witchmas Carole" | 1999 | Gem Stone (voiced by Chantal Strand) |
Sean Abley |
|
Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: "A Lost Claus" | 2005 | Mr. Herriman (voiced by Tom Kane) |
Craig McCracken & Lauren Faust |
|
Kappa Mikey: "A Christmas Mikey" | 2006 | Ozu (voiced by Steven Moverly) |
Sergei Aniskov |
|
The Replacements: "Dick Daring's All-Star Holiday Stunt Spectacular 5" | 2008 | Todd Daring (as Ebenezer Daring) |
Heather Martinez |
|
Dora the Explorer: Dora's Christmas Carol Adventure | 2009 | Swiper the Fox (voiced by Marc Weiner) | George S. Chialtas |
|
The Suite Life on Deck: "A London Carol" | 2010 | London Tipton (played by Brenda Song) |
Danny Kallis |
|
Doctor Who: "A Christmas Carol" | 2010 | Kazran Sardick (played by Michael Gambon) | Toby Haynes |
|
The High Fructose Adventure of Annoying Orange: "Orange Carol" | 2012 | Orange (voiced by Dane Boedigheimer) |
Conrad Vernon |
|
|
La CQ: "Christmas in the CQ" | 2012 | Adri | |
|
|
The Thundermans: "Winter Thunderland" | 2014 | Max Thunderman (played by Jack Griffo) |
Michael Shea |
|
|
Thomas and Friends: "Diesel's Ghostly Christmas" | 2015 | Diesel | Don Spencer |
|
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: "A Hearth's Warming Tail" | 2016 | Starlight Glimmer (as Snowfall Frost, voiced by Kelly Sheridan) |
Denny Lu & Tim Stuby |
|
The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show: "Charles Dickens" | 2016 | Charles Dickens | Miles Thompson |
|
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!: "Scroogey Doo" | 2017 | Velma Dinkley (voiced by Kate Micucci) |
Ron Rubio |
|
Family Guy: "Don't Be a Dickens At Christmas" | 2017 | Peter Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) |
Jerry Langford |
|
The Powerpuff Girls: "You're a Good Man, Mojo Jojo" | 2017 | Mojo Jojo (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) |
Nick Jennings & Bob Boyle |
|
DuckTales: "Last Christmas!" | 2018 | Scrooge McDuck (voiced by David Tennant) |
Jason Zurek |
|
|
Vampirina: "A Gargoyle Carol" | 2019 | Gregoria (voiced by Wanda Sykes) |
|
| File:A Nature Carol (Found from My Cable Spectrum).jpg | Nature Cat: "A Nature Carol" | 2019 | Nature Cat (voiced by (Taran Killam) |
|
|
The Loud House: "A Flipmas Carol" | 2020 | Flip (voiced by John DiMaggio) |
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Direct-to-video films[]
| Picture | Production | Year | Protagonist | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A Christmas Carol | 1997 | Tim Curry | Stan Phillips |
|
An All Dogs Christmas Carol | 1998 | Carface Carruthers (voiced by Ernest Borgnine) |
Paul Sabella |
|
A Sesame Street Christmas Carol | 2006 | Oscar the Grouch (puppeteered by Carroll Spinney) |
Victor DiNapoli |
|
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas | 2006 | Daffy Duck (voiced by Joe Alaskey) |
Charles Visser |
|
A Dennis the Menace Christmas | 2007 | George Wilson (played by Robert Wagner) |
Ron Oliver |
|
|
The Nutcracker: A Christmas Story | 2007 | Marc Wenke | unknown |
|
Barbie in a Christmas Carol | 2008 | Eden Starling | William Lau |
|
|
Mister Scrooge to See You! | 2013 | David Ruprecht | |
|
A Frozen Christmas Carol | 2018 |
References[]
- Fred Guida, A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: Dickens's Story on Screen and Television, McFarland & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-786-40738-7.