Disney's A Christmas Carol is an animated 3D film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic story of the same title. Presented by Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers Digital, it was released in Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D on November 6, 2009.
Background[]
In July 2007, it was announced that director Robert Zemeckis had written a screen adaptation of Dickens' 1843 story. The film utilizes the same kinds of motion capture techniques used previously by Zemeckis in The Polar Express.
Zemeckis wrote the screenplay with Jim Carrey in mind, and Carrey signed on to the project. Similar to Tom Hanks in The Polar Express, Carrey plays a multitude of roles in the film, including Ebenezer Scrooge (both young and old) and all three of the Christmas spirits that haunt him.
The cast also includes Bob Hoskins, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Darryl Sabara (from the Spy Kids films) and Robin Wright Penn. Zemeckis, director of the Back to the Future trilogy, has previously stated that A Christmas Carol is one of his favourite stories dealing with time travel.
The film is the third theatrical film adaptation of A Christmas Carol released by Disney, the previous two being the 1983 animated featurette Mickey's Christmas Carol and the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol (released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner, over a decade before Disney officially bought the Muppets). Other previous adaptations by Disney included the 1974 record album An Adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Carol, Performed by The Walt Disney Players (which became the basis for Mickey's Christmas Carol), the 101 Dalmatians: The Series episode "A Christmas Cruella" in 1997, the "Ebenezer Daring" sketch in The Replacements episode "Dick Daring's All-Star Holiday Stunt Spectacular 5" in 2008, and The Suite Life on Deck episode "A London Carol" in 2010.
Synopsis[]
The film opens on Christmas Eve, in London, 1836, with Ebenezer Scrooge signing for the burial of his partner Jacob Marley. Seven Christmas Eves later, in 1843, Scrooge, a bitter and miserly old moneylender works at his counting-house, holds everything that embodies the joys and spirit of Christmas in contempt, refusing to visit his cheerful nephew Fred's Christmas dinner party with his family, and forcing his underpaid employee Bob Cratchit to beg to take the day off for his own family. That night, Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, who is now forced to spend his afterlife carrying heavy chains forged from his own greedy ways. Marley warns Scrooge that he will suffer an even worse fate if he doesn't repent, and foretells that he will be haunted by three spirits that will help guide him.
The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, shows Scrooge visions of his own past that take place on or around the Christmas season, reminding him of how he ended up the avaricious man he is now. He had spent much of his childhood neglected by his father over the holidays at boarding school until he was finally brought home by his loving sister Fan, who died prematurely after giving birth to his nephew, Fred. Scrooge later began a successful career in business and money-lending and became engaged to a woman named Belle, though she later called off the engagement when he began to grow obsessed with accumulating his own wealth. Unable to bear having to witness these events again, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit.
The second spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present, shows Scrooge the happiness of his fellow men on Christmas Day. Among them are his nephew, Fred, who playfully makes jokes with his family at Scrooge's expense, and Bob Cratchit and his family, who are just barely able to make do with what little pay Scrooge gives Cratchit. The Cratchits also tend to a sickly young son, Tiny Tim, whose commitment to the spirit of Christmas touches Scrooge, who is dismayed to learn from the spirit that he may not have much longer to live. The spirit warns Scrooge about the evils of Ignorance and Want, which manifest themselves before Scrooge as snarling, wretched, beastly children. The ghost disintegrates into a skeleton and vanishes.
The third and final spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, shows Scrooge the final consequences of his greed and even toys with him a few times. Scrooge sees in this future that he has died, though there is more comfort than grief in the wake of his death, the men attending his funeral, only going for a free lunch. In addition, Fred is glad to be inheriting his wealth, and Scrooge is even robbed by his former maid, even stripping the clothes he was buried in. Tiny Tim is also shown to have died, leaving Bob Cratchit and his family to mourn him on Christmas. Unwilling to let this grim future come to pass, Scrooge begs to be given a second chance as the spirit throws him into his deep and empty grave to fall into his coffin, which sits atop the fires of Hell.
Scrooge awakens to find himself in his bed on Christmas morning, the three spirits having guided him over the course of one night, and immediately sets out to atone for his sins, making donations to the poor, attending Fred's dinner party, and giving Cratchit a raise to care for his family, allowing Tiny Tim to live. Scrooge spends the remainder of his life a new man embodying the spirit of Christmas itself.
Music[]
The film's score was composed and conducted by Alan Silvestri.
Songs[]
Soundtrack[]
# | Track title | Length |
---|---|---|
1 | "A Christmas Carol (Main Title)" | 4:21 |
2 | "Scrooge Counts Money" | 0:48 |
3 | "Marley's Ghost Visits Scrooge" | 6:12 |
4 | "The Ghost of Christmas Past" | 4:58 |
5 | "Let Us See Another Christmas" | 1:18 |
6 | "Flight To Fezziwigs" | 1:27 |
7 | "First Waltz" | 0:59 |
8 | "Another Idol Has Replaced Me" | 1:40 |
9 | "Touch My Robe" | 3:41 |
10 | "The Clock Tower" | 1:50 |
11 | "Carriage Chase" | 3:24 |
12 | "Old Joe And Mrs. Dilber" | 2:28 |
13 | "This Dark Chamber" | 1:56 |
14 | "None of Us Will Ever Forget" | 1:33 |
15 | "Who Was That Lying Dead?" | 3:08 |
16 | "I'm Still Here" | 1:26 |
17 | "Ride on My Good Man" | 1:04 |
18 | "God Bless Us Everyone" (Andrea Bocelli) |
3:15 |
Home video releases[]
Disney released the film on November 16, 2010 as a single-disc DVD, a two-disc 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo, and a four-disc combo pack that included a 3-D Blu-ray, a 2-D Blu-ray, a DVD, and a Digital Copy. This marked the first time that a movie was released in both a standard Blu-ray and 3-D Blu-ray on the same date, as well as one of Disney's first two releases in the 3-D Blu-ray market, alongside Alice in Wonderland (2010). The DVD contained deleted scenes and two features called "On Set with Sammi" and "Capturing a Christmas Carol". The Blu-ray also had a "Digital Advent Calendar" and the featurette "Behind the Carol: The Full Capture Motion Experience".
Notes[]
Differences from the book[]
Although this is one of the most faithful adaptions of A Christmas Carol brought to the screen, it does include several notable differences:
- In the book, the Ghost of Christmas Present simply disappears from view. In the movie, they show him dying at length.
- Scrooge falls into his own grave (similar to Mickey's Christmas Carol).
- The whole "future" scene with the horse chase and Scrooge becoming smaller is not in the novel. In fact, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in the novel is nearly immobile except for the pointing finger.
- Old Joe chases a shrunken Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as a nearby rat, with a fire poker. He has a much smaller role in the novel.
- At the end of the Ghost of Christmas Past sequence; as in the book, an emotional Scrooge snuffs out the spirit with his own cap, but then, unlike the text, the old miser is jetted skyward.
- Like most screen adaptations, this movie doesn't show Belle with her family.
- In the book, Scrooge encounters a ghost riding a phantom hearse before his visit with Jacob Marley. In the movie, the phantom hearse is moved up to the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come's segment.
Cast[]
Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
---|---|
Jim Carrey | Scrooge Ghost of Christmas Past Ghost of Christmas Present Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come |
Steve Valentine | Funerary Undertaker Topper |
Daryl Sabara | Undertaker's Apprentice Tattered Caroler Beggar Boy Peter Cratchit Well-Dressed Caroler |
Sage Ryan | Tattered Caroler |
Amber Meade | Tattered Caroler Well Dressed Caroler |
Ryan Ochoa | Tattered Caroler Beggar Boy Young Cratchit Boy Ignorance Boy Young Boy with Sleigh |
Bobbi Page Ron Bottitta |
Tattered Caroler Well-Dressed Caroler |
Sammi Hanratty | Beggar Boy Young Cratchit Girl Want Girl |
Julian Holloway | Fat Cook Portly Gentleman #2 Business Man #3 |
Gary Oldman | Bob Cratchit Marley Tiny Tim (voice) |
Colin Firth | Fred |
Cary Elwes | Portly Gentleman #1 Dick Wilkins Mad Fiddler Guest #2 Business Man #1 |
Robin Wright Penn | Fan (voice) Belle (voice) |
Bob Hoskins | Mr. Fezziwig Old Joe |
Jacquie Barnbrook | Mrs. Fezziwig Fred's Sister-In-Law Well-Dressed Caroler |
Lesley Manville | Mrs. Cratchit |
Molly Quinn | Belinda Cratchit (voice) |
Fay Masterson | Martha Cratchit (voice) Guest #1 Caroline |
Leslie Zemeckis | Fred's Wife |
Paul Blackthorne | Guest #3 Business Man #2 |
Michael Hyland | Guest #4 |
Kerry Hoyt | Adult Ignorance |
Julene Renee | Adult Want |
Fionnula Flanagan | Mrs. Dilber |
Raymond Ochoa | Caroline's Child |
Callum Blue | Caroline's Husband |
Matthew Henerson | Poulterer |
Aaron Rapke | Well-Dressed Caroler |
Sonje Fortag | Well-Dressed Caroler Fred's Housemaid |
Aliane Baquerot Seth Belliston Troy Bowles Sam Cahn Kelly Connolly John Corella Kelly Crandall Sheri Griffith Beckie King Keith Kühl Allison Leo Tarah Paige John J. Todd Patrick Wetzel Karen Dyer Jacquelyn Dowsett (uncredited) |
Dancers |
Suzanne Robertson (Skin [uncredited]) |
Belle Fan Tiny Tim Cratchit Children |
See also[]
- Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- Marley
External links[]
- Disney Wiki: A Christmas Carol
- A Christmas Carol at the Internet Movie Database
- Disney's A Christmas Carol at Allmovie
- A Christmas Carol at TV Tropes
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