Top Ten Jan 01 2010 @ 05:29 pm
The Ten Best TV & Film Versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ (and the Five Worst…)
It’s still the eighth day of Christmas, so it’s not to late to give you my gift. Are you ready?
This all started when I went to Disney’s A Christmas Carol back in November, hoping to hate it so I could write a fun review. To my surprise, it was strangely compelling, and got me thinking about Dickens’ story and how it’s been adapted ad nauseam. I made up my mind: I would read through the story, and then watch every adaptation I could get my hands on. Some of them were quite good. Some of them were nauseating. Read on for the results…
THE TEN BEST:
10. Scrooged (1988)
All I could think of when watching this one was “This is really weird.” And it is. And it might not even be that good, but it was definitely different enough to stick in my head. Bill Murray plays a TV exec haunted by spirits that include a golf-obsessed zombie (in the Jacob Marley role) and a fairy with a penchant for beating people up (as the Ghost of Christmas Present). The pacing is off, and the humor is hit-and-miss, but I imagine it gets better with repeat viewings. It’s not too hard to see why this one’s a cult favorite.
9. Scrooge (1970)
Another strange one, this picture is a musical with a snarkily macabre sense of humor. It was a bit jarring, coming off the high drama of the Alistair Sim version (see below), but the use of color is phenomenal and an added sequence in Hell is both disturbing and very, very funny. The finale is just plain weird (Scrooge in the ugliest Santa Claus outfit ever?), but Alec Guinness as Marley steals every scene that he’s in.
8. Disney’s A Christmas Carol (2009)
I was a little hard on this one when I reviewed it two months ago, but after re-watching it I’m ready to give credit where credit is due. This one just might be both the scariest version and the most faithful to the original story (notably, this is the only adaptation where the Ghost of Christmas Past actually looks the way Dickens describes him). Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture CGI is still a little weird, but it has improved a bit over the years, and Jim Carrey is both well-suited to the animation and arguably the third-best Ebenezer Scrooge ever (after Alistair Sim and Michael Caine, obviously). I still think the action sequences are dumb, though.
7. Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
This cartoon short has some great moments and some lazy ones; it’s arguably best when it’s at its most cynical (“Marley left me enough money to pay for his tombstone — and I had him buried at sea!”). That said, the animation here is lavish and beautiful — some of the best that Disney produced in the ‘80s — and many of Dickens’ lines are cleverly rewritten to be appropriate to the characters, which makes it all the more charming. It’s also one of the first times that Scrooge McDuck was animated, which makes it vaguely historic. For whatever that’s worth.
6. Scrooge (1935)
The first sound adaptation of the novella, and also one of the best. Starring Seymour Hicks as Scrooge, this one boasts a dark, brooding aesthetic that owes as much to German Expressionism as anything (watch as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, portrayed as a heavy shadow, gradually swallows up Scrooge). This version also manages to fit the whole story into just over an hour without much strain.
5. A Christmas Carol (1977)
If there’s a famous British novel, you can be sure that BBC produced a bare-bones adaptation of it at some point. A Christmas Carol got the treatment in 1977, and the result is a shadowy, atmospheric version with little in the way of set or special effects, allowing the excellent cast (including Michael Hordem as Scrooge) to shine.
4. Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol (1979)
Not only did Bugs get to A Christmas Carol four years before his mouse counterpart did, he did it better. Clocking in at a mere eight minutes, this television short feels like a dashed-off screed against the rampant overuse of Dickens’ public-domain tale, and doesn’t disappoint in the laugh department, either. Highlights include a cameo by Tweety Bird as Tiny Tim (“You’d be tiny too, if you had to live on birdseed”) and Bugs’ “Ghost of Christmas” threatening to take Yosemite Sam (as Scrooge) to see “The Man in Red Suit” (which, he clarifies, is not Santa).
3. A Christmas Carol (1971)
Directed by Richard Williams (best known as animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as well as director of the notorious The Thief and the Cobbler), this sublime, moody short has the look of an animated woodcut. Alistair Sim reprises his role as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge, and the Ghost of Christmas Present’s flying sequences — which are cut from nearly every other adaptation — are restored, and done beautifully. A must-see.
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
I was wary before re-watching this one — I had loved it as a kid, and was afraid that my nostalgia might be painting it in rosier hues than it deserved. To my surprise, I found that it not only held up quite well, but also was actually one of the best adaptations out there, capturing the spirit of both Dickens and Henson quite effortlessly. Michael Caine gives an intelligently understated performance as Ebenezer Scrooge (making the role entirely his own), the look of all three ghosts is pitch-perfect (this just might be the only adaptation of which that can be said), and Paul William’s songs are all beautiful and serve the story quite nicely. Despite some small issues (the entire Christmas Past sequence completely misses the point), this one goes out highly recommended.
1.Scrooge/A Christmas Carol (1951)
For some reason, every adaptation of A Christmas Carol has to be titled either A Christmas Carol or Scrooge (both titles seem equally prevalent), and this one got saddled with both of them, being released as Scrooge in its native England and A Christmas Carol in the States. Despite the confusion, though, this one is by far the best adaptation (just like all the old people you know told you it was), with Alistair Sim showing the broadest range of any actor to ever fill the role of Scrooge. The most dark and adult take on the tale, this one makes the brilliant addition of a Marley death scene to the “Christmas Past” chapter, turning the tale into a brooding meditation on mortality that doesn’t let up until the finale.
AND NOW, JUST FOR FUN, THE FIVE WORST:
5. A Carol Christmas (2003)
Tori Spelling as Ebenezer Scrooge (here embodied in a TV talk show host)? Gary Coleman as the Ghost of Christmas Past? William Shatner as the Ghost of Christmas Present? Actually, it’s better than it sounds, and Spelling carries the material remarkably well. In its more satirical moments (Coleman pokes some good fun at himself), it’s not too bad, but the sentimental stuff (read: every child actor in the production) is completely unwatchable. Not that I’d expect anything less from the Hallmark Channel, but still.
4. Barbie in A Christmas Carol (2008)
Sometime in the last decade or so, Mattel, Inc. got bored of making toys and decided to mine the public domain for a series of Barbie-themed direct-to-DVD movies instead. As you’d expect, most of these are fairytale-inspired, but occasionally you get an odd one — like, for instance, a Dickens story about a greedy old man with one foot in the grave. Weirdly, this one seems to have borrowed more plot points from A Carol Christmas than Dickens’ book, right down to casting a pushy aunt in the Jacob Marley role. And is it just me, or does casting a young character (in this case, Barbie) in the place of Scrooge put a damper on Dickens’ themes of mortality?
3. The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)
Wikipedia tells me that this animated special was actually based on a live-action version made 22 years earlier and starring Basil Rathbone — but I couldn’t track that one down anywhere, so I had to judge this one based on its own merits. There weren’t many. The Rankin-Bass animation is fluid enough, but everyone looks like a hobbit (go figure), the songs are annoying (“Yes, There is a Santa Claus”? really?) the narrator is an obtuse insect (a humbug! get it?), and despite being a Grumpy Old Man, Walter Matthau isn’t particularly memorable as Ebenezer Scrooge. Not terrible, but definitely forgettable.
2. An American Christmas Carol (1979)
Henry Winkler — yes, the Fonz — stars as Benedict Slade, a businessman in 1933 New England, in this indictment of that most American of trade practices, the credit system. In a Wizard of Oz-inspired plot twist that never works (see also: A Carol Christmas), the Ghosts of Christmas are actually characters from his life. Also, will you people please stop letting the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come talk? He’s not very frightening when he does.
1. An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998)
I’m not gonna lie: Before watching this one, I really hadn’t thought about All Dogs Go to Heaven since 1989, back when I saw it in theaters. I was four years old at the time. But apparently they made a sequel in 1996, which was followed by a TV series, which was followed by a direct-to-video Christmas Carol derivative. What a sad end to a sad series. Anyway, I have no idea what this one was about, because I fell asleep halfway through. I think there’s an evil dog named Carface (really?), and he can control other dogs’ minds with a magic whistle, so then this angel dog turns these other dogs into Christmas ghosts, and then there’s a showdown in a junkyard, or something. Um, yeah.
on Jan 01 2010 @ 8:06 pm 1. Sheri Harrington said …
Thanks, Luke. This was fun to read. Glad you got it done close to Christmas. I still have a soft spot for “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol” myself.
on Jan 02 2010 @ 4:41 pm 2. Sam Juliano said …
Happy New Year’s to all the fine folks here at Movie Zeal!!
Well Luke, you did nail it with this marvelous presentation, and I have a similar passion for this immortal story, Dickens’s most beloved. There is only ONE very important version missing here, and for me it might actually be #2 behind the choice you rightfully place at the top, the 1951 Alistair Sim version. It’s the 1938 gem with Reginald Owen.
on Jan 02 2010 @ 9:35 pm 3. Luke Harrington said …
Yes, that was my #11, and it was a very close call. I was pretty sad that I couldn’t include it.
As for ‘Magoo’…I just didn’t get that one. Maybe if I had grown up with the cartoon…? It was the first Mr. Magoo cartoon I’d ever watched, and all that I noticed was that it was very silly and so low-budget that it made Jay Ward look like Walt Disney.
on Jan 03 2010 @ 10:52 pm 4. Monday Morning Diary (January 4) « Wonders in the Dark said …
[...] up on the Ten Best versions of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, which I’ve already read: http://www.moviezeal.com/the-ten-best-tv-film-versions-of-a-christmas-carol-and-the-five-worst/ Ha! Wouldn’t you know it? Kaleem Hasan has a post up at his place on a press release that [...]
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on Aug 03 2010 @ 6:49 am 6. Ed said …
Too bad I had to follow a spammer here, but life’s not perfect. Just to say that the list should have included, as the number 2 best Christmas Carol movie (albeit made for TV), the 1984 version with George C. Scott. The scenes with the Cratchit family are very affecting and Scott is a fine, no-nonsense Scrooge. He manages to remain recognizably the same person even after his life-changing experience.
on Sep 08 2010 @ 3:28 am 7. barbie glam holiday house said …
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on Nov 11 2010 @ 7:12 am 8. Shaun D Lyons said …
The 1999 version starring Patrick Stewart should have been on the list surely, so should 1984 version with George C Scott, so perhaps you could extend your top 10 to a 12 days of A Christmas Carol adaptations?
on Dec 12 2010 @ 9:59 am 9. keven burman said …
Shaun D Lyons, absolutely. The Patrick Stewart and George C Scott versions were incredible, in fact I personally feel they are the two best versions of the classic tale.
on Dec 13 2010 @ 1:31 pm 10. Cântico de Natal | Fotos antes e depois said …
[...] The Ten Best TV & Film Versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ (and the Five Worst…) - Luke Harrington in .moviezeal. [...]
on Dec 22 2010 @ 11:38 pm 11. Steve M said …
Oh please, you obviously haven’t seen “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” starring Kelsey Christmas.
Absolutely awful … just awful!! I mean this stinker is unwatchable, and I’m very forgiving when it comes to film versions of Dicken’s classics.
on Dec 22 2010 @ 11:39 pm 12. Steve M said …
Sorry, I mean:
Oh please, you obviously haven’t seen “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” starring Kelsey Grammer.
Absolutely awful … just awful!! I mean this stinker is unwatchable, and I’m very forgiving when it comes to film versions of Dicken’s classics.
on Jan 13 2011 @ 3:11 am 13. Piscinas said …
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on May 30 2011 @ 6:22 pm 15. Acompanhantes de Luxo said …
I want this one : The Stingiest Man in Town (1978). Anyone knows how to get it in”fantastic” ways ? hehe
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on Oct 06 2011 @ 3:41 am 17. Isolamentos said …
i think i just want some more movies. Like, i want more charts too !
on Nov 11 2011 @ 7:07 am 18. Notmyrealname said …
Disappointed that the old cliche “Alistair Sim” version is hailed as the greatest as usual, and the George C scott version isn’t mentioned, despite being in my opinion the best one around (but not in the top ten?). Its good to see the Muppets Christmas Carol though getting the accolade it deserves as a genuine classic!! –(George c scott aside) good job!!
on Dec 06 2011 @ 1:07 pm 19. richard harrison said …
You don’t even mention the Reginald Owen version filmed in 1938 and excellent.
on Dec 07 2011 @ 7:13 pm 20. Merry Christmas said …
Alastair Sim IS Scrooge! Great post. I think I wanna check out the Tori Spelling/Gary Coleman version now.
on Dec 11 2011 @ 6:21 pm 21. Chris C said …
I agree. Alistar Sim absolutely top notch. He is the best Scrooge ever. I also agree with the blogs that name George C. Scott. He was fantastic and second only to Sim. Watched the Reginald Owen film this morning. Just didn’t do it for me. Tiny Tim and the Cratchit family seemed like they were all on amphetamines!!! Loved the Albert Finney film as a kid but I have seemed to outgrown it. Did not like the Patrick Stewart one and hated the Kelsey Grammer musical but my Dad loves it!!! Merry Christmas! God bless us everyone!
on Dec 12 2011 @ 7:25 pm 22. Donna said …
Totally agree that Alistair Sim was the Scrooge with the broadest range. I believed him absolutely as the old mean miser and also as the giddy repentant born again man. Scott made an excellent mean Scrooge but was totally unbelievable as the changed one, he acted like the next day he’d turn back to the way he was. I also love Mr. Magoo’s version, especially the song he sings as a boy left at the school.
on Dec 17 2011 @ 9:11 am 23. tim neslon said …
HI , This IS my very first time on one of these “Forum” Thingys, so i’ll be interested to see if this appears !I regard myself as a bit of an officianado on this subject. Saw George C scotts version yesterday..superb,great acting, scenes and the Cratchitt scenes at home were particulary poignant, I though Edward Woodward was really likeable as a character . Only real chritism is Scrooge appears far to fat and healthy to be believable ..perhaps. Watching hiself tuck into a bowl of gruel, after work early in the evening was bit unrealistic
AListairs Simms version is slightly better. But have to admit a soft touch for The Blackadder version , lots of chuckles ..and complete nonsence. Have agreat christmas to you all Tim from Bristol
on Dec 17 2011 @ 3:22 pm 24. CHICAGOHUSTLER said …
You missed a GREAT version starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Cratchitt.This was out before the Alastair Sims version which is Ok, but not as good as this. And the BEST version…without a doubt it is George C. Scott’s. It was the most closest to the book and has the most and best content. How this survey did not have these 2 versions in it is amazing.
on Dec 20 2011 @ 9:52 pm 25. Phil Thomas said …
The 1938 version with Reginald Owen is one of my favorites. The part was originally intended for Lionel Barrymore, who would have made a great Scrooge on film. He played the part for many years on the radio, but failing health kept him from making the 1938 film.
on Dec 21 2011 @ 6:48 am 26. John Martel said …
My favorite is the 1938 version with Reginald Owen. Gene Lockhart is by far the best Cratchitt of them all in my opinion. For those who haven’t watched this version, please do yourself a favor and rent or stream it now. The black and white format lends to the fantasy atmosphere and truly captures a wondrous version of Victorian London at Christmastime
on Dec 21 2011 @ 11:06 am 27. rb said …
I have to disagree with this list in a huge way. I am shocked that the recent Disney/Zemeckis incarnation is on here as a top ten. Not only does it trade lose it’s way in the sfx with the final spirit, it’s uncanny valley in all the most human of characters makes it difficult to find any human emotion of your own. Cratchett makes one cringe as he tries to emote through a plasticine exterior. And none others fare better except Scrooge and the spriti of Christmases yet to come. Who work because they are already creepy. But when Scrooge recants and reforms, he too becomes creepy in the same non-emoting way.
It’s quite obvious this person has not seen the best or worst variations.
on Dec 21 2011 @ 11:18 am 28. rb said …
Oh, and while I am a big B. Murray fan. His incarnation is the most lacking of heart of any of the films listed. If you are trying to list the most humorous, maybe it can be there, by still that’s a maybe.
And then the Alber Finney musical? Seriously? The songs are too corny to take even a little seriously. Scrooge singing “I hate people” is not only Showgirls/Rebecca Black bad, it also speaks to the core of what makes most Christmas Carol adaptations bad, they film makers don’t get Scrooge.
So how does one of the very few that really get that character right get dropped? How does this list miss Patrick Stewart’s TNT production. The man does a decade of the book in a one man show and then brings it to film with the most real version of Scrooge ever. Oh and why is George C. Scott’s performance off the list? This is a good 3rd or fourth place. I mean really, Mickey’s and Bugs’s over these. Gimmie a break.
on Dec 22 2011 @ 2:33 am 29. Veronica said …
Good list. But I almost didn’t get to it. I was stopped by the ” eighth day of Christmas”. Christmas is the first day of Christmas, not the last We’ve got a lot more time to get our scrooge on
on Dec 23 2011 @ 11:58 am 30. Maggie Contreras said …
Luke,
Thank you for this and I couldn’t agree with your #1 and #2 more! I watch both every year (and the old Muppets tape gets at least two or three plays per season). If you and your readers still can’t get enough of Dicken’s timeless story, you can listed to Patrick Stewart’s one-person audio rendition of it in the car. God bless us, everyone.
on Dec 23 2011 @ 1:54 pm 31. Doug Martin said …
I too am a fan of the 1938 version with Reginald Owen, particularly for Gene Lockhart’s portrayal of Bob Cratchit. And a teenaged June Lockhart plays one of the Cratchit girls, with Kathleen Lockhart (Gene’s wife, June’s mother) as Mrs. Cratchit. I can’t believe this version wasn’t even mentioned while some very forgettable versions were.
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on Jan 28 2012 @ 5:04 am 34. Consuelo Bahri said …
I’m happy that Peter Jackson got to make The Hobbit instead of Guiellermo Del Toro.
on Feb 05 2012 @ 1:52 pm 35. xinho said …
Prefered the 2009 animated one in 3D! Great fun and great effects…watched it on http://www.scenestreams.com/a-christmas-carol.html
on Mar 16 2012 @ 10:20 pm 36. Katherine Grice said …
The Stingiest Man in Town (1978)
As far as I’m concerned, I thought this one was cute. Good movie for children. Walter Matthau was a wonderful Scrooge and the storyline was easy to follow. I haven’t seen this one in years, but I wish the Television people would show this one on Saturday.
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