The whole deal of the miser is his isolation. Unfortunately, other changes drive home the story’s points in an unnecessarily heavy-handed fashion, like underscoring the connection between the death of Scrooge’s sister and the illness of Tiny Tim.īut other changes are distractions with no purpose, like adding a group of street urchins and squeaking magical gerbil-like creatures and, ridiculously, Scrooge’s big pet dog, Prudence. Some adaptations here are harmless, if not especially meaningful, like combining the characters of Scrooge’s one-time fiancée and the daughter of his kind-hearted employer or switching Scrooge’s childhood memory to one from Dickens’ own life. Victorian characters should not sound like shoppers at the mall food court or, worse, like a poorly translated fortune cookie (“The past can hurt, especially yours, but it can also heal if you learn from it.” “Happiness is whatever you want it to be.”)
Making older material accessible is one thing, but this is just dumbing it down. A Christmas Carol endures because the change of heart is not through interaction with a religious figure but through Scrooge’s reckoning of his own past, his failure to see the people around him with understanding and compassion, and the consequences of his greed and cruelty.Īnd then there's Dickens’ gorgeous, incomparable language, which is casually jettisoned here. Scrooge’s famous dismissal of Christmas with a “Bah! Humbug!” and Tiny Tim Cratchit’s “God bless us everyone” are both as much a part of Christmas lore as Rudolph and candy canes. It is fun to see his namesake Scrooge McDuck play Scrooge with Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit in the Disney version. (If you do, start with the book or the Alistair Sim version.) Dickens’ A Christmas Carol characters are cultural icons, with Scrooge’s name now a synonym for any wealthy miser.
I presume no one needs a recap of the characters or plot. It had to work hard to beat me down to one star.
So I came to this movie at least 75 percent in favor. I hope to get to the Morgan Library in New York City this month to glimpse the original manuscript.
I’m also very fond of “ The Man Who Invented Christmas,” with Dan Stevens as Dickens himself, writing the book. I listen to the Tim Curry audiobook every year, and always watch my favorite movie versions, including Alistair Sim, MGM, and Mister Magoo (with excellent songs by the “ Funny Girl” team Jule Styne and Bob Merrill). I share with my friend and colleague Matt Fagerholm a devoted affection for Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel A Christmas Carol and most of its many adaptations.
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