Issue date: 12/10/09 Section: TruLife

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Disney is capitalizing on yet another retelling of Charles Dickens' fable of charity, humanity and redemption. We've seen it with Mickey Mouse, the Muppets (minus Jim Henson) and now "A Christmas Carol" is here in 3D.

Jim Carrey exhibits his talents playing the voices of Ebenezer Scrooge as a young boy, a middle-aged man and an old man, plus the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come. Gary Oldman does the voice for Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and the ghost of Jacob Marley. Other celebrity voices include Cary Elwes, Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins.

The overall product was faithful to the story, but the funny voices and visually stimulating animation distract the audience from Dickens' provocative dialogue and social commentary. Otherwise, it did not leave Dickens rolling in his grave.

This is a story that gets better every time I see it adapted to film, and of course Charles Dickens' original text is a must-read for the holidays. As a kid, "A Christmas Carol" is a ghost story about an old miser, and as you grow older it becomes a bleak depiction of industrialized England and a commentary on class division. It gets better and more meaningful every time.

If you see this 2009 version, I'd recommend also viewing the 1984 version with George C. Scott as Mr. Scrooge. I guarantee it will be on TV during Winter Break. Also, don't forget these three other classics.

"A Christmas Story" (1983)

Based on the short stories of Jean Shepherd, "A Christmas Story" is about a boy who wants nothing for Christmas but a Red Ryder BB gun, but he hears the same old mantra from his parents, teachers and even a grouchy mall Santa. They tell him, "You'll shoot your eye out."

This is not so much a story about Christmas as it is about a typical kid who can't avoid getting into trouble, such as witnessing his moron friend stick his tongue to a frozen flag pole, beating up bullies and repeating the same profanity he hears from his father (Darren McGavin). This and several other subplots help the film remain a classic.

"Nightmare Before Christmas" (1993)

Leave it to Tim Burton to combine Halloween and Christmas in this stop-motion animation flick that remains original more than 15 years later.

Jack Skellington is a resident of Halloween Town, a place populated by typical Halloween monsters, but he is tired of the same routine every year. When he discovers a portal to Christmas Town, he wants Halloween Town to adapt the more "jolly" holiday rituals of Christmas. Jack hires three trick-or-treaters to kidnap Santa Claus so he can take over Santa's job of delivering gifts on Christmas.

Continued...

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