Disney's A Christmas Carol
A man in a night gown and hat, flying through the sky. In the background is a clock tower covered in scaffolding.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Screenplay byRobert Zemeckis
Based onA Christmas Carol
by Charles Dickens
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRobert Presley
Edited byJeremiah O'Driscoll
Music byAlan Silvestri
Production
companies
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates
  • November 3, 2009 (2009-11-03) (London)
  • November 6, 2009 (2009-11-06) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$175–200 million[2][3]
Box office$325.3 million[4]

Disney's A Christmas Carol (or simply A Christmas Carol) is a 2009 American animated Christmas dark fantasy film produced, written for the screen and directed by Robert Zemeckis. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Zemeckis' ImageMovers Digital, and released by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is based on Charles Dickens's 1843 novel A Christmas Carol. The film was animated through the process of motion capture, a technique used in ImageMovers' previous animated films including The Polar Express (2004), Monster House (2006), and Beowulf (2007), and stars the voices of Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright Penn and Cary Elwes. It is Disney's third adaptation of the novel, following Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).

A Christmas Carol was officially released in Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D on November 6, 2009.[5] Its world premiere in London coincided with the switching-on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights.[6][7] The film grossed $325 million on a $175–200 million budget and received mixed reviews from critics, who criticized its dark tone and script, but praised its visuals, Alan Silvestri's musical score, and the performances of Carrey and Oldman. The film and Mars Needs Moms (2011) were the only ImageMovers Digital projects made, before the studio was shut down by the Walt Disney Company for unsatisfactory box office results.[8]

Plot

On Christmas Eve 1843, in London, miser Ebenezer Scrooge hates the merriment of Christmas, declining his nephew Fred's invitation to a Christmas dinner party and refusing to make a donation to two charity workers. His loyal, underpaid employee, Bob Cratchit, asks Scrooge to give him a day off on Christmas Day; Scrooge reluctantly agrees. At home, Scrooge encounters the ghost of Jacob Marley, his seven-year dead business partner, bound in chains. Marley warns Scrooge to change his wicked ways or be condemned to the same fate. According to Marley, Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits over three nights.

Scrooge is visited by the candle-like Ghost of Christmas Past, who takes him back in time to his lonely childhood in a boarding school. Scrooge eventually was brought home by his beloved sister Fan, the long dead mother of Fred. Scrooge became an employee under the kind Fezziwig, and became engaged to Belle, a woman who later left him as he developed an obsession with wealth. Overwhelmed, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit with his candle snuffer cap and is rocketed back to his house.

Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the joys of Christmas. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob's house, where his family is content with their small dinner, and Scrooge takes pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim, whom the Ghost comments will die unless the course of events change. The Ghost begins to age as they next visit Fred's Christmas party, where Fred insists that they raise a toast to Scrooge in spite of his cold demeanor. At a clock tower, the Ghost warns Scrooge of the evils of "Ignorance" and "Want" before dying when the clock tolls midnight. "Ignorance" and "Want" manifest themselves before Scrooge as two wretched children who grow into violent, insane individuals, leaving the spirit laughing as he withers away into a skeleton and vanishing.

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, takes Scrooge into the future. Scrooge witnesses businessmen discussing a colleague's death, with one saying he would only attend the funeral if lunch is provided. After being chased across London by a ghostly version of the hearse that carried Marley’s body, first by a ghostly coachman and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge is shrunk to a tiny size and ends up in the shop of Old Joe, a fence. Scrooge's charwoman, Mrs. Dilber, is selling the stolen possessions of the deceased. At his bedchamber, Scrooge sees the man's body on his own bed, but is fearful to see his face. Scrooge asks to see emotion connected to the death, and is shown a couple who is relieved that the man died, as they gained time to pay off their debt. After asking to see tenderness connected to death, Scrooge is shown the Cratchit family, who mourn over the death of Tiny Tim. After inquiring as to the identity of the dead man, Scrooge is taken to a cemetery, where the Ghost points out the man's neglected tombstone. The snow wipes away from the tombstone, bearing the name of Scrooge, and indicating that he will die on Christmas Day at some point in the next six years or perhaps even the next morning. Scrooge vows to change his ways, just as the ground opens up into a deep grave, revealing a coffin above a glowing light which opens up to be empty. The ghost shows its eyes and turns a branch Scrooge is holding onto into its finger. Scrooge feels peacefulness as the ghost’s eyes narrow before he is forced to let go and falls into the grave. Before striking the coffin, Scrooge finds himself back in his own room.

Finding it is Christmas Day, an overjoyed Scrooge anonymously sends Bob's family a turkey, donates to one of the charity workers and spreads cheers to his fellow citizens, then attends Fred's dinner, where he is welcomed. The next day, Scrooge plays a prank on Bob, pretending to be about to fire him for being late, but instead raising his salary and pledging his support for Bob's family. Scrooge becomes the embodiment of Christmas and a "second father" to Tiny Tim, who recovers.

Cast

  • Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy, penny-pinching, and lonely old man whose sheer miserly nature leads him to despise Christmas and all things which engender happiness.
    Carrey also portrays:
  • Gary Oldman as
    • Bob Cratchit, Scrooge's poor underpaid clerk.
    • Jacob Marley, the ghost of Scrooge's former business partner who is bound in chains.
    • Oldman also provides the motion capture for Tiny Tim, Cratchit's youngest son.
  • Colin Firth as Fred, Scrooge's cheerful nephew and only living relative. He is the son of Scrooge's long dead sister Fan.
  • Bob Hoskins as Mr. Nigel Fezziwig, the proprietor of a warehouse business for whom Scrooge worked as a young apprentice.
    • Hoskins also portrays Old Joe, a fence who buys the belongings of the deceased Scrooge from Mrs. Dilber.
  • Robin Wright as
    • Fan, Scrooge's beloved younger sister who has since died.
    • Belle, Scrooge's neglected fiancée.
  • Cary Elwes as Portly Gentleman #1/Dick Wilkins/Mad Fiddler/Guest #2/Business Man #1
    • Elwes would also act as a stand-in for Scrooge or the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present in scenes where these characters appear together, as all were portrayed by Jim Carrey.
  • Fionnula Flanagan as Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge's charwoman.
  • Steve Valentine as Funerary Undertaker/Topper
  • Daryl Sabara as Undertaker's Apprentice/Tattered Caroler #1/Beggar Boy #1/Peter Cratchit/Well-Dressed Caroler #1
  • Sage Ryan as Tattered Caroler #2
  • Amber Gainey Meade as Tattered Caroler #3/ Well-Dressed Caroler #2
  • Ryan Ochoa as Tattered Caroler #4/Beggar Boy #2/Young Cratchit Boy/Ignorance Boy/Young Boy with Sleigh/Tiny Tim
  • Bobbi Page as Tattered Caroler #5/Well-Dressed Caroler #3
  • Ron Bottitta as Tattered Caroler #6/Well-Dressed Caroler #4
  • Sammi Hanratty as Beggar Boy #3/Young Cratchit Girl/Want Girl
  • Julian Holloway as Fat Cook/Portly Gentleman #2/Business Man #3
  • Jacquie Barnbrook as Mrs. Allie Fezziwig/Fred's sister-in-law/Well-Dressed Caroler #5
  • Lesley Manville as Mrs. Emily Cratchit
  • Molly C. Quinn as Belinda Cratchit
  • Fay Masterson as Martha Cratchit/Guest #1/Caroline
  • Leslie Zemeckis as Janet Holywell, Fred's wife.
  • Paul Blackthorne as Guest #3/Business Man #2
  • Michael Hyland as Guest #4
  • Kerry Hoyt as Adult Ignorance
  • Julene Renee-Preciado as Adult Want

Production

After making The Polar Express (2004), Robert Zemeckis stated that he "fell in love with digital theater" and tried finding an avenue in order to use the format again.[9] He eventually decided that an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas would be an opportunity to achieve this.[9] Upon rereading the story, he realized that "the story has never been realized in a way that it was actually imagined by Charles Dickens as he wrote it," as well as that "it's as if he wrote this story to be a movie because it's so visual and so cinematic."[9] Zemeckis has stated previously that A Christmas Carol is one of his favorite stories dealing with time travel.[10] Ebenezer Scrooge actor Jim Carrey has described the film as "a classical version of A Christmas Carol […] There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things, I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents […] I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go, 'Yeah, that's for real.' We were very true to the book. It's beautiful. It's an incredible film."[11]

The Walt Disney Company partnered with Amtrak to promote the film with a special nationwide exhibition train tour, starting at Los Angeles in May 2009 and visiting 40 cities, finishing in New York City in November.[12][13]

Music

A Christmas Carol
Film score by
Alan Silvestri
ReleasedNovember 3, 2009
Recorded2009
GenreClassical
Length45:28
LabelWalt Disney Records

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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"3:15

The music was composed by frequent Zemeckis collaborator Alan Silvestri, and orchestrated by William Ross, Conrad Pope, Silvestri, and John Ashton Thomas. The entire score was conducted by Silvestri and performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony alongside Page LA Studio Voices and London Voices.[14] Much of the music was based on actual carols, including "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen," "Deck the Halls," "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Joy to the World." The album was later issued physically through Intrada Records. The theme song, "God Bless Us Everyone," was written by Glen Ballard and Silverstri and performed by Italian classical crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Release

A Christmas Carol opened London on November 3, 2009, and was theatrically released on November 6, 2009, in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Home media

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the film on November 16, 2010[15] in a single-disc DVD, two-disc 2D Blu-ray/DVD combo and in a four-disc combo pack that includes a Blu-ray 3D, a regular Blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy. This marked the first time that a film was available in Blu-ray 3D the same day as a standard Blu-ray, as well as Disney's first in the Blu-ray 3D market along with Alice in Wonderland (2010).[16] The DVD contains deleted scenes and two featurettes called "On Set with Sammi" and "Capturing A Christmas Carol". The Blu-ray also has a "Digital Advent Calendar" and the featurette "Behind the Carol: The Full Motion-Capture Experience". The Blu-ray 3D has an exclusive 3D game called "Mr. Scrooge's Wild Ride".

The film grossed $69 million in home sales.[17]

Reception

Box office

A Christmas Carol grossed $137.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $187.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $325.3 million.[3] Due to its high production and marketing costs, the film lost the studio an estimated $50–100 million, and forced Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group and the head of worldwide marketing, to resign.[18]

The film opened at #1 in 3,683 theaters, grossing $30.1 million its opening weekend, with an average of $8,159 per theater.[19]

In the United Kingdom, A Christmas Carol topped the box office on two occasions; the first was when it opened, the second was five weeks later when it leapfrogged box office chart toppers 2012, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Paranormal Activity despite family competition from Nativity!, another Christmas-themed film.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 202 critics have given the film a positive review with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Robert Zemeckis' 3-D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman."[20] On Metacritic, another aggregator, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[22]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, calling it "an exhilarating visual experience".[23] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A, applauding the film as "a marvelous and touching yuletide toy of a movie".[24] Joe Neumaier of the New York Daily News gave the film 3/5 stars and stated the film "is well-crafted but artless, detailed but lacking soul."[25] Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon.com gave the film a mixed review claiming the movie "is a triumph of something—but it's certainly not the Christmas spirit."[26] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote in his review that the film's "tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a succession of striking images and Jim Carrey's voicing of Scrooge plus half a dozen other roles."[27] The Daily Telegraph reviewer Tim Robey wrote, "How much is gained by the half-real visual style for this story is open to question—the early scenes are laborious and never quite alive, and the explosion of jollity at the end lacks the virtue of being funny."[28] Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian also criticized the technology: "The hi-tech sheen is impressive but in an unexciting way. I wanted to see real human faces convey real human emotions."[29] Time Out London praised the film for sticking to Dickens' original dialogue but also questioned the technology by saying, "To an extent, this 'Christmas Carol' is a case of style—and stylisation—overwhelming substance."[30] Keith Uhlich of Time Out New York named A Christmas Carol the eighth-best film of 2009.[31]

Awards and nominations

Award Category Recipients Result
2010 Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie Jim Carrey Won
Favorite Animated Movie A Christmas Carol Nominated
36th Saturn Awards Best Animated Feature Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "A CHRISTMAS CAROL (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  2. ↑ Barnes, Brooks (October 26, 2009). "Disney Hopes Christmas Carol Lives Up to Its Blockbuster Marketing". New York Times. Archived from the original on November 25, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2009.
  3. 1 2 "A Christmas Carol (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on November 29, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
  4. ↑ "A Christmas Carol". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  5. ↑ McClintock, Pamela (February 7, 2008). "Studios rush to fill '09 schedule". Variety. Archived from the original on June 22, 2018. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  6. ↑ "Dickens theme for festive lights". BBC News. September 13, 2009. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  7. ↑ Hall, James (September 12, 2009). "Disney's A Christmas Carol will be theme for London's Christmas lights". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on September 12, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Disney to shut ImageMovers Digital studio". Los Angeles Times. March 13, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  9. 1 2 3 "Robert Zemeckis Discusses Disney's a Christmas Carol". Movieweb. November 16, 2010. Archived from the original on January 24, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  10. ↑ Making the Trilogy: Part 1 featurette on the Back to the Future Trilogy DVD box set.
  11. ↑ "In the Future: Jim Carrey". ComingSoon.net. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on October 8, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  12. ↑ Young, Paul (October 20, 2009). "All A Bored Disney's 'A Christmas Carol' Train Tour". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  13. ↑ ""A Christmas Carol" - Train Tour Update". Jim Carrey Online. May 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved June 9, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Alan Silvestri scores A Christmas Carol". ScoringSessions.com. December 22, 2009. Archived from the original on February 18, 2020. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  15. ↑ Orndorf, Brian (November 8, 2010). "Disney's A Christmas Carol (Blu-ray)". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  16. ↑ Garrett, Diane (January 7, 2010). "3D for the home coming". Variety. Archived from the original on February 26, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  18. ↑ Eller, Claudia (November 10, 2009). "Disney Studios president leaves". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 24, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2020.
  19. ↑ Wigler, Josh (November 9, 2009). "'A Christmas Carol' Defeats 'This Is It' At Box Office". MTV.com. Archived from the original on November 12, 2009. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  20. ↑ "Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on September 10, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
  21. ↑ "A Christmas Carol Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Cinemascore". cinemascore.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Disney's A Christmas Carol Movie Review". Chicago Sun-Times. November 5, 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Disney's A Christmas Carol Movie Review". Entertainment Weekly. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on November 7, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  25. ↑ Neumaier, Joe (November 5, 2009). "Disney's A Christmas Carol in Disney Digital 3D: Blah, humbug! 'A Christmas Carol's 3-D spin on Dickens well done in parts but lacks spirit". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on November 9, 2009. Retrieved November 6, 2009.
  26. ↑ Williams, Mary Elizabeth (November 5, 2009). "Disney's "A Christmas Carol": Bah, humbug!". Salon.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2010. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  27. ↑ Morgenstern, Joe (November 6, 2009). "'A Christmas Carol': Carrey, Disney Play Scrooge". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  28. ↑ Robey, Tim (November 5, 2009). "A Christmas Carol, review". The Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  29. ↑ Peter Bradshaw (November 6, 2009). "Film review: A Christmas Carol | Film". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  30. ↑ "A Christmas Carol Review. Movie Reviews - Film - Time Out London". Timeout.com. November 3, 2009. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2010.
  31. ↑ "Best (and Worst) of 2010". Time Out New York. December 18, 2009. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
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