A Christmas Carol - Multimedia LinksAlthough reading this book (even the short versions) aloud to your children builds much better memories than watching a video or listening to an audio book, it is not surprising that many worthwhile adaptions of A Christmas Carol have been made. In fact the book has been translated into stage and screen well over fifty times, if you count parodies such as Bill Murray's Scrooged (which is not on my "a-list"). On film, Ebenezer Scrooge has been played by such notables as Reginald Owen, Alastair Sim, Albert Finey, George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, and Michael Caine. The best of the best are:
Recommended Movies With Similar ThemesIn addition, it's worth noting that a few other excellent Christmas movies borrow Dickens' device of showing the protagonist a "what if" scenario to help them gain new appreciation for Christmas, and for life itself:
Honorable MentionMickey's Christmas Carol - This is one of two Disney specials that are worth sitting down and watching with your kids (The other one is Small One). Mickey's Christmas Carol was a hallmark, the first time in over 50 years that most of the crew had been animated by hand-drawn animation. There is a story that each of the lead Disney animators were vying for the chance to animate Mickey or some other great character, so someone wrote the character's names on slips of paper, then threw them all in the air at the same time, and the animators scrambled for the slips of paper. Imagine what a privilege - and responsibility - it would be to be the first person to animate Mickey (or even Goofy) in half a century.This is also a reasonably close and very respectful adaptation of Dickens' original Christmas Carol. Scrooge McDuck, a longtime Disney character (seen mostly in Disney comic books) is, quite naturally, the geezer. Goofy is Marley, Mickey is Bob Cratchit, and so on, but, with the exception of certain liberties (such as Goofy/Marley's clumsiness), the Disney characters do justice to their Dickens counterparts. This movie is currently available as part of a Disney compilation that also includes Small One. But don't be fooled into handing the dvd to the kids and telling them to watch all three shows on the disk back to back without you in the room. This show and Small One, are worth making the time to watch with your family. Now Available For Instant Download: Kelsey Grammer's A Christmas Carol (Download)Kelsey Grammer, long the grumpy communicator of television show fame, takes on the role of the ultimate grump, in a faithful, if not totally inspired adaptation. Yes, I'll be honest, the Patrick Stewart and the Muppet/Michael Caine products both outshine this one in their own way, but neither of them is currently available for instant download. So if you're snowed in, have high-speed internet, and want to watch A Christmas Carol, and be reminded of Dickens' original characters and message, this is a good way to go. On the other hand, if you are a Kelsey Grammer fan and want to order the DVD, click here to see that option.Other Resources: For a far more comprehensive list of movies based on (or in some cases lampooning) A Christmas Carol, refer to Tom Howe's CED VideoDisc No. 26 page. Tom's site features movies that were released in an unusual (now obsolete) format, but on this page he got carried away. In addition to describing the Christmas Carol adaptations that were released in CED format, Tom goes on to list every Christmas Carol movie he could find information about. Some of them have reviews and descriptions as well. To return to the Dickens Christmas Carol Home Page, click here. To return to the Family Christmas Movies Home Page, click here.
To return to the Other Christmas Stories Page, click here. To return to the Family Christmas Online? Home Page, click here.
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