A Christmas Carol

"Christmas Carol" is my favorite story for the Holiday Season, and I usually enjoy checking out new adaptations of the story, but this one SUCKED!!!! I guess the real reason why I am disappointed is that the voiceovers were such a top-notch cast.

I have seen every style of A Christmas Carol pretty much out there. We all know how many there are. The issues I had with this one are many. The fact that they turned it into some weird musical is a little too much for me. Whenever they opened their mouths to sing, I'd get out my phone and distract myself because the songs are awful. To be honest, all these numb songs are my major complaint. The reason it's huge, is because of the sheer volume with these numb songs. What was the film's saving grace you ask? Tim Curry. His talented voice acting as Scrooge, was both a tiny bit terrifying, and down right spot on. I have seen a lot of his voice acting and regular over the years, and he always works. But in this adaptation of a Christmas Carol, it wouldn't be worth watching without him.

See the Disney version is so Disney i love this one because of the fact its a musical i love it so much I'm lookin for soundtrack lyrics it is the best carol I've seen i love Disney i really do but this one is the Best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its not boring at all it gives a warm welcome to the first timers who've never seen a Christmas carol Disney u expect it to be good personally i think Disney tries to hard so now I'm glad to see one that is just right i vote this in the top five its soooo good my favorite part is with bettina and him on the bridge and when they are singing i love that song it has great rhythm along with the song when hes in boarding school reading about robinson caruso oh i love this movie and i think every one should give it a chance before they judge it

Well, I HAVE seen this version and I loved it. The animation was very well done, the music was great, and Tim Curry did a wonderful job of portraying Scrooge. I don't think that anything Disney has to offer can compare. The story in this version of course deviates from the original story, the ghost of Christmas Past is a child rather than the usual middle-aged spirit and the ghost of Christmas Present is Whoopi Goldberg with a preposterous accent. What can I say? It was made for kids to enjoy and my kids loved it and watched it again and again, as did I. Those who are purists for the story should stick with Mr Magoo. There isn't anything objectionable in this version and I'd love to see a similar treatment of David Copperfield, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, etc... instead of the usual crap that is on network TV

This is not the best Christmas Carol I've seen, The Alastair Sim, George C.Scott and Muppet versions are versions I prefer. But this 1997 animated film is much better than the 2001 film which was also animated and had Simon Callow and Kate Winslet, that would have been decent had it not been so dull.

This Christmas Carol is not perfect. There are parts of the film that drag, especially the first 15 minutes or so. Also while I have seen much worse animation as some of the colours and backgrounds are better than expected, there are some shortcuts with the occasionally awkward character design and the frames are quite simplistic.

Flaws aside, this film I think is charming, worthwhile and underrated. The incidental music is absolutely beautiful, while I quite liked the songs actually particularly Santa's Sooty Suit and the very touching duet between Belle and young Ebeneezer. This version is not the most faithful, there are some changes, specifically the character Debit who I was in two minds of whether he was really that necessary to the story and the fact the ghost of Christmas Present ages throughout.

There are some changes though that I think worked, particularly the bit where Robinson Crusoe appears as a spirit and the part where Tiny Tim is reading the same book and Scrooge is reading along which really quite touched me. Even with the changes though, the spirit of the classic story is there. The crucial scenes are there, you do empathise with Scrooge throughout, the ending is marvellous being very heartwarming and as well as some added dialogue(the Mr Grumpy Face line is very funny) some of the film's writing is lifted from the text of the book as you can see in the scene in the beginning with Fred and the ending at Bob Cratchit's house.

The voice cast is top notch. Edward Asner is a good Jacob Marley, Michael York is very spirited and Jodi Benson is also touching. Support wise, the best for me was Whoopi Golberg who embodies her character very well and seems to be having a great deal of fun. Best of all is Tim Curry in the title role, right from the voice to the delivery of the lines, he is just wonderful.

Overall, while it is not the best or most perfect version there is, I enjoyed it a lot. 8/10 Bethany Cox