Canto di Natale - Il film

Ebeneezer Scrooge (Simon Callow) is a cold hearted miser who makes no secret of his contempt for the holidays as he runs his moneylending services with no room for compassion or humanity. Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his deceased partner, Jacob Marley (Nicolas Cage) who is now condemned to wander the Earth in the shackles he forged in life and tells Scrooge that a similar fate awaits him with an even longer and heavier chain. Marley offers Scrooge a chance to avoid his fate by telling him three ghosts, the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Jane Horrocks), Present (Michael Gambon), and Future who show Scrooge his long forgotten past, its effects on those in the here and now, and what may happen if he continues on his course unaltered.

Christmas Carol: The Movie is a 2001 animated adaptation of the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol directed by Jimmy Murakami who'd previously worked as a supervising animator on the iconic short The Snowman as well as directing When the Wind Blows. The film was released in the UK in 2001 where it underperformed making a mere $200,000 against an estimated 6 million Pound budget and with the exception of Norway the film went direct-to-video elsewhere including the United States where it would be released by MGM in 2003 with little fanfare. What critics who actually bothered to see the film were primarily negative in their reception and to this day the film remains one of the more forgotten and obscure adaptations of this material as there's really not much here that wasn't done better in either prior adaptations or ones that came afterwards.

While there is a certain appeal to some parts of the animation per the standards Murakami set for himself in The Snowman and When the Wind Blows, the animation itself feels like it's slightly sloggy with the characters' motions often feeling as though they're in motion through molasses. There's also some instances where the character designs fall into the uncanny valley with some attempts to make the humans more realistic looking resulting in some really unappealing aesthetics such as with the ghost of Christmas Past. In terms of the writing, the film does hit many of the major beats of the story, but issues with the pacing, placement of certain scenes, or added elements end up undermining the integrity of the narrative. The movie takes a really long time before it actually even gets to the arrival of the ghosts with the opening 30 minutes dedicated to establishing what Scrooge's lost love Belle played by Kate Winslet is doing with a hospital, antics involving two mute mice characters to whom Scrooge is uncharacteristically nice to, and there's no real buildup to the appearance of Jacob Marley whose appearance now comes before the collectors for the poor in a strange decision. Once we go through the three ghosts everything feels oddly compressed and rushed but also like we're going nowhere as there's a lengthy bit of animation done in the same style as The Snowman flight scene where Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas present sprinkle goodwill from the ghost's torch rather than actually looking at the present. But easily the biggest failure of the film lies at the end where the cathartic ending where Scrooge mends his ways feels trimmed down considerably and is lacking in the jovial spirit one typically associates with that ending.

Christmas Carol: The Movie is a not particularly impressive take on this story and there's a reason most aren't even aware of its existence. Aside from the "wha?" factor of having Nicolas Cage voice Marley this version of A Christmas Carol isn't particularly well told or well-acted and the animation doesn't do much service to this material.

There is nothing wrong with changing a story so long as you admit to it. So unlike many children's films where a classic is ruined and the child grows up in ignorance and never knows the difference, this film has the charming idea of having live action Charles Dickens go to America and tell the story to an audience explaining it isn't quite the same as how he wrote it in the book, thus growing curiosity and encouraging children to read the true classics of this world. The only real fault with this film is its ghastly title (and possible when the child of ignorance disintegrates, being too scary for children). I admit as a film student I had very low expectations of ANOTHER adaption of A Christmas Carol but was for once very pleasantly surprised and refreshingly, no one bursts into song and no animals talk in this film. The acting is very good and the voice talents obviously cared about this job. How Scrooge acts after the ghost of Christmas Future and how he makes the Christmas miracles are more realistic than I've seen in any adaption for a long time. Things don't happen with a snap of the fingers and this children's film truly does give hope to the most desperate of souls.

Worthwhile adaptation about timeless and quintessential Christmas tale , it is definitely worth a look thanks to splendid animated images . It's fun , touching and different approach to the Christmas classic with acceptable effects by cartoon , dealing with the known story about an old bitter miser who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve . A Christmas Carol is an agreeable production , a wonderful and straight-forward approach to the Dickens's source material , being splendid but freely adapted . It stars with a live-action sequence set in Boston in 1857, the site of a live reading by renowned novelist Dickens played by Simon Callow. The production values & drawing are both adequate with just enough attractive to appeal to the tenderhearted , and with touching doses of horror , case of the potentially frightening elements the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future , adding sentiment ; all of them are blended into the mix , until , like a nice Christmas punch , the result appeals to all . Scrooge is a miserly old businessman in 1840's London . He displays no charity to mankind generally , and in particular , to his employee Bob Cratchett and his unfortunate son , Tiny Tim . One Christmas Eve he is visited by the ghost of Marley, his dead business partner. He is warned that he must change his miserly ways or face damnation . Marley foretells that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits , each of whom will attempt to show Scrooge the error of his ways . In Just One Night, He Has Seen His Past, His Present, And His Future. And They've All Come Back To Haunt Him Will Scrooge reform his ways in time to celebrate Christmas? . To his delight, the spirits complete their visits in one night giving him the opportunity to mend his ways. The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past , shows Scrooge visions of his own past in which had spent much of his childhood neglected by his father over the holidays at boarding school until he was finally brought home by his loving sister Fan who died prematurely after giving birth to his nephew Fred . A past in which appears a young Scrooge and including a broken engagement to his girlfriend . In Just One Night , He Has Seen His Past, His Present, And His Future. And They've All Come Back To Haunt Him Will Scrooge reform his ways in time to celebrate Christmas? .

A marvelous recounting of a Christmas vintage classic , beginning with Dickens himself explains that the mouse, named Gabriel, carries a blaze of hope amidst the glaring co-existence of rich and poor in the streets of London in this retelling of Charles Dickens' immortal story . As throughout the subsequent unfolding of the famous tale a pair of mouse providing younger members of the audience with a point of childish style into the story . Decent and stirring rendition with top-notch animated drawings . Atmospherically, the movie is as comfortable and heartwarming as an old Christmas card , including potentially frightening aspects : the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future .The whole concept of looking at your life in the past, present and future is creative in and of itself . After watching the movie, you may look at your life from the same perspectives . And adding the pleasant voices from prestigious actors , such as : Simon Callow as Scrooge / Charles Dickens , Nicolas Cage , Kate Winslet , Jane Horrocks , Rhys Ifans , Juliet Stevenson , Robert Llewellyn and Michael Gambon who also played a Scrooge role in the Doctor Who (2005) episode and A Christmas Carol . Though most of us , if not all of us, have seen other adaptations in the past or read the story,and know already what to expect, director Jimmy Murakami manages to capture pure magic with this peculiar portrayal of main character Ebenezer Scrooge , and it is definitely worth a look . It's fun and different approach to the Christmas classic. A highly recommended film that nobody should miss it especially during Christmas time still ranks as one of the most enjoyable adaptations of the Dickens classic ever. This animated retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel about a Victorian-era miser taken on a journey of self-redemption will appeal to Charles Dickens novel fans .

The motion picture was well directed by Jimmy T. Murakami . He was born on June 5, 1933 in San Jose, California, USA as Teruaki Murakami and died in Dublín , 2014 . He is known for his work on Breath (1967), Humanoids from the Deep (1980) , Heavy Metal (1981) , The Christmas Story Keepers (1998) , The Easter Story Keepers (1998) and Kate Bush: King of the Mountain (2005) . And When the wind blows (1986) that was his greatest hit along with a Sci-Fi movie titled Battle beyond the stars produced by Roger Corman .

Other versions about this stunning story courtesy of several mysterious Christmas apparitions are the following ones : The rather obscure 1935 version with Sir Seymour Hicks , the 1951 British production with Alastair Sim, Jack Warner , adaptation released by MGM in 1938 with Reginald Owen , Gene Lockhart , and the 1970 musical, with Albert Finney , Frank Finlay . Under the title of 'A Christmas Carol' a cartoon rendition (1997) by Stan Phillips and voiced by Tim Curry and another (1991) by Jimmy T Murakami with Simon Callow . The made-for-TV productions: 1984 with George C. Scott , 1999 with Patrick Stewart , Richard E. Grant , Saskia Reeves , Laura Fraser , Joel Grey and the 2004 musical, with Kelsey Grammer . Finally , ¨Robert Zemeckis's Christmas Carol¨ in which Jim Carrey demonstrates once again his versatility on screen ; it is given the full ¨Motion Capture¨ deluxe treatment in a superior film directed by Robert Zemeckis with Jim Carrey , Robin Wright , Colin Firth , Dominic West , adding stunning special effects with a nice little touch , but it is Carrey's interaction with the 'ghosts' and various characters that really steal the show ; including top-drawer effects by means of ¨Motion Capture¨, a technique developed by Robert Zemeckis in previous films as Beowulf and Polar Express .

I've probably seen every version of "A Christmas Carol" ever done. It's probably my favorite story. It's about pain and suffering and redemption. It's a wonderful ghost story. It has great characters and a great deal of sentimentality. It take a really good actor to pull off the character of Scrooge. Alaister Sim and George C. Scott are my favorites. The character has to have a link to an unhappy past. Cruelty is one thing, but we need some humanity as well. If he is not complex, he is nothing. This had potential. It has very nice animation. The problem, for me, is that Scrooge is too young. He has the angular face of a forty year old. His lines are delivered without any underlying emotion. I don't think the people doing the voices did much homework. Also, what's wrong with the original plot. Do people change it so they can put their own signature on it. This one isn't too bad, but it's so wooden. Those mice are also really annoying. If one wanted to take this to its logical end, London at that time, was overrun with disease ridden vermin, which did decrease the surplus population. Now, I know that's really harsh to these two little guys, but I would imagine that Scrooge would have as soon flattened them with a boot as look at them. You either make a commitment to tell the story, or you throw the whole thing out an ignore the elements. The mice should go. There's also a group of social issues that are just dropped in. All in all, however, it seems so lacking in pizazz. There is supposed to be elation at the end; even giddiness. There is nothing giddy about this film.

In this version of A Christmas Carol, Simon Callow plays Charles Dickens. He attends a reading of his classic story, and as he reads aloud to his audience, the film turns to cartoon. Simon lends his voice to Ebenezer Scrooge, and he's joined by Nicolas Cage as Marley, Rhys Ifans as Bob Cratchit, Michael Gambon as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Jane Horrocks as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Juliet Stevenson as Mrs. Cratchit, and Kate Winslet as Belle.

If you're going to go with an animated version, go with Mr. Magoo's comedic version. If you want something a little more sophisticated, go with Jim Carrey's 3-D version. This version isn't atrocious, but it's also not very good. It'll draw in quite a few viewings because of the cast, but how much more fun would it have been if it was a real-people movie with the same cast? Maybe everyone signed on thinking that was the case, and maybe the beginning real-people section was only added to appease audience members who were under the same impression when they rented it.