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5.3/10
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Old bitter miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Simon Callow) who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.Old bitter miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Simon Callow) who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.Old bitter miser Ebenezer Scrooge (Simon Callow) who makes excuses for his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three ghosts visit him on Christmas Eve.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Simon Callow
- Scrooge
- (voice)
- …
Kate Winslet
- Belle
- (voice)
Nicolas Cage
- Marley
- (voice)
Rhys Ifans
- Bob Cratchit
- (voice)
Juliet Stevenson
- Mrs. Cratchit
- (voice)
- …
Robert Llewellyn
- Old Joe
- (voice)
Iain Jones
- Fred
- (voice)
Colin McFarlane
- Fezziwig
- (voice)
Beth Winslet
- Fan
- (voice)
Arthur Cox
- Dr. Lambert
- (voice)
Keith Wickham
- Mr. Leach
- (voice)
- …
Joss Sanglier
- Choir Master
- (voice)
Sarah Kayte Foster
- Mouse
- (voice)
- (as Sarah Annison)
Rosalie MacCraig
- Mouse
- (voice)
Aaron Basacombe
- Child
- (voice)
Bradley Kelly
- Child
- (voice)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
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 .
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 .
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.
I quite much liked this version. I know that the story of Ebenezer Scrooge has been filmed many times but I don't care about that because of the moral point of this story. And hey, how many Dracula movies are out there?
The old-time animation was excellent and invigorating as I am quite bored with many modern day dull computer animations.
Mice were an excellent spice in the story. It looks like that many hate those mice and that they're not part of the story but hopefully everybody remembers Charles Dickens' lines in the start of the movie that this is not a straight adaptation from the book. Perhaps he just added those mice while telling the story? To me, mice didn't steal the story to themselves. The moral story of the original book is still there. And there aren't a director who didn't add something to the movie nevertheless what book says.
The ghost parts of the movie were marvelously made (especially the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come -part).
All in all, a well-made animated movie.
The old-time animation was excellent and invigorating as I am quite bored with many modern day dull computer animations.
Mice were an excellent spice in the story. It looks like that many hate those mice and that they're not part of the story but hopefully everybody remembers Charles Dickens' lines in the start of the movie that this is not a straight adaptation from the book. Perhaps he just added those mice while telling the story? To me, mice didn't steal the story to themselves. The moral story of the original book is still there. And there aren't a director who didn't add something to the movie nevertheless what book says.
The ghost parts of the movie were marvelously made (especially the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come -part).
All in all, a well-made animated movie.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThis movie along with Noël chez les Muppets (1992) are the only versions where the Christmas present scenes of the Cratchit family and Scrooge's nephew Fred's party swap places. In the original story and in other film versions, the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to the Cratchits' Christmas dinner before Fred's party.
- GoofsScrooge collects a sheaf of papers regarding debts that he's taken over but when he meets up with Joe, his debt collector, instead of giving him the papers he gives him a book.
- Quotes
Ebenezer Scrooge: Cratchit, that slovenly, good for nothing... Even a tiny mouse is more tidy!
- Alternate versionsSome DVD versions omit the live action theatrical opening and ending featuring Simon Callow as Charles Dickens. The Region 1 DVD from MGM has both scenes as a supplement in the special features section.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Making 'Christmas Carol: The Movie' (2003)
- SoundtracksWhat If I
Performed by Kate Winslet
Produced by Steve Mac
Engineered by Chris Laws and Matt Howe at Rokstone Studios, London
Assistant Daniel Pursey
Written by Steve Mac and Wayne Hector
Published by Rokstone Music/Universal Music/Universal Music
Except USA: Rokstone Music/Songs of Windswept/Universal Music
Used by kind permission of Universal Music Publishing Ltd
Rokstone Musice LTD/Universal Music Publishing Ltd 2001
2001 Illuminated Films (Christmas Carol) Ltd
- How long is Christmas Carol: The Movie?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Christmas Carol: The Movie
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $266,475
- Runtime1 hour 21 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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