Disney's A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol (1908); Scrooge (1913); Scrooge (1922); Scrooge (1935); A Christmas Carol (1938); Scrooge (1951); Magoo's Christmas Carol; Scrooge (1970); A Christmas Carol (1971);The Passions of Carol (Porn version);The Stingiest Man in Town (Walter Matthau); Rich Little's Christmas Carol; Scrooge (1978); A Country Christmas Carol (Hoyt Axton); Mickey's Christmas Carol; A Christmas Carol (1984) A Flintstones Christmas Carol; Scrooged; Ebbie (Susan Lucci as Scrooge); A Muppet Christmas Carol; An All Dogs Christmas Carol; A Christmas Carol (1997); Ebanezer; A Christmas Carol (1999)  A Diva's Christmas Carol; Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001);Scrooge and Marley; A Carol Christmas; A Christmas Carol (2004); Bah Humduck, A Looney Tunes Christmas Carol; An American Carol;

I was very skeptical of seeing this version of "A Christmas Carol". This time its comedian Jim Carey in the role previously played by Reginald Owen, Alistair Sim (twice--live action and animated); Patrick Stewart, George C. Scott, Dean Jones, Susan Lucci, Hoyt Axton, Michael Caine, Kelsey Grammer, Susan Lucci, Jack Palance, Vanessa Williams, Simon Callow, Bill Murray, Cyril Richard, Tim Curry, Steven Webber, Walter Matthau, Tori Spelling, Scrooge McDuck and others, the ultimate performance of course beinng given by Mr. Magoo.

I was also skeptical because Robert Zmeckis was again directing a stop motion animated film. I was less than thrilled with his previous efforts "Polar Express" and "Beowulf" (though Angelina Jolie's nude scene was worth seeing). However Zmeckis also did the wonderful "Used Cars", "Back to the Future (1-3)", "Trespass" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand". He also directed "Castaway".

I'm glad to say he did a marvelous job with "A Christmas Carol" and I think its one of the best films of the year, thanks to its stunning use of 3-D.

You know the story so I'm not going to regurgitate it. Jim Carrey is kept relatively restrained, playing all the ghosts and all versions of Scrooge, young and old. Only the Ghost of Christmas Present gets annoying with his constantly laughing for no particlar reason.

Although finding a way to breath new life into this story had to be a challenge, Zmeckis manages to do so by showing off his use of 3-D and takes us on a flight through Dickensonian London. He finds all the heart and comedy, while giving us a generous portion of scary moments involving both the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Scrooge's ex-partner Marley (Gary Oldman, who also plays Crachitt).

Based on the novel by Charles Dickens

Screenplay by Robert Zmeckis

Directed by Robert Zmeckis

Below: The Ghost of Marley confronts Scrooge.

Maybe I missed it while being distracted by my date's naughtiness, but it did appear Crachitt had no reaction to getting a big turkey for Christmas. We see Scrooge order it and have it delivered, but we never see it delivered and nor does Crachitt mention it the next day when he comes to work. Go figure,

One moment that sounds like a mistake but isn't is the moment when Marley tells Scrooge he will be visited by 3 spirits over the next three nights. Trouble is, that would end this Dec. 26th or 27th. And in the film they clearly come all in one night, one right after the other. But if one looks in the original novel, that's how Dickens wrote it, contradiction and all. Trying to follow the novel as closely as possible, Zmeckis kept it just how it was written.

This is never going to replace the Magoo version, however it is entertaining and well worth seeing...in 3D. Not sure it will be anywhere near as good once the third dimension is eliminated in TV and DVD versions. So go see it now!

One final note: "Princess Bride" fans will notice both Cary Ewes (bunch of parts) and Robin Wright Penn (Fan, Belle) in the cast,

I do wonder though now that they have such a great 3-D process, how long before they apply it to "adult" movies?