A Christmas Carol (November 6, 2009)

This is another version of the timeless tale published in 1843 by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. I believe the plot needs no extra illumination I will give a brief summary anyway. It follows the titular Mr. Scrooge, a crotchety, stingy, and wealthy old man. Over the course of three nights he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and, through these visitations and accompanying visions, he learns the true meaning of Christmas and emerges a changed man. Jim Carey does a fantastic job voicing the infamous Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge; His signature style and expressiveness fits the character very well. Truly all the vocal performances and the visual effects are superb. It is the character design that lets this version of the classic tale down. The hyper realistic animation technology, while immensely impressive, is just too uncanny for this charming story. Somehow, I feel it worked best in The Polar Express (or perhaps I am just biased towards it). Here I think a more cartoony style would have worked wonders to lighten up the story and create an air of whimsey and wonder. This version is way too dark with many creepy visuals that, while well rendered, are over the top and unnecessary. It would have benefited from a lighter palate (oftentimes the scenery is shrouded in shadows making it hard to see) and a softer touch. It is a Christmas story for children, after all. Additionally, oftentimes the people appear to move like dolls controlled by strings, contrasting with their realistic appearance. The movie begins to lose my interest about two thirds of the way through, though it manages to recapture it by the end. It is not even a long film (clocking in at about 95 minutes) but it feels much longer with a fair amount of filler and embellishment with no real purpose at advancing the plot. Overall, while there are definite bright spots, namely the vocal performances and visual effects, Disney’s A Christmas Carol is a bleak and dreary slog that more often scares than delights and fails to fully capture the magic of Christmas.

Final Rating: 5/10