#Best A Christmas Carol Movie Adaptations, Ranked
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“#Best A Christmas Carol Movie Adaptations, Ranked”
Then there was Charles Dickens. When Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843, it fundamentally shifted conceptions about the holiday and inspired people of all social classes with the Christmas spirit. His book was perhaps the most important factor for the ubiquity of the modern Christmas experience, helping (along with Coca-Cola) to cement now-standard practices like indoor Christmas trees, Christmas cards, caroling, and paid Christmas vacation. It’s mostly thanks to him that Christmas became a federal American holiday in 1870.
It’s understandable, then, that A Christmas Carol has inspired almost countless adaptations, with literally hundreds of versions across theatre, radio, television, opera, and even video games. Cinema alone has delivered approximately 57 adaptations, from 1901’s silent Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost to the upcoming adaptation Spirited with Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell. While there are excellent television versions of the story, these are the best theatrically-released movie versions of A Christmas Carol, ranked.
8 A Christmas Carol (2009 Animated Feature)
Before his version of A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis had created two hit films, Beowulf and the similarly snowy Polar Express, using a then-pioneering animation technique known as performance-capture. The style has been divisive for critics and audiences alike, creating a kind of uncanny valley with its almost-too-real moments, but it is used to great effect and well suited for this Dickens adaptation. “A visual marvel that begs to be seen in theatres,” according to Brian Gallagher, the freedom of the animation allows for particularly unique interpretations, especially of the Christmas ghosts which had somewhat lost their strange and legendary spookiness after a century of visual storytelling. The voice acting and motion-capture performances are also spectacular– Jim Carrey oscillates between Scrooge and the three ghosts of Christmas; Gary Oldman switches between Bob Cratchit, Marley, and even Tiny Tim; Bob Hoskins, Colin Firth, and Robin Wright Penn are all additionally wonderful. Perhaps too bizarre in its animation for some, the 2009 A Christmas Carol is still an eccentric and worthy addition to the Dickens’ legend.
7 Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983 Animated Short)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol is significant for being the first original theatrical Mickey Mouse film in over thirty years, and Disney was wise to pick the classic and timeless Dickens tale as its story. It’s honestly surprising that they didn’t do it sooner, what with Scrooge McDuck being based on old Ebenezer and having been created in 1947. Using the famous Disney characters in the roles of ghosts and townsfolk, Mickey’s Christmas Carol is perhaps the most kid-friendly adaptation of the story; short but sweet, the colorful animation is efficient at whittling down the novella to the essentials in an entertaining way.
6 Scrooge (1970 Musical)
The 1970 musical adaptation Scrooge piggybacks on the massive success of another musical Dickens adaptation from two years prior, Oliver, but manages to hold its own. Nominated for four Academy Awards for its rousing and beautifully choreographed musical numbers, replete with meticulously detailed period-specific costumes and sets, Scrooge is perhaps the most boisterous and bigger-than-life adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Albert Finney and Alec Guinness work incredibly well together as Scrooge and Marley, and Finney chews up the scenery in a delightfully exaggerated way, producing a lively version of a story which is often somewhat solemn.
5 A Christmas Carol (1938)
The first American rendition of Dickens’ tale was MGM’s A Christmas Carol from 1938, and it’s one of the most delightful. While most adaptations steer into the darkness and poverty at the heart of the story, Edwin Marin’s version was filmed after the austere Great Depression had spent years decimating the socioeconomic lives of many, so it almost makes sense that the production would remove the sadder and more haunting material. This also reduces the film to a brisk hour and ten minutes, meaning that it is a lean, mean, humbug machine. Efficient and spirited, the 1938 version is essential for those who prefer a lighter re-telling.
4 A Christmas Carol (1971 Animated Short)
The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film of 1971 went to Richard Williams’ version of A Christmas Carol, which is on the darker end of the holiday spectrum. With surprisingly disturbing imagery and often terrifying sound effects, Williams’ adaptation steers directly into the horror and misery inherent in the Dickens narrative; if it was any longer than 25-minutes, it may almost be unbearable. Williams would go on to be the pioneering animation director for Who Frame Roger Rabbit, and his work here perfectly compliments the vocal performance from Alastair Sim, who was legendary for his work as Scrooge two decades prior. As a theatrically released short, it’s perfect, condensing the classic story into a brief and bleak narrative sure to haunt viewers with their own Christmas ghosts.
3 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Muppets Christmas Carol is a strong contender for the most beloved adaptation of the Dickens story. Not only does the movie mark the triumphant return of the Muppets after the tragic deaths of creator Jim Henson and puppeteer Richard Hunt, but it is also surprisingly one of the most faithful adaptations of the tale ever made. Michael Caine gives an impressively hateful and sadistic performance which is perfectly balanced by the joy and delight of the Muppets around him, preventing the film from becoming too cruel in places. While the songs occasionally go on for too long and are a weak aspect in an otherwise wonderful film, the combination of Caine and Muppets with excellent production design and seamless technical achievements all make for a winning adaptation the whole family can enjoy.
2 Scrooged (1988)
Scrooged updates the Victorian setting of the 1843 Dickens tale to 1980’s New York, with all its materialism, loud traffic, and corporate greed. The film is schismatic and hated by many, with Roger Ebert calling it “one of the most disquieting, unsettling films to come along in quite some time,” and yet it has gained a cult following over the past three decades for its innovative, sarcastic, and metatextual deconstruction of the Christmas classic. Maybe too mean-spirited for some, and definitely more disturbing than most versions, Richard Donner’s film locates the anger and despair in a story which Dickens once said should “strike a sledge hammer blow,” and yet does so with scorching wit. Both the funniest and the darkest big-screen adaptation of A Christmas Carol, and containing one of Bill Murray’s most cynical and venomous performances, Scrooged is a much-maligned masterpiece begging to be revisited.
1 Scrooge (1951)
Considered the gold standard of A Christmas Carol adaptations, Brian Desmond Hurst’s Scrooge rises above the rest with its perfect balancing act of somber sadness and happy hope. Most versions dwell within one end of the story’s polarities, becoming either too dark or too light in the process, but Hurst manages to delve deep into the melancholy of ghostly apparitions and painful regret only enough to provide the final act with a sense of hope, spiritual transformation, and social change which feels genuine. Alastair Sim is almost universally recognized as the greatest Scrooge, with his 1951 performance practically defining what the role requires. Ebenezer Scrooge, like Hamlet, is one of the juiciest roles an actor can have, as it requires an authentic but careful sense of change from cruelty to generosity. Sim underplays the role more so than other luminaries like George C. Scott or Patrick Stewart, and yet still manages to evoke a sense of menace and anguish on his way to transformation. The opening sections stray from the source material in order to flesh out Scrooge’s life, which allows for better character development, and the film delivers an ending worthy of Dickens himself.
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