The Forgotten Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- Humbug! We all have a favorite film adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novella "A Christmas Carol". But what about those adaptations that aren't that fondly remembered? Let's take a look back at Christmas Carol Past for three adaptations that don't really get talked about...maybe for good purpose.
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An American Christmas Carol was actually filmed in the town I grew up in. According to folks in town, Henry Winkler was incredibly kind & super respectful. They had nothing but great things to say about him.
I watched it today. It’s really good
it's my favorite one
The George C. Scott Christmas Carol was filmed in my home town and my dad's friend actually worked on the film. I've visited the filming locations many times.
I've also heard he's an incredibly nice. Wish I could meet the dude.
The 1984 version with George C. Scott is my favorite. Coincidentally, my wife and I watched it last night and I mentioned the Rich Little version, which my dad loved.
That’s the best version
Agreed, The George C. Scott version is my favorite as well. The back and forth between Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present is something that I think about all the time.
I like a lot of them but probably my favorite is the Jim Carrey version. When Cratchit starts to talk about how tiny Tim, in church, was saying that Jesus made blind men see and lame men walk, it's a very moving scene.
I'm always amazed how, " Scrooge " (1970) with Albert Finney, and Alec Guinness is always skipped over and is always the hardest to find. I'm glad I finally own a copy of it. I don't know if it's because it's called Scrooge instead of A Christmas Carol or if it's because of copyrights of the two most famous actors who have ever played Scrooge & Marley. I just don't understand it. If anyone has any real information it would be most welcome.
Definitely the best adaptation. Great performances from the leads and great songs as well. Fleshing out the Scrooge/Isabel storyline really hammered home what a pitiful character he was too. They did a great job of giving him a little more dimension and nuance than some other adaptations. We watch Scrooge every Christmas Eve at my house.
Duuuudde, so underrated. I like it as much as Patrick Stewart's
I love the music in that movie. I get a kick out the "I Hate People" song and laugh every time I watch it.
My family watches this every year. It's got great songs that get stuck in your head. For many years we watched the VHS that we got from our church video sale (Our church had a video library that was pretty cool). Couldn't find it anywhere until it later popped on DVD on Amazon.
I was looking for this comment, couldn’t agree more
The Patrick Stewart one is a favorite of mine, as well. So is Scrooged, which I consider the Christmas version of Groundhog Day
It has a scene from the book that always gets cut out. After Marley tells Scrooge of the three Spirits, he takes Scrooge through his bedroom window into his courtyard, where Scrooge is horrified to find that the world is full of ghosts, usually invisible, who are tormented by their ability to witness but not influence events. At one moment, a ghost is seen crying helplessly over a mother and young child freezing to death in the snow, unable to help them.
It isn't a direct adaptation, but I do recommend The Man Who Invented Christmas. Dan Stevens plays Charles Dickens while he goes through the process of creating A Christmas Carol. And we get to see Christopher Plummer play as Ebenezer Scrooge during the inception of the tale. It's a fun movie and became part of my holiday watching since release a couple years ago.
The trippy 1971 animated version (that won the Oscar!) was my favorite.
I can't believe that I took the time to research that Scrooge, would infact, know what ketchup was. Maybe not the EZ squeeze bottles made from plastic though.
You are doing God’s work.
Albert Finney was 34 when he starred in Scrooge (the 1970 musical), and played the old man so convincingly that you forget he's not really an old man. And keep in mind, that's while singing and dancing as an old man. The one thing that really gives him away are his fat, young fingers. By the time you see him as young Eb, you may forget that it's the same actor.
Scrooge isn't supposed to be elderly, anyway. In the chronology of the novel, he should be early 50s at most. Finney played him correctly, and his "old" Scrooge looks to be reasonably in his 50s, which is correct.
A Muppet Christmas Carol is my personal favourite. Michael Caine's serious dramatic performance contrasted with the silly muppets is iconic
The host of Supermarket Sweep playing Scrooge in 2013 is somehow the most 2020 thing ever.
I THOUGHT THAT WAS HIM. God I scrolled the comments to see if anyone else picked that up.
Blackadder Christmas Carol is a good reverse version of the story
yesssss!!!
Thanks for the suggestion James I took it, the family loved it. You adorable xmas elf!
Yes I love that episode!
Watch it every year. Hysterical. Quote lines year round. My favorite? Baldricks posing pouch.
Bad guys have all the fun!
My favorite overlooked adaptation of A Christmas Carol is the early 1970’s Chuck Jones animated version voiced by Alistair Sim.
You mentioned that you're surprised there weren't more Christmas Carol sequels. There is one I can think of. The 1985 Anthology series "George Burns Comedy Week" had for its second to last episode "Christmas Carol II: The Sequel". The series itself would be worthy of an episode as it was from Steve Martin and Carl Gottlieb and was riding the brief anthology tv series craze of the mid 80s.
Ah, so I’m not the only one who remembers that TV series and that particular episode. (I couldn’t name or describe any other episode from GBCW if you forced me to try.)
I remember that episode. I remember it was funny.
Albert Finney's "Scrooge" is the one my family watches every year.
I could watch henry winkler wash his hands. Love him
For a minute there, I mistook the actor playing Scrooge in ''Scrooge To See You'' for Dereck Jacobi, but then I couldn't understand how a low budget Christian film company could afford him. Then it occurred to me that it was actually David Ruprecht, the host of the old ''Supermarket Sweep'' gameshow. Other than Supermarket Sweep, Ruprecht's big claim to fame was playing the guy that married Janet in the last season of ''Three's Company''.
Me too, then he sort of sounded like Ethan Phillips...
@@billeickman You're absolutely right, I never noticed that before.
Well, whoever it was, at least it wasn't Kirk Cameron.
Well, whoever it was, at least it wasn't Kirk Cameron.
You guys got a Supermarket Sweep? Ours was Dale Winton and then Ryland Clark-Neal hosting it, the U.K. one.
I'm so glad you included the Henry Winkler version, which came out when I was a (very media-aware) 11-year-old. He was at peak popularity then -- he could write his own ticket, and I think he chose this project to get as far away from The Fonz as he could. I watched at least some of it and remember thinking, "Huh, he pulled it off pretty well."
Just based on these clips, he didn't pull it off.
I watch the Blackadder version every year!
The ultimate version!
Me too
I thought he sounded familiar, the scrooge from "Mister Scrooge to see you" is the host os Supermarket Sweep. So weird to see him in something other than a fantastically hideous sweater, but I guess you gotta continue to work. This is a wonderful hodgepodge list of movies. Will have to watch them sometime for fun.
His name is David Ruprecht and he has been in a lot of stuff.
Yeah, I thought he looked familiar.
I think that's where most of the film's budget went!
oh man, i thought it was Ethan Phillips for a moment there...i was like "Neelix, no!"
My personal favorite is the 1970 Scrooge with Albert Finney and Alec Guinness.
Same😍
That's my favorite musical adaptation of it.
Absolutely!
Thank you very much...
Thank you very much...
It's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me...
Yes!
agree
They should remake the Christmas Carol starring Henry Winkler now that he's old, and use the footage of Young Henry for flashbacks
Or they could just 'deep-fake' his current look over the old film. (And perhaps, pitch down his voice to make him sound older).
@@DirectorDonP You're talking about six digits in post-production costs there. Do you really think ANYONE wants to spend all that money to fix a terrible made for television film from 1978 that no one liked to begin with? That's like asking for $25,000 to hire a good artist to paint a decent portrait of Scrooge and then another $5,000 to have it digitally superimposed into this scene @13:09 just to fix it more than ten years after it was released.
@@wellesradio Do I really think...etc etc? ha ha ha of course not! Just like MCFPapa's original comment - we're just having a banter!
@@wellesradio "6 digits post-production" this youtuber did it with almost nothing in his spare time, by himself, and did it so well he got poached by Lucas Films. So no, it wouldn't be until you start throwing Hollywood accounting into it and magically make the money disappear. ruclips.net/video/dHSTWepkp_M/видео.html
@@Channel-gz9hm He/she added filters on top of already existing footage, and did for a “whopping” two minutes and forty-five seconds.
As for “doing it for almost nothing”, if the studios rely on unpaid slave labor, sure, why not? Practically free. Ask that RUclipsr how much LucasArts pays for the hours of work they would put in to accomplish this while on the payroll. It’s about $95k-$120k annually per artist. That’s only for the in-house stuff. LucasFilms games licenses properties, so they have to pay a lot more for other designers to being their teams in as well. If I were an architect, just because I’m willing to design my own house in my spare time doesn’t mean that architects are cheap.
Yes, the TNT Patrick Stewart is a good one.
It's the best one! Follows the dialog of Dickens's novel more accurately than any other.
one version that wasn't as bad as I expected was "Ebenezer", a Western version starring Jack Palance
The '51 version with Alastair Sim is still to this day the definite and best one. Scrooged is a personal favorite of myself and my wife. You forgot to mention the 1997 movie Ebenezer with Jack Palance as Scrooge, I've never seen anyone even remotely remember it being made
The Alistair Sim version is great, although some of the changes made to the story aren't so great - like having Marley repent on his death bed but still be damned, which makes no sense, and isn't in the original story for a reason: he was damned because he _didn't_ repent in life. (Which I guess means after a redeemed Scrooge dies and goes to Heaven, Marley will still be trudging around on Earth as a ghost. Kind of a raw deal.)
I was somewhat raised on Rich Little's Christmas Carol. It is enjoyable for what it was, though I do agree it should have been much shorter, less Dickens more Rich Little.
I'll admit, I laughed at a lot of the clips of that one, and I thought "this actually sounds awesome!" But when he said it was 50 minutes, I thought "Yeah, that is a LITTLE too long for this concept."
Or less Rich Little and more actors. He plays Cratchit, Scrooge, maybe Marley or Ghost of Christmas Present, but then you have comedians or other contemporaries playing the other characters. And maybe only half an hour since it's a comedy and it doesn't have to atmospheric to get the point across.
@@JamieRobles1 Two problems, first this is a one-man show, and Rich Little is one of the great impressionists possibly of all time, very few stars if any are more qualified then him to act in a one-man show. Secondly while it first aired in the USA on HBO, it aired one year earlier on and was produced by the CBC, so we should forgive it for being cheap. 75% if not more of the special's budget most likely went to Rich Little's salary .
My favorite! Watch it every year. Too bad young people won't get the majority of the impressions.
@@dr.burtgummerfan439 You don't have enough faith in young people. They have access to all of the media that's ever been created, and if they don't get a references, they can look it up.
My favorite versions are a tie between A Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine and Scrooge with Albert Finney. My least favorite is probably the Disney animated version with Jim Carey, it's an uncanny valley nightmare.
Yeah I'm not a fan of the Jim Carrey version either, funnily enough I'm also not a fan of the Jim Carrey Grinch which is another movie where Jim Carrey plays a character who hates christmas. Btw I also love The Muppet Christmas Carol and Scrooge with Albert Finney.
Oh man, I remember watching Rich Little’s Christmas Carol as a kid. Even then I knew it was cringe city.
The Patrick Stewart version is my favorite, followed closely by the Disney version.
I love An American Christmas Carol. I saw it for the first time on The Family Channel when I was a kid. Now I have it on Blu-ray. My favorite Christmas Carol has to be the Patrick Stewart version
I love Christmas Carol like every single one I don’t really have a favorite
Mine is Little Drummer Boy.
@@grantbitman1448 that doesn’t seem like a Christmas carol
Our family favorite is the 1970 British, musical version titled Scrooge. A young Albert Finney does an excellent job as Scrooge.
From the Smith family, we wish everyone a very merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 ♥
I get so excited whenever you post a new video. No matter the subject, I know it will be quality. Keep up the great work.
Thanks so much!
The 3rd movie actually looks really wholesome
My least favorite adaptation is Christmas Carol: The Musical starring Kelsey Grammar! The one version I liked the best is Scrooged starring Bill Murray.
I JUST watched the Kelsey Grammar one today! I’m a huge Frasier fan, but it was painful and the songs were shrill and annoying.
Noooo the gritty reboot they did last year was the absolute worst. A Christmas Carol doesn’t need to be part of the me to movement or anything else for that matter - it has a message for social change.
Musical Hell tore the Kelsey Grammer one a new one, check it out
That movie was mostly singing (too much to be a standard musical, but not enough for an opera), which is a bad idea if the songs aren't half way decent.
About Mr. Scrooge to See You, the one time he went to the future it was comparatively close to his own starting point when everything was still recognizable. Getting chucked a full two centuries beyond his time makes a big difference.
When you play a time traveling Ebenezer Scrooge and you hear the beep, think of the fun you could have on Supermarket Sweep!!
My favorite is Scrooge with Albert Finney. Such a great movie. I still haven't seen Scrooged for some reason though, and I love Bill Murray.
Man, ever since I first saw the "Rich Little's 'A Christmas Carol'" I fell in love with it and never missed it when it was on (originally on HBO). Been looking for a high quality video commercial version of it for years. Best I could find was a somewhat fuzzy one on RUclips years ago.
It is available on eBay. Too expensive for me, not worth buying when It's on RUclips.
I love that last version, it is exactly my kind of corny and I would never have heard of it but for your video. Adaptations are just such a cool topic tbh. Good video
I taught this in college English class--we would read the Dickens text in class, and I would show four versions: 1951 (Alastair Sims), "Scrooged,," the George C. Scott (1984) version, and Patrick Stewart (1999) version. Patrick Stewart's version received about 75% of the votes over a ten-year period of teaching this curriculum.
Out of those, Stewart's is the worst - partly because it's a sanitized Disney production, but because it's only shortly after Star Trek TNG ended it just seems like Picard playing on the Holodeck.
The Henry Winkler version played regularly year after year until the 90s. Maybe not on the big networks, but you could always find it somewhere.
My father made us suffer through Rich Littles Christmas Carol for years... He laughed away as we counted down the minutes to watch something else. I like Rich Little now, but damn it was torture when i was young haha.
Hats off to you my man
My favs are Albert Finney, Rowan Atkinson and Bill Murray, though I like George C Scott and Alistair Sim too. To be fair its a great story so any version is usually worth a watch.
Have you ever seem the BBC's Black Adder's Christmas...it's hilarious adaptation where a good man turns into a mean-spirited soul. It's a TV show but it's creative...take a gander at this re-telling.
The 1970 musical "Scrooge" is my favorite behind the '95 version
Been teaching this to my students this past month. Lovely to see this video. Thank you always for your content :)
I was hoping you'd touch on Ebenezer, a western version of the story starring Jack Palance. Saw it when I was a kid and it's always stuck with me.
The last one showed a very valuable lesson: If you don’t have the budget to do CGI, don’t do it.
Thank you for the upload! Have a great Christmas! Keep up the great work!
Regarding Mister Scrooge to See You, you can't equate a dream-like journey to the near future with being thrust a century into the actual future where so much has changed. The fish out of water elements, while debatable funny, are appropriate to the premise.
Excluding the Muppets and Mr Magoo, I'd have to say the animated Christmas Carol with Alastair Sim is one of my favorites.
I believe the animated version you mention won the Acadamy Award Oscar for best Short Subject in 1972
You are correct about the Rich Little special. Another problem it had was the canned laughter throughout. The only time I remember laughing was when Little as Inspector Clouseau Christmas Yet To Come first appears. He ominously intones in the dark, ""Ebeneezer Scrooge!" He takes a step and trips. The rest was so unmemorable that I do not remember any of it. I forgot all about the Rich Little special until you mentioned it.
I also love the Patrick Stewart version. I also love The Muppet Christmas Carol, Mickey’s Christmas Carol, and the 2009 animated movie with Jim Carrey as Scrooge.
Anyone else get a weird Back To the Future 2 vibe from that last movie? "It's Bob Cratchit's kids, Ebenezer! Something's gotta be done about his kids!"
Watched An American Christmas Carol the other day. One of my favorite versions
"Scrooged" is my favorite version, with Sir Patrick's a close second.
A tv version was made in the late 90s/early 2000s(?) where a yr later Scrooge is revisited by the spirits to warn him that Tim will grow up to be like he was if he doesn`t intercede and help him change his ways. In one scene a college lady friend calls Tim Tiny Tim and he says, "It`s not Tiny Tim it`s Tiny Timothy!" sounding like a snoot.
Back in 1985 there was a TV show on CBS called the George Burns Comedy Week. It was an anthology show that had a new hour long story every week. One was a Christmas Carol II: The Sequel. It takes place one year after the events of A Christmas Carol. James Whitmore plays Scrooge. The ghosts come again to visit him. Scrooge is confused and asks has he not been a generous and giving person? The ghosts tell him yes but he has a new problem, that everyone sees him as an easy mark who gives out money without question. Even the Cratchet family sees him as someone they can pump money out of. The lessons at the end is be kind and generous but don't be a sucker and if you just give money to people without question they will feel entitled to it and won't love or respect you for it. I remember seeing it when I was in high school and it's stayed with me all these years. It's got a great message and it's well acted. I wish it was available to watch somewhere.
I MUST find this version for my collection. The first 3:27 minutes are here on RUclips;
CHRISTMAS CAROL II THE SEQUEL 1985 - James Whitmore as Ebenezer Scrooge
Obviously, the most underrated version of A Christmas Carol is the one that the All Dogs Go To Heaven TV series did. Ernest Borgnine as Scooge? Dom DeLuise, Sheena Easton and Steven Webber as the ghosts? And they're ALL DOGS?? Inspired! :P
Next year there should be a part-2 of this. There are more than enough adaptations to pick from
My dad's friend worked on the George C. Scott Christmas Carol and it was filmed in my home town and I've visited the filming locations many times.
My favourite adaptation is a reverse Scrooge story. "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" features the titular character being overwhelmingly nice to everyone. He's visited in the night by a ghost who shows him what utter arseholes his ancestors were and he awakens in the morning haven turned over a new leaf. While the story is more of a seasonal vehicle for the cast to flex their comedic muscles, Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Robbie Coltrane, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie et al give sterling performances.
Big fan of the 1999 made for tv version of A Christmas Carol starring Patrick Stewart myself. Glad I own a copy of so I can watch it every year at Christmas. Being a second-generation Muppets fan, The Muppet Christmas Carol is another favorite of mine. I still treasure the fact that I got to see on the big screen back in 1992.
MERRY XMAS TO YOU HATS OFF....Thanks for all the great videos👍😊👍❤❄❄❄❄❄
Alastair Sim’s version is the only one that matters. Nothing else compares to his performance.
^ This.
OMG, you covered two of my dad’s favorite versions: Rich Little and Henry Winkler’s versions! I love the Pimp ghost of Christmas future!
Scrooge not knowing what ketchup is doesn't make much sense since tomato ketchup since it was around since at least 1817 and the novel came out in 1848.
Mr. Magoo's is my favorite version. Saddest song ever is in it.
"Where is a voice to answer mine back? Where are two shoes to click to my clack? I'm all alooooone in the woooorld. (sob)"
My brother and I can recite all the dialogue and sing all the songs. Especially "We're rep re hensible! We'll steal your pen and pencible!" Unfortunately, Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol was pared down from the original one hour TV special (with ads) to a half-hour, which cuts out all the scenes of Mr Magoo preparing to play Scrooge on stage ("It's great to be back, back, back on Broadway!"), receiving the applause of the audience, then blundering about on his usual chaotic path of destruction. However, removing the more Magoo-ish elements leaves a half-hour of (basically) the wonderful Jim Backus doing HIS take on Ebeneezer Scrooge. So all's well that ends well.
11:50 - It's lit like a TV soap opera. That alone greatly contributes to cheap look.
As a big fan of different versions of A Christmas Carol, I really enjoyed this. I've never even heard of "Mister Scrooge To See You", so thank you for introducing me to that! I'll have to seek it out. One thing - you mention during that one that there hasn't really been a version of a continuation of the story. I actually wrote a version that was produced by the A&E Network in 2004 (and shown on the Hallmark Channel for many years after that before they started making so many of their own Christmas movies) called "Karroll's Christmas" that is basically a continuation of the story. The conceit is that it worked so well with Scrooge, that they've been doing it every year since saving another person. And in my film, set in present day, they make a clerical mistake and end up at the Scrooge character's next door neighbors house. He's a perfectly nice guy who loves Christmas, but hates his jerk neighbor, and ends up having to go through his neighbor's past, present, and future.
I must see this. Possible?
Karroll's Christmas is available as a DVD from the UK in the PAL format on eBay. $30 + $23 shipping, ouch. I own it as a VHS taped off the TV when I lived in Europe. Maybe I saw it as an American NTSC format DVD for a lower price elsewhere online??
Check out Carol for Another Christmas, written by Rod Serling as a film to support and educate the public on the mission of the United Nations. It’s got a great cast, music by Henry Mancini, and definitely has that Twilight Zone vibe.
Dude you are definitely one of my favorite channels to click on fast..
Cheers!
Merry Christmas to Hats off Entertainment!! And Merry Christmas to all my fellow Hats Off Entertainment subscribers!
The Patrick Stewart one is my favorite. He is the only person alive who can speak Victorian English like he grew up speaking it.
My uncle used to stay up until the early hours of morning on Christmas Eve just to watch the 1938 version and decorate the living room.
This 1938, Reginald Owen version started the lie that Bob Cratchit was ''fired'' on Christmas Eve. Thank goodness only Disney carried on with the same plot for both Daffy Duck and Yosemite Sam firing poor Porky Pig in 2006 and 1979 respectively.
Thanks, Joe. I'd heard of (but never saw) the Henry Winkler one, but the other two were news to me. I love WC Fields, but would always rather watch Fields himself than any impersonator. Although a good Fields impression is always enjoyable for the length of a comedy sketch. My favorite live-action version is still the Alastair Sim one from 1951, not just because that was the year I was born, haha. The cast boasts several great character actors: Michael Hordern, Kathleen Harrison, Hermione Baddely, Mervyn Johns, etc. And Richard Addinsell's score beautifully enhances the grimness, regret, dread and joy of the tale. And my favorite animated version is still Mr Magoo, even whittled down to a skimpy half-hour. The songs, and Jim Backus' Scrooge, are delightful.
Happy Holidays to you and yours, and best wishes for health and happiness in 2021.
Michael Hordern took the role of Scrooge in 1977 for a BBC production. It is only available in the Region 2 PAL format, as an expensive import from Greece or Australia. I have this BBC version bought in Europe years ago.. and the PAL machine and Pal TV to play it.
For me, my personal favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol is the 2009 film with Jim Carrey. I know the mo-cap animation may look uncanny to some, but I love how that version wasn’t afraid to scare you straight and embrace the darker tone of Dickens' book. (Especially considering it was a Disney movie!)
I hope next time you do this, you include the episode from the Back to the Future cartoon where biff is scrooge and Marty plays the ghosts.
I own this version on a self-made DVD. Marty and the Professor meet Scrooge and Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist. 1991, 22 minutes long. Season 2, episode 10.
11:55 For just a minute I thought that was Ethan Phillips. Proportions are in range, and that line delivery just screamed Neelix.
I'm new to your channel but I'm loving your interesting takes on pop culture! Keep up the good work.
Also - I believe that was Supermarket Sweep's David Ruprecht as Scrooge in "Mr. Scrooge to See You"!
Scrooged and Muppets are my favorites, by far. I love how wacky they both are
My favorites were the Muppets one and the one with Albert Finney, though recently I've become quite partial to the Guy Pierce version on FX.
I was really into the FX one but then they make things way too dark and it robs the story of that wholesome ending
My favorites are Finney and George C Scott. I was disappointed in the Kelsey Grammar version (considering all of the talent involved), but they did a unique spin that I haven't seen in other adaptations (and I don't remember from the novella): When Scrooge and Marley become successful young men, they foreclose on Fezziwig. I'm also a fan of the FX horror movie version, which I found was the most creative.
I have An American Christmas Carol on DVD and absolutely adore it!
I believe I heard of Rich Little before. He did the Pink Panther’s voice for two shorts and did a big number of voices for Lucky Luke in Daisy Town.
The Guy Pierce FX miniseries should not be missed. An original and almost psychological thriller take on the story.
Sort of a side note comment: I’ve yet to bring myself to watch the CGI Christmas Carol. Mostly an “Uncanny Valley” thing. Generally I feel you can’t go wrong with any version in black and white though
Yeah the CGI is uncanny but todate I think it might be the most accurate to the book I’ve ever seen. They even include the children of want and ignorance which is usually left out. Plus a mostly accurate depiction of past as a old man baby candle YES that is what past looks like.
My favorite adaptation (comedic wise), was A Diva's Christmas Carol starring Vanessa Williams as Ebony Scrooge; a tightwad music star. It was produced by VH-1 with Kathy Griffin as the spirit of Christmas past, Andy Taylor as ghost of Christmas present, and (spoiler alert) VH-1 itself was the ghost of Christmas yet to come. Very funny take on the Dickens classic.😂
I remember a Christian film called Scrooge and Marley from 2001 starring Dean Jones, where Marley's ghost takes Scrooge to court as he is trying to ban a manger setting from a school or something.
There is also a Blackadder version of this where it does a complete reverse of the story. In which Ebenezer Blackadder starts of nice and kind but changes into his more iconic selfish identity after being visited by the ghost of Christmas.
The 1951 Alistair Sim version is by far the most iconic, timeless version which has stood the test of time. You see Sim and you see Scrooge. It packs an emotional punch and should be looked upon as in the same vein as "Its a Wonderful Life" and "A Christmas Story" when one thinks of perennial classics.
Thank you, sir for this commentary on 3 versions! Very insightful ideas! I own EVERY film, TV, animated version mentioned here in 413 comments: everyone's comments except two, (James Witmore as Scrooge and Stingiest Man Rathbone) 85 versions in total. One crazy, funny film is, "ALL American Christmas Carol" with Taryn Manning, 2013. A dead-beat trailer-trash woman with 3 kids is visited by her 3, dead ex-husbands to save her soul (had one child with each one). But, my 3 favorites are: Patrick Stewart, 1999, Alastair Sim, 1951 and George C. Scott, 1984. You UK people should find the 1977 BBC version starring Michael Hordern (he played Marley in 1951 Sim version). And then, there's the XX porno version, 1975, The Passions of Carol, in New York City.
Mickey Mouse one, Mr. Magoo one, and the 1984 version have always been my favorites to watch
I knew it! Mr. Scrooge To See You stars the host from Super Market Sweep!
I wouldn't say that An American Christmas Carol is quite that forgotten. It's readily available on both DVD and Blu-Ray in a nicely restored edition. I had completely forgotten about the Rich Little one but I do remember seeing it either at the time or on various repeats on the CBC.
The next time you hear chains dragging *dragging chains. Just think of the fun you can have by being visited by three ghosts.
10:51 It wasn't the main focus, but there are handfuls of references to it as being the true meaning of Christmas.
I love this Chanel And a lot of fun you definitely have a lot of knowledge about film which it’s great to see another self-described film historian like myself
As soon as I heard the name, Rich Little, my heart sank.