One of my personal Christmas traditions is to watch a few versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
My first acquaintance with Dickens’ Christmas classic was this cartoon which was produced in 1969. It was produced by API productions for CBS television’s Famous Classic Tales. It was produced sometime between the original Johnny Quest and the original Scooby Doo. This is a clip. The entire version is available on YouTube. The most identifiable trademark of this version is its “flaming skull” portrayal of Marley’s ghost. He looks a bit like Ghost Rider’s Victorian Era grandfather, but that’s not a criticism.
My personal favorite is the George C. Scott version from 1984. Many of the versions I had seen before this one overplayed Scrooge’s grumpiness to cartoonish extremes. Scott’s Scrooge was believably unpleasant and not a caricature. One of my favorite scenes in this version is the Jacob Marley scene. Frank Finlay’s energy charged portrayal of the chained apparition is both properly chilling and poignant.
Patrick (Captain Picard) Stewart played Scrooge in this 1999 version. Even though I liked the Scott version better overall (Sorry, Patrick.), I really like the “Silent Night” sequence presented here. The Spirit of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to various places around the world with the song “Silent Night” as the binding thread.
Variations on Dickens’ tale run the creative gamut, and we’ll look at some of the more unusual versions next time.