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Top 5 Christmas Carol Adaptations By: PoisonRamune, the Apathetic Lizardman A Christmas Carol is one of those obligatory Christmas traditions. It’s been remade numerous times in a variety of ways. Everyone has their favorite version; from the dark 1939 version to any of the whimsical made for kids adaptations. Because of this, the classic Charles Dickens story about finding joy during the holiday season has become as much of a part of Christmas as the holiday ham. Though many adaptations of A Christmas Carol are nothing more than a “by the book” retelling of the tale, there are a few films that put an interesting twist on the story. Some of these adaptations make A Christmas Carol more relevant to a contemporary audience, while others either make the story more accessible to the general public or light hearted enough as to not spook a generation of children. 5) A Dennis the Menace Christmas: This would honestly be a lot higher on the list. However, a lot of the draw of this movie comes from the fact that it’s so bad and nonsensical, it’s actually great. After watching this movie over the weekend I’m now led to believe 2 things about the Dennis the Menace live action movie franchise. An old once famous actor is obligated to play Mr. Wilson (in this case Robert Wagner. And Walter Matthau in Dennis the Menace 1 & 2) and the plots in the Dennis the Menace movies can only make sense to crack addicts. This is a weird mix of It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol and every Dennis the Menace comic strip and 7 minutes cartoon short. Mr. Wilson is told by the 3 spirits of Christmas that he’s a grouchy old bastard, Dennis gets bullied by some local punk kid that’s a bigger pussy than Lucas Barton from The Wizard, and the Mitchell’s almost lose everything because Dennis is ruining his father’s job as an insurance agent. At least that’s what I gather. The production staff does a really poor job establishing a lot of the key points of the plot, leaving a lot of the story up to your imagination. However, if you have a really good imagination like I do, you’ll understand why this movie made the list. 4) A Christmas Carol (1999 made for TV version): I’m not going to lie; I don’t really like “by the book” A Christmas Carol adaptations. Despite being one, this remake works really well. The main draw of this version is the fact that Patrick Stewart (Jean Luc Picard) plays Scrooge. This alone makes the movie worth a look. There’s not much I can say about this adaptation, since it’s basically a true to book retelling of the Dickens’ novel. In fact, it’s a little darker than most movie versions of A Christmas Carol. You might want to warn the kids, if you’re planning a family movie night. If this one didn’t make me so damn depressed and somewhat scared towards the middle of the film, I’d have rated it a lot higher; however, it’s still the best "for adults" version of A Christmas Carols I’ve ever watched. 3) Scrooged: Bill Murray excels at playing an overworked, burnt out man. Scrooged follows the classic A Christmas Carol formula, but sets it in modern times (well, 1988). While A Dennis the Menace Christmas is a movie that’s so bad it becomes good, Scrooged is a movie deliberately trying to be bad in a tongue in cheek sort of way. Perhaps, that’s why many film critics lauded this movie as an awful holiday film; however, those who understand this movie will see its camp appeal. With things such as a very made for TV Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas Future being portrayed with a TV for a head; the movie is not only a parody of A Christmas Carol, but also a parody of itself in that it’s not meant to be taken seriously at all. The best way I can describe this movie is like a precursor to Groundhog Day. Bill Murray is in the same situation playing the same type of character. However, instead of having months to get one day of his life right, he has one day to make right on years of mistakes. As I mentioned before this is really some of Bill Murray’s best work, even topping his role as Peter Venkman in Ghostbusters 2. 2) The Muppet Christmas Carol: It’s a little strange. While Scrooged is more of an adult movie, it has a more playful perspective on A Christmas Carol. So one can see why I find the situation of The Muppet Christmas Carol so strange, it has a very serious view on the Dickens’ story. I’d almost consider this the Wii of A Christmas Carol adaptations. In that it’s clearly geared for a younger audience, but has near universal appeal due to the accuracy of the retelling. Though the film has a more serious take on the novel than other “for kids” versions, it’s not to say that the movie goes without its quirks. There are a lot of classic Muppet moments in the film. Most notable are the characters keeping a sort of Muppet “canon/continuity” such as Fozzie still being a light hearted joke smith even as “Fozziwig” or Waldorf and Statler as the Marleys heckling people from beyond the grave. This gives the feeling that I’m watching a Shakespearian play where they have a sort of frame story like that of Christopher Sly in Taming of the Shrew. 1) Mickey’s Christmas Carol: As much as I say I hate the Victorian retellings of A Christmas Carol, this one is truly a great adaptation. Not only does it “star” a tour de force of classic Disney animated characters, it also follows the Dickens’ book surprisingly well. The only things I can see that were taken out of the film were all of the very dark and disturbing imagery such as the burning pestilence and the two sorrows in the Ghost of Christmas Future’s robes. Despite this, Disney is still able to tell the story in a very accurate yet whimsical way. The jokes aren’t the stupid kind that only children laugh at either. The humor is universally funny and doesn’t feel forced at all (however, if you know the nature of the Disney characters you can almost read the upcoming joke they have in store. I’m looking at you, Goofy as Jacob Marley). One major thing this version of A Christmas Carol has is an excellent sound track. No longer are you forced to hear a child pretend to sing “Come All Ye Faithful” like a retard because he’s trying to portray a sickly Tiny Tim. Nor do you have to hear some stupid surf guitar song about Christmas by some musician that’s going to have to declare bankruptcy next year like in those “contemporary” Christmas specials. The music in this one is non-intrusive and well produced, exactly what you would expect from any Disney film. So there you have it. Whether you like something that’s a little more adult to watch during the holiday season, you got it. And if you got kids, there’s A Christmas Carol for them too. Or if you guys like to get totally stoned and watch things that make near no sense, you can always give A Dennis the Menace Christmas a shot.
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