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Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins, Robin Wright ... see more see more... , Cary Elwes , Fionnula Flanagan , Jacquie Barnbrook , Ryan Ochoa , Sammi Hanratty , Daryl Sabara , Lesley Manville , Julian Holloway , Fay Masterson , Julene Renee , Steve Valentine , Callum Blue , Sonje Fortag , Matthew Henerson , Raymond Ochoa , Molly Quinn , Kerry Hoyt , Tom Hanks , Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd

Robert Zemeckis directs this animated version of the Yuletide classic A Christmas Story. The story centers on Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey), a penny-pinching miser who cares nothing for the people aro... read more read more...und him, least of all his hopelessly downtrodden employee Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman) and infectiously optimistic nephew, Fred (Colin Firth). On Christmas Eve, after a frightening encounter with the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, Scrooge is visited by three spirits -- the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come -- who take him on an eye-opening journey to expose the truths he is reluctant to face. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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72% liked it

603,127 ratings

Critics

53% liked it

184 critics

PG, 1 hr. 36 min.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Release Date: November 6, 2009

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DVD Release Date: November 16, 2010

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Flixster Reviews (20,632)

  • fb1463751009
    March 10, 2012
    fb1463751009
    "A Christmas Carol". When I was little, I remember watching the rehash of the classic story, Muppets style. Wow, freaking hated it. For someone that doesn't follow up with traditional stories very well, "A Christmas Carol" was a surprising and delightful view on the Christian fai... read moreth through secular eyes. This ain't a movie for kids; I'd be scared to death by some of these scenes if I were young. The animation: Top-notch. The script: Sharp and fitting. It's not the overall package that had me convinced -- it was the message behind the movie. Good and entertaining time, but just don't think kids will enjoy this for its dialogue and character-driven.
  • aquateen2
    March 7, 2012
    aquateen2
    The long awaited disney re-telling of the Dickens Classic is as dark as it is thrilling. The CGI graphics and performances are as good in equal measure in this very favourable modern disney film.
  • skeletonking101
    December 24, 2011
    skeletonking101
    Overall, this is probably one of the most beautifully creepy and interesting Christmas films of all time, and one of the best renditions of the story ever told. Though people have disliked the film and it wasn't completely loved by Critics, I rather enjoy the film, and I think it... read mores a perfect film to watch at this time of year. Though it isn't a film I would show to someone below 13! Its good to show to adults and people who enjoy the book and others who love Zemeckis animated films
  • FrizzDrop
    December 23, 2011
    FrizzDrop
    People are far too nice to this retelling of A Christmas Carol, originally penned by Charles Dickens. There are two main reasons I find this film disheartening. The first is the animation. Every time I try to speak about my grievances with this film and I cut to how awful I found... read more the animation people cringe and tell me it's a newer technology, and that the acting was superb because of the choices they made with the styling of this film. Then I stare at them plainly and say, "Humbug!" It almost makes me uncomfortable when I watch this because even though it was all done by actors, there are some sections that are unrealistic such as the dancing scenes, when the children play, and any event that has characters moving about in ways that were obviously added for effect. If they had made the whole film completely animated that would have come through better. Although this irks me, I truly enjoyed the acting, and the amazing effects, which would probably have been better in 3D, but were still interesting. At times I was actually scared by aspects of this film, with all the ghouls, ghosts, rats, and other supernatural oddities. That's a part of the second problem I have with this film: it's so obviously not a kid's film. It has the animation of a kid's film, Jim Carrey is there for the enjoyment of children, and it was made by Disney, the holy roller of kiddie entertainment, but this is not for kids. The scenes with the terrifying spectors would have wet the pants of some children, possibly scarring them forever, much like Pinocchio did for me when I was a youngling. Carrey doesn't try too hard to be a merry fool and lead kids on in thinking that he's going to be a frivolous like in The Grinch until the very end, when he uses light humor and physically comedy. I enjoyed this as a whole because it was imaginative, scary, thoughtful, and used great dialogue adapted from the actual book. The acting was spectacular and though my favorite adaptation is the Mickey Mouse version, I really liked the way Disney handled some of this.
  • blkbomb
    December 22, 2011
    blkbomb
    Ebenezer Scrooge: If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart! 

    "What if you had but a single night to get your life right?"

    After Robert Zemeck... read moreis' first Christmas motion capture animation, Polar Express; he would go on to one up it with A Christmas Carol. Polar Express was great, and this is magnificent. Zemeckis' film is easily my favorite adaption of Charles Dickens that I have seen. The film looks amazing and is the most entertaining adaption you could see. It's dark just like it should be because Scrooge is a dark character. 

    As fun as the film is, what really sets it apart is the visuals. They are amazing. Zemeckis isn't afraid to show them off either. Over the credits we fly around the city, look in windows and hover above buildings. During the film, we fly with Scrooge through doors and up to the moon. Everything looks top notch, from the characters to the buildings to the clothing. I just don't think it could look any better.

    The acting is also very good. Jim Carey and Gary Oldman take on the majority of the roles and they both sound great and also look the part very well. Carey moves from one Christmas downer(Grinch) to the other(Scrooge) like he was born to play the Christmas hater. Gary Oldman plays Bob Crachit and Tiny Tim, but he also plays the spirit of Marley. In just this film, he shows off his amazing range as an actor, that has been shown frequently in a career filled with performances ranging from Dracula to Harvey Dent. 

    Those who dislike this are sure to look at it as too over the top for their liking. It is over the top, with the voice of Jim Carey and endless flight scenes. If you've seen the Polar Express, but not this, think of the train roller coaster scene. It's like that, but it occurs much more often. I for one, really enjoyed the over the top way in which the story was presented. I had a lot of fun watching a shrunken Scrooge skating on an icicle while sliding down a building. I liked listening to Carey over do most of his dialogue, which actually fits in this performance.

    A Christmas Carol has become one of my favorite Christmas films, possibly only behind It's a Wonderful Life. This has definitely become mandatory Christmas viewing. It is a visual masterpiece  and just a stunning piece of filmmaking period.

    Ebenezer Scrooge: I'm light as a feather! Merry as a schoolboy! 
  • flixsterman
    December 22, 2011
    flixsterman
    Traditional and reverent to the spirit Dickens intended.
  • fb733768972
    December 16, 2011
    fb733768972
    "Disney's A Christmas Carol" is definitely not meant for kids, but that is the main reason why it was made, for a family to cuddle around a fireplace and watch a nice christmas movie with their families. This may have a great story hidden somewhere, but it chooses far too many bo... read morering plot points of the classic tale to focus on, and I almost fell asleep a few times during my viewing. Jim Carrey's performance as Ebenezer Scrooge is great, as is all his christmas roles, but the fact that it will not interest kids and that some images even freaked me out, is definitely not a good outcome. Disney needs to stay out of christmas movies and focus on what they know how to do best. I am not sure why they chose to make such a dark and odd film for kids, but as we follow scrooge through his progressively worse past, we begin to feel for the character and hope it all works out for him. The story is told pretty well, there is no doubt about that, but it's been done too many time and this time is far to boring to keep me interested. Will I ever watch it again? Maybe, but it will not be with my family, when they are looking for a great family christmas movie. This was a big disappointment in my opinion!
  • DreamExtractor
    November 7, 2011
    DreamExtractor
    A Christmas Carol is probably my favorite retelling of the story ever, and this is because that I always wanted it to be the perfect animated film. The story is great, they retell it almost perfectly and I was never bored. The animation was perfection, they use technology that ... read morejust makes it so much better. A Christmas Carol is one of the best christmas films ever made, Robert Zemeckis, you never dissappoint.
  • theunknownhobo
    September 18, 2011
    theunknownhobo
    How many remakes of Dickens' book have we had to endure now? In my personal opinion (which is what these reviews are supposedly about) I have never seen a movie adaptation of the book (with the exception of The Muppets A Christmas Carol) that has managed to capture an ounce of th... read moree raw emotive power of the original text and this washout was no different. Tiring.
  • cosmo313
    September 1, 2011
    cosmo313
    With a story as well known and adapted as this one, after a while, with each new version, it simply comes down to how each new take differs from the rest in form, content, and presentation, ie what sets it apart from the rest and makes it worthwhile of existence.

    In the case of ... read morethis version (the latest but not last), what we get is the basic story, told quite faithfully (save for a few moments here and there) but done in the computer animated motion capture style that has become the trend of the msot recent films from director Robert Zemeckis. It was also presented in 3D, but I saw it in conventional 2D. Despite seeing it that way, I could tell that some parts would have been pretty effective with the added dimension.

    This is a terrific looking film, and the animation is very fluid and pretty realistic. It's got a great cast, and, even thoguh they all do a really good job, this film is undeniably carried by Jim Carrey as Scrooge. He has his moments of "typical Jim Carrey" but for the most part he plays it straight and does a good job.

    As stated above, the film does follow the book pretty closely and faithfully, but moments of departure (Scrooge shrinking for example) are fun and thankfully don't diminish the original work much if at all. Unlike some adaptations, this one thankfully doesn't take a proverbial whiz all over the grave of the original author.

    The way this film is shot is well done, and the technology is really something, but I'm getting a bit tired of it, especially with it being used so frequently as of late by Zemeckis. I think it's time for him to move on before this overstays its welcome and stops working for him.

    It's been said that if you've seen one type or variation of something, then you've seen them all. While that does apply to an extent here, this is still pretty entertaining, and has a great sense of atmosphere. It's maybe too intense for really small kids, but I think this will be a good (mostly) family friendly version of a classic story about the true meaning of Christmas.

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Critic Reviews

James Berardinelli
November 10, 2009
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

The motion capture animation is top-notch and it's hard not to be impressed with what Robert Zemeckis has wrought, even if there's the occasional sense he's pandering to an audience that can't get thr... Full Review

Dana Stevens
November 6, 2009
Dana Stevens, Slate

How they made it into this Disney adaptation unprettified is a Christmas miracle in itself. Full Review

Amy Biancolli
November 6, 2009
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle

Zemeckis' film preserves much of Dickens' original dialogue and detail while amplifying the utter ethereal strangeness of the ghosts. Full Review

Rick Groen
November 6, 2009
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

There's a lot of dark magic in this Dickensian Yuletide. Full Review

Tom Long
November 6, 2009
Tom Long, Detroit News

Want the creeps for Christmas? Then check out the latest version of A Christmas Carol. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
November 6, 2009
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

Does this entertainment achieve a timelessness beyond its exquisite source material? Not even. Yet there's pleasure to be had and relief in feeling the filmmakers didn't Scrooge it up either. Full Review

Mary F. Pols
November 6, 2009
Mary F. Pols, MSN Movies

The movie may be yet another retelling of an iconic story, but visually it is often quite breathtaking. Full Review

J. R. Jones
November 6, 2009
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader

Zemeckis captures all the story's terror, but its pathos has always been the real challenge, and it mostly eludes him. Full Review

Kyle Smith
November 6, 2009
Kyle Smith, New York Post

You don't identify with Scrooge at any point, nor is blatant fakery scary. Picture The Seventh Seal with sock puppets. Full Review

A.O. Scott
November 6, 2009
A.O. Scott, New York Times

A branded piece of shiny seasonal entertainment.

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  • give jim carrey a second chance
  • Not only is the movie a retelling of the novel, but it directly alludes to the fact that it's a retelling when the first chapter of the Dickens novel is flipped open in the opening scene.
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