By: Anton Massopust III

One of the greatest Christmas stories that has ever been written is of course, “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. We all know the story about a miser named Scrooge who is redeemed by a visit of 4 different spirits including his dead partner, Jacob Marley. The past, present, and future ghosts lead him down his path of redemption.

So right here I will give you the I’ll breakdown of the many different versions of the story. You can check them out on DVD or streaming in your collection. In the end, there is a little bit of different takes on this wonderful story.

First, let’s talk about the animated versions that are really good. You can’t go wrong with Jim Henson’s Muppets, and this is the musical version wonderful songs sung by Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit and Kermit’s nephew Robin plays Tiny Tim. Miss Piggy is Mrs. Cratchit, his wife add course the great Michael Caine portrays Scrooge. The inspiration is one of the Henson’s last movies Jim Henson which he worked on with his son, Brian Henson. It’s a fun romp with excellent music.

Next, the Great Jim Backus plays Scrooge in the classic animated movie Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, which was originally done as a television special. We see the bungling Mr. Magoo’s part, but most of it is played straight. The special has wonderful voice actors from countless other animated TV shows and broadway caliber songs such as “When Winter Was Warm” and “A Hand for Each Hand” and “We’re No Good”. 

Mickey Mouse’s Christmas Carol features the first on screen appearance of Scrooge McDuck (Alan Young). We also get many other Disney characters including Donald Duck and Jiminy Cricket, Willie the Giant, and Pete and the three ghosts including Goofy as Jacob Marley.

For live-action versions, Alastair Sim portrays Scrooge in the 1951 British Version of “A Christmas Carol”. This classic version is something to see. You really get the sense that Sim’s Scrooge is truly redeemed.

George C. Scott plays Scrooge in the Hallmark Hall of Fame version (1984) shot exclusively in England with an all British cast. It’s an Emmy Award Winner, and probably one of the scarier versions of the story. It’s has a good production value and well done, and very close to the novel.

Patrick Stewart who did it as a one-man show on Broadway stared in a full TNT version (1999) which is very good. There’s a great performance by Stewart.

Albert Finney stars in a musical version (1970) originally from the play, “The Stingiest Man in Town,” with huge musical numbers.

How did Charles Dickens come up with such a wonderful story? In the Man Who Invented Christmas,” we learn how Dickens came up with a story when he thought he had writer’s block and he would never write again. Throughout this movie, we also find out about where many Christmas traditions come from.

Lastly, we will talk about a different “A Christmas Carol” with Bill Murray who plays a greedy TV executive forcing his employees to work on Christmas Eve when he is haunted by 4 very different spirits in this dark and funny version.

Don’t forget the Doctor Who Matt Smith take on the classic. While trying to convince a man turn off the force-field, a space cruiseliner is about to crash into the forcefield. Companions Rory and Amy try to help the crew on the ship while the Doctor goes and uses is TARDIS and goes to the man’s past present and future in order to change his fate and save the ship.

There are many ways to tell a story and that was one of them. So, whichever version you love, whether it be animated or live action, there are many ways to tell a wonderful story. As Ebenezer Scrooge said, “Heaven and the Christmas time be praised and a Happy New Year to the World!”