CINEMA: A Christmas Carol

Nov 22, 2009

Written by: Dee Pilgrim

Bah humbug! Actually this new animated 3D version of Dickens’ classic Christmas tale has a lot going for it, not least the fact the animated characters have been based on the actors who are voicing them.

Hence Scrooge actually looks a little like Jim Carrey, Bob Cratchit looks a lot like Gary Oldman and Scrooge’s nephew Fred is the spitting image of Colin Firth. The film sticks faithfully to the written text and is quite scary in places, so although it is a PG, very young children may not find it comfortable viewing (although a few visual gags have been thrown in to lighten what is a rather dark morality tale).

We join miser Scrooge on his nightmare Christmas Eve as he is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future giving the animators huge scope to let their imaginations run riot with Scrooge being launched into space, miniaturised to the size of a rat and being shown panoramic views of the London skyline.

In 3D it is all rather splendid, with Scrooge’s house and office being dark and drab, while the dream sequences are resplendent in rich golds and reds. However, the ending with Scrooge’s transformation from miser to benefactor and its important message about charity is rather rushed and glossed over – poor Tiny Tim hardly gets a look in!

That said, the real fun of watching the movie is trying to work out which actor is voicing which character from the way they look rather than the way they sound, and if you get caught up in that the film flies past.

Author: Dee Pilgrim

Dee always knew she wanted to make her living from writing and so trained as a journalist before working for a variety of music and women’s titles including Sounds, Company, Cosmopolitan, Ms London, New Woman, and Girl About Town. After going freelance she concentrated on celebrity interviews and film, theatre, music and restaurant reviews. Her love of film goes back to her very first cinema experience at the age of five when her mother took her to see Bambi. She cried. At one time she was the Film Editor for NOW magazine and also the secretary for the film section of the Critics’ Circle and the celebrity coordinator for its annual film awards’ event. She has written a number of books for teenagers through Trotman Publishing, including five Real Life Guides to vocational careers (including Carpentry, Plumbing and Catering), and also three books on Real Life Issues (Money, Bereavement and Self Harm). Her favourite film is still Bladerunner.