Trailer Tuesday: A Christmas Carol

If you're one of those people who can't stand the sight of Christmas decorations appearing in malls around mid October, then I suggest you stop reading now. You see, I'm NOT one of those people (I've already bought 2 presents, ha!) and this week's featured trailer is about as Christmas-y as you can get.

A Christmas Carol, from Disney, is the upteenth film adaptation (the 3rd from Disney alone) of Charles Dickens' beloved story. A Christmas Carol centres on Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean-spirited miser in Victorian London, who is forced to reevaluate his "humbug" attitude and actions when he is visited on Christmas Eve by the miserable spirit of his long dead business partner, and 3 other ghosts.


This time the Scrooge story takes the form of a CGI-animated family film that utilises performance capture technology. This approach isn't surprising given that Robert Zemeckis is in the director's chair, and is responsible for screenwriting duties as well. Of late, Zemeckis has had something of an obsession with performance capture animation, having already made The Polar Express and Beowulf in the same style.

Both The Polar Express and Beowulf were released to mixed results, critically and commercially. A lot of people were put off by the artificially smooth movements of the characters and the deadness in their computer generated eyes. However, every Zemeckis project the animation improves dramatically, and I'm personally confident that A Christmas Carol will be the best looking of this type of film yet.

This said, I have reservations about the liberties clearly taken with the Scrooge story. I can understand the filmmakers' desire to add some new flavour to an old story that everyone and their aunt's dog knows. However, the English Lit graduate in me is grated by the transformation of a thoughtful morality tale into some kind of madcap adventure filled with goofy action sequences - no doubt there for their gimmicky 3D potential. This trailer makes things look even worse.


Also, I am a bit concerned by the degree to which Jim Carrey dominates the film. You better have a high tolerance for the Canadian-American funnyman because he plays 4, yes, 4, roles in A Christmas Carol - Ebenezer Scrooge, of course, but also the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. This said, I was dreading his work as the title character in Horton Hears a Who! and he actually did an OK job in that animated film... for the most part (i.e. he wasn't too out of control).

For the record, several other stars also provide their voices and performances in A Christmas Carol. These include Gary Oldman as Jacob Marley and Bob Cratchit, Cary Elwes as Scrooge's old roomate and a mad fiddler, Colin Firth as Scrooge's jolly nephew, Robin Wright Penn as Belle, Scrooge's neglected fiancée, and Bob Hoskins as Mr. Fezziwig and Old Joe, the fence.

A Christmas Carol releases in the United States, South Africa and many other countries in just a few weeks, on a surprisingly early 6 November. Overseas, the film will be screening in 3D and IMAX 3D (presumably not forgetting traditional 2D as well), while locally I expect we'll be able to see it in 2D, 3D and in the normal IMAX format as well.