Can a Humbug Hum?

 

Years ago I posted an article about the Bill Murray film  Scrooged and gave a brief history of the Dickens story on which it was based, A Christmas Carol. As well as highlight some of those classic films (and TV shows).

A brief reiteration: There are two holiday traditions that I have to get into the holidays: One is every Christmas Eve I watch It's A Wonderful Life. The other is I watch a version of Dickens' classic tale.  A few years ago there was even a fictional account of the struggles Dickens himself had while trying to write that story, The Man Who Invented Christmas

 Just the other day I came across a magazine at the checkout stand.

 

 

 

You know, these things always crop up now and again.  I must've picked up several of them over the years. I have 3 just dedicated to Marvel comics and the movies made from them.  (Blatant Promotion! Watch this blog for a review of those movies coming next year.) 

The magazines are highly entertaining if you find one that has an appeal to one of your interests.  But, truth be told, they are really just glorified coffee table books in magazine form.  The print copy is just an afterthought, the real attraction is some of the pictures within.

Occasionally the print copy will enlighten though, especially if you are unaware of it.  For instance, as much as I knew about the story behind A Christmas Carol,  I was unaware that Dickens named Jacob Marley after an acquaintance he met at a dinner party, a physician named Miles Marley.  The physician apparently introduced himself to Dickens for the sole purpose of getting his name in a Dickens story. He knew that Dickens liked to use odd and unique names for his characters.

Recently I acquired a copy of the Jim Carrey version of the film.  I had seen the previously released How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Carrey in the theater, but I completely missed the opportunity to see this one.  When I ran across it at the used bookstore earlier this year I quite naturally latched on to it.  Of course, I had to wait until the Christmas season rolled around to watch it, because, after all, I did have my tradition to keep.

A Christmas Carol (2009):

Of course, everyone above, say, the age of 5, is probably already is familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation from a "squeezing,  wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous" old man to a generous life-loving new man.  To go into a complete review of the plot of this version would, therefore, be repetitive.  But, then, this would be a rather short review if I just told you I liked or didn't like it...

This is an animated version of the story, the only one, to my knowledge, that was actually a full length theatrically released animated version, as opposed to using real people to portray the story.  "Theatrically" being the key word.  Of course there were numerous TV animated versions.  And I don't include any that may or may not have been released to theaters in countries other than the US, because I think there actually was one released to theaters in the UK, but that one was only a direct to video release here.

Actually it's more correct to call this a "captured motion" film, which as I understand it, it was filmed with real people and then animated digitally in the studio.  So, in other words, Carrey and his costars performed the film and then the computer geniuses in the production studio created a computerized animation of it for the film. (at least, that's how I THINK it was done. I'm not a "computer genius"...)  So in the real person form, Jim Carrey and his costars could do the scene and, as in the case of the Ghosts, Jim Carrey could actually voice two different characters in the same scene.  (Cary Elwes, for instance, was a stand-in in the scenes featuring the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, but in the production studios, Jim Carrey could voice both.)

In contrast to the book, this version includes an insight into the skinflint nature of Ebenezer Scrooge (voiced by Jim Carrey).  It begins with the death of Scrooge's partner, Jacob Marley.  Scrooge has to pay the embalmer and reluctantly dips in to his coin purse to pay the bill.  But before he leaves, he absconds with the coins over Marley's eyes. (A tradition that is not common these days, and it's origin is debated.  But suffice to say that coins were placed over the eyes prior to burial.  Whether it was to "pay the ferryman" or just as a practical way of keeping the eyes from opening during burial, I can't say.)

 

 

 

Then we flash forward to the traditional story, seven years later, and from here the film follows along quite nicely with the familiar opening; that of Scrooge's nephew's ((voiced by Colin Firth) entreaty to Scrooge to join him and his family in their Christmas day celebration. As well as that of a pair of do-gooders trying to get Scrooge to donate to a charity.

(Here I will interject a problem I've always had with the story.  These charity people are showing up on Scrooge's doorstep unaware of the fact that Marley has been dead for seven years.  They don't know if they are addressing Scrooge or Marley.  Had these guys never bothered Scrooge for donations in the preceding seven years? And how is that they, despite quite a lot of others already aware of it, don't know that Scrooge ought to be avoided like the plague, because he is a grumpy, foul-tempered cheap miser?)

When Scrooge gets home, he is visited by the spirit of his dead partner Jacob (voiced by Gary Oldman). This is one of the most impressive scenes in the film.  Previous live-action films had limited ways of presenting Marley.  Prior to this, I thought that Frank Finlay in the TV version that featured George C. Scott in the pivotal Scrooge role had done he best.  But this animated version really brought the horror of Marley's Ghost to full fruition.

 

 

 

 

As per the traditional story, Marley tells Scrooge that he is trying to save Scrooge from the same terrible fate that he himself has suffered since his death, and thus Scrooge will be visited by three spirits. From here on the story progresses as one would expect from a telling of the classic story.  Scrooge visits the halcyon days of the past (his own past) which turn out to have some good memories, as well as one or two bad ones.  (He lost his one true love in favor of another love, that of the love of a woman for his love of money).  He also has an adventure with the Ghost of Christmas Present where he sees the hovel his poor clerk has to live, discovering that Bob has a son who will soon die if his ailment is not remedied, as well as a look at the party he disparaged given by his nephew.  In both, despite Scrooge's cruel attitudes towards them, he discovers that they still wish him a pleasant Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then comes the Ghost of Christmas Future who shows Scrooge people who are reacting with frivolity to the death of a still unknown man who was a not well-loved one.  When Scrooge entreats the Ghost to show him some sorrow and bereavement instead of the frivolity, the Ghost shows him Bob and his family, who are distraught over the death of Tim.  And of course we must see the familiar scene where the Ghost reveals who the dead man was.

Upon his arrival back home, Scrooge of course is transformed and happily discovers that Christmas is still nigh, so he can get started right away with his change of life.

One thing you should know about this version.  It is far more a ghost story with all the creepiness that is attributed to such stories (and truer to the spirit of the ghost story aspect of the original story.).  It's a fun version, and although it will not move up to replace my absolute favorite version, that of the George C. Scott one from the 80's, I think I can safely ensconce it into second place. The critics on Rotten Tomatoes are only about %0% in agreement, but Roger Ebert did give it a 4 star rating, and I'll get behind him on that.

Hope you all have a Merry Christmas this year.

Quiggy