Disney and Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"
The Dickens story A Christmas Carol as done much to change how we celebrate Christmas. Before Dickens wrote his famous Christmas ghost story most people did little to celebrate the holiday. Few had trees, other than in Germany, decorations were mostly unheard of and gifts were not exchanged as much as they are today.
The story has been done many times as movies. There have been musicals, strait dramatic and even more than a few comic versions. None of the movies keeps to the entire story. Some don't even attempt to. If you are a Carol fanatic you want the movie to keep the most important parts and keep to the spirit of the original book.
Being both a Disney fan and a fan of Dickens Christmas Carol I am thrilled at this time of year. If you look at all the film versions of Christmas Carol two of the top ten are from the Disney Studio or at least distributed by the Disney Studio. They are Muppet's Christmas Carol and Disney's Christmas Carol.
Why do these two versions of the Christmas Carol rate so high? These two versions stay the closest to the spirit and feel of the original Dickens story. They hold the mystery and ethereal feelings along with keeping true to the story of redemption. Neither version shies away from telling the harshest parts of the story.
I'm sure you can see why Disney's Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey is so high on the list. It stays close to the original story telling the most important parts. All of the most beloved sequences have been kept. There is sufficient comic relief to make it acceptable for all ages and not to scary for the little kids. This version is so well done because they were able to use such fantastic technology to do it. Before this version the technology has not been available to do this movie to the fullest.
Now I'm sure you are asking why Muppet Christmas Carol is so high on the list. It is just a silly puppet version of a serious story. It can't be taken seriously, right? Wrong!! Muppet Christmas Carol did a fantastic job of staying close to the original story. Brian Henson did an amazing job of conveying the spirit of the original story. If you can keep your heart and mind open you soon forget they are silly looking puppets and get pulled deep into the emotions of the story. I must say I also love the music for this version. My favorite song is "Life is Full of Sweet Surprises" sung during the dinner scene.
From the Alistair Sims to the most current version no matter what version of A Christmas Carol I hope you enjoy. May you find the true spirit of the holiday and learn to keep it all year long.
My Christmas book, An Angel Remembers 25 Voices of Christmas is out!!
You can find for all formats at
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94784
And for the Nook at
http://www.barnesandnoble.com
It is also available at the ITunes store for IPod, IPad and IPhone
It soon will be up at other sites such as Amazon
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