A Christmas Carol
This current telling of Ebenezer Scrooge and his Christmas Eve night of ghostly reflection and ultimate transformation is artfully brought to life with astounding digital animation and superbly cast voice acting.

When I first read that director Robert Zemeckis was intent on transforming the classic Christmas story of redemption using the same animation style of “The Polar Express”, I had my worries. While that film did hold an intriguing promise of animation’s future potential, it still felt cartoony at times, and the balance between real life motion capture and animation wasn’t truly impressive at the time. Well what a difference 5 years can make, as the animation style has truly found its footing and Zemeckis has seemed to master the fine line between actor and animated character.

Without rehashing the all-too-familiar story’s famous plot points, I can simply lay out the finer points of the film. The unique talents of comedian Jim Carrey are showcased here as he portrays not only Scrooge in every stage of his life, but also the ghostly apparitions which visit him. There seems to be a level of comfort Carrey had with the character of Ebenezer as he seamlessly slips into this portrayal and offers up a varied palate of vocalizations for the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The always reliable Gary Oldman also has a shining turn as the voices of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s old partner Jacob Marley, and even that of the young Tiny Tim. The rest of the cast is rounded out with multiple performances by actors such as Colin Firth, Cary Elwes, and even Bob Hoskins as Ebenezer’s first boss Mr. Fezziwig.

This imagining does indeed follow closely to Charles Dickens’ original tale, however at times it seems that additional action pieces were thrown in just to fill out the story with scenes illustrating the power of the animation, such as Scrooge soaring through the night air, instead of simply sticking to the dealings of the core characters. It’s a few instances like this that pull you out of the narrative and remind you that you are indeed watching a cartoon and not just a brilliantly animated Christmas classic.

Families will no doubt flock to this in droves as the House of Mouse has indeed marketed the film as the must-see Disney flick of the season. The only thing not mentioned in the commercials though is how true to the story Zemeckis has stayed, right down to the darker moments embodied by Scrooge’s nightly visitors. The ghosts will most likely be a bit much for the youngest of viewers, but never is the content questionable, just spooky in nature.

“A Christmas Carol”, while not perfect in every way, does succeed as an entertaining and beautifully animated version of Dickens’ classic.

Grade: A-