Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Mine's the 1984 TV movie with George C. Scott. What's yours?

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Scrooged

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1951), with Alastair Sim

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

The Doctor Who one.

The George C. Scott one.

The one with Martin Short and Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Scrooged is the best.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I like them all, pretty much. It’s amazing how many sitcoms and other shows have done little versions of it. I’d possibly pick Scrooged as my favorite, since it’s hard to choose between the “original” versions.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I’ve always enjoyed Disney’s Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Short but tells the story decently in a cute way. Actually just watched it on Friday.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I just watched "The Man who invented Christmas". It's not as good as Scrooged, but I liked how they made the development of the story with Dickens' life. Dan Stevens was really great.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

George C. Scott

My mom recorded it to a VHS tape when it originally aired on TV back in the day. We watched that tape every Christmas Eve until the DVD came out. Now we have the BD and will watch it Christmas Eve this year. My dad and brother snoring through it is a family tradition at this point.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

'38. Mostly because it's got my favorite Ghost of Christmas Past
https://64.media.tumblr.com/86196b0d...c5a79e0c8a.gif

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Scrooged is a great one. I do enjoy the 3D version of the Disney one even though it has Jim Carrey in it.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

My favorite is the Guy Pearce, Andy Serkis version from 2019, its dark and serious and I just love the tone of it and the production. The Muppets and Scrooged probably come in close second and third

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Scrooged, followed closely by the 1938 A Christmas Carol.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Mickey's Christmas Carol

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

A Flintstone Christmas Carol....followed closely by the Muppet Christmas Carol.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

The Muppets. I've actually never seen Scrooged, even though that should be a slam dunk for my tastes. I think whenever it was on, the timing just wasn't right. Looks like it's on Prime right now, though

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Same. I know a lot of that is nostalgia for me and being at the right age when it came out. But it really holds up well. It was the perfect time in Disney animation too IMO. I really like that era of animation for the fab five. Having the original voice for Scrooge McDuck was perfect as well. All the cameos from various Disney movies, the music was great, the rest of the voice acting was spot on as well. It's perfect.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I’m glad to see the Mickey’s Christmas Carol love. I used to love watching it every year as a little kid and watched it again the other day with my kids and it was still just as cute as I remember. It’s also short enough that it’s not even a slight effort to watch. I think from beginning to end, it’s like 19 minutes.

Also, it was cool to watch it after all these years and notice John Lasseter has an early credit on it.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Gotta go with the the Simm version too but Muppets is close second.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

The theater down the road has a showing of Scrooged, tomorrow. I just bought tickets for my wife and myself.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

If you're looking for a straight dramatic version, but are adverse to British accents, the 1979 American Christmas Carol starring Henry "Fonzie" Winkler is free on Amazon Prime.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...55964fc503.jpg

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I love Scrooged Can't go wrong with Carole Kane. :wub: I liked the recentish Patrick Stewart one, but have not seen the classic 1938 version AFIK. It feels like this thread needs a poll.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Finally saw this one the other day. I really liked it, while not being sure I loved Winkler’s performance. I understand that makes no sense, as he’s in like 99.9% of the screen time…..

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I loved the George C. Scott version,I watch it every Christmas Eve. The late David Warner is perfect as Bob Cratchit.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I love this one the most:



I first saw it as a kid on TV, and, while it scared me a little, I fell in instant love with it. I was able to catch it every year for about three years, then it disappeared from my local listings. YouTube to the rescue of a childhood memory once again!

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I'll never forget how frightening the visuals were during the Ghost of Christmas Future scene, especially the sequence of Scrooge falling into the grave with the fiery coffin. That might have been one of the most intense scenes I'd seen at the time.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

OMG I thought I was the only one. Yeah that really scared me when I was a kid. Even the Jacob Marley scene with Goofy made me a little uneasy. I just rewatched it with the family and could feel my decades old fear. :blush:
Luckily my 10 year old and 3 year old seemed unaffected. Which is strange because they're scared of everything.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Speaking about being freaked out, Ignorance and Want living under The Ghost of Christmas Present's robes creeped me out when I was a kid.


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...90860b26cf.jpg

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Here's version I've never heard of. I just happened upon it in the HBO Max catalog.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/dvdtalk...47455386f1.jpgCarol for Another Christmas is a 1964 American TV movie, written by Rod Serling and directed by Joseph Mankieicz. Originally televised on the ABC network on December 28, 1964, it was not shown again for 48 years, until TCM broadcast it on December 16, 2012.

Sterling Hayden stars in the Scrooge role as an American industrialist, who supports an isolationist foreign policy, the rejection of diplomacy, and a build-up of nuclear weapons.

I'm gonna watch it tonight. Just 90 minutes. Quite a cast.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Today I watched a Youtuber's reaction video to watching Scrooged. She complained that the story was too predictable because she had seen the same basic story done on the TV show "Popular". She seemed to have never heard of A Christmas Carol before.

re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

^I watched that last night too :D But during the taping of the Scrooge TV special, I thought I heard her say something like "Oh is this where the original story came from"?

Best Adaptation of "A Christmas Carol"
 

UPDATED WITH POLL. Check all that apply.

Take the poll and mark all that apply as the version(s) of A Christmas Carol that you enjoy and/or recommend.

Let us know in the comments why you like that one. Why do you recommend it?

Are there any stand-out moments in a particular version that are very effective, or perhaps have lingering childhood trauma, for you?

Are there any the poll misses that you would recommend?

Here's a list of films based on the original Charles Dickens story and a top 25 ranking from Collider.

The poll only allowed for 25 choice so I left a few out that I found while researching for it, like Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979, it's only 8 minutes), Ms. Scrooge with Cicely Tyson, and the Scrooge and Marley 1901 short film.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

My mom had A Christmas Carol (2019) with Guy Pearce on the other day and it is so depressing that I thought about calling my psychiatrist a couple of times during it.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I grew up with the 1951 Alastair Sim version and that's the definitive version in my mind. It's the one I go back to every year and can even get my kids to sit through, sometimes. Yeah, this is the version for me, and I don't think that will ever change.

The 1984 George C. Scott version came out when I was a kid and that's good, too. It was the most effective scene of Ignorance and Want of any version I've seen; the Ghost of Christmas Present really sells it. That moment is the most true and universal teaching in the whole story, to me.

I don't love the 1970 Albert Finney version but I remember being really scared by the skeleton reveal of the Ghost of Crhistmas Future and Scrooge falling into the grave. That's a haunting childhood memory!

I really want to like the 1999 Patric Stewart version because i love Patric Stewart, but ultimatultima's far too clunky and feels cheap to me. The aforementioned Ignorance and Want scene is particularly terrible.

I didn't know Alastair Sim reprised the role for a cartoon version in 1971 until i researched options for the poll.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Scrooge regaining his laughter is all I remember most from this. Stewart sells that moment incredibly well.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Been a while since I watched it and I don't recall that moment. I have it on DVD. Tis the season...

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I just watched The Muppet Christmas Carol with my kids. Surprisingly, this is the first time I’ve seen it. It was actually pretty good. Michael Caine’s choice to play Scrooge completely straight was probably a questionable choice when they were making the movie but worked really well with all the zaniness of the Muppets happening around him.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

Before coming on here, my daughter told me she'd just watched this and she said the same thing about Caine's performance. Now I have to see this. I don't remember ever knowing that Caine was in it. I was more interested in ON DEADLY GROUND at the time.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

We just watched it for the first time too this year. And yeah I was expecting more Micheal Caine from Miss Congeniality instead it's more Michael Caine at Bruce Wayne's funeral in the Dark Knight Rises. It really was the right choice and serves a nice contrast from the Muppet's general zaniness.

Re: Best Adaptation(s) of "A Christmas Carol"
 

I too grew up with the 1951 Alastair Sim version and that's the definitive version in my mind.

I always see George C Scott as Buck Turgidson or maybe Patton so I can't buy him as Scrooge.

Scrooged is good but I'm kind of tired with Bill Murray.