It's that time of year again when all the best-remembered Christmas Carol adaptations get dusted off, put on TV or in the Netflix queue. But which ones are the best and the worst? Chewers, I leave it up to you to decide, though of course I'll share my own favorites first:
Best
-I'm not a huge Mr. Magoo fan, but his Christmas Carol is pretty darn good, especially with mournful tunes like "All Alone in the World".
-The 1971 animated special from Richard Williams and Chuck Jones might be the straight-up scariest version of the story yet, even keeping the oft-axed "A Ghost Story of Christmas" subtitle. Alistair Sim does a wonderful job reprising Scrooge vocally.
-1984's TV movie with George C. Scott is one of the best live-action versions, with Scott playing Scrooge as a tough old miser convinced his way of life is the only way, making his breakdown at his grave that much more effective. The few additions and cuts work, the supporting cast is equally excellent (especially David Warner's Bob Cratchit, Roger Rees' Fred and Edward Woodward's Christmas Present), and the look is nicely authentic. It also has the most viscerally sick-looking Tiny Tim ever.
-Mickey's Christmas Carol is a bit of a slapsticky, goofball take on the story (seriously, Goofy as Jacob Marley is delightfully weird "casting"), but Scrooge McDuck is as perfect a Ebenezer as you would expect, especially with Alan Young's terrific vocal work. And the Ghost of Christmas Future section remains striking and powerful, with a teary-eyed Mickey laying Tiny Tim's crutch at his grave and the dead-on Pete as Christmas Future. If he must pull down his hood and speak, it might as well be a stogie-smoking Pete: "Why yours, Ebenezer! The richest man in the cemetery! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
-I'm not as enamored of Scrooged as some here are (it has some story and tonal issues, Murray's climactic speech goes on for far too long), but it's nevertheless a fun, darkly comic modern take on the story. "Niagara Falls, Frankie angel."
-The 1999 TV version with Patrick Stewart might be my favorite of all time, filled to the brim with great actors, nicely handled effects, and a remarkably realistic tone.
-The Muppet version has some flaws as an actual Muppet movie, but it works quite well as an adaptation nonetheless.]
-Doctor Who's take last year had some nice spins on the formula with Moffat's trademark wit and style, with none of the emotion diluted by the time travel craziness. And I want Michael Gambon as the real Scrooge RIGHT NOW.
Worst
-Bah, Humduck!, an ill-conceived modernized Looney Tunes DTV take on the story. To be fair, the animation and voicework is pretty good, but I tend to prefer the Looney Tunes making me laugh rather than tugging my heartstrings, and there's just not enough funny here.
-An All Dogs Christmas Carol. I have only one true word to say about this poorly-animated, actor-wasting, nauseatingly written slop: BLEH!
I can't think of any REALLY bad versions I've seen, but I've heard that stuff like An American Carol or sections of Zemeckis' mo-cap version are pretty dreadful.
Fire away, gents!
