Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001)

The film begins with a live-action sequence set in Boston in 1857, the site of a live reading by renowned novelist Dickens. As he begins his 'story of ghosts' a woman in the audience ... See full summary »

Director:

Jimmy T. Murakami

Writers:

Piet Kroon (screenplay), Robert Llewellyn (screenplay),

Stars:

Simon Callow, Kate Winslet, Nicolas Cage

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Simon Callow	...	Scrooge / Charles Dickens (voice)
Kate Winslet	...	Belle (voice)
Nicolas Cage	...	Marley (voice)
Jane Horrocks	...	Ghost of Christmas Past (voice)
Michael Gambon	...	Ghost of Christmas Present (voice)
Rhys Ifans	...	Bob Cratchit (voice)
Juliet Stevenson	...	Mrs. Cratchit / Mother Gimlet (voice)
Robert Llewellyn	...	Old Joe (voice)
Iain Jones	...	Fred (voice)
Colin McFarlane	...	Fezziwig (voice)
Beth Winslet	...	Fan (voice)
Arthur Cox	...	Dr. Lambert (voice)
Keith Wickham	...	Mr. Leach / Undertaker (voice)
Joss Sanglier	...	Choir Master (voice)
Sarah Kayte Foster	...	Mouse (voice) (as Sarah Annison)

Storyline

The film begins with a live-action sequence set in Boston in 1857, the site of a live reading by renowned novelist Dickens. As he begins his 'story of ghosts' a woman in the audience screams because she has seen a mouse and Dickens points out that this is appropriate since his story begins with a mouse. At this point the story turns into the animated version and Dickens explains that the mouse, named Gabriel, carries a glimmer of hope amidst the glaring co-existence of rich and poor in the streets of London. Throughout the subsequent unfolding of the well-known story Gabriel acts as a miniature Greek chorus, providing younger members of the audience with a point of entry into the story and, in the case of the potentially frightening elements (the Ghosts of Past, Present and Future), a place of refuge.

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | christmas | punctuation in title | victorian era | 1840s | 

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Genres:

Animation | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for momentary language

Details

Country:

UK Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 December 2001 (UK)

Also Known As:

Cuento de Navidad, de Charles Dickens

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£171,576 (UK) (7 December 2001)

Gross:

£1,372,998 (UK) (4 January 2002)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Illuminated Film Company, Film Consortium, The, Film Council

Technical Specs

Runtime:

77 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Ebenezer Scrooge: Merry Christmas to you, Mr. Snowman!

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Connections

Version of A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)

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Soundtracks

"Deck The Halls (Nos Galan)"
Lyrics Anon
Music - Welsh Traditional (Jones 1784)
Arranged by Julian Nott
Illuminated Films (Christmas Carol) Ltd 2001
2001 Illuminated Films (Christmas Carol) Ltd
Performed by Mathew Wmith, Nick Smith, William Nott, Carl Wayne, Stephen Lazell, Ben Pope,
Phillip Pope

User Reviews

Nice movie of the well-known story

I quite much liked this version. I know that the story of Ebenezer Scrooge has been filmed many times but I don't care about that because of the moral point of this story. And hey, how many Dracula movies are out there?

The old-time animation was excellent and invigorating as I am quite bored with many modern day dull computer animations.

Mice were an excellent spice in the story. It looks like that many hate those mice and that they're not part of the story but hopefully everybody remembers Charles Dickens' lines in the start of the movie that this is not a straight adaptation from the book. Perhaps he just added those mice while telling the story? To me, mice didn't steal the story to themselves. The moral story of the original book is still there. And there aren't a director who didn't add something to the movie nevertheless what book says.

The ghost parts of the movie were marvelously made (especially the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come -part).

All in all, a well-made animated movie.