Goofs

Almost all of Dickens's worked appeared as monthly serials before being published as books. A Christmas Carol is one of very few that appeared just as a book.

Much is made of turkey being the centerpiece of a good Christmas feast. This tradition arose much later, however. In Dickens' day - and in the original novella - the festive bird of choice was a goose.

Dickens is supposedly failing after Oliver Twist and before A Christmas Carol. In fact he had written Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop, as well as the less successful works mentioned.

Near the end of the film when Dickens is having a flashback to working as a child in the factory, the boss man asks if his father was "dining with the Queen." When Dickens was a boy, there would have been a king instead of a queen reigning.

Towards the end of the film, Dickens views the family Christmas tree and remarks that since Prince Albert, the German-born husband (and cousin) of Queen Victoria had instituted the custom in England in 1840, they were bound to become popular. In fact, the first Christmas tree in England was erected at the behest of Queen Charlotte, the equally German-born wife of George III in 1800. Christmas trees had been fashionable in England since Dickens' childhood.

The fonts used in the first edition are different from the ones actually used.

Despite their portrayal, Dickens and Thackeray were on very friendly terms in 1843. Their feud only started towards the end of the 1850s when Dickens became jealous of Thackeray being compared to him. Thackeray responded by publicly criticizing Dickens' decision to abandon his wife. In addition, Thackeray boasts about the money his latest book has earned. In reality, Thackeray was a struggling hack writer in 1843. He didn't achieve a major success until the publication of Vanity Fair in 1847. Dickens and Thackeray were reconciled shortly before the latter's death in 1863.

Thackeray taunts Dickens by reminding him of the American phrase, "There's gold in them thar hills. " The film events take place prior to Christmas 1843. The phrase is attributed to Georgia assayer Mathew Stephenson regarding the 1849 California gold rush but popularized in an 1892 book by Mark Twain.

The film is set from 1842-43. The background music in the New York theater scene is "Yankee Doodle Dandy". This was written by George M. Cohan for the play "Little Johnny Jones" in 1904.

In the movie, Tara, the Dickens' children's nanny, is seen by Charles Dickens to be carrying a copy of 'Varney the Vampire', which was a popular 'Penny Dreadful' weekly cheap publication popular in the Victorian era. This was suggested as a part of the inspiration behind A Christmas Carol possibly because of the spectral associations and the idea for the visits of the ghosts of Marley and Christmases Past, Present, and Yet To Come. A Christmas Carol was written and published in 1843, but Varney the Vampire was not actually first published until 1845.

Mrs. Dickens is seen reading a copy of Roughing It in the Bush, which wasn't published until 1852, nine years later.

John Leech looks much older than the 26 he actually was when he illustrated 'A Christmas Carol'.