A Christmas Carol (2020)

A radical animated retelling of the holiday classic that starts with a Victorian performance of the Charles Dickens tale before diving into the imagination of one of the children in the audience, taking the story to a darker fantasy realm.

Director:

Jacqui Morris

Writers:

Charles Dickens (novel), Charles Dickens

Stars:

Thea Achillea, Ruby McMillan-Wilson, Oliver John Lock

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thea Achillea	...	Emily
Ruby McMillan-Wilson	...	Alice
Oliver John Lock	...	Peter / Robert Cratchit's Voice
Richard Cotton	...	Father
Georgina Sutcliffe	...	Mother
Siân Phillips	...	Grandmother / narrator (voice)
Simon Russell Beale	...	Scrooge's voice (voice) (as Simon Russell-Beale)
Michael Nunn	...	Scrooge's dancer
Sydney Craven	...	Martha's voice (voice)
Faith Prendergast	...	Martha's dancer
Masha Tarasova	...	Alice Cratchit's dancer
Kirill Ivanitskiy	...	Robert Cratchit's Dancer (as Kiril Ivanitskiy)
Archie Durrant	...	Tiny Tim's voice
Danil Golovam	...	Tiny Tim's dancer
Sarah Schoenbeck	...	Sarah's voice

Storyline

A reinvention of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The radical new take on Dickens' classic seeks both to exhume the original story's gritty commentary on social inequality and the corrupting influence of greed, and to breathe new life into the lyricism of the original text by setting its scenes to extraordinary tableaux of modern dance. The opening scenes of the film follow a Victorian family preparing a toy theatre for their annual performance of 'A Christmas Carol'. As the family's grandmother narrates the much-edited story and her grandchildren change the scenery, we enter the imagination of one of the children in the audience and watch as the cardboard stage, and the story with it, transforms into a darkly fantastical otherworld.

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Plot Keywords:

children | 

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Genres:

Animation | Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Will reunite Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, and Daniel Kaluuya who had all previously worked together on Black Panther (2018)

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Connections

Version of Fireside Theatre: A Christmas Carol (1951)

User Reviews

A beautiful rendition

There are many versions of this story, because there are many ways it can be portrayed. This is the most natural version of scrooge, a real believable person not a characture. The story highlights the horror of the era as Dickens intended, not sweep them under the carpet. The dance carrys you through the story with a mixture of strength and ethereal beauty. It's a true Christmas delight and one that I shall add to my watch list for Christmas's to come.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 December 2020 (UK)

Also Known As:

A Christmas Carol

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$113,730

Company Credits

Production Co:

Frith Street Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color