Movie Info
Movie Name: A Christmas Carol: The Musical
Studio: Hallmark Entertainment/Mid Atlantic Films
Genre(s): Musical/Seasonal/Family
Release Date(s): November 28, 2004
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Oh Scrooge, you crack me up!
Ebenezer Scrooge (Kelsey Grammer) finds himself alone on Christmas Eve and hating everyone. When he is visited by the ghost of his partner Marley (Jason Alexander), Scrooge finds himself in an adventure through his past, the present, and a glimpse of the future if he doesn’t change his ways. Can Ebenezer be saved or is he damned to walk the Earth forever cursed?
Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman, A Christmas Carol: The Musical adapts the stage musical. The movie was made for television based on the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens and premiered on NBC. It was met with moderate reviews and won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Direction with a nomination for Outstanding Choreography.
So…the past is crazy, huh…
The stage version of A Christmas Carol: The Musical was a perennial performance in New York starting in 1994 and written by Alan Menken. The movie took a lot of liberties with Charles Dickens’ 1843 story and changed a number of things about it. In this version, Dickens father is sentenced to jail for his debt (encouraging Scrooge to save every penny) and much like The Wizard of Oz film, Scrooge encounters people who “inspire” the ghosts he meets (Jane Krakowski is the Ghost of Christmas Past, Jesse L. Martin is the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Geraldine Chaplin is the Ghost of Christmas Future).
Hey, where’s the guy in the cloak?
I did not enjoy this film much and felt that it probably worked as a stage play, but stage plays don’t always work when put to film. All the actors seemed to be doing stage acting with overly expressive facial expressions, tones, and actions. In addition to the over-the-top performances, the sets look very much like stage sets and don’t have much depth and feel.
This movie is (as stated in the title) a musical. Most musicals need at least one really catchy song that is easy to learn and sticks with you. It might not be the best song in the musical, but you remember it. I don’t feel that any of these songs were that memorable. The movie does do a good job of keeping a little theme going with “Christmas Together” being used a few times.
A Christmas Carol: The Musical really isn’t a very good edition to the multiple versions of A Christmas Carol. If you are going to see a musical version of A Christmas Carol, it is a much better option to seek out the 1970 musical Scrooge starring Albert Finney.
Related Links:
A Christmas Carol (Scrooge) (1951)
Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
An American Christmas Carol (1979)
Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983)
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)
Christmas Carol—The Movie (2001)
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)
