So, "Christmas Carol: The Movie" from 2001 always struck me as another one of those straight-to-video adaptations that get a couple of name actors to do some voice work in an attempt to zhuz up a run-of-the-mill production.
And what's with the weird title? This is The Movie? Haven't they're been a zillion other movies of this story already? And how come there's no "A" in there?
But, if you're gonna call yourself a completist, you have to put your money where your mouth is and sometimes suffer through some less-than-stellar productions.
Literally in this case, as I plunked down a few bucks for a DVD of "Christmas Carol: The Movie" and gave it a watch.
You know what, though? I enjoyed the thing!
It keeps the basic story elements, but adds something of a framing story featuring Belle, who is given a much larger part here, befitting the voice casting of the 2001 version of Kate Winslet.
I won't give any spoilers about the Belle story, but I thought it was well-handled. I will say I think it's inspired by "Alice," the Belle stand-in from 1951's "Scrooge" (the one with Alastair Sim that I may have mentioned once or twice).
It also gives a bigger part to Old Joe, who is presented here as actually evil, rather questionably opportunistic.
Most of the incidents from the book are included, but the dialogue is pretty much changed entirely, with only a couple of echoes of the book.
The order of some of the incidents has changed, but the most notable is that Marley's Ghost appears to Scrooge in his office before he goes home. Not sure of the point of this, especially as it weakens the impact of Scrooge seeing Marley's face in the knocker later in the story.
I'm sure a point of contention with a lot of viewers is that a fair amount of screen time is given to a pair of sentient mice. One of them is named Gabriel and Scrooge is actually kind to him throughout the movie.
The other mouse is not named as far as I could tell, but this one is a but smarter than Gabriel. Not sure if it's a boy or girl. They give me something of a Chip and Dale vibe.
Having wacky animal sidekicks naturally makes me think of Debit, Scrooge's pet dog in that 1997 animated feature.
I stand by my thoughts that although Scrooge showing kindness towards a pet softens his character somewhat, I don't really mind the idea. Actually here it makes me think that Scrooge doesn't like people, but since mice aren't people, he doesn't hate them.
Toward the beginning of the movie, while still in the office, Scrooge gives a piece of cheese to Gabriel, but makes sure that he blocks Bob's view so Bob won't see the kindness.
This shows that Scrooge does still have some good in him, though he doesn't want anyone to know, so his conversion is not strictly out of left field.
I must say that this Scrooge is something of a hard sell, though, as he needs a couple of ghostly reminders on Christmas morning to get him to toe the line!
I didn't think the character design or animation in this movie were anything great, but serviceable enough. Some good music and effects, though, especially during the scenes with the ghosts.
I particularly liked the Christmas Yet to Come sequence, which was spooky and surreal.
It kept my interest for the 70-ish minutes of the story and I'm glad I watched it!
But, as always, your mileage may vary!
