‘A Christmas Carol’ (and Ebenezer Scrooge) through the years
By T.L. Stanley, Los Angeles Times
Ebenezer Scrooge was a heartless miser in desperate need of reinvention. It should come as no surprise, then, that he eventually found his way to Hollywood for numerous makeovers spanning more than a half century.
The central concept -- three specters guide Scrooge through his past, present and future -- has proven irresistible to the creative community. There have been countless remakes of the classic novella across film, TV, theater, opera and radio, with cartoon characters Scrooge McDuck and “The Jetsons’” Cosmo Spacely and British actors
Leslie Bricusse, who wrote the screenplay and original music for the 1970 movie version of “
“It’s all about redemption -- that even the worst, meanest person can find a way to see life differently,” Bricusse said. “No matter how it’s interpreted -- contemporary or period -- the eternal truth is always there.”
His iteration of “Scrooge” starred then-34-year-old Finney, at the time the youngest person to ever play the penny-pinching sourpuss. There were other powerful British actors in the mix --
The production, which features elaborate flash mob-style song-and-dance numbers, continued at that break-neck pace. It filmed in about three months in early 1970 and opened at New York’s
There’s been talk of revisiting the project as a made-for-TV movie for
In this modestly budgeted MGM production, Reginald Owen stepped in at the last minute for an ailing
Scrooge, for instance, transforms early in the story, shedding his misanthropic ways and embracing the true meaning of Christmas after the first ghostly visit. Why so hasty? Maybe because the film clocks in at a sprightly 69 minutes. Historians have pointed out that the country was still reeling from the Great Depression and on the verge of war, so the filmmakers likely had good reason to smooth out the rough edges. Tip: Go for the original black-and-white, not the colorized version. And see if you can spot a young

Often called the definitive Dickens adaptation, this atmospheric black-and-white film stars
The British-made film doesn’t dance around the harshness of the original text, lingering on “Ignorance” and “Want,” represented by two scraggly hollow-eyed kids folded into the robes of the ghost of Christmas present. (Some versions omit that scene). Sim’s
This made-for-TV special with the voice of Jim Backus opened the floodgates for a slew of animated and all-family “Christmas Carols” to follow.
Mr. Magoo’s iteration, with its minimalist animation style and play-within-a-show format, sanitized the classic to make a truly G-rated program. The ghosts aren’t frightening, there are plenty of pratfalls and jokes about Magoo’s poor eyesight, and even the looters who steal from Scrooge are more goofy than sleazy. Music’s from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, who went on to pen the songs in
The film, directed by
Beloved characters including Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and the Muppets later had versions of the literary story, which was inspired by “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol.”
In this 1983 version, Scrooge McDuck, of course, is Ebenezer Scrooge and Mickey Mouse is Bob Cratchit in an animated adaptation of the classic
This comedy, very loosely based on the Dickens text, gives
In this mish-mash of the classic, directed by
Bah humbug, indeed. (Paramount Pictures)
In this Muppets take on
“Bean’s adaptation at Pacific Resident Theatre is cheerfully tongue-in-cheek, his Scrooge a comical curmudgeon whose muttered asides are more reminiscent of Popeye than Dickens,” she said. (From the Times archives)
This TV adaptation of the story features
“Like Scott’s, Stewart’s Scrooge is no shriveled, doddering, stereotypical miser running his scrawny fingers through mounds of gold coins. Although properly menacing before seeing the light, [Stewart’s Scrooge] is also a robust, shrewd, hard-dealing, tightfisted businessman who just happens to have a low opinion of Christmas and those who celebrate it.” (TNT)
Hal Landon Jr. has become the quintessential
Landon, left, is pictured here in 2000 with costar Timothy Landfield, who plays The Spirit of Christmas Present. (Alexander Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)
“The Polar Express” director
“The actor voices eight characters, including Scrooge at all ages as well as the three ghosts who haunt him -- you can just see him in the recording studio pingponging manically around during one of the Scrooge-ghost tete-a-tetes.” (Disney / ImageMovers Digital LLC)