Disney's A Christmas Carol Is Fun But Familiar

Folks Will Be Charmed But The Tale Has Been Told Many Times Before

Nov 11, 2009

Robert Zemeckis has claimed himself the King of motion-capture cinema but in so doing he is standing in the way of his greatest gift, the art of storytelling.

Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol has succeeded throughout its 266 year history as a parable about the possibility of redemption, the binding love of Christmas and its use of fantastic elements that intrigue everyone - namely: ghosts and time travel. Zemeckis', it must be remembered, gave the world Forrest Gump and Back to the Future and has always had a knack for tapping into the human condition while providing a whimsical adventure for the audience.

It can be argued that his latest three efforts, all endeavors into motion-capture computer animation, carry the gateway into the human soul and indeed thrill the audience with the closest thing to theme park rides ever translated by cinema. However, the criticism at this approach is often that The Polar Express, Beowulf and Disney's A Christmas Carol would have played better if the actual actors appeared on screen.

If The Lord of the Rings was never made, then A Christmas Carol would be a crowning achievement. Because the world has seen that it is possible to make a hybrid of live-action and computer animation than films like this will never compare. The best moments of A Christmas Carol are not the ones loaded with fast-paced flying sequences but the extremely quiet ones. The anticipation of Jacob Marley's ghost appearing is quite chilling due to the wonderful sound of his chains thumping up Scrooge's long staircase. The moment when Scrooge first sees the woman that he falls in love with as a young man is quite sweet. So the strongest parts of the film would have been even stronger if it were real breathing people on the screen instead of cartoon characters made to strongly resemble people. The animation stands in the way of touching the heart.

Jim Carrey disappears into the role of Scrooge with ease that only the most under-appreciated superstar of all time can conjure. The choice to have him play multiple roles is bothersome. Though he manages to create different characters with the Ghosts of Past and Present it is still unmistakably the same man. The same was true for Tom Hanks' multiple roles in The Polar Express. This choice seems to stand in the way of making the audience suspend their disbelief. There is a contradiction that simultaneously says this is a movie, look, the same guy is playing all these parts while trying to carry the resonance of a story that explores the human condition. It's quite confusing.

Undoubtedly, this will be the first exposure to A Christmas Carol for many little ones this holiday season and it will serve that purpose quite well. Many children will be wowed by the fantasy of the film and become engrossed in the story just as everyone has been whether it was the original Disney cartoon introducing us to Scrooge McDuck or the Muppets' Christmas Carol or the Allister Sims classic or the book itself. The story will never die and it is comforting to see it retold even if it loses some of its poignancy in Zemeckis' disorienting attempt to make cartoons seem like people.

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