I have seen four movie versions of the great novel in as many years. Including one with Mr. Magoo! This one is a little different from most of those I have seen; Scrooge's former fiancée Belle is Tiny Tim's nurse. Because of their former relationship, Belle hopes to persuade Scrooge to go easy on her hospital, which owes a great deal of money to Scrooge's company. A lot of people are shown being taken away by the police because they can't pay their debts. "Old Joe" is Scrooge's collector (wonder what will become of him when Christmas Day gets here?).
The movie features a couple of other new characters: Gabriel the mouse is a friend to the children at Belle's hospital. I'm not sure, but he may be one of the two mice that befriend Scrooge. One of the mice actually turns the evil miser into a kind and caring person--but only to mice. This mouse accompanies Scrooge on his journeys and, after Cratchit is unable to do so, tries to persuade Scrooge to read Belle's letter. The mice don't talk, but they do seem intelligent, and the one with the letter knows it is important and carries it whenever he is in "the real world."
Marley is quite scary as he appears in the office, not Scrooge's home. He must struggle to keep from being dragged out the window by his heavy chains, and when he finally leaves, it is with a bunch of demons. Marley and the demons return later to carry Scrooge away.
Tiny Tim's role is a little different. He starts out in Belle's hospital but gets to come home. Then he is unlucky enough to be one of the carolers on whom Scrooge dumps a bucket of water. So he gets sick again. He never does say the words "God bless us every one" that are so much a part of the story, and he does not go to church with his father. Though Cratchit does mention carrying Tiny Tim on his shoulder.
We also learn how Scrooge became such an evil man--I can't recall any version of the story going into this much detail. I have seen these topics covered briefly; Scrooge did not seem to be loved by his father, but he was expected to do all that was required to succeed in business, and this drove him to care more about money than anything else--which lost him the love of his life. His sister Fan was disinherited for marrying a loser (this is probably new), and Scrooge, who had proved he deserved it, got everything in the will.
More differences from the usual: Scrooge does change after he realizes he was dreaming, doesn't he? Well, he is so relieved here that he goes back to his old ways after an apparent change of heart during the visit of the final spirit. For about five seconds, until he looks in a mirror and sees a disturbing image. And when he does meet Belle, she is not that quick to forgive. This threatens to disrupt the happy ending we have come to expect.
Simon Callow did a fine job, though he didn't make quite the impression of, say, Alastair Sim. I didn't see any live-action introduction with Charles Dickens himself, but there was a narrator with the animation.
Kate Winslet also did a good job. Rhys Ifans (as Cratchit) and Iain Jones (as nephew Fred) were so kind despite the way Scrooge treated them. Most of the characters were well-acted.
The animation and background art were well-done. Certainly a step above the usual Saturday morning cartoons.
The background music was sufficiently creepy where it needed to be. It could also be somewhat cheerful. I liked the carolers who performed as people would have in the time of Dickens. I will say "Bah humbug" to two songs which reflect the style (though they don't go overboard with the instrumentals) of today's soft rock, Contemporary Christian and country radio formats. One was used with the closing credits.
As to whether this is appropriate for children, I would say it just depends on how willing they are to be scared (or how willing their parents are to let them be scared). Scrooge curses at his younger self, but these days you can say what he did with a G rating. The V-chip rating was TV-PG.
Should there have been another version? This one gave us just enough new insights to be justified.
The movie features a couple of other new characters: Gabriel the mouse is a friend to the children at Belle's hospital. I'm not sure, but he may be one of the two mice that befriend Scrooge. One of the mice actually turns the evil miser into a kind and caring person--but only to mice. This mouse accompanies Scrooge on his journeys and, after Cratchit is unable to do so, tries to persuade Scrooge to read Belle's letter. The mice don't talk, but they do seem intelligent, and the one with the letter knows it is important and carries it whenever he is in "the real world."
Marley is quite scary as he appears in the office, not Scrooge's home. He must struggle to keep from being dragged out the window by his heavy chains, and when he finally leaves, it is with a bunch of demons. Marley and the demons return later to carry Scrooge away.
Tiny Tim's role is a little different. He starts out in Belle's hospital but gets to come home. Then he is unlucky enough to be one of the carolers on whom Scrooge dumps a bucket of water. So he gets sick again. He never does say the words "God bless us every one" that are so much a part of the story, and he does not go to church with his father. Though Cratchit does mention carrying Tiny Tim on his shoulder.
We also learn how Scrooge became such an evil man--I can't recall any version of the story going into this much detail. I have seen these topics covered briefly; Scrooge did not seem to be loved by his father, but he was expected to do all that was required to succeed in business, and this drove him to care more about money than anything else--which lost him the love of his life. His sister Fan was disinherited for marrying a loser (this is probably new), and Scrooge, who had proved he deserved it, got everything in the will.
More differences from the usual: Scrooge does change after he realizes he was dreaming, doesn't he? Well, he is so relieved here that he goes back to his old ways after an apparent change of heart during the visit of the final spirit. For about five seconds, until he looks in a mirror and sees a disturbing image. And when he does meet Belle, she is not that quick to forgive. This threatens to disrupt the happy ending we have come to expect.
Simon Callow did a fine job, though he didn't make quite the impression of, say, Alastair Sim. I didn't see any live-action introduction with Charles Dickens himself, but there was a narrator with the animation.
Kate Winslet also did a good job. Rhys Ifans (as Cratchit) and Iain Jones (as nephew Fred) were so kind despite the way Scrooge treated them. Most of the characters were well-acted.
The animation and background art were well-done. Certainly a step above the usual Saturday morning cartoons.
The background music was sufficiently creepy where it needed to be. It could also be somewhat cheerful. I liked the carolers who performed as people would have in the time of Dickens. I will say "Bah humbug" to two songs which reflect the style (though they don't go overboard with the instrumentals) of today's soft rock, Contemporary Christian and country radio formats. One was used with the closing credits.
As to whether this is appropriate for children, I would say it just depends on how willing they are to be scared (or how willing their parents are to let them be scared). Scrooge curses at his younger self, but these days you can say what he did with a G rating. The V-chip rating was TV-PG.
Should there have been another version? This one gave us just enough new insights to be justified.