Opening credits at the commencement of the story in the book: "I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book to raise the Ghost of an Idea which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, and each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it."
Their faithful Friend and Servant,
CHARLES DICKENS
December, 1843
This is the only major film version of the story in which Marley's Ghost is not listed at all in the credits, even though his voice is heard in the picture. (He is never actually seen in this version, except on the door knocker).
Two different opening credits sequences have been created for this film. Both feature the same credits, and basically the same main title music, but they are designed differently. In the first, we see a man's hands take down a copy of the original novel "A Christmas Carol" from a bookshelf, and thumb through its pages, revealing the credits (almost exactly as in the opening credits for the 1951 film A Christmas Carol (1951), starring Alastair Sim). Many of the names are printed using the print type seen in first editions of Dickens, as in the opening credits of David Copperfield (1935). In the "alternative credits", the credits simply appear on what looks like a metal doorplate, in a very straightforward manner. This is the way they have usually been shown in television screenings of the film. The "alternative credits" version is the only one which shows which cast member played each character (shown at the end of the film). In the original credits, we see the names of the cast, but not the names of the characters they portray. The original opening credits are much more detailed than the ones shown in the second opening credits sequence.
Opening credits prologue: December, 1843.