Another ‘Christmas Carol’ adaptation, an animated musical at that, okay, why not? Directed by Stephen Donnelly, the 2022 Netflix film ‘Scrooge: A Christmas Carol’ features the voice of Luke Evans as Ebenezer Scrooge, one of the most famous literary characters created by Charles Dickens.
This is a slightly biased review, because I love animated films and thoroughly enjoyed watching it, despite having seen ‘Spirited’, another adaptation of the same story a few days ago. ‘Scrooge’ may not have a fun track like ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ that made Encanto such a big hit, but it is still a faithfully fun retelling of a solid story. The animation is colorfully delightful, and never gets as bleak as the original tale, even though it does retain the themes of poverty, exploitation, sickness, and death. Those looking for something new will be disappointed, because except for the magically extravagant song-dance by the spirits, this film sticks to its source material. Except for a cute huge dog, nice touch.
In case you aren’t familiar with the classic, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is about a nasty old penny-pinching moneylender called Ebenezer Scrooge, who’s estranged from the only family he has left, is horrid to his lone loyal employee Cratchit and absolutely hates Christmas. One night, he is visited by a scary ghostly apparition, who claims Ebenezer will be visited by three spirits – past, present, future – each with a lesson to give him and if he still doesn’t reform into a kind soul, a sordid end might await him.
Olivia Coleman lends her voice to the ghost of Christmas’ Past, the character is an enchanting candle-like lady who helps shed light on the protagonist’s past, making him remember how the holidays weren’t always terrible. The movie could’ve done without a song or two, but otherwise, I found it to be a charming animated film which is largely meant for children.
It’s a 8/10 from me.
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