On December 2, Netflix released “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol,” an animated musical adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic holiday tale.
Whimsical and vibrant, this rendition of “A Christmas Carol” is based on the 1970 live-action musical “Scrooge” and includes songs from the late Oscar-winning composer Leslie Bricusse.
This film features Welsh actor Luke Evans voicing Scrooge, Oscar-winner Olivia Colman as the first Ghost of Christmas Past and Jonathan Pryce as Jacob Marley.
With the many adaptations of this Christmas classic that already exist, another remake is the last thing the public wants to see. Nevertheless, “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” was released just in time for the holiday season.
The graphics of the scenery and settings are beautiful and shockingly vibrant, but the characters' facial expressions are robot-like, leaving a feeling that the characters’ animation was rushed.
The storyline deviates a bit from Dickens’ original story with the addition of supernatural creatures and ghosts as well as the film’s somewhat saving grace, Scrooge’s mastiff, Prudence. Prudence is often disapproving but loyal to Scrooge throughout his psychedelic-esque journey from his sad past and bleak future.
Though the addition of Prudence feels odd, as Scrooge has always been a selfish and bitter character, it adds a hopeful undertone to the otherwise straight-up weird adaptation.
“Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” missed its mark for its target audience as some of the creatures and situations in the film seem too jarring and scary for a younger demographic, which is evidenced by the film’s disclaimer for “fear" at the beginning of the film.
Unfortunately, “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” is just another rendition of Dickens’s classic story that is not worth viewers’ time.
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