It is done with skill and imagination, and overseen by a director, Robert Zemeckis, who knows the value of occasionally quietening things down for a bit of tension or a precisely timed joke.
Comment
11/13/09
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Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
55
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Reviews Counted:163
Fresh:90
Rotten:73
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Robert Zemeckis' 3-D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating]
Genre: Childrens
Theatrical Release:04-11-2009
Synopsis: Director Robert Zemeckis (THE POLAR EXPRESS) continues to work his holiday magic with A CHRISTMAS CAROL. This 3-D adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic will use the motion capture technology... [More]
Starring: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Reviews for Disney's A Christmas Carol
Faithfully rendered and extremely frightening.
11/13/09
A splendidly mounted and visually imaginative animated 3D version of the classic novel.
11/06/09
Cinematographer Robert Presley and the design team provide many instances of graphical triumph, influenced by silent cinema.
11/06/09
Top CriticThis Hollywood adaptation is as glossy as Christmas wrapping paper and just as disposable.
11/06/09
Top CriticA Christmas Carol should be as cosy and familiar as piping-hot tea and buttered, toasted crumpets, not a brain-battering sensory assault that feels like downing tequila shots on a rollercoaster.
11/06/09
Top CriticThere is a weird lack of passion here, almost condescension, a sense that Scrooge's agonised moral journey into his past is potentially pretty dull, and so Zemeckis is always livening things up by whooshing the old miser excitingly through the night sky.
11/06/09
Top CriticZemeckis has succeeded is transforming a staid and over-familiar story into a rip-roaring and viscerally powerful special effects chase-movie.
11/06/09
The whizzing pyrotechnics aren't quite enough to make this a Christmas classic.
11/06/09
A Christmas Carol is certainly set to win the nation’s attention. With all this hype, we’d hoped for something a bit more special.
11/06/09
It is an experience, being stunning to look at – and you’ll only get the full effect from seeing it on the big screen, rather than waiting for the DVD.
11/06/09
Sometimes the richness of the visual banquet threatens to leave viewers with Christmas afternoon indigestion yet never stops you feeling hungry for more.
11/06/09
If you want an entertaining period piece, you could do a lot worse than attend Robert Zemeckis' A Christmas Carol.
11/06/09
A near-perfect blend of looks and heart.
11/06/09
The use of 3-D leaves the not unpleasant sensation that snow is gently falling throughout the entire cinema. A respectable, high-tech stab at an old favourite but the Alastair Sim version remains the best.
11/06/09
Full of Christmas cheer this is not.
11/06/09
Dickens purists can stay away. Others can feel free to sample the rollicking aerial views of Victorian London, the droll and scary elasticity of Carrey.
11/06/09
Scores high on swooping visuals and meticulous draughtsmanship.
11/06/09
At its best, this revamp gets the eerie oppressiveness of London fog and Marley’s rattling chains just right -- we all know the moral, but Zemeckis does remind us what a spine-chilling yarn it is.
11/06/09
Top CriticUnfortunately, as good as the animation is, it never quite manages to bring any of the characters to life and the film fails to connect on an emotional level as a result.
11/06/09
Latest News for Disney's A Christmas Carol
November 17, 2009:
Disney's Christmas Wishes Coming True 
Robert Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol" has divided critics, but Disney was hoping for a holiday movie with long theatrical legs -- and so far, the studio couldn't be happier. More...
November 08, 2009:
Box Office Guru Wrapup: Christmas Carol Tops, Precious Rocks
This weekend Moviegoers powered Jim Carrey's holiday kidpic A Christmas Carol to a number one opening but some fans remained stingy preventing the Disney 3D toon from meeting... More...
November 05, 2009:
Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints
This week at the movies, we've got some modern-day Dickens (Disney's A Christmas Carol, starring Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman); a button-pushing thriller (The Box, starring... More...
November 04, 2009:
Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies
This week's eerie mo-cap rendering of the ghostly, dark Dickens morality tale 'A Christmas Carol' from director Robert Zemeckis is far from being the only yuletide movie where... More...
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