The only major change Disney's A Christmas Carol takes with the source material is draining the humanity right out of it.
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11/06/09
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Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
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Reviews Counted:164
Fresh:91
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
How they made it into this Disney adaptation unprettified is a Christmas miracle in itself.
11/06/09
Zemeckis... appears to have given up making fantasies for grownups in favor of making theme-park attractions designed to do nothing more than shut the kiddies up for 90 minutes...
11/06/09
In the end you don’t have to analyze it... that tear in your eye tells you it’s working.
11/06/09
Too bad though, that for all the eye-popping spirits on screen, it lacks a soul.
11/06/09
Although Dickens has been translated time and time again, this animated adventure is no humbug.
11/06/09
Call me a Scrooge, but I'll pass on this synthetic version of that most humanistic of tales.
11/06/09
Zemeckis' film preserves much of Dickens' original dialogue and detail while amplifying the utter ethereal strangeness of the ghosts.
11/06/09
There's a lot of dark magic in this Dickensian Yuletide.
11/06/09
Want the creeps for Christmas? Then check out the latest version of A Christmas Carol.
11/06/09
Does this entertainment achieve a timelessness beyond its exquisite source material? Not even. Yet there's pleasure to be had and relief in feeling the filmmakers didn't Scrooge it up either.
11/06/09
Disney's excessively hyped A Christmas Carol brings Dickensian details to such sumptuous life that you mostly forgive it for possessing a stop-motion soul.
11/06/09
The movie may be yet another retelling of an iconic story, but visually it is often quite breathtaking.
11/06/09
Zemeckis captures all the story’s terror, but its pathos has always been the real challenge, and it mostly eludes him.
11/06/09
You don’t identify with Scrooge at any point, nor is blatant fakery scary. Picture The Seventh Seal with sock puppets.
11/06/09
A branded piece of shiny seasonal entertainment.
11/06/09
Top CriticRobert Zemeckis turns the classic Dickens tale into a 3D performance-capture spectacle, abetted by the versatility of Jim Carrey as skinflint Scrooge and his ghostly visitors.
11/06/09
Succeeds in delivering a respectful--if not always magical--interpretation of Dickens' famous tale.
11/06/09
all science and little sentiment
11/06/09
It feels like Zemeckis wanted to make one movie (a socially relevant ghost story) and Disney wanted another (a Polar Express-type movie). It doesn't work.
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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