In this morality tale, which winds up playing like the advertisement for an amusement park ride, Scrooge is supposed to be afraid of the truth, not the ghosts.
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11/05/09
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Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009)
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Reviews Counted:166
Fresh:92
Rotten:74
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
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11/05/09
The whole enterprise is just so empty and pointless, a bunch of bland technical wizardry that will be dated in five years.
11/05/09
A moody picture of extraordinary technical achievement, not a glazed retelling of holiday reform. The distance is unavoidable, but my hope is that audiences take the opportunity to drink in the astonishing craftsmanship of the film.
11/04/09
Disney's A Christmas Carol is a marvelous and touching yuletide toy of a movie, and the miracle is that it goes right back to the gilded Victorian spirit of those black-and-white films of yore.
11/04/09
Zemeckis' latest motion-capture CGI project capsizes Dickens' narrative power simply because the faces of the human simulacra are so utterly inexpressive and ugly.
11/04/09
Against the odds, this Disney version, written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, could be the best adaptation to date of the story.
11/04/09
Charles Dickens' classic story hasn't been revitalized but it has been faithfully and capably recreated.
11/04/09
Even as [Zemeckis] uses the 3D process to turn A Christmas Carol into a rollercoaster ride through a solidly built fantasy world, he never forgets that at bottom the tale is an awful warning about how egoism and greed can destroy your humanity.
11/04/09
All style and no substance, Disney's A Christmas Carol is a yawn inducing retread of a tired fable.
11/04/09
Utilizing performance-capture technology, it's intricate and ingenious, offering a 3-D fantasy/adventure thrill ride, soaring into the holiday season.
11/04/09
The biggest surprise of Carol is that this frustrating auteur, so often in thrall to his digital palette, here uses it to freshly illuminate a time-honored text.
11/04/09
Thankfully, this Christmas Carol is Scrooge-centric...and, thanks to an unusually layered performance by Jim Carrey, that mostly saves the day for this film.
11/04/09
If Disney invested in this because they were hoping for an annual re-release and an easy cash cow every time the season rolls around, I think they'll be disappointed.
11/03/09
A clear step in the right direction for Zemeckis and his pet techno-project, the film nonetheless ultimately sabotages itself by prizing the hectic over the heartfelt.
11/03/09
This Carol has a worse identity crisis than Scrooge. Clinging to the novel, the film tries to break out of its insular theatrics to propel Scrooge and his supernatural helpmates into outer space, as if in takeoff into a different sci-fi comic book movie.
11/03/09
The director has brought this Charles Dickens classic to such vivid life that in some ways you feel like you are experiencing it for the first time
11/03/09
A Christmas Carol is a whiz-bang 3-D thrill-ride with all the emotional satisfaction squeezed out of it.
11/03/09
There are nightmarish images, ghostly themes and a feeling that it might be a bit much for kids, but it's a touching film with visuals that will blow your mind. It's a trip.
11/03/09
Bob Hoskins looks just right as kind old Mr. Fezziwig, but that may be more of a testament to the actor's physiognomy than to the motion-capture process, which makes most of the film's cast look like they just sauntered out of Madame Tussauds.
11/03/09
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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