Disney’s A Christmas Carol

The Walt Disney Company may have put up the money, but this take on Charles Dickens’ immortal story of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge really belongs to writer-director Robert Zemeckis and his favorite toy, the motion capture (“mo-cap”) computer animation process. Jim Carrey takes on not only the roles of Scrooge at every age, but all three Spirits of Christmas as well, with other multiple roles played by Gary Oldman (as Bob Cratchit and Marley’s ghost), Bob Hoskins, Cary Elwes, etc. This version doesn’t dethrone the 1951 masterpiece with Alastair Sim (no movie ever will), but there’s always room for a new take on the story from someone who loves it as much as Zemeckis does—even if he sometimes seems to love his mo-cap more, gussying up the proceedings with flashy camera moves just because he can.