Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

I seem to be in ‘A Christmas Carol’ mode lately, especially as I’ll soon be reading an extract from Charles Dickens‘ original ‘A Christmas Carol’ for a carol service next week. I’ve also seen another adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’ this year – Disney‘s 2009 version!

We all have our favourite versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ by Charles Dickens, whether it’d be on TV or a film. I’m amazed I’ve not reviewed the 1951 film ‘Scrooge’ with Alistair Sim yet. I’m pleased I’ve been able to review ‘A Muppet Christmas Carol’ lately, as it’s very good.

But it’s quite interesting not many people talk about the 2009 film version of ‘A Christmas Carol’, written and directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Jim Carrey. Granted, I’ve only seen this film once when it came out on DVD in 2010, but it’s bizarre it’s not talked about much.

Having rewatched it recently on DVD, I found it a very decent adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. It’s not perfect, but I like how it does more good than bad compared to other adaptations and it does introduce some new concepts to the story. 🙂

It’s also incredible to think Robert Zemeckis is the director of this CGI animated film adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’, as he’s well-known for directing the ‘Back to the Future’ film trilogy. Although, this isn’t his first foray into doing a CGI animated film for the big screen.

Oh no! Robert Zemeckis directed ‘The Polar Express’, which was released in 2004, and it had Tom Hanks as the film’s main star. He also uses the same motion-capture technique of having actors playing their characters with motion-capture suits on before they’re animated. 🙂

I can’t say that 2009’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ wins me over more compared to ‘The Polar Express’, but like I said, the adaptation of Dickens’ story is pretty decent, especially when depicting the darker and grimier aspects of London in Victorian times, which weren’t all that good.

The presentation of how Scrooge gets to see his past, present and future by the three spirts that visit him is also fascinating compared to how other versions have done it. In the Christmas Present section, Scrooge doesn’t leave his house when he views the present.

Jim Carrey is a fascinating choice to play Ebeneezer Scrooge in the film. One might expect Jim Carrey to deliver a zany performance when playing Scrooge, as is often expected when you’ve seen him in films like ‘Batman Forever’ and the ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ films.

But to his credit, and weirdly enough, Jim Carrey plays it more-or-less straight as Scrooge in the film. He’s toned down the zaniest of his comedic acting into something that’s more serious and credible. This is something I didn’t expect to find when seeing one of his films.

It’s also ironic that this is the second Christmas film I’ve seen him in where he’s the main star – the other being ‘The Grinch’. I enjoyed him very much as the Grinch in that 2000 film, but his performance as Scrooge is something that should be commended very highly.

As well as playing Scrooge, Jim Carrey also plays the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Interesting choice to have Jim Carrey plays the three Ghosts as well as Scrooge, but it does make sense, since this is his past, present and future we’re seeing. 🙂

There’s Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit and Jacob Marley. For many, Gary Oldman played Commissioner Gordon in ‘The Dark Knight Trilogy’ of ‘Batman’ films. There’s also Colin Firth (well-known as Mr. Darcy in 1995’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’) as Fred, Scrooge’s nephew.

Bob Hoskins plays Fezziwig in the film as well as Robin Wright Penn as Belle, Scrooge’s neglected fiancée. Cary Elwes (who’s been in a ‘Mission: Impossible’ film) many characters including a portly gentleman, Dick Wilkins, Mad Fiddler and Businessman #1. 😀

Apparently, Daryl Sabara (who’s been in the ‘Spy Kids’ movies) plays many characters in the film, including Peter Cratchit. Tiny Tim is voiced by Ryan Ochoa, and Julian Holloway (who was in the ‘Doctor Who’ story ‘Survival’) plays a Fat Cook among other roles in this film.

Lesley Manville, who played Heather Hartnell in ‘An Adventure In Space and Time’, plays Emily Cratchit in the film. Many of the actors in the film often provide motion-capture for certain characters. For example, Gary Odman provides the motion-capture for Tiny Tim. 🙂

2009’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ is an enjoyable film to watch at Christmas time. I can’t say it’s a film I go back to rewatching repeatedly, but I’m glad I saw it when it came out on DVD in 2010 and I’m very pleased that I got to see the film again to review it on my blog in 2025.

It’s also been fascinating and enjoyable that Jim Carrey played a role in a Christmas film that didn’t require him to be zany or over-the-top compared to other comedic performances he’s done. It wasn’t what I expected, but it was a welcome performance. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂