Since 1843, there have been over 100 film versions of “A Christmas Carol” released. All of these were based off of the novella written by Charles Dickens. But, not only have there just been film remakes, there have also been countless other texts, tv shows, and plays that were altered from the original story. Surprisingly, with all the different versions of the famous novella, there are many notable similarities and differences between two of the most well known Christmas Carol films, the 1984 George Scott version and the 2009 Disney version. These stories slightly stray from Dickens's original piece of text, specifically in stave 4, which is why many crucial similarities and differences take place.
Specifically, there is a significant difference
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between the two films which occurred during stave 4. In the 1984 version of this story, when Scrooge is taken to his grave by the Ghost of Christmas future, he sees a run down grave with his name, Ebenezer Scrooge, and his date of death, Christmas. Scrooge becomes very sad and teary while looking at his grave. It was clear no one cared about Scrooge enough to conserve his grave. In the scene, the Spirit of Christmas future clearly shows remorse and sympathy to Scrooge, as he begs for an altered life in which he will change and not be the man he once was, and after all, honor Christmas. On the other hand, in Disney’s version, the Spirit is remarkably more evil. The Spirit does not show any compassion, and ends up pushing Scrooge into the grave. Also, in Disney alteration, it seems that it is not an ordinary grave. Instead, an opening to the abyss. In the scene, there lays a casket on the bottom of a deep hole in the ground. There can be seen and heard flames with the echos of frightening whisperers. It is obvious that the 1984 version wanted to keep the scene warmhearted, similar to Dickens’ novella. However, it is evident the reason Disney added the creepiness to the film was to add exhilaration to the story. It is also equitable to say that Disney made the seen frightening and gloomy to create a sense of eagerness for viewers. The filmmakers did this by making the scene dark and mysterious. Not only was this part different between both films, but there were several similarities between the two movies as well. An important similarity that stood out in both films occurred during stave 4.
It happens while the Spirit of Christmas Future takes Scrooge on a gander to see his grave. Scrooge sees the tombstone with his name on it and begins to tear up. In this scene, Scrooge takes into understanding what he has done and that he needs to be a better individual. In both movies, this is where it is evident that he transformed out of his gruesome and uncivil ways of living . After viewing the gravesite, Scrooge makes it clear that he understands what he needs to do to live on his life. He went on to beg the Spirit for another chance and promised to honor Christmas, and completely change his way of living. He also promised to continue his life, never forgetting about the lessons he learned from the three ghosts. It is obvious why both films kept this the same for the most part, because it is crucial to the storyline of how Scrooge’s heart changed for the better throughout the novella. They also kept this the same as Dicken’s because it clearly represents how Scrooge evolved and really learnt from the few Spirits who visited him. This part of Stave 4 held to true the story in both movies, but there are other differences between the two movies as …show more content…
well. Another big difference between the two movies also took place in stave 4. It occurs right as the Spirit of Christmas Future gets introduced. This difference is the addition of Scrooge being chased around London by eerie horses in the Disney version. These horses are black, with bright red glowing eyes, and big nostrils. In the scene, they can be seen pulling the Spirit of Christmas Future in a wagon, chasing Scrooge. Along the chase, many ghosts and other frightening figures pop out on the road scaring Scrooge. However, this whole scene is not a part of the 1984 version. Disney added this part of the movie for additional suspense and excitement. They also added this to create a dark and menacing tone to the film, which leads to the viewers having a sense of adrenaline and fear. Disney accomplished this by having the horses slowly creep up on him. With the several differences between the two films, there are also other similarities. One specific and crucial similarity between the two films can be found in stave 4.
The scene occurs when the Spectre takes Scrooge to Bob Cratchit’s residence. In both versions, Scrooge sees Bob’s family mourning Tiny Tim’s death. Tiny Tim’s father, Bob, in particular, is very sad about his son’s death. He reminds himself many times, that he still has several other wonderful children. The filmmakers of both movies most likely kept this scene to keep emotion in the story. Since the movies are so filled with chaos, it is probable that they did this to connect with the viewers on an emotional level. In addition, it is also apparent that they did this to draw the viewers into the story and make them feel close with the characters through
emotion. Despite the well over 100 versions of this story, there are countless similarities and differences between these two film variants of the famous novella written by Charles Dickens. All these adaptations of the first story have been made at an attempt to appeal to viewers. Disney does this by creating a dark and evil tone to it’s movie. Whereas in the 1984 version, the Spectre’s and characters seem more pleasant and likeable. However, both these versions, for the most part, hold true to Dickens’ original story. Interestingly, the several significant differences and similarities all occur in stave 4. In the end, both movies demonstrate how the main character, Ebenezer Scrooge, changes from an unethical, mean-spirited man, to a caring and generous individual. Clearly, there are numerous crucial similarities and differences between the 1984 version and Disney version of “A Christmas Carol” movies.
During the other stave’s scrooge is learning more how to be nice and care for others but he is still not at his full potential. Scrooge meets 3 ghost. Ghost of Christmas past, ghost of Christmas present, and ghost of Christmas yet to come.
The last reason he would have said this is because of what the Spirit of Christmas Future showed Scrooge. The spirit shows him his worker's house again but the worker is really depressed because his son had died. This made Scrooge very sorrowful that he had caused this. The next thing he showed Scrooge was a dead body. This made him miserable because deep down, he knew exactly who it was. He asked the spirit who was it and the spirit brought them to grave. It said Scrooge, and that scared Scrooge the most. That is when he said his
He first visits Scrooge in Stave II, page 18, startling him. This young and elderly figure represents memory. The spirit takes Scrooge on a journey of past Christmases that have been celebrated. The ghost tries to make Scrooge realize how much he has changed from when he was young till now. It is shown that Scrooge has slowly shifted his attention from people to profit.
In the play, A Christmas Carol, it started out with Marley speaking out to the audience, unlike the movie, where it just started out with Mr. Scrooge trudging through the snow. (Dickens 1) Another minor difference was in the play, the spirit of Christmas Past was a man, yet in the movie being a woman. (Dickens 11) During the visit of Christmas Past, Mr. Scrooge traveled through the past as another’s perspective, instead of his own. (Video
In conclusion, In How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss drew upon the character types, conflicts, and themes from A Christmas Carol while still rendering the material new. Present-day authors obviously use traditional story’s character types. Without a doubt, traditional story’s conflicts are seen in current books. Themes used in classic books are emphatically used by modern-day authors. People still read books from long ago. They teach them lessons by the character types, conflicts, and themes in
In this Stave, Dickens shows the importance of kindness by showing Scrooge’s absence of it and the effects of his harmful indifference. Scrooge is taken into his own past and shown memories of when he was young. The Ghost shows him scenes of when he was small and alone on Christmas. This memory makes him regret his harshness towards a young caroler that had come to his door the previous day. He sees that he lacked kindness and wishes he gave something to the caroler. His indifference towards the caroler insured that Scrooge would remain alone. The Ghost also reminds Scrooge of his beloved sister, Fannie who had died and left only her son. “’Always a delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered,’ said the Ghost. ‘But she had a large heart!’ ‘So she had,’ cried Scrooge. ‘You’re right. I will not gainsay it, Spirit. God forbid!’ ‘She died a woman,’ said the Ghost, ‘and had, as I think, children.’ ‘One child,’ Scrooge returned. ‘True,’ said the Ghost. ‘Your nephew!’ Scrooge seemed uneasy in his mind; and answered briefly, ‘Yes.’” (pg. 33-34). Scrooge’s only connection to his kind and gentle sister is his nephew, who also shares Fannie’s sweet nature. Scrooge is then filled with regret because of his callous treatment and lack of relationship with his nephew, who only wanted to be kind and spread the joy of the season. Scrooge’s sheer indifference and lack of kindness towards his nephew prevented
On page 64, we see how Scrooge shows sympathy in the quote, “There was a boy singing a Christmas carol at my door last night. I should like to have given him something. That 's All.” After being shown a memory of himself as a boy, Scrooge regrets being harsh to the boy caroling and not giving him any money. Seeing his own sadness as a child made him realize it would have been nice to give the boy something to make him happy. He will probably do nicer things in the future because he now realizes that the boy would have been upset because of how Scrooge turned him away so harshly. He is changing his actions, and regretting bad actions in the past. He wants to fix what he did wrong, and he feels sympathy for the boy. People want to be shown compassion, so in the future if he helps people out and is kind, he will not be as isolated. Another quote to show how he becomes less detached from humanity is on pages 92-93, ‘”Spirit,” said Scrooge, “Tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” Scrooge feels sorry for Bob Cratchit because the spirit says if the future remains unaltered he will die. He feels upset that Tiny Tim will die, and sympathy for Bob because his son will probably die. He probably regrets not giving Bob more time with his son. He had made a comment earlier that if someone will die they better go and die to decrease the population, when the donation collector
During the story, Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts from Christmas past, present, and future, who shows the ill-tempered Scrooge how to be feel compassion towards others human beings. A large quantity of the story revolves around money, and it plays a large role, to contrast how generosity is viewed in society. Scrooge is incredibly wealthy, as he lives a l...
A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life are classic works of art that have aged well over time and are some of the most popular stories during Christmas. Both stories remain very popular to this day because of the themes being relatable to almost everyone making it relevant. Though, these stories, if taken into context, are quite serious compared to other less thought provoking tales. The main character of It’s A Wonderful Life is George Bailey a generous man that helps people with their problems and finances. The main character of A Christmas Carol is Ebenezer Scrooge a grouchy old man that is wealthy but doesn’t care about anyone but himself. George and Scrooge are two very different characters, but go through similar life processes that change them for better..
He is taken to the streets of his town. Scrooge sees three businessmen discussing his funeral. They say that they thought he would never die. They also say that they will only go to his funeral if there is food there, but if there is no food they don't plan on attending. Nor, do they even think that there will be a funeral because there will be no one willing to pay for it because he was such an awful person. Scrooge is unable to put two and two together to figure out that this was what was going to happen to him. He thought that they were talking about his ex business partner, James Marley. Next, Scrooge sees people discussing things that they would want to sell for money. They then begin discussing how they had taken it off dead Scrooge’s body after he had died. They explain how they had taken the very clothes he was wearing right off of his back and just left him there. They took everything they thought they could make money off of. Scrooge, while watching the scene, realizes that this is an awful thing to happen to someone, but still does not understand that it is him that they are talking about. Finally, Scrooge is taken to his grave with the Ghost Of Christmas Future. The ghost points at the grave and gestures for him to get in it. Scrooge pleads, and pleads with the spirit to allow him to live, and after a while of begging, the ghost shakes a little bit and puts his finger down. “Spirit, this is a
A Christmas Carol is a written in December 1845 by Charles Dickens. This novel was based on the industrial revolution. Dickens shows Scrooge’s transformation going through both love and grief. The Ghost of Christmas past reminded Scrooge of a sense of festivity by showing him his old headmaster Fezziwig; the love in Bob Cratchit’s family made Scrooge analyze his life and it gave him grief; Scrooge had to experience grief, being a sullen old man, just experiencing love wouldn’t be as effective. He also had to experience love to revive his human feeling, his sense of care and empathy. Likewise, Scrooge had to experience fear because he needed to see that his actions affect everybody.
The novel and the movie version of The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens have both similarities and differences. Some of the similarities are character development, the setting and the plot. Some of the differences are character development and added or deleted scenes.
It is hard to believe that there is anyone on the planet that hasn't heard of the story "A Christmas Carol". Although it isn't hard to believe that people do not realize that there are differences between movies and novels. In this case, that fits right into that subject. Here are some of the differences between the movie and the novel.
Dickens had the cold hearted character Scrooge portray someone who changed his lifestyle and brought several families together to get through a time of great poverty. He planted several characters in the novel to represent impoverished people during the 19th century and what generosity of the wealthy could do to them and the town(Gevatheatre). Dickens never had someone take care of him as a child and he went his whole life with a feeling of abandonment(Gevatheatre). Dickens used realism in his novel to inspire change in the way that the wealthy treat the impoverished families and children, particularly by making the child Tiny Tim’s life rest in the hands of Scrooge in The Christmas Carol
Meeting the Ghost of Christmas Past begins the first stage of Scrooge’s transformation: regretting his actions. When Scrooge is shown his younger self alone in his classroom on Christmas, he regrets chasing a Christmas caroler away from his door. The Spirit skips ahead a few years to show him a happier time. His sweet little sister Fan arrives to take him home, and this is his first Christmas in a long time that is spent with family. Unfortunately, Scrooge doesn’t see it that way; seeing this scene makes him “uneasy in his mind” as he thinks about the way he treats his nephew Fred. Instead of treating him like his only family member, Scrooge denies invitations to Christmas dinner every year and is rude whenever Fred speaks to him. He doesn’t have time to dwell on this for long, however; Scrooge has many other important things to think...