The Spirit answered not, but pointed onward with its hand.
December 21, 2022 12:01 PM Subscribe
The Ghosts of Christmas Yet to Come, ranked by freakiness [Polygon] “In the text, Dickens describes the ghost as “shrouded in a deep black garment, which concealed its head, its face, its form, and left nothing of it visible save one outstretched hand.” This leaves a lot of leeway for adaptations to interpret, and A Christmas Carol is one of the most-adapted works of fiction of all time. So in the holiday spirit, I decided to watch every film version and evaluate them on one single criteria: How scary do they make the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? Don your sleeping cap and come with us on a journey into holiday horror.”
Muppets also have the best Ghost of Christmas Present, so jolly (:
posted by an octopus IRL at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by an octopus IRL at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]
I always find Past more frightening than Future, as I suppose suits a person in early middle age:
posted by praemunire at 12:12 PM on December 21, 2022 [16 favorites]
“You are fettered,” said Scrooge, trembling. “Tell me why?”Grim stuff!
“I wear the chain I forged in life,” replied the Ghost. “I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?”
Scrooge trembled more and more.
“Or would you know,” pursued the Ghost, “the weight and length of the strong coil you bear yourself? It was full as heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago. You have laboured on it, since. It is a ponderous chain!”
Scrooge glanced about him on the floor, in the expectation of finding himself surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of iron cable: but he could see nothing.
“Jacob,” he said, imploringly. “Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob!”
“I have none to give,” the Ghost replied. “It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere. My spirit never walked beyond our counting-house—mark me!—in life my spirit never roved beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing hole; and weary journeys lie before me!”
[...]
“Seven years dead,” mused Scrooge. “And travelling all the time!”
“The whole time,” said the Ghost. “No rest, no peace. Incessant torture of remorse.”
“You travel fast?” said Scrooge.
“On the wings of the wind,” replied the Ghost.
“You might have got over a great quantity of ground in seven years,” said Scrooge.
The Ghost, on hearing this, set up another cry, and clanked its chain so hideously in the dead silence of the night, that the Ward would have been justified in indicting it for a nuisance.
“Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed,” cried the phantom, “not to know, that ages of incessant labour by immortal creatures, for this earth must pass into eternity before the good of which it is susceptible is all developed. Not to know that any Christian spirit working kindly in its little sphere, whatever it may be, will find its mortal life too short for its vast means of usefulness. Not to know that no space of regret can make amends for one life’s opportunity misused! Yet such was I! Oh! such was I!”
“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.
“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
posted by praemunire at 12:12 PM on December 21, 2022 [16 favorites]
Glad to see the ghost in the George C Scott version comes in quite high, as it terrified me when I saw it in the cinema as a kid (it was made for TV but had a theatrical release in my hometown, Shrewsbury, where it was filmed).
Fun fact, the gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge made for the film is still on location in the church yard of the local church they used as a stand-in for St Paul's Cathedral, and a woman I used to work with was therefore convinced that Ebenezer Scrooge was a real person!
posted by kumonoi at 12:28 PM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]
Fun fact, the gravestone of Ebenezer Scrooge made for the film is still on location in the church yard of the local church they used as a stand-in for St Paul's Cathedral, and a woman I used to work with was therefore convinced that Ebenezer Scrooge was a real person!
posted by kumonoi at 12:28 PM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]
YES YES YES YES YES! They include A Carol For Another Christmas!
I have been wanting to see this for years based solely on the Wiki description, because it sounds gloriously batshit in the best way - instead of the spirits teaching a miserly Scrooge to be generous and kind, the spirits teach an "America-First" kind of geopolitical isolationist to join the global village. The vision of "Christmas Future" features Peter Sellers dressed up as a pilgrim in a cowboy hat serving as a self-appointed warlord in a post-nuclear-holocaust society, preparing to do battle with the people who live across the street.
Like I said - batshit in the best way. If it tops this list for Best Ghost then I definitely am all in.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
I have been wanting to see this for years based solely on the Wiki description, because it sounds gloriously batshit in the best way - instead of the spirits teaching a miserly Scrooge to be generous and kind, the spirits teach an "America-First" kind of geopolitical isolationist to join the global village. The vision of "Christmas Future" features Peter Sellers dressed up as a pilgrim in a cowboy hat serving as a self-appointed warlord in a post-nuclear-holocaust society, preparing to do battle with the people who live across the street.
Like I said - batshit in the best way. If it tops this list for Best Ghost then I definitely am all in.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:28 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Muppet Christmas Carol really sells the threat with Michael Caine's absolutely cowering "you mean this grave, right, the one you clearly don't mean" and the ghost pointing even more firmly, and Caine gets wrecked because he knows what's coming and then it does. It's underplayed by the ghost but that's why it's so damn terrifying, because the fear in Caine's face is all the proof we need that he's actually undergoing a trauma-induced change of personality.
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 12:30 PM on December 21, 2022 [5 favorites]
I love the original story and a few of its film productions. But this exhausting list makes me certain that I never want to see another adaptation of this story produced ever, ever again. Fun link though!
posted by SoberHighland at 12:31 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by SoberHighland at 12:31 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
praemunire, the Ghost you're quoting from Dickens there is the Ghost of Jacob Marley, not the Ghost of Christmas Past. Christmas Past is described this way in Dickens:
It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, viewed through some supernatural medium, which gave him the appearance of having receded from the view, and being diminished to a child’s proportions. Its hair, which hung about its neck and down its back, was white as if with age; and yet the face had not a wrinkle in it, and the tenderest bloom was on the skin. The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength. Its legs and feet, most delicately formed, were, like those upper members, bare. It wore a tunic of the purest white; and round its waist was bound a lustrous belt, the sheen of which was beautiful. It held a branch of fresh green holly in its hand; and, in singular contradiction of that wintry emblem, had its dress trimmed with summer flowers. But the strangest thing about it was, that from the crown of its head there sprung a bright clear jet of light, by which all this was visible; and which was doubtless the occasion of its using, in its duller moments, a great extinguisher for a cap, which it now held under its arm.posted by hippybear at 12:42 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
Even this, though, when Scrooge looked at it with increasing steadiness, was not its strangest quality. For as its belt sparkled and glittered now in one part and now in another, and what was light one instant, at another time was dark, so the figure itself fluctuated in its distinctness: being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom wherein they melted away. And in the very wonder of this, it would be itself again; distinct and clear as ever.
“Are you the Spirit, sir, whose coming was foretold to me?” asked Scrooge.
“I am!”
The voice was soft and gentle. Singularly low, as if instead of being so close beside him, it were at a distance.
“Who, and what are you?” Scrooge demanded.
“I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.”
Also, this was an excellent read. I thought I'd seen All The Christmas Carols, but apparently I haven't even seen half of them, and I've seen a LOT!
I really really hated the Zemickis version. The whole "now you're going to have a thrill ride action scene involving a runaway hearse" part involving Yet To Come was entirely pointless, in a production that was way too uncanny valley for me to want to see it twice. Zemickis deserves kudos for trying to Do The MoCap Thing, but was about a decade too early. We still can't really do human faces very well, really.
posted by hippybear at 12:49 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I really really hated the Zemickis version. The whole "now you're going to have a thrill ride action scene involving a runaway hearse" part involving Yet To Come was entirely pointless, in a production that was way too uncanny valley for me to want to see it twice. Zemickis deserves kudos for trying to Do The MoCap Thing, but was about a decade too early. We still can't really do human faces very well, really.
posted by hippybear at 12:49 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Well then Marley is the winner!
posted by praemunire at 12:54 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 12:54 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
Muppets also have the best Ghost of Christmas Present, so jolly (:
Having just watched this last night for the first time, I was actually disappointed with how they adapted the Ghost of Christmas Present because it cuts the scene with the two Children of Man, Want and Ignorance, which to me is one of the most powerful in the story.
posted by star gentle uterus at 1:03 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
Having just watched this last night for the first time, I was actually disappointed with how they adapted the Ghost of Christmas Present because it cuts the scene with the two Children of Man, Want and Ignorance, which to me is one of the most powerful in the story.
posted by star gentle uterus at 1:03 PM on December 21, 2022 [4 favorites]
because it cuts the scene with the two Children of Man, Want and Ignorance, which to me is one of the most powerful in the story.
Nearly the entire POINT of the story, really. And I'm always disappointed when it's not there.
Nearly the entire POINT of the story, really. And I'm always disappointed when it's not there.
“My life upon this globe, is very brief,” replied the Ghost. “It ends to-night.”posted by hippybear at 1:08 PM on December 21, 2022 [14 favorites]
“To-night!” cried Scrooge.
“To-night at midnight. Hark! The time is drawing near.”
The chimes were ringing the three quarters past eleven at that moment.
“Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,” said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit’s robe, “but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw?”
“It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,” was the Spirit’s sorrowful reply. “Look here.”
From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.
“Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!” exclaimed the Ghost.
They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.
Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.
“Spirit! are they yours?” Scrooge could say no more.
“They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!” cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!”
“Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge.
“Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”
The bell struck twelve.
Scrooge looked about him for the Ghost, and saw it not. As the last stroke ceased to vibrate, he remembered the prediction of old Jacob Marley, and lifting up his eyes, beheld a solemn Phantom, draped and hooded, coming, like a mist along the ground, towards him.
Not to get too far off topic (I had no idea there were that many exhausting adaptions of A Christmas Carol), but I hope the excerpted passages above convey how powerful the Dickens story really is. I honestly believe it's one of the greatest short stories (novellas?) in the English language.
Sure, everybody knows the basic plot and characters like Scrooge, Marley, Tiny Tim, and the three Ghosts - but until you read the original story you don't really know it is a masterpiece that is almost biblical in the scope of its characterization and eventual redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. Please - please - read the story if you never have before.
In these dark days I often think of the famous passage from the beginning of the story that was referenced above, when Scrooge argues with the two gentlemen collecting charity for the poor:
[begin excerpt]
"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.”
“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.
“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”
posted by fortitude25 at 2:13 PM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
Sure, everybody knows the basic plot and characters like Scrooge, Marley, Tiny Tim, and the three Ghosts - but until you read the original story you don't really know it is a masterpiece that is almost biblical in the scope of its characterization and eventual redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. Please - please - read the story if you never have before.
In these dark days I often think of the famous passage from the beginning of the story that was referenced above, when Scrooge argues with the two gentlemen collecting charity for the poor:
[begin excerpt]
"Under the impression that they scarcely furnish Christian cheer of mind or body to the multitude,” returned the gentleman, “a few of us are endeavouring to raise a fund to buy the poor some meat and drink, and means of warmth. We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices. What shall I put you down for?”
“Nothing!” Scrooge replied.
“You wish to be anonymous?”
“I wish to be left alone,” said Scrooge. “Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don’t make merry myself at Christmas, and I can’t afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned—they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.”
“Many can’t go there; and many would rather die.”
“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population. Besides—excuse me—I don’t know that.”
“But you might know it,” observed the gentleman.
“It’s not my business,” Scrooge returned. “It’s enough for a man to understand his own business, and not to interfere with other people’s. Mine occupies me constantly. Good afternoon, gentlemen!”
posted by fortitude25 at 2:13 PM on December 21, 2022 [7 favorites]
Here's Project Gutenberg's page for A Christmas Carol, which is the entire text and some illustrations. For those that might find that handy.
posted by hippybear at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2022 [3 favorites]
I prefer the Arthur Rackham illustrations, but that's just a matter of personal taste.
posted by MrBadExample at 3:11 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by MrBadExample at 3:11 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Glad to see the ghost in the George C Scott version comes in quite high, as it terrified me when I saw it in the cinema as a kid (it was made for TV but had a theatrical release in my hometown, Shrewsbury, where it was filmed).
kumonoi: So cool! This is the version I grew up with. Ours was taped off of tv onto a Betamax tape, complete with commercials. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come was terrifying!
posted by hydropsyche at 3:12 PM on December 21, 2022
kumonoi: So cool! This is the version I grew up with. Ours was taped off of tv onto a Betamax tape, complete with commercials. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come was terrifying!
posted by hydropsyche at 3:12 PM on December 21, 2022
I haven’t read the whole list yet, but I'm excited to find some versions in there I haven’t seen yet!
Agreeing with some folks above: Marley’s ghost is often the scariest, and Christmas Past often the freakiest—and I feel like that’s pretty true to the book. Marley is always interesting in adaptations, too, as he’s often played by the biggest star in the movie, which adds a little extra something.
Also agree with those pointing out that the lack of an appearance by Ignorance and Want merits a deduction in ranking.
Sometimes Scrooge seems really more afraid of the gravestone than the ghost. I find that the gravestone is one of the elements that most consistently makes it into adaptations—can’t think off the top of my head of a version without it—as opposed to, say, the door knocker, Marley’s chains, Past’s weird cone hat thing, or the appropriate number of Cratchit children. (I guess Frank Cross doesn't have an actual gravestone in Scrooged, come to think of it, as his last stop is the crematorium.)
Thanks for this post! God bless us every one!
posted by obloquy at 3:19 PM on December 21, 2022
Agreeing with some folks above: Marley’s ghost is often the scariest, and Christmas Past often the freakiest—and I feel like that’s pretty true to the book. Marley is always interesting in adaptations, too, as he’s often played by the biggest star in the movie, which adds a little extra something.
Also agree with those pointing out that the lack of an appearance by Ignorance and Want merits a deduction in ranking.
Sometimes Scrooge seems really more afraid of the gravestone than the ghost. I find that the gravestone is one of the elements that most consistently makes it into adaptations—can’t think off the top of my head of a version without it—as opposed to, say, the door knocker, Marley’s chains, Past’s weird cone hat thing, or the appropriate number of Cratchit children. (I guess Frank Cross doesn't have an actual gravestone in Scrooged, come to think of it, as his last stop is the crematorium.)
Thanks for this post! God bless us every one!
posted by obloquy at 3:19 PM on December 21, 2022
To me the scariest part in every Christmas Carol adaptation, by far, is the initial encounter with Marley (or The Marleys, because I don't want to live in a world in which people forget the Muppets absolutely slaaaaayed (sleighed?) in their adaptation). From the door knocker morph to the chain-banging-up-the-stairs, when I was a kid I always got excited to be scared by that.
One of the black and white ones - maybe the one in 1951? I forget - even had a bonus ghostly carriage flying through his living room or something. I was an older child - maybe 11 or 12 - when I saw that, and I was suitably spooked.
For me, by the time Christmas Past comes around, I'm like "yeah, yeah, let's wrap it up" but none of them ever spooked me quite like the screaming sickly undead under the cloak in Scrooged, the only genuinely scary thing in that otherwise delightfully hilarious film.
posted by revmitcz at 3:30 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
One of the black and white ones - maybe the one in 1951? I forget - even had a bonus ghostly carriage flying through his living room or something. I was an older child - maybe 11 or 12 - when I saw that, and I was suitably spooked.
For me, by the time Christmas Past comes around, I'm like "yeah, yeah, let's wrap it up" but none of them ever spooked me quite like the screaming sickly undead under the cloak in Scrooged, the only genuinely scary thing in that otherwise delightfully hilarious film.
posted by revmitcz at 3:30 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I knew there were a lot of film and TV versions (which of course doesn't even count all the stage versions), but 60?! I haven't scrolled all the way down, did the author include "Spirited"? Because I'd suggest Tracy Morgan's voice is the least scary of all.
Having just watched [Muppet Christmas Carol] last night for the first time, I was actually disappointed with how they adapted the Ghost of Christmas Present.
I too just watched it for the first time. They completely left out the sister's story as well, which is a crucial part of Scrooge's life.
Agree that Marley himself can be seen as the scariest ghost.
"Mankind was my business!"
posted by NorthernLite at 3:42 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
Having just watched [Muppet Christmas Carol] last night for the first time, I was actually disappointed with how they adapted the Ghost of Christmas Present.
I too just watched it for the first time. They completely left out the sister's story as well, which is a crucial part of Scrooge's life.
Agree that Marley himself can be seen as the scariest ghost.
"Mankind was my business!"
posted by NorthernLite at 3:42 PM on December 21, 2022 [2 favorites]
I think the ghostly carriage was from the book and I think it did appear in the 1970 Scrooge.
posted by emjaybee at 5:40 PM on December 21, 2022
posted by emjaybee at 5:40 PM on December 21, 2022
Honestly I'm more scared about the Ghost of Way Future.... (SLYT, ITYSL)
posted by symbioid at 6:40 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by symbioid at 6:40 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
While we're on the topic, the usual hot take that everyone seems to think is such a razor-sharp zinger and always goes viral around this time of year (“It’s a heartwarming tale about how rich people must be terrorized into sharing” etc.) drives me completely around the bend, as it has absolutely nothing to do with the actual book.
The point of the book is not that Scrooge is terrorized into becoming generous. The first two Christmas ghosts don’t terrorize Scrooge at all, and they don’t try to. In fact, that’s the opposite of what they try to do. The only one of the three Christmas ghosts that comes close to terrorizing Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, and that’s mostly from being creepy because he doesn’t speak. Scrooge genuinely changes during the course of the book because, with the help of the three Christmas ghosts, he gains insight and becomes thoughtful about how and why he became who he is. Saying he’s simply scared into changing is a facile and cynical reading of the book — it’s like saying that someone who goes to therapy must have been scared into changing. Yeah, Marley scares him at first, but that’s the least important part of the Marley sequence. As outlined above, what really makes an impression on Scrooge is the children.
Dickens was very into his Victorian certainties, one of which was a deep conviction about redemption being available for any (well, almost any) man or woman if they would just allow themselves to recognize and embrace the common virtues and decencies of humankind. It's discouraging that people use this book of all books to score dunking points on social media.
posted by holborne at 9:11 PM on December 21, 2022 [11 favorites]
The point of the book is not that Scrooge is terrorized into becoming generous. The first two Christmas ghosts don’t terrorize Scrooge at all, and they don’t try to. In fact, that’s the opposite of what they try to do. The only one of the three Christmas ghosts that comes close to terrorizing Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas yet to come, and that’s mostly from being creepy because he doesn’t speak. Scrooge genuinely changes during the course of the book because, with the help of the three Christmas ghosts, he gains insight and becomes thoughtful about how and why he became who he is. Saying he’s simply scared into changing is a facile and cynical reading of the book — it’s like saying that someone who goes to therapy must have been scared into changing. Yeah, Marley scares him at first, but that’s the least important part of the Marley sequence. As outlined above, what really makes an impression on Scrooge is the children.
Dickens was very into his Victorian certainties, one of which was a deep conviction about redemption being available for any (well, almost any) man or woman if they would just allow themselves to recognize and embrace the common virtues and decencies of humankind. It's discouraging that people use this book of all books to score dunking points on social media.
posted by holborne at 9:11 PM on December 21, 2022 [11 favorites]
My take: the Muppet Christmas Carol is obviously the best version ever made, but despite how freaky the first animated ghost is, and the distractingly weird proportions of the last ghost.
Loved this list though. It's got to be a tribute to how powerful the story is, that it has been remade so many different ways. Reading through this -- ok basically when I got to the "A Christmas Carol, but it's a Western" version -- I found myself thinking about all the other adaptations that could exist.
A Christmas Carol, but in space.
A Christmas Carol, but set in high school.
A Christmas Carol, but filmed in a prison and staring Derek Jacobi.
A Christmas Carol told through tweets.
A Christmas Carol told through TikToc dances.
A Christmas Carol meets Bugsy Malone. (The actors are all children pretending to be adults. With splurge guns.)
The Great British Scrooge Off. (Mary Berry, Nadiya Hussain, and whoever wins Junior Back Off come back to scold Paul Hollywood for selling out to Channel 4. Mel and Sue are the Marley sisters.)
A Christmas Carol, but the characters are played by fish.
Etc etc.
posted by EllaEm at 10:41 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
Loved this list though. It's got to be a tribute to how powerful the story is, that it has been remade so many different ways. Reading through this -- ok basically when I got to the "A Christmas Carol, but it's a Western" version -- I found myself thinking about all the other adaptations that could exist.
A Christmas Carol, but in space.
A Christmas Carol, but set in high school.
A Christmas Carol, but filmed in a prison and staring Derek Jacobi.
A Christmas Carol told through tweets.
A Christmas Carol told through TikToc dances.
A Christmas Carol meets Bugsy Malone. (The actors are all children pretending to be adults. With splurge guns.)
The Great British Scrooge Off. (Mary Berry, Nadiya Hussain, and whoever wins Junior Back Off come back to scold Paul Hollywood for selling out to Channel 4. Mel and Sue are the Marley sisters.)
A Christmas Carol, but the characters are played by fish.
Etc etc.
posted by EllaEm at 10:41 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I want to see any or all of EllaEm's suggested variations, says she who just did "Christmas Carol: The Musical" (by Alan Menken!), but especially the first two.
I come from the generation of "Christmas Future in the Disney version where Scrooge goes to hell scarred me for life," myself.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
I come from the generation of "Christmas Future in the Disney version where Scrooge goes to hell scarred me for life," myself.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:05 PM on December 21, 2022 [1 favorite]
London's moon,
the moon of Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar, Virginia Woolf,
shone down on silent theatres, banks, hotels,
on palaces and dosshouses and parks,
on Mrs Scrooge,
who lay, wide-eyed and fretful in the dark.
posted by aihal at 3:05 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
the moon of Shakespeare, Dickens, Oscar, Virginia Woolf,
shone down on silent theatres, banks, hotels,
on palaces and dosshouses and parks,
on Mrs Scrooge,
who lay, wide-eyed and fretful in the dark.
posted by aihal at 3:05 AM on December 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
did the author include "Spirited"? Because I'd suggest Tracy Morgan's voice is the least scary of all.
The author did indeed include "Spirited", and while I think it's kinda low it's not the least-scary. They give least-scary to this robot-like thing from a Sesame-Street adaptation.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:57 AM on December 22, 2022
The author did indeed include "Spirited", and while I think it's kinda low it's not the least-scary. They give least-scary to this robot-like thing from a Sesame-Street adaptation.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:57 AM on December 22, 2022
Metafilter: if you rank it, then we’ll discuss it
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 11:49 AM on December 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by MorgansAmoebas at 11:49 AM on December 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
YES YES YES YES YES! They include A Carol For Another Christmas!
It is streaming on HBOMax right now. I watched it just last night. Peter Sellers as a mad Emperor Me is a highlight.
posted by donpardo at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2022
It is streaming on HBOMax right now. I watched it just last night. Peter Sellers as a mad Emperor Me is a highlight.
posted by donpardo at 4:59 PM on December 22, 2022
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posted by an octopus IRL at 12:09 PM on December 21, 2022 [9 favorites]