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Adaptations of A Christmas Carol

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A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens. Since its first publication in 1843, it has been adapted for theatre, film, television, radio, and opera countless times. The various adaptations have included straightforward retellings, modernizations, parodies and sequels.

Adaptations

The novel was the subject of Dickens' first public reading, given in Birmingham Town Hall to the Industrial and Literary Institute on 27 December 1852. This was repeated three days later to an audience of 'working people', and was a great success by his own account and that of newspapers of the time. Over the years Dickens edited the piece down and adapted it for a listening, rather than reading, audience. Excerpts from 'A Christmas Carol' remained part of Dickens' public readings until his death.

Theatre

  • A Christmas Carol (1974), original musical-comedy stage adaptation written and directed by, and starring, Ira David Wood III, performed for the last 33 years on stage at Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium. Theatre In The Park, in Raleigh, North Carolina, has produced the show since its premiere. Wood's "A Christmas Carol" is the longest running indoor show in North Carolina theatre history.
  • A Christmas Carol (1981), a musical adaptation which premiered in 1982 at the Hartman Theater, Stamford, Conn. The show was workshopped as a tour in 1981, with Richard Kiley as Scrooge. Book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, Music by Michel Legrand.
  • A Christmas Carol (1983), a theatrical adaptation by Jeffrey Sanzel has been performed annually at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, New York for 25 years. In 2007, Sanzel reached 800 performances as Scrooge.
  • The Gospel According to Scrooge (1986), a stage musical that emphasizes the religious elements of the story, often performed by American Christian churches.
  • Scrooge!: A Dickens of a One-Man Show (1991), a theatrical adaptation one person show written by and starring Kevin Norberg portraying all 40-plus characters in a solo performance.
  • A Christmas Carol (1991), Patrick Stewart's one-man reading/acting of the story, on Broadway. On stage he would use a table, chair, stool, lectern, and a book with an over-sized print cover to enact the entire story. Revived in 1993, 1995, and 2001.
  • Scrooge: The Musical (1992), a British stage musical adapted from the 1970 film and starring Anthony Newley.
  • A Christmas Carol, written and performed by Greg Oliver Bodine, is a one-man stage adaptation enacted by Charles Dickens himself, and is based on a condensed version of the novel that he used while on the second of his historic reading tours of the United States. First performed in 2003. Published by Playscripts, Inc. in 2006.
  • Steve Nallon's Christmas Carol (2003), theatrical adaptation starring impressionist Nallon, as a number of famous people.
  • A Christmas Carol (2003), theatrical adaptation by Karen Louise Hebden produced by and performed at Derby Playhouse in 2003 and revived in 2006. On both occasions, Scrooge was played by Ben Roberts.
  • A Christmas Carol 1941 (2007) a remake set during World War II.
  • A Christmas Carol adapted by Tom Haas, has been performed each year at the Indiana Repertory Theatre for more than 25 years. Set on a minimalist stage covered in snow, this adapation features the characters narrating their own actions to the audience and intersperses carols and dance along with the visits of the ghosts.
  • A Christmas Carol a new adaptation by Adam Graham, first performed on 6th December 2007 by Performing Arts Winchester, part of Winchester Student Union. A one hour version featuring all the major characters and well loved carols, it was performed twice a night for the holiday season.
  • A Christmas Carol an adaptation by Ron Severdia, premiered on 6th December 2006 at the Barn Theatre in Ross, CA. In 2007, he toured Europe with a new adaptation of the show.

Film

Television

  • An early television adaptation was broadcast live by DuMont's New York station WABD on December 20, 1944.[2]
  • A 1949 television adaption starred Taylor Holmes as Scrooge with Vincent Price as the on-screen narrator.
  • Ralph Richardson as Scrooge in a 30-minute filmed episode of NBC's Fireside Theatre in 1951.
  • A Christmas Carol (1954), a musical television adaptation starring Fredric March as Scrooge and Basil Rathbone as Marley. Adaptation and lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, music by Bernard Herrmann. A filmed episode of the series Shower of Stars, and the first version in color, March received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.
  • The Stingiest Man in Town (1956), the second musical adaptation, starring Basil Rathbone and Vic Damone as the old and young Scrooge. A live episode of the dramatic anthology series The Alcoa Hour.
  • Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), an animated musical television special featuring the UPA character voiced by Jim Backus, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill.
  • A Christmas Carol (1970), an animated television special produced by Australia's Air Programs and aired on CBS. It was the first in a series called "Famous Classic Tales" and was sponsored by Kenner.[3]
  • "Scrooge Gets an Oscar" (1970), an episode of "The Odd Couple" had Oscar not being in the Christmas spirit while Felix tries to put together a play of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" for some local children. Oscar falls asleep and dreams that he is Scrooge and is shown what Christmas is really about by a ghost played by Felix.
  • A Christmas Carol (1977), an adaption by the BBC with Sir Michael Horden as Scrooge. [4]
  • Rich Little's Christmas Carol (1978), a HBO television special in which impressionist Rich Little plays several celebrities and characters in the main roles.
  • The Stingiest Man in Town (1978), an animated made-for-TV musical produced by Rankin-Bass. Stars Walter Matthau as the voice of Scrooge and Tom Bosley as the narrator. This had originally been done as a live-action musical on television in 1956.[5]
  • An American Christmas Carol (1979), an adaptation starring Henry Winkler at the height of his fame from the television series Happy Days, where the story is set in Depression era New England, and the Scrooge character is named Benedict Slade.[6]
  • Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979), an animated television special featuring the various Looney Tunes characters.
  • A Christmas Carol (1984), starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, David Warner and Susanna York as the Cratchitts, with Edward Woodward as The Ghost Of Christmas Present. Scott (who had played Fagin two years previously) received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.
  • "A Jetsons Christmas Carol" (1985), Christmas themed episode of The Jetsons in which Cosmo Spaceley is the "Scrooge" visited by three robotlike "ghosts".
  • Alvin and the Chipmunks adapted the basic storyline in a 1983 TV Special on NBC, Alvin's Christmas Carol. Alvin becomes a Scrooge-like chipmunk who only views Christmas as a time of getting. But Dave, Theodore and Simon show him that Christmas is a time of giving. Incidentally, Alvin's elderly neighbor on his paper route has a cat named Ebenezer.
  • A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994), animated adaptation featuring Fred Flintstone as 'Eboneezer Scrooge', Barney as 'Bob Cragit' and Mr. Slate as 'Jacob Marbley'. [7]
  • Northern Exposure used A Christmas Carol as the basis for its episode Shofar, So Good (1994), which depicts the Ghosts of Yom Kippur Past, Present, and Future visiting Dr. Joel Fleischman to encourage him to truly atone for his sins.
  • Ebbie (1995), a television movie in which the role of Scrooge is played by a female with Susan Lucci as Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge, the cold-hearted owner of a department store.[8]
  • Ebenezer (1997), a Canadian TV production Western-themed version starring Jack Palance and Rick Schroder.
  • Ms. Scrooge (1997), a television movie starring Cicely Tyson that aired on USA Network. [9]
  • Disney's 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997), in the Christmas episode, A Christmas Cruella, the ghosts, Cadpig as Past, Rolly as Present and Spot and Yet to Come, shows how Cruella comes to hate Christmas in her early life, what will happen when Anita Dearly is fired, as well as Cruella's future.
  • An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998), Charlie and his friends appear as the three ghosts to a Scrooge-like Carface in order to stop an evil plot.
  • A Christmas Carol (1999), a television movie starring Patrick Stewart, inspired by his one-man show, but featuring a full supporting cast. This was the first version of the story to make use of digital special effects.
  • A Christmas Carol (2000) A modern-day version starring Ross Kemp as Eddie Scrooge, an unscrupulous loan shark.
  • A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000), a humorous adaptation starring Vanessa Williams as bitchy diva Ebony Scrooge who is transformed into a kind-hearted soul.[10]
  • A Carol Christmas (2003) Made-for-TV adaptation on the Hallmark Channel. Stars Tori Spelling as "Scroogette." William Shatner makes a special appearance as the ghost of Christmas Present, and Gary Coleman as the ghost of Christmas Past.[11]
  • A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), starring Kelsey Grammer.
  • A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006), a direct to DVD special featuring Oscar the Grouch in the Scrooge role.[12]
  • Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006) Looney Tunes adaptation featuring Daffy Duck as Scrooge.
  • "Christmas Mikey" (2006 television episode) Final episode of Season 1 of Kappa Mikey, pitting Ozu in the role of Scrooge, and three Ghosts who resemble Japanese samurai.[13]

Radio

Opera

  • Mister Scrooge (1958-1959); alternative name: Shadows (Tiene), an opera by Slovak composer Ján Cikker.

Parodies

  • In 1960, beatnik monologist Lord Buckley condensed the tale into a ten-minute spoof in hipster slang titled "Digital Scrooge".
  • Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988): a parody. In contrast to the typical Blackadder archetype — a conniving, selfish blackguard, the Victorian era Ebenezer Blackadder is a rather wet character, exploited by the other Christmas Carol characters who persistently take advantage of his good nature, reducing him to poverty. He is visited by a (single) Ghost of Christmas who shows him his ancestors (Lord Blackadder and Mr. E. Blackadder, butler to the Prince Regent), and two possible futures. One follows from Ebenezer emulating his "clever, charming . . . but disgraceful" ancestors and becoming "a complete b*****d" and sees his (eventual) descendant ruling the Universe. The other shows Ebenezer continuing as a doormat and leads to a future much less desirable. Convinced that he needs to change his ways he reclaims all that was taken from him the previous day and establishes himself as "the nastiest man in the world".
  • Beavis and Butt-head has a parody adaptation of the story where Beavis played as a cruel manager at Burger World, and went through the revelations of the three ghosts, that came out of the TV while he was trying to watch a porno. Although the story ended up being a dream and Beavis is still the same as ever.
  • In 1991, the Focus on the Family children's radio program Adventures In Odyssey produced an episode entitled "A Thanksgiving Carol", in which the gang at Whit's End produces the show for Kid's Radio. Bernard Walton (Dave Madden) becomes Ebenezer Stooge, Eugene Meltsner (Will Ryan) becomes Bob Wretched, Connie Kendall (Katie Leigh Pavalovich) takes on the roles of Cheerful Lady (the portly gentlemen rolled into one), Mrs. Wretched, and Teeny Tom. Officer David Harley (also voiced by Will Ryan) becomes Jacob Arley, and Whit (the late Hal Smith) becomes Terence Clodbody, all three Spirits of Christmas rolled into one.
  • Bah, Humduck! (2006), a Looney Tunes spoof of the classic with Daffy as Scrooge.
  • Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends - In part of the episode "A Lost Claus", Bloo parodies this in order to squeeze more presents out of Mr. Herriman. Bloo, essentially, gets the ghosts wrong: Bob Marley instead of Jacob Marley; the Ghost of a Christmas present instead of the Ghost of Christmas Present; and as the Ghost of Christmas Future, he dresses up as a deadly robot. Bloo completely skips over the Ghost of Christmas Past.
  • Stan Freberg had a sort-of spoof talking about the commercialization of Christmas called "Green Chri$tma$".
  • A Happy Tree Friends called "We're Scrooged" has recently been released, the story is based on A Christmas Carol.
  • "X-mas Marks The Spot" (1987) was an episode of the animated series, The Real Ghostbusters that spoofed the Dickens classic, depicting the heroes accidentally capturing the three Christmas spirits (Christmases Past, Present and Yet to Come) and ruining Christmas for the future.[19] Jacob Marley was seen briefly, but left before the Ghostbusters reached Scrooge's place. In the episode it is said that Scrooge encountered the spirits in 1837, six years before the book was written. In an alternate timeline created when the Ghostbusters trapped the spirits, Scrooge wrote a book titled A Christmas Humbug detailing how he alone defeated the spirits and eliminated the celebration of Christmas.
  • In December 2005, A Smtihmas Carol was a set of strips in the webcomic Piled Higher and Deeper. It featured Pr. Smith instead of Scrooge.[20]

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Pastiche sequels

Dickens wraps up the story with two short paragraphs telling us that sickly Tiny Tim survives and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge becomes renowned for his new-found goodness—basically a "happily ever after" ending—but he provides no detail on what happens to any of the characters. Following the every-good-story-deserves-a-sequel idea, a number of authors have crafted their own versions of what befell Scrooge and company. Several different works have picked up the characters and events of Dickens' classic to spin new tales for the story's aftermath.

  • A Christmas Carol II, (1985), an episode of the TV series George Burns Comedy Week in which it's revealed that Scrooge is good-natured to a fault, and all of Camden Town takes advantage of his generosity. Scrooge is so giving of his fortune that the townspeople end up taking all his money. This prompts the spirits to return and make sure Scrooge reaches a median between his past and current behavior. (In the second alternate future, Scrooge has been buried in a pauper's grave, under a headstone marked "Ebenoozer Screege.")
  • God Bless Us Every One (Methuen, 1985) by Andrew Angus Dalrymple. An Imagined Sequel to 'A Christmas Carol'" featuring all the major characters of the original, expanding upon the Cratchit children Tim and Belinda.
  • Timothy Cratchit's Christmas Carol, 1917: A Sequel to the Charles Dickens Classic (Dickens World, 1998) by Dale Powell. In this version, an elderly Tiny Tim is a wealthy immigrant living in America who experiences his own spiritual visitations on Christmas Eve.
  • Marley's Ghost, (2000), by Mark Hazard Osmun: The prequel to A Christmas Carol. A novel imagining the life and afterlife of Scrooge's partner, Jacob Marley and how Marley came to arrange Scrooge's chance at redemption.
  • The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge (Ohio State University Press, 2001) by Bruce Bueno De Mesquita. A uniquely philosophical take on the Scrooge mythology set in the afterlife with Scrooge on trial to determine if he merits entry into Paradise.
  • Scrooge & Cratchit (scrooge-and-cratchit.com, 2002) by Matt McHugh. Bob Cratchit is now Scrooge's partner in business as they both face the wrath of bankers every bit as ruthless as Scrooge in his prime. The story was reprinted in 2007 as a holiday insert in The Index-Journal of Greenwood, South Carolina.
  • The Haunting Refrain to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (2004 revised 2007) This short novel details the lives of the original characters, plus a few new introductions, 21 years later. It is posted exclusively to the web at his time and is out of print from its original printing run. It is available for free viewing at www.dickensworks.com
  • The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge: The Sequel to A Christmas Carol (Wildside Press, 2003) by Marvin Kaye. This sequel picks up right where the original left off, with Scrooge trying to right an unresolved wrong. This version was also adapted for the stage.
  • Mr. Timothy (HarperCollins, 2003) by Louis Bayard. Here again is an adult Tiny Tim, only this time as a 23-year-old resident of a London brothel who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Mr. Timothy was included in the New York Times's list of Notable Fiction for 2003.

References

  1. ^ Scrooge (1935) at IMDb
  2. ^ "Tiny Tim Comes to Television", New York Times, Dec. 24, 1944, p. 35.
  3. ^ IMDb link.
  4. ^ IMDb link.
  5. ^ The Stingiest Man in Town at IMDb
  6. ^ An American Christmas Carol at IMDb
  7. ^ A Flintstones Christmas Carol at IMDb
  8. ^ Ebbie at IMDb
  9. ^ Ms. Scrooge at IMDb
  10. ^ A Diva's Christmas Carol at IMDb
  11. ^ A Carol Christmas at IMDb
  12. ^ A Sesame Street Christmas Carol at IMDb
  13. ^ Christmas Mikey at IMDb
  14. ^ "On the Air Today", The Washington Post, Dec. 25, 1934, p. 21. "Nash-LaFayette Radio Program" (advertisement), New York Times, Dec. 25, 1934, p. 32.
  15. ^ Lionel Collapses, But a Barrymore Acts as 'Scrooge'", The Washington Post, Dec. 26, 1936, p. X1.
  16. ^ "Listen! with Glyn" (advertisement), The Washington Post, Dec. 20, 1940, p. 36.
  17. ^ "You Don't Play Scrooge You Just Ain't Workin'", The Washington Post, Dec. 23, 1953, p. 46.
  18. ^ Basil Rathbone.net/Recordings
  19. ^ X-mas Marks The Spot at IMDb
  20. ^ Cham, Jorge (2005-12-06). "A Smithmas Carol". Piled Higher and Deeper. Retrieved 2008-11-28.

Further reading

  • Fred Guida, A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: Dickens's Story on Screen and Television, McFarland & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-786-40738-7.
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