Rating: NR
Genre:
Musical
Release Date: 10/18/2005
Dubbed: English
Sound: DD5.1/DD2
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: Hallmark
Differentiating this TV-movie version of
Charles Dickens'
A Christmas Carol from the hundreds of other adaptations of the same Yuletide classic is its tongue-in-cheek ambience and a bundle of memorable tunes by perennial
Disney composer
Alan Menken and former
Schoolhouse Rock lyricist
Lynn Ahrens. Inspired by a stage
musical which used to be presented annually at New York's
Madison Square Garden, this
Christmas Carol stars
Kelsey Grammer as tight-fisted
Ebenezer Scrooge, who sees the errors of his ways just in time to oversee the "best Christmas ever" for his long-suffering clerk
Bob Cratchit (
Edward Gower) and "God Bless Us Everyone"
Tiny Tim (
Jacob Moriarty). On this occasion, the spirits materializing for
Scrooge's benefit include
Jason Alexander as a neurotic
Jacob Marley,
Jesse L. Martin as a laid-back
Ghost of Christmas Present,
Jane Krakowski as a sexy
Ghost of Christmas Past, and
Geraldine Chaplin as a spooky
Ghost of Christmas Future (in
Wizard of Oz tradition, three of these four actors also appear as "real" people in
Scrooge's everyday life). Highlights include the song
"Link by Link," wherein the ghostly
Marley and a chorus of wraiths perform a lively ball-and-chain dance number, and the outsized Christmas celebration in the home of
Scrooge's first boss,
Mr. Fezziwig (
Brian Bedford), which features among other things a "pole dance" by the
Ghost of Christmas Past! Filmed on-location in Budapest (which sort of looks like
Dickensian London if you squint real hard),
A Christmas Carol: The Musical won an Emmy award for
musical director
Michael Kosarin -- and, alas, tanked in the ratings when first telecast by
NBC on November 28, 2004.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
;)
