Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is a 2022 animated musicalfantasycomedy drama film directed by Stephen Donnelly from a screenplay by both Donnelly and Leslie Bricusse, adapted from the 1970 film Scrooge (for which Bricusse wrote the screenplay and composed the songs), in turn based on the 1843 novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Produced by Timeless Films, the film features the voices of Luke Evans, Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Jonathan Pryce, Johnny Flynn, James Cosmo and Trevor Dion Nicholas. It was released in select theaters on November 18, 2022, and made its streaming release in Netflix on December 2 of the same year. The film is dedicated to Bricusse, who died a year before the film's release. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Plot
On Christmas Eve in 1843, a jolly man named Harry Huffman encounters his elderly uncle Ebenezer Scrooge and his dog Prudence, but Scrooge manages to evade him long enough to decline giving any money to a charity and add in a debt owed to him by the local toy shop owner Tom Jenkins, who can barely afford medical treatment for his frail mother. After returning to his counting house, he rudely declines an invitation to a Christmas dinner party from Harry and reluctantly lets his clerk, Bob Cratchit, take the day off for Christmas the next day. Bob is underpaid by Scrooge and lives in poverty with his wife Ethel and their many children, including Tiny Tim, who is seriously ill and cannot receive medical treatment due to being unable to afford it. Scrooge closes up for the night and he and Prudence go home as Scrooge sings about his exasperation with Christmas ("Tell Me").
Once he gets home, he is soon haunted by the spirit of his former business partner and friend, Jacob Marley, who is forced to pull long, heavy chains around his soul as a penalty for the bad actions he made in life. He warns Scrooge that he will suffer a similar fate when he dies (except his chains will be even heavier and longer), unless he changes for the better. Marley has arranged for three visitors to come by his house to teach him how to be a better man.
Once Scrooge is about to go to bed, he encounters the first visitor, a wax-like shape-shifting being called Past, who proceeds to take him through his life before present. Scrooge was forced to work in a factory on Christmas Day as a child due to his father being in a debtor's prison and was visited by his younger sister Jen (who died in childbirth giving birth to Harry). When he was a young man, he worked for a kind-hearted businessman named Mr. Fezziwig and was once engaged to his daughter Isabel ("Happiness") before Jacob Marley partnered with him for a more financially-increased job. Isabel witnesses Scrooge and Marley shut down a baker family's shop (the baker is revealed to be Bob Cratchit's father) and leaves Scrooge for focusing more on his business than her ("Later Never Comes"). Scrooge insists it was because both he and Isabel needed to be financially secure before they could be married, but expresses regret for pushing her away. Before vanishing, Past tells Scrooge to remember his past and learn from it.
Scrooge then meets the next visitor, a joyful giant called Present, who wants to show Scrooge how to live life ("I Like Life"). He shows Scrooge how Harry will spend Christmas. Harry loves his uncle due to being told of the kindness of Scrooge's sister Jen. He is then shown how the Cratchit family will spend Christmas in their small home and poor health, but go forth in life with happiness by being thankful for what they have, especially Tiny Tim ("The Beautiful Day"). When Scrooge asks Present about Tim's fate, Present replies saying that he would have to ask the next visitor.
Soon, Present's body turns into Yet to Come's, who shows Scrooge a future where Tom Jenkins leads a celebration of expressing gratitude to Scrooge ("Thank You Very Much"). At first, Scrooge thinks he's being praised, but Prudence soon finds out they are celebrating his death. Scrooge soon learns the truth himself after finding out that Tiny Tim has died and the Cratchit family is devastated.
Upon seeing that only a few people have attended his funeral including an elderly Prudence (who proceeds to abandon Scrooge's grave to parts unknown) and a few men (including Tom, who, alongside another man, came to mock Scrooge's death), Scrooge is also given an example of what his afterlife will be like with heavy chains if he does not change his ways. Scrooge makes a vow that he will change for the better if it means that Tim will live on.
The next morning, Scrooge awakens and finds it is Christmas. He has fully repented his greedy ways and proceeds to spread joy to his associates like having the street urchins send out orders and invitations. With his place decorated for a Christmas party and everyone in attendance, he gives Harry a doll that Jen once made him, makes Cratchit his business partner, gives a donation to the charity workers, and erases Tom's debt. He also promises Tiny Tim that he will be able to seek medical help with his father's pay rise. Scrooge then celebrates Christmas with his new assortment of companions. ("I'll Begin Again").
Olivia Colman as Past, an excitable shape-shifting being made of candle wax with a flame on top of her head. Her default form, whom Colman voices, is based on that of a singer Scrooge had seen on a poster.
Jessie Buckley as Isabel Fezziwig, Scrooge's kind ex-fiancée and Mr. Fezziwig's daughter, now married to a new man.
Jonathan Pryce as Jacob Marley, Scrooge's deceased business partner who is punished after death by dragging a large assortment of chains that represent his transgressions in life, and warns Scrooge to avoid him suffering the same fate but worse.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 38% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.3/10.[2] On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]
