Scrooge Inspires Many Adaptations

Charles Dickens in his Study, 1859 by William Powell Frith, Victoria and Albert Museum

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was a bestseller when it was published in 1843, and it created an insatiable demand in the public for more Christmas stories. As a result, Dickens wrote one Christmas novella a year for four years:

• The Chimes 
• The Cricket on the Hearth
• The Battle of Life
• The Haunted Man

But, it’s the original Christmas Carol that people keep coming back; it’s a warm, fuzzy part of how many of us celebrate the holidays. But not just Dickens’ story in book form; there are film and cartoon adaptations inspired by this story that families love. Of course, we’re partial to SCR’s adaptation, done by Jerry Patch!

Here are some of the filmed versions of A Christmas Carol—how many have you seen?

• Scrooge (1935), starring Sir Seymour Hicks
• A Christmas Carol (1938), starring Reginald Owen
• Scrooge (1951), starring Alastair Sim
• A Christmas Carol (1954), a TV movie, starring Fredric March
• Scrooge (1970), a musical film adaptation, starring Albert Finney and Alec Guinness
• A Christmas Carol (1971), an Oscar-winning animated film, with the voice of Alastair Sim
• A Christmas Carol (1984), a TV movie, starring George C. Scott
• A Christmas Carol (1999), a TV movie, starring Patrick Stewart

Alastair Sim

George C. Scott

Patrick Stewart

Need more Ebenezer Scrooge in your life?  There are even more adaptations.

• Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol (1962)
• Rich Little’s Christmas Carol (1978)
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1979), animated, with the voices of Walter Matthau and Tom Bosley
• An American Christmas Carol (1979), starring Henry Winkler
• Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol (1979)
• Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983), starring Scrooge McDuck
• Scrooged (1988), starring Bill Murray
• Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), starring Michael Caine
• Ebbie (1995), the first version to imagine Scrooge as a woman, starring Susan Lucci
• Ebenezer (1997), a Canadian, western-themed adaptation, starring Jack Palance
• A Diva’s Christmas Carol (2000), starring Vanessa Williams
• A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006), featuring Oscar the Grouch, of course, as Scrooge

Bugs Bunny

Mickey Mouse

The Muppets

Want to find out more? The web is filled with A Christmas Carol information. Google the story title and you’ll find nearly 54-million links. We recommend a good starting point at the Online Literary Library.

We’re looking forward to seeing you at one of the upcoming performances of OC’s own holiday tradition: SCR’s A Christmas Carol.