A Christmas Carol Trivia | 50 facts about the movie

A Christmas Carol is a 2009 American animated Christmas fantasy film. The movie starring Jim Carrey is based on Charles Dickens’s 1843 novel.

Let’s find out more about the Christmas movie!

1. In the Cratchit home, there is a portrait of the story’s author, Charles Dickens, hanging by the fireplace.
2. Gary Oldman and Lesley Manville play Mr. and Mrs Cratchit. They were married in real life (1987 – 1990) and have a son.
3. Jim Carrey has described the film as “a classical version of A Christmas Carol. There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things, I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents. I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go, ‘Yeah, that’s for real.’ We were very true to the book. It’s beautiful. It’s an incredible film.”
4. The movie is set in the year 1843, the year that Charles Dickens wrote and published “A Christmas Carol.” At the beginning of the film, when Scrooge signs Marley’s death certificate, it is dated “1836.” A caption tells that Scrooge’s encounter with the spirits takes place, “Seven Christmas Eves Later,” making it 1843. Also, the Ghost of Christmas Present mentions that he has “eighteen-hundred forty-two brothers.”
5. During the opening credits, flying through the old London city roof tops, the 2nd London Bridge is visible. In 1838, it was just 12 years old, and remained in London for another 124 years before it was dismantled and sold to an American in 1967. It now crosses Bridgewater Channel in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA.
6. Robert Zemeckis has stated previously that «A Christmas Carol»’ is one of his favorite stories dealing with time travel.
7. After sending the prize turkey on to Bob Cratchit’s house, Scrooge grabs onto the back of a carriage and hangs on for a ride down the street, waving to people. Many viewers saw this as a nod to one of Robert Zemeckis’ previous works, Back to Future (1985). However, when asked about it in an interview, Zemeckis said that had not occurred to him but reasoned it was a subconscious image.
8. Ebenezer Scrooge’s appearance in this film is identical to the marionette version of Scrooge seen in Polar Express (2004).
9. During the beginning sequence in the street, a guide dog spots Scrooge, yelps and quickly drags his owner away. This is a nod to the original novel, when author Charles Dickens explains how Scrooge’s temperament was so known in the city that “even the blinds’ dogs knew and avoided him”.
10. Between Scrooge leaving Marley’s corpse and Scrooge going to his counting house there is a scene where servants and cooks are preparing a banquet for the mayor of London. This is directly taken from the novel where Charles Dickens mentions a banquet being prepared for the mayor and his subjects. The only other film adaption that shows this is Scrooge (1935).
11. Jim Carrey’s only project with Walt Disney Pictures.
12. Bob Cratchit in this film is short in height. This makes Bob in this film accurate to the way Charles Dickens described him as Bob is apparently short in the novel.
13. The first Disney animated movie to release in IMAX 3D.
14. Jim Carrey modeled his actions, voice and laughter after Alastair Sim in Scrooge (1951). Sim is often regarded as the best acting portrayal of Scrooge.
15. Scrooge’s house is almost an exact replica of his house in Scrooge (1951).
16. Before this film, Jim Carrey was given the option to voice Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story (1995). He declined. He also auditioned for the role of Hades in Hercules before the role was given to James Woods.
17. The first Robert Zemeckis film where he wrote the script alone.
18. Unique to this adaptation, Scrooge’s birthday is February 7th. His ‘future tombstone’ states he was born in 1786. That means Scrooge was 57 years old during most of the film, and was 50 years old when Marley died in 1836.
19. Jim Carrey, who plays the gnarled, elderly Scrooge, is 16 months younger than Colin Firth, who plays the young, strapping Fred.
20. It appears that the pennies used in the opening scenes are Australian pennies (not English). You can see what appears to be the word Australia and the tails of kangaroos. A possible animators “Easter Egg”.
21. Jim Carrey not only played Scrooge at all the various stages of his life, he also played the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet To Come.
22. To help promote this film, Disney teamed up with Amtrak and ran a special train that went across the country showing different items from the movie.
23. Both Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, stars of Robert Zemeckis’ earlier time travel adventure Back to Future (1985), were considered in the line-up of voice overs for the film.
24. In the end, when Scrooge wakes up from his dreams, Jim Carrey dances and laughs as he did in his earlier role, The Grinch. He even mentions he has heard that laugh before.
25. This is the Disney Company’s third adaption of A Christmas Carol, after Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983) and The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).This is also the first Disney adaptation not to have the roles performed by another character (ie, Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Statler as Jacob Marley, etc.).
26. Scrooge falls at least eighteen times throughout the film. This may be a reference to Scrooge being humbled before his fellow man, the fact that he falls from high places, as well as low ones. His final fall is from the rail at the back of the carriage on Christmas day. This fall seems to hurt him least of all, since his heart and spirit have been “lightened” by the spirit’s visits.
27. This is the first film that Jim Carrey and Cary Elwes appeared together in 12 years, since Trust Me (1997).
28. Jacob Marley’s ghost in this version does not explain why it is required that every person when alive should do good to others and if they fail to do so they get punished in death. Nor does Scrooge ask why spirits walk the earth.
29. This is the first Disney version of A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge’s sister, Fan, is shown.
30. Jim Carrey’s second animated movie. The first one was Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (2008).
31. Christopher Lloyd and Tom Hanks were both rumored to be having parts in this movie at one point.
32. It is the second film adaptation to feature Caroline and her husband after A Christmas Carol (1999). These two characters are absent in many other film adaptations. Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, and Tom Hanks auditioned to voice Charles Dickens, who would have narrated the movie. But in the final cut, Dickens was cut and instead, Bob Cratchit narrates the film’s epilogue.
33. Gary Oldman and Colin Firth appeared together again just two years later in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Oldman played Jacob Marley in this film, and George Smiley in the latter. Both roles were previously played by Sir Alec Guinness.
34. As of 2015, this is Robert Zemeckis’ last motion capture film.
35. The second time Jim Carrey has played a villain in a Christmas movie first one being the Grinch in 2000.
36. Both the undertaker and his apprentice seen at the start of the film could be based on Mr. Sowerberry and Noah Claypole who star in Oliver Twist also written by Charles Dickens.
37. When Scrooge looks out the window and beholds the multitude of spirit specters, it is reminiscent of a scene from “Beetlejuice” where the room of lost souls is glimpsed by the Maitlands. The same presentation was also portrayed in several much earlier versions of A Christmas Carol, including the 1971 animated short. The scenario dates to the original book.
38. When Scrooge first goes into his counting house after signing Marley’s death certificate the sign ‘Scrooge and Marley’ ages 7 years later. This also happens in A Christmas Carol (1999). Likewise both films begin with Marley’s death and his death certificate being signed by Scrooge. More interestingly both films are 10 years apart as this version was released in 2009.
39. Owen Wilson turned down the role of Ebenezer Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Past/Ghost of Christmas Present/Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
40. The fifth Disney computer-animated film to be rated PG by the MPAA.
41. Fionnula Flanagan and Jim Carrey appeared in Yes Man (2008) together.
42. Jim Carrey was previously considered for the role of Eric in The Little Mermaid (1989).
43. Even though Jim Carrey was Robert Zemeckis’s first choice for the role of Ebenezer Scrooge/Ghost of Christmas Past/Ghost of Christmas Present/Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, the studio suggested he offer the role to Owen Wilson first as they felt he would be a great choice for the role. Robert Zemeckis wanted Jim Carrey, but he did decide to offer the role to Wilson; however, Wilson turned down the role because he didn’t have much interest as he personally felt he wasn’t right for the role. Robert Zemeckis then offered the role to Jim Carrey, which he accepted.
44. This is the first Disney adaptation of A Christmas Carol in which Scrooge doesn’t go to Cratchit’s house on Christmas Day after the encounter with the three spirits. Scrooge visits his nephew and has Christmas dinner with him, his wife, and their friends; followed by Scrooge giving Cratchit a raise the next day at work, keeping true to the book.
45. This version is almost completely true to Charles Dickens’ classic novel. The book spends a lot more time in the present, especially at the houses of his employee and nephew. It also shows strife around the globe, in caves and on ships, that is relieved by Christmas joy. The “future” scene with the horse chase and Scrooge becoming smaller is not in the book. In fact, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is nearly immobile except for pointing its finger.
46. The first time that Scrooge calls Bob Cratchit by his first name is when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him the Cratchit family mourning Tiny Tim. Cratchit doesn’t hear him say it because Scrooge was only there as a spirit. Once Scrooge arrives back into the present, he calls Crachit by his first name to show his empathy and appreciation.
47. Its world premiere in London coincided with the switching-on of the annual Oxford Street and Regent Street Christmas lights.
48. The film grossed $325 million on a $175–200 million budget.
49. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, Alan Silvestri’s musical score and the performances of Carrey and Oldman, but criticized its dark tone.
50. Due to the film’s unsatisfactory box office performance, ImageMovers Digital was shut down by Disney after the release of its next film, Mars Needs Moms (2011), and re-absorbed into ImageMovers.