Product Details

• Actors: Jim Carrey
• Directors: Robert Zemeckis
• Format: Multiple Formats
• Language: English (DTS-HD High Res Audio), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: French, Spanish, English
• Dubbed: French, Spanish
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 16, 2010
• Run Time: 96 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (588 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B003ZVJFFM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,562 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Fans of Robert Zemeckis's brilliant special effects, and of Jim Carrey's transformative acting abilities, will be swept away by their collaboration in the stunning A Christmas Carol. Perhaps more surprising is that Charles Dickens purists will also be impressed and captivated by this version of the oft-told tale--which is dark, complex, and in its way, uncompromising. Which is all to say that this Christmas Carol is an instant holiday classic, easily taking its place alongside the Alistair Sim version, the Patrick Stewart version, and even the Mr. Magoo version of the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his ultimate holiday redemption. Carrey is dazzling as not only Scrooge, the most miserable, and miserly, man in 19th-century England, but as the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Future. As with The Polar Express, Zemeckis animates the film over the actors' physical performances onscreen, but here, the emotion is intact--even heightened by the spiffy effects. Joining Carrey in the cast are terrific players, including Gary Oldman (Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, and the ghost of Marley), Cary Elwes, Bob Hoskins, and Robin Wright Penn. But the heart of the film is Carrey, whose dramatic acting has shone in films like The Truman Show and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The emotional connection Carrey makes with his characters is what brings Dickens's classic alive--and what connects the viewer with the true spirit of the holidays. "God bless us, every one." --A.T. Hurley

Product Description

From Walt Disney Pictures comes the magical retelling of Charles Dickens' beloved tale - Disney's A Christmas Carol, the high-flying, heartwarming adventure for the whole family, starring Jim Carrey. When three ghosts take penny-pinching Scrooge on an eye-opening journey, he discovers the true meaning of Christmas -- but he must act on it before it's too late. Complete with spirited bonus features, this exhilarating and touching Disney classic is destined to be part of your holiday tradition, adding sparkle and heart to all your Christmases yet to come.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 113 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A new holiday favorite!!! June 21, 2010

By sublimesting

Format:DVD

As another reviewer stated I also consider myself a Christmas Carol afficionado. I read the book each season and watch every version I own, which is substantial. I find it to be quite faithful to the book exept for the few instances he mentions. Yet, the film does contain other minor details such as the fact that Scrooge was suffering a cold at the time. However, they do not ruin the movie for me at all. Can I do without them? Yes, I can but they do not in any way detract from a wonderful movie that stays very close story-wise and dialogue-wise.

This movie is absolutely gorgeous to view. I can not wait to get this on Blu-Ray. It completely captured the feel of an 1800's England Christmas. I found the ghosts to all be unsettling and as my wife said "That was actually scary!" It may not be for kids to be honest. And I think that was the point - this wasn't originally written for children, it is a Christmas ghost story which was a very popular thing to do at the holiday times then. The ghosts weren't there to be nice and helpful, they were in Scrooge's life to matter-of-factly show him how he screwed up. I never got the feeling in any CC media that the ghosts truly cared for Scrooge's well-being.

Anyways, this is now an annual staple for my holiday traditions. P.S., I never really cared for Jim Carrey either.

58 of 70 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great movie, great representation of 3d July 6, 2010

By Michael Pascual

Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase

I couldn't disagree more with those who have given this a low rating. I saw this movie in the theater, in 3D and thought it was one of the better movies of the holiday season. Although I couldn't quite understand why it was released so early, it should have been more of a Christmas time release instead of Thanksgiving. As far as the film itself I thought it was a good update on a classic story. While I don't consider myself an aficionado, I do know the story well and found it stayed true enough to it. The warmth and humanity of the characters is definitely still present. Then of course there is the 3D aspect, which completely blew me away. I've seen most of the 3D releases in the last year or so, and with the exception of Avatar this movie did the best job of utilizing it. Actually, I am more excited about this movie being released in 3D than any other movie, including Avatar. I'm just happy you'll be able to buy this movie alone and not bundled along with a TV. Hopefully this is the start of 3D Blu Ray movies be released minus the bundle. And I know Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is currently available but it's no where as good as this movie is.

142 of 181 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Best movie of all time (not just 'cause my Dad wrote the book) December 9, 2009

By Mark Blackburn

I came with an open mind. This, after all was the story my father had told us children, when we were snuggled up warm in our beds. He would plant a dining room chair in the hallway. And from memory he recited "the story of Scrooge." It was a little frightening, to be lying there in darkness, a bit of light streaming in from the hallway, as your father's voice suddenly turned all funny. He became, in turn, three spirits - voices different from Scrooge's own.

Dad did that each Christmas eve. Until we grew "too old for that," as he explained one year while putting his shaving soap on the tree, after putting up all the decorations, including the battered angel - the one my Mom got, that first Christmas in 1936 when Dad planted his first kiss on her lips, as they danced (he said) to English band leader Ray Noble's THE TOUCH OF YOUR LIPS.

Pardon my reverie . . . I just wanted to establish my credentials, for saying . . .

This is not merely the best version of my favorite story (Dad would tell you that; if he were alive this would be his 92nd Christmas). No, no. This is the most amazing "movie experience" that I have ever known. I cannot imagine how any film maker(s) could ever top this.

They had me hooked from the opening. The camera shows a beautifully bound copy of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens. An invisible hand opens to the first page and those very words my own father composed . . .

Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good . . . for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

We see a corpse, its eyes held shut with pennies. Scrooge himself removes them from the eyes, at the end of the scene saying, without shame to the undertakers, while rubbing the coins together between thumb and finger, "Tuppence is tuppence!" The subtle change in the undertaker's face -- so subtle you might miss it in the half light of the almost dark room -- is one of dismay at seeing someone THAT cheap. The facial expression borders on horror.

Out in the street, children stop playing and dogs duck into alleys at Mr. Scrooge's approach, on his way to his place of business, with its gilt-lettered sign, "Scrooge & Marley Co." That will also be the closing scene of the movie, with Scrooge seen through frosty windows to be dancing with sheer, child-like joy, while outside, Bob Cratchit, for the very first time, turns to the `camera' and addresses us:

(Those very words my father composed out of thin air, Christmas 1949!)

"Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew [and] ever afterwards, it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!"

I could share with you a hundred little details (the sort of details that otherwise concern "God and the Devil"). But "Let there be light!" sums up the effect on your eyes, as we see clearly despite only the very faintest light sources: and that is what sets this movie apart from any other ever made.

You're not conscious of it at first. Then it dawns on you. An entire scene has been done in the light of a distant street lamp. The lamp (never seen) is about 50 feet to your left. Your eyes are drawn to the wrought iron fence outside Scrooge's rather magnificent home. The camera goes in tight, and the texture of the wrought iron - you know the tiny little waves made by a ball peine hammer on the surface of the metal when it was forged . . . the light from that unseen street lamp, 50 feet distant, is just enough for you to see a glint of yellow on the shiny black metal finish.

This `cinematography' - working at light levels so low, they could never be captured by a digital `film' camera - is repeated in scene after scene. It makes the sunshine on Scrooge's face, and on Tiny Tim, held aloft on Scrooge's shoulder at movie's end so . . . welcome! Light has been used (finally!) to underline Scrooge's utter, endless joy (your own too).

I don't know if you, like me, will sit there, tears of joy streaming down your face, watching the closing credits. Only three other people were left in the theatre as the scroll of credits reached its end. (I watched this one with my mentally-handicapped friend "Michael" - please see our review of the last `best' Christmas movie "POLAR EXPRESS").

A couple and their 14 year old son sitting just ahead of us, delayed their departure, putting on their coats, discreetly so as not to block the view of the only two persons left watching intently. As if to explain my tear-stained face, I said to the woman (an investment counselor as it turns out): "I have to see who wrote that stirring `carol' --- a (mainly) men's choir led by a truly great tenor. Sure enough, the music was written by the last great film score composer, Alan Silvestri. He co-wrote all those wondrous songs like "When Christmas Comes to Town" for Polar Express; all the great incidental music for "Forrest Gump" too!

The couple's son explained how the 3-D glasses work. Oh yes. His mother had opened our conversation saying, "I actually caught one of those snowflakes" (felt it in her hand). Her son said (not convincingly to his Dad) "the snow looks (better) the closer you are to the screen." Together, they noticed that my friend Michael was still wearing his 3-D glasses, while sipping the last of his diet coke.

"Michael," I said, "is from a L'Arche home," waiting to see if the term `registered.' "That's for mentally-handicapped," volunteered Michael. Oh yes, and Michael agreed with me when I said, "that's the best movie I have ever seen."

Mark Blackburn
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada