Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001)

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General		Extras
Category	Animation	Theatrical Trailer-Original Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2001
Running Time	74:15
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Language Select Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jimmy T. Murakami
Studio Distributor	Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Simon Callow Kate Winslet Nicolas Cage Jane Horrocks Michael Gambon Rhys Ifans Juliet Stevenson Robert Llewellyn Iain Jones Colin McFarlane Beth Winslet Arthur Cox Keith Wickham
Case	?
RPI	$21.95	Music	Julian Nott Taylor Grant Harriet Anstruther

    Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly man. Tight is probably the modern term. With a waste not, want not mentality, Scrooge runs his accounting business with the help of his lowly clerk Bob Cratchit. Cratchit is a hard working man, but he has a large family to feed and a young son, Tim, is sick and needs constant attention. Despite his hard work and dedication, Ebenezer Scrooge pays Cratchit a lowly wage that is barely enough to make ends meet. And as the Christmas season comes ever closer, Scrooge becomes more and more bitter. Even the prospect of letting Bob Cratchit have a day off with pay on Christmas Day is enough to make Scrooge boil with rage. He lets Bob take the day off, but only on the assurance that he will start work earlier the day after. Now, on Christmas Eve, Scrooge is furious with the surrounding carols, cheerful greetings and yuletide mirth. But Scrooge is about to have a change of heart, and it is a dead colleague that starts the transformation.

    Just as Ebenezer is about to retire, he is visited by the ghost of a former business partner,  Jacob Marley. Marley was a man much like the present Scrooge, obsessed with money and its accumulation. From the grave, Marley tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three ghosts, and only by heeding their message will Ebenezer be able to avoid the fate that befell himself, a miserable haunting existence. Soon after, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. Taking Scrooge and transporting him back in time, the ghost and Ebenezer see how he grew up and how he wasn't always the grumpy skinflint that he became in later life. Later, the ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge what those around him really think of him, and how they enjoy the company of each other and the season. And it is the visitation of the Ghost of Christmas Future that brings the most shock, as it shows that the misery that he sowed will grow on, even after his death. Horrified at the creature that he has become, Ebenezer awakes from his nightmare on Christmas Day a changed man. Greeting everyone with happiness and warmth, it's a new Ebenezer Scrooge that enters the world, proving that the spirit of Christmas can warm even the coldest of hearts.

    This is a great story, one that has been told many, many times on film (over 50 from what I can find). Sadly, this is a fairly lacklustre offering of this classic tale. First off, the animation is rudimentary. There have been a number of animated versions of this story, most notably the 1971 Richard Williams version that won an Academy Award for Best Animated Film, Short Subject. This newer version is nowhere near as good, even at more than double the length. As stated before, the quality of animation is ordinary. After 4 years living on a staple of animated features (my son is 4, coincidentally), I know quality when I see it, and I didn't see it here. The motion is ordinary, and it looks as though there are far too few frames per second than there should be. There is the inclusion of a couple of cheeky mice that are meant to attract the younger audience, but the muted colour palate and downbeat subject matter for all practical purposes rule out this film being suitable for the very young ones. And on the flip side, this is far too simple to appeal to an older audience. Add to this the fact that mom and dad have probably seen this story a million times, and in this case, they would have seen it done better. The inclusion of a big-name cast doesn't help the cause, either. Kate Winslet and Nicolas Cage (and Cage only in cameo) as draw cards isn't enough to save the film.

    There is another aspect of this feature, particularly with this Region 4 release, that makes it all the harder to watch. The original theatrical version of the film began and ended with a live action sequence that set up the story. This was a sequence where the Charles Dickens story of A Christmas Carol was being read to a live audience, then as the sequence went on, it faded into the animated part of the film. This is shown in the Theatrical Trailer for the film, which is included on this Region 4 version of the film. Sadly, all the live action portions of the film, both the beginning and end are missing from this package, leaving only the lacklustre animation. If you are a fan of this film, this is a major omission that hinders the film greatly.

    The story of A Christmas Carol is a seasonal classic, but sadly it is not well served with this offering.

Video

    This programme is presented full frame. It was filmed with the 35 mm Spherical process, which is usually for films to be matted into 1.85:1. Indeed, 1.85:1 was the original aspect ratio of the film, and the credits are shown in this. Unfortunately, we have the film in full frame only. Worse still, this is a pan & scan version of the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The framing seems okay here, but when compared to the original image there is a bit of information missing at the sides.

    The level of sharpness with the film is a bit ordinary at times. This could be due to the animation process, but I thought that the clarity could have been better. Shadow detail is ordinary, but due to the washed out look of the film, this lack of black detail could be a technical limitation. I had no issues with low level noise.

    Colour's use during this film is very drab. There is a washed out look to the whole film, with the colour palate extending to muted earthy tones. Far from some of the Disney fare, this is a fairly dismal looking film  Colour's transfer to the disc looks good, and close to what the filmmaker intended.

    There is a fairly obvious level of grain present in the print used for transfer, but not to a problematic extent. The film is transferred to disc at an average bitrate of 5.52 Mb/s. Not huge, but there isn't much else to go with the film on this disc, so space isn't a problem.

    There are several subtitle options available on this disc and I found the English titles to be of reasonable quality and able to convey the meaning of the film, without being word for word.

     This disc is formatted single layer and as such, there is no layer change.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are 5 audio options on this disc, these being Dolby Digital 2.0 offerings for English, German, French, Italian and Polish. I listened to the English track.

    For an animated feature, dialogue is quite important. That said, I had no issues with the clarity of the spoken word, nor was sync a real problem.

    Music for this film comes from Julian Nott. Julian has scored the Wallace & Gromit series and the score for this film isn't all that bad. It does drift from standard orchestral to modern in an ungainly fashion from time to time, but overall the score here is okay. Kate Winslet also sings the song What If for the soundtrack.

    This is a 2.0 offering, so you'll have to depend on your processor to derive surround sound from the disc. The audio here isn't bad, but a 5.1 mix would have been nice. There was a little LFE in the film's soundtrack, but nothing that good mains couldn't handle.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

• Play
• Scene Selection (Chapter image, static, silent and without 16x9 enhancement. No Chapter numbers)
• Language Options
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Theatrical Trailer   -   1:18

    This trailer features the live action footage (or some of it) that we miss out on with this version. From the look of it, it could have added to the quality of the film. It's a real shame that we miss out on it here in Region 4. This trailer is presented full frame with audio in Dolby Digital 2.0.

     We miss out on heaps here, folks. Merry Christmas.

     The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on:

• "Making Christmas Carol - The Movie" Featurette
• "What If" music video by Kate Winslet
• Fun Video Previews (Trailers for: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: SE, Hi5!, Hamilton Mattress, Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Kids, It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Prancer, A Freezerburnt Christmas and Second Star to the Left)
• Original theatrical live action opening and ending
• Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack

     The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on:

• English, German, French, Italian, Dutch and Polish subtitles
• German, Italian and Polish Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtracks

     This film has been done a dozen (around 4 dozen) times before, and it's been done better. If you are a fan of the story and have to get this film, consider getting the Region 2 version.

     The video is okay.

     The audio is good.

     There is only one extra in the form of a theatrical trailer.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Sean Bradford (There is no bio.)
Thursday, December 23, 2004

Review Equipment
DVD	Panasonic DVD RP-82 with DVD-Audio on board, using S-Video output
Display	Beko TRW 325 / 32 SFT 10 76cm (32") 16x9. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio Decoder	Yamaha RX-V2300 Dolby Digital and dts. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL).
Amplification	Yamaha RX-V2300 110w X 6 connected via optical cable and shielded RCA (gold plated) connects for DVD-Audio
Speakers	VAF DC-X Fronts (bi-wired), VAF DC-6 Center, VAF DC-2 Rears, VAF LFE-07 Sub (Dual Amp. 80w x 2)

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