Adaptations of A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens, one of the most famous books he ever wrote. It is the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a greedy miser who hates Christmas, and how he is transformed into a caring, kindly person through the visitations of four ghosts. Since its first publication in 1843, it has been adapted many times: for theatre, film, television, radio, and opera.

Adaptations

Public readings

The novel was the subject of Dickens' first public reading, given in Birmingham Town Hall to the Industrial and Literary Institute on 27 December 1852. This was repeated three days later to an audience of 'working people', and was a great success by his own account and that of newspapers of the time. Over the years Dickens edited the piece down and adapted it for a listening, rather than reading, audience. Excerpts from 'A Christmas Carol' remained part of Dickens' public readings until his death.

Entertainer Mike Randall, in character as Dickens, has a touring show in which he performs the public readings as Dickens did during his lifetime.

Theatre

Throughout the late nineteenth century, and into the early years of the twentieth, British actor Seymour Hicks toured England with his own non-musical adaptation of the story, in which he played Scrooge.

• A Christmas Carol (1974 to present), original musical-comedy stage adaptation written and directed by, and starring (as Scrooge) Ira David Wood III, which has been performed for the last 39 years on stage at Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium. Wood's "A Christmas Carol" is the longest running indoor show in North Carolina theatre history.
• A Christmas Carol (1975 to present), a theatrical adaptation by Barbara Field produced by the Guthrie in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• A Christmas Carol (1976 to present), a musical adaptation by Charles Jones performed annually at the Omaha Community Playhouse in Omaha, Nebraska as well as two touring companies with the Nebraska Theatre Caravan.
• A Christmas Carol (1977 to present), a theatrical adaptation performed annually at Theatre Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee.
• A Christmas Carol (198? to present) has been staged annually in Atlanta, Georgia since the 1980s, first at the Academy Theatre, and then at the Alliance Theatre.
• A Christmas Carol (1981), a musical adaptation which premiered in 1982 at the Hartman Theatre, Stamford, Connecticut. The show was workshopped as a tour in 1981.
• The Gospel According to Scrooge (1982), a stage musical emphasizing the religious elements of the story began at Jesus People Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1980; in 1981 it debuted at the Historic State Theater and was later made into a television special featuring actor Dean Jones as the host.
• A Christmas Carol (1982 to present), a theatrical adaptation by Neal Radice performed annually by Alleyway Theatre, Buffalo, NY.
• A Christmas Carol (1983), a theatrical adaptation by Jeffrey Sanzel has been performed annually at Theatre Three in Port Jefferson, New York for 28 years.
• A Christmas Carol (1985), an adaptation by Bille Brown with music and staged by W. Stuart McDowell, was performed at the Symphony Space in New York City as a fundraiser for the Riverside Shakespeare Company, with narration by Helen Hayes, featuring Len Cariou as Scrooge, and MacIntyre Dixon, Celeste Holm, Raul Julia, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Harold Scott, Carole Shelley, and Fritz Weaver, and the children's choir of the Anglo-American School. This script was restaged the following year at the Marriott Theatre on Broadway, produced by McDowell and directed by Robert Small, narrated by Ms. Hayes, featuring F. Murray Abraham as Scrooge, and Ossie Davis as Marley's Ghost, June Havoc, and Rex Smith as Bob Cratchit.
• A Christmas Carol (1988), is an original musical adaptation which was written for The Chatham Players in Chatham, New Jersey by Phillip Wm. McKinley . The ensemble production features Charles Dickens as narrator. In 2008, the production celebrated its 20th anniversary; actor Alan Semok has portrayed Scrooge in the Chatham Production every production year since 1994.
• A Christmas Carol (1988), Patrick Stewart's one-man reading/acting of the story, made its first appearance in London and later on Broadway. On stage he would use a table, chair, stool, lectern and a book with an over-sized print cover to enact the entire story. The production has been revived in London and New York several times. It has also been released on compact disc.
• The Scrooge Diary (Canada) (1990 to the present) (In the USA: Scrooge Tells All). Adaptation by Avril Kelly, performed by Welsh actor Phil Arnold, in a solo staged performance. Later performed on license only (two performances) by John Gray, late of RSC.
• Scrooge!: A Dickens of a One-Man Show (1991), a theatrical adaptation one person show written by and starring Kevin Norberg portraying all 40-plus characters in a solo performance.
• Scrooge: The Musical (1992), a British stage musical adapted from the 1970 film and starring Anthony Newley.
• A Christmas Carol: The Musical (1994), a Broadway musical adaptation with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, ran at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, New York City yearly until 2003. Starring as "Scrooge" were Walter Charles (1994), Terrence Mann (1995), Tony Randall (1996), Hal Linden and Roddy McDowell (alternating) (1997), Roger Daltrey (1998), Tony Roberts (1999), Frank Langella (2000), Tim Curry (2001), F. Murray Abraham (2002) and Jim Dale (2003). The 2004 television version of the musical starred Kelsey Grammer as "Scrooge".
• A Christmas Carol (1996 to the present), a one-man show of the work performed by Gerald Charles Dickens, great-great-grandson of Charles Dickens, in which he plays 26 characters.
• A Christmas Carol (1997), a musical adaptation with music by Steve Parsons and book/lyrics by John Popa was performed from 1997–2000 at The Players Guild Theatre in Canton, Ohio and is scheduled to be remounted in December 2009. This version spawned two cast recordings, one featuring the original cast and a 10th anniversary recording in 2008.
• A Christmas Carol, written and performed by Greg Oliver Bodine, is a one-man stage adaptation enacted by Charles Dickens himself based on a condensed version of the novel that he used while on the second of his reading tours of the United States. First performed in 2003.
• Steve Nallon's Christmas Carol (2003), theatrical adaptation starring impressionist Nallon as a number of famous people.
• A Christmas Carol (2003), theatrical adaptation by Karen Louise Hebden produced by and performed at Derby Playhouse in 2003 and revived in 2006. On both occasions, Scrooge was played by Ben Roberts.
• A Dickens' Christmas Carol (2003 to present), theatrical adaptation created specifically for Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. Performed yearly, the 60-minute Broadway-style show is expected to be viewed by more than 1,000,000 people during the 2013 Christmas season.
• A Christmas Carol: the Musical (2005), musical adaptation by Stephen DeCesare. Follows 99% of the original book and has had over 300 performances around the world. It starred Carl DeSimone as Scrooge, Scott Morency as "Marley" and Kim Kalunian as "Belle" from the Academy Players in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
• A Christmas Carol (2007), theatrical adaptation by Jacqueline Goldfinger produced by and performed at North Coast Repertory Theatre in San Diego. This adaptation has become North Coast Rep's annual Christmas show.
• A Christmas Carol, adapted by Tom Haas, has been performed each year at the Indiana Repertory Theatre for more than 25 years. Set on a minimalist stage covered in snow, this adaptation features the characters narrating their own actions to the audience and intersperses carols and dance along with the visits of the ghosts.
• A Christmas Carol, an adaptation by Adam Graham, first performed on 6 December 2007 by Performing Arts Winchester, part of Winchester Student Union. A one-hour version, it was performed twice a night for the holiday season.
• A Christmas Carol, an adaptation by Ron Severdia, premiered on 6 December 2006 at the Barn Theatre in Ross, CA. In 2007, he toured Europe with a new adaptation of the show.
• A Christmas Carol (2003) a new stage adaptation by Scott Harrison which has been produced in both the UK and the US. Originally performed by The Dreaming Theatre Company in the Kirkgate Victorian street exhibition inside the York Castle Museum, it has also recently been performed across the United States by three separate theatre companies.
• Fellow Passengers' (2004), a three-actor narrative theatre adaptation using nearly every word of the novel, first presented at Strawberry Theatre Workshop in Seattle.
• 'A Christmas Carol - (2006), a stage adaptation by Jeannette Jaquish for the Firehouse Theater in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was performed Decembers of 2006, 2007 & 2009.
• Scrooge! - (2006), a musical adaptation by Ken Skrzesz and Doug Yetter performed annually at the Clear Space Theatre Company in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
• A Christmas Carol – As told by Jacob Marley (deceased) (2009/10); adapted and performed as a one-man show by James Hyland.
• A Christmas Carol, a stage adaptation by Jason Carr and Bryony Lavery was written for the Chichester Youth Theatre and performed at The Chichester Festival Theatre during Christmas 2008. This adaptation was also performed by Birmingham Repertory Theatre for Christmas 2009.
• A Christmas Carol, (2009) a stage adaptation written by Alexandria Haber and produced by Geordie Productions, premiering in December 2009 at the D.B. Clarke Theatre in Montreal, Quebec (Canada).
• A Christmas Carol (2010), a new stage adaptation written by Jim Cook Jr. and produced by the Off Broad Street Players Theater Company in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Follows much of the original text of the novella with some character relationships explored. Premiered in November 2010.
• A Christmas Carol, (2010) a stage adaptation by The Pantaloons theatre company, touring England in Winter 2010.
• A Christmas Carol (2010–present), a new stage adaptation by Preston Lane, produced by Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina. Premiered November 2010, starring Gordon Joseph Weiss as Ebenezer Scrooge.
• 3 Ghosts (2011), a steampunk inspired stage adaptation by PiPE DREAM Theatre, written by Collin Simon and Liz Muller. Premiered in December 2011 at the Beckett Theatre on Theatre Row.
• "A Christmas Carol", (2010) a musical stage adaptation by Bruce Greer and Keith Ferguson that premiered in Carrollton, Texas in December 2010.

Film

• Scrooge; or, Marley's Ghost (1901), a short British film that is the earliest surviving screen adaptation.
• A Christmas Carol (1908), with Thomas Ricketts as Scrooge.
• A Christmas Carol (1910) is a 10-minute silent version of the story starring Marc McDermott as Scrooge and Charles Ogle as Cratchit.
• Scrooge (1913), starring Sir Seymour Hicks and retitled Old Scrooge for its U.S. release in 1926.
• A Christmas Carol (1914), with Charles Rock as Scrooge.
• The Right to Be Happy (1916), the first feature-length adaptation, directed by and starring Rupert Julian as Scrooge. Now presumed lost.
• A Christmas Carol (1923), produced in the UK and starring Russell Thorndike, Nina Vanna, Jack Denton, and Forbes Dawson.
• Scrooge (1928) short film made in Lee DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process, with Bransby Williams as Scrooge (British Film Institute)
• Scrooge (1935), a British movie, again starring Seymour Hicks as Scrooge, rather notorious for not showing most of the ghosts onscreen.
• A Christmas Carol (1938), starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart as the Cratchits.
• Leyenda de Navidad (1947), a Spanish adaptation starring Jesús Tordesillas as Scrooge.
• Scrooge (1951), re-titled A Christmas Carol in the U.S., starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge and Mervyn Johns and Hermione Baddeley as the Cratchits. According to critic A. O. Scott of The New York Times, this film is the best one ever made of this Dickens classic.
• It's Never Too Late (1953), Italian adaptation of Dickens's novel, featuring Paolo Stoppa and Marcello Mastroianni.
• Scrooge (1970), a musical film adaptation starring Albert Finney as Scrooge and Alec Guinness as Marley's Ghost.
• Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), an animated short film featuring the various Walt Disney characters with Scrooge McDuck playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit and Goofy as Jacob Marley.
• Scrooged (1988), an American comedy film and modernization of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Starring Bill Murray as Frank Cross, a take off of the Scrooge character.
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), featuring the various Muppet characters, with Michael Caine as Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit.
• A Christmas Carol (1994), an animated version produced by Jetlag Productions, written by Jack Olesker.
• A Christmas Carol (1997), an animated production featuring the voice of Tim Curry as Scrooge as well as the voices of Whoopi Goldberg, Michael York and Ed Asner.
• Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001), an animated version produced by Illuminated Films (Christmas Carol), Ltd/The Film Consortium/MBP; screenplay by Robert Llewellyn & Piet Kroon; with the voices of Simon Callow, Kate Winslet, and Nicolas Cage.
• A Christmas Carol (2006), a computer animated adaptation featuring anthropomorphic animals in the lead roles.
• A Christmas Carol (2009), a performance capture film written for the screen & directed by Robert Zemeckis, and starring Jim Carrey as Ebenezer Scrooge and the three ghosts, from Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers Digital. It was released in November 2009 in Disney Digital 3D.

Television

Replica tombstone from the 1984 adaptation, still in situ at St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, 2008

Between 1944 and 1956, most television versions of the story were staged live.

• An early live television adaptation was broadcast by DuMont's New York station WABD on December 20, 1944.
• A December 25, 1947 live television version on DuMont starred John Carradine as Scrooge, and featured David Carradine and Eva Marie Saint, the latter in her TV debut.
• A 1948 live television adaptation which aired on Philco Television Playhouse starred Dennis King as Scrooge.
• A Christmas Carol (1949), a 30-minute filmed television adaptation, starred Taylor Holmes as Scrooge with Vincent Price as the on-screen narrator.
• A British television version, with Bransby Williams as Scrooge, was televised in 1950.
• An adaptation of A Christmas Carol with Ralph Richardson as Scrooge was shown as a 30-minute filmed episode of NBC's Fireside Theatre in 1951.
• The story was dramatized twice, in 1952 and 1953, on Kraft Television Theatre (NBC).
• A Christmas Carol (1954), a filmed musical television adaptation starring Fredric March as Scrooge and Basil Rathbone as Marley, was shown on the TV anthology Shower of Stars. The adaptation and lyrics were by Maxwell Anderson, the music by Bernard Herrmann. The first version in color, it apparently has survived only in black-and-white, though a color version may yet turn up. March received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance.
• The Stingiest Man In Town (1956), was the second musical adaptation. It starred Basil Rathbone and Vic Damone as, respectively, the old and young Scrooge. This was a live episode of the dramatic anthology series The Alcoa Hour.

None of the later versions were done live, but were either shot on videotape or filmed. They include:

• A 1958 filmed episode of the half-hour anthology series Tales from Dickens, again featuring Rathbone as Scrooge, with Fredric March as narrator.
• Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), an animated musical television special in color featuring the UPA character voiced by Jim Backus, with songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. Other voices were provided by such actors as Jack Cassidy (as Bob Cratchit). Shown annually by NBC for many years, this was the first animated Christmas special ever telecast (excluding marionette versions of The Night Before Christmas and the Nativity story).
• Mr. Scrooge, a 1962 CBC television musical adaptation, starring Cyril Ritchard (Peter Pan 's Captain Hook) as Scrooge, with Alfie Bass and Tessie O'Shea as Bob Cratchit and his wife.
• A Christmas Carol (1969 Animated film) (1969), an animated television special directed by Zoran Janjic and produced by Australia's Air Programs and aired on CBS. Ron Haddrick voiced Scrooge for the Australian production. It was actually the first in a series titled Famous Classic Tales and sponsored by Kenner when broadcast.
• A Christmas Carol (1971), an Oscar-winning animated short film by Richard Williams, with Alastair Sim reprising the role of Scrooge.
• A Christmas Carol (1977), an adaptation by the BBC with Sir Michael Hordern, who had played Marley's Ghost in two other versions, as Scrooge.
• Rich Little's Christmas Carol (1978), an HBO television special in which impressionist Rich Little plays several celebrities and characters in the main roles.
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1978), an animated made-for-TV musical produced by Rankin-Bass. It stars Walter Matthau as the voice of Scrooge and Tom Bosley as the narrator. Scrooge was drawn to physically resemble Matthau. This had originally been done as a live-action musical on television in 1956. This version, however, was not nearly as well received as the 1956 one.
• Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol (1979), an animated television special featuring the various Looney Tunes characters, with the role of Scrooge going to Yosemite Sam.
• A Christmas Carol (1982), Australian made-for-television animated film from Burbank Films Australia.
• A Christmas Carol (1984), starring George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge, David Warner and Susannah York as the Cratchits, with Edward Woodward as The Ghost Of Christmas Present. Scott received an Emmy Award nomination for his performance. Clive Donner, who had been the film editor for the 1951 film Scrooge, directs. Novelist and essayist Louis Bayard described this adaptation as "the definitive version of a beloved literary classic", praising its fidelity to Dickens' original story, the strength of the supporting cast, and especially Scott's performance as Scrooge.
• Brer Rabbit's Christmas Carol (1992), an animated television movie directed by Al Guest and starring the voice of Christopher Corey Smith as Brer Rabbit.
• A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994), an animated television special based on The Flintstones series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, featuring the series characters putting on a play based on the novel.
• A Christmas Carol (1999), a television movie directed by David Jones, starring Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge. Produced by Turner Network Television, and shown by them annually. Inspired by Patrick Stewart's one-man stage adaptation of the story, but featuring a full supporting cast. This was the first version of the story to make use of digital special effects. Stewart was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance.
• Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol (2002), made for TV animated film created by DIC Entertainment. It premiered on television on Nickelodeon Sunday Movie Toons and was released on DVD and VHS shortly afterward by MGM Home Entertainment.
• A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004), starring Kelsey Grammer. This version is unique in that Scrooge meets all three spirits in human form both before and after his night-time encounters, much as Judy Garland encounters Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Bert Lahr and Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz.
• A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006), a direct to DVD special featuring Oscar the Grouch in the Scrooge role.
• The Smurfs A Christmas Carol (2013), a direct to DVD imagining of the story, as told by and featuring the Smurfs.

Radio

• Lionel Barrymore starred as Scrooge in a dramatization on the CBS Radio Network on December 25, 1934, beginning a tradition he would repeat on various network programs every Christmas through 1953. Only twice did he not play the role: in 1936, when his brother John Barrymore filled in because of the death of Lionel's wife, and again in 1938, when Orson Welles took the role because Barrymore had fallen ill.
• A 1940s adaptation starring Basil Rathbone as Scrooge was subsequently issued as a 3-record set by Columbia Records.
• On December 24, 1949, Favorite Story broadcast an adaptation with Ronald Colman both hosting and starring as Scrooge. This version used a script nearly identical to the one used in Ronald Colman's famous 1941 record album of the story, but a different supporting cast.
• Alec Guinness starred as Scrooge in a BBC production from 1951, also broadcast in America, and repeated for several years afterward.
• On December 24, 1953, Theatre Royal, also from the BBC, starred Laurence Olivier in his only recorded performance as Scrooge. This one was issued on CD in 1992.
• Another BBC Radio production, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 22 December 1990, starred Michael Gough as Scrooge and Freddie Jones as The Narrator. This production was subsequently re-broadcast on BBC Radio 7 and later on BBC Radio 4 Extra.
• Beginning in the 1980s, NPR has periodically broadcast a straightforward, faithful version read by comedian Jonathan Winters, in which he plays all the roles.
• In 1995, Quicksilver Radio Theater broadcast a dramatization directed by Jay Stern and starring Craig Wichman as "Scrooge", Anthony Cinelli, John Prave, Ghislaine Nichols, Deborah Barta, Joseph Franchini, Jodi Botelho, Elizabeth Stull and Tony Scheinman. The production was originally aired on Max Schmid's Radio Theater on WBAI, New York, NY on Christmas Eve 1995 and repeated Christmas Day 1995, and is currently syndicated on National Public Radio. The program is currently part of the Theater Collection at the Paley Center for Media in New York.
• Focus on the Family Radio Theatre adapted the story in a 1996 production hosted by David Suchet, narrated by Timothy Bateson, and with Tenniel Evans as Scrooge. This production credits Noel Langley's screenplay for the 1951 film as well as Dickens' original book.
• Paul Oakenfold's Urban Soundtracks (1999) included a remixed celebrity reading of the book, including sound effects and dance music in a version for UK dance radio stations
• WBZ Newsradio 1030 in Boston adapted the play for its radio listeners in 1999. It starred now-retired morning news anchor Gary LaPierre as Ebeneezer Scrooge with members of the WBZ Newsradio staff (renamed the WBZ Radio Holiday Players) in various roles, including Carl Stevens as Scrooge's nephew Fred, Deb Lawlor as the Ghost of Christmas Past and New England Patriots play-by-play announcer Gil Santos as Marley's Ghost. WBZ radio producer Michael Coleman gave the prologue and played various characters in the play. It has been broadcast on WBZ every Christmas Eve since.
• A Christmas Carol (2007), a theatrical audio version, written and directed by Arthur Yorinks from Night Kitchen Radio Theater, starring Peter Gerety, noted stage and film actor, as Scrooge. This faithful adaptation features a score by Edward Barnes and carols sung by members of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Concert Choir.
• In 2008, David Jason recorded a 10 part abridged reading of A Christmas Carol for BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime.
• The Colonial Radio Theatre of Boston produced A Christmas Carol in 2004, and it has been broadcast yearly on Sirius XM Radio. It was released by Blackstone Audio in 2007. Brilliance Audio released the production on CD in 2010.

Recordings

• In 1941, Ronald Colman portrayed Scrooge in a famous American Decca four-record 78-RPM album of "A Christmas Carol" with a full supporting cast of radio actors and a score by Victor Young. This version proved extremely popular and was eventually transferred to LP, where it sold well into the 1960s. In 2005, it appeared on a Deutsche Grammophon compact disc, along with its companion piece on LP, Mr. Pickwick's Christmas, narrated by Charles Laughton. (The Pickwick recording had originally been made in 1944.) The Ronald Colman "A Christmas Carol" is slightly abbreviated on both the LP and the CD versions. On the LP, this was done to fit the entire production onto one side of a 12-inch 33 RPM record. With the greater time available it was hoped that the CD would have the complete recording, but Deutsche Grammophon used the shorter LP version.

• In 1960, Dan O'Herlihy recorded the complete Dickens novel on a set of 4 16-RPM LP's, one of the few instances that this speed was used for a professional recording. This version was one of the first audiobooks ever made, and is now available on CD. It was originally released on LP by a company called Audio Book Records, perhaps the first use of that term ever coined.

• Ralph Richardson and Paul Scofield were featured on a Caedmon Records adaptation of the story. While the Colman version took up only one side of an LP, the Caedmon Records version took up an entire one. It was released on CD in 2010.

• Patrick Stewart has recorded his one-man dramatic reading of the story.

• The actor Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens, has recorded a CD of A Christmas Carol which is unabridged and in which he plays twenty-six characters. His performance is based on Charles Dickens' original reading tour script.

• Actor Jim Dale, heard on the unabridged recordings for the U.S. release of the Harry Potter books (for which he won two Grammy awards), in 2003 released an unabridged reading of "A Christmas Carol" with full characterizations of all the roles as part of the Random House Listening Library series.

• Former Doctor Who Tom Baker recorded an unabridged reading released in 2012 and currently available from the BBC's AudioGo Ltd..

Opera

• Mister Scrooge (1958–1959); alternative name: Shadows (Tiene), an opera by Slovak composer Ján Cikker.
• A Christmas Carol (1978–1979), an opera by Thea Musgrave.
• The Passion of Scrooge (or A Christmas Carol) (1998), a chamber opera by Jon Deak for one baritone and chamber orchestra.

Graphic novel

• Christmas Carol (2004), drawn by Dick Matena (ISBN 9789023416432)
• A Christmas Carol: The Graphic Novel (2008), by Sean Michael Wilson and Mike Collins (ISBN 9781906332518). The graphic novel was chosen as one of the Top Ten Graphic Novels of the year by The Sunday Times.
• Batman: Noel (2011), by Lee Bermejo (ISBN 9781401232139)

Parody

• Blackadder's Christmas Carol (1988), in which the central character, Ebenezer Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), is initially kind and generous, but after being visited by the Spirit of Christmas (Robbie Coltrane), becomes greedy, insulting and mean.
• I'm Sorry I Haven't a Christmas Carol (2003), a Christmas special for the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue, with central character Ebenezer Scrumph (Humphrey Lyttelton) and assistant Colin Crotchet (Colin Sell).
• Karroll's Christmas (2004), The Scrooge character, Zebidiah Rosecog (Wallace Shawn) is the neighbor of Allen Karroll (Tom Everett Scott), who is visited by the three ghosts instead due to a mistake in address.
• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009)
• Canadian comedy actor Don Harron recorded a version as "Charlie Farquharson" using malaprops.
• Huh-huh Humbug, by Beavis and Butthead, with Beavis as Scrooge.

Pastiches, continuations, and other uses

The basic plot of A Christmas Carol has been put to a variety of different literary and dramatic uses since Dickens' death.

• Timothy Cratchit's Christmas Carol, 1917: A Sequel to the Charles Dickens Classic (Dickens World, 1998) by Dale Powell. In this version, an elderly Tiny Tim is a wealthy immigrant living in America who experiences his own spiritual visitations on Christmas Eve.
• On December 24, 1949, Richard Diamond, Private Detective adapted the story with characters from the series playing the Dickens characters in the style of the radio series and transplanting the story to New York City, with Dick Powell in character as "Richard Diamond" narrating the story.
• On December 20, 1953, The Six Shooter broadcast "Britt Ponset's Christmas Carol", in which the title character Britt Ponset (James Stewart) tells a young boy who's running away from home a western version of A Christmas Carol, with Howard McNear playing the role of "Eben" (the Scrooge character).
• Rod Serling's A Carol for Another Christmas (1964) was a United Nations special sponsored by Xerox.
• Disney's A Christmas Carol (1972) is an audio musical recording with six original musical numbers, featuring various Disney characters playing the Dickens roles. It was adapted (without the songs) into the animated short Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983.
• An American Christmas Carol (1979), an adaptation starring Henry Winkler at the height of his fame from the television series Happy Days, where the story is set in Depression era New England, and the Scrooge character is named Benedict Slade.
• Skinflint: A Country Christmas Carol (1979), an American country music inspired TV film starring Hoyt Axton as Cyrus Flint.
• X-Mas Marks the Spot (1985), an episode of The Real Ghostbusters, where, on Christmas Eve, Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Egon Spangler, and Winston Zeddmore end up traveling back in time to England in 1837. There they unknowingly meet Scrooge and end up "busting" the Three Christmas Ghosts by accident. It is revealed that Peter's childhood was very similar to Scrooge's.
• A Jetson Christmas Carol (1985) Episode sixty-five of The Jetsons animated television series. Spacely orders George to work overtime on Christmas Eve while Astro causes himself to be sick. Three spirits visit Spacely to convince him that Christmas is a time of giving.
• The Odd Couple: In the episode “Scrooge Gets an Oscar”, Felix and the other poker players become Dickens characters in a dream after Oscar refuses to be Scrooge in a children’s play.
• Ebenezer Sanford, an episode of Sanford and Son in which Fred is a Scrooge-like miser. His family and friends try to get him to join into the Christmas spirit, but he rejects the attempts. Fred falls asleep and dreams he’s in “A Christmas Carol”.
• WKRP in Cincinnati: In the episode “Bah Humbug”, Mr. Carlson plans to give the staffers no Christmas bonuses. But after eating one of Johnny Fever’s "special" brownies, the ghosts of Christmas Past (Jennifer), Present (Venus) and Future (Johnny) visit him to show him the error of his ways.
• Family Ties: In the episode “A Keaton Christmas Carol”, Alex finds the spirit of Christmas in a dream when he’s shown visions of the past and future by ghosts of Mallory and Jennifer.
• A Different World: In the episode "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls," Whitley plays the Scrooge role over her mother's plans to visit the French Riviera for Christmas. She receives visits from the ghosts of Christmas Past (Mr. Gaines), Present (Walter) and Future (Jaleesa).
• The Six Million Dollar Man: In the episode “A Bionic Christmas Carol”, when Steve Austin is sent to investigate problems with an OSI project contracted out to Budge Corp., he discovers the problem is that the corporation’s owner is a cheap miser. Steve then uses his bionic powers to emulate the Dickens classic and convince Budge to change his mind.
• Alice: In the episode “Mel’s Christmas Carol”, On Christmas Eve, Mel is haunted by a former partner after he fires the waitresses.
• A Christmas Carol II (1985), an episode of the TV series George Burns Comedy Week in which it's revealed that Scrooge is good-natured to a fault, and all of Camden Town takes advantage of his generosity. Scrooge is so giving of his fortune that the townspeople end up taking all his money. This prompts the spirits to return and make sure Scrooge reaches a median between his past and current behavior. (In the second alternate future, Scrooge has been buried in a pauper's grave, under a headstone marked "Ebenoozer Screege.")
• God Bless Us Every One (Methuen, 1985) by Andrew Angus Dalrymple. An Imagined Sequel to 'A Christmas Carol featuring all the major characters of the original, expanding upon the Cratchit children Tim and Belinda.
• Scrooged (1988), a remake in a contemporary setting with Bill Murray being a misanthropic TV producer who is haunted by the ghosts of Christmas. Directed by Richard Donner.
• A Little Miracle (1990) is an episode of the series Quantum Leap; the protagonist, Sam Beckett, who travels through time by leaping into the lives of others, becomes the valet of a Scrooge-like industrialist, showing the industrialist the error of his ways by reminding him of his past via photographs while taking him on a drive around his future planned development, culminating in his holographic partner from the future, Al Calavicci, showing the industrialist what will happen to him in the future as he poses as the Ghost of Christmas Future.
• The Marley Carol (1993) Christmas Play in Two Acts by Dennis Drake taking place on the Christmas Eve Jacob Marley gives up the ghost.
• Sonic's Christmas Carol (1993) A backup story featured in Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog #6. It casts Dr. Robotnik as Scrooge, Rotor Walrus as Bob Cratchit, Snively as Jacob Marley and Sonic as all three ghosts.
• Ebbie (1995), a TV movie that brought the first portrayal of Scrooge as a female, with Susan Lucci as Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge, owner of a huge department store, and some of her own employees doubling as the three Christmas Spirits.
• Martin (1996), in the episode "Scrooge", Martin was visited by three Christmas spirits, to encourage Christmas spirit and the joy of giving to Martin.
• Ms. Scrooge (1997), a TV movie starring Cicely Tyson as "Ebenita Scrooge", managing director of a loan company, and Katherine Helmond as her deceased business partner Maude Marley.
• Ebenezer (1997), a Western version produced for Canadian TV, starring Jack Palance as Ebenezer Scrooge, a land baron.
• An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998), animated TV movie based on All Dogs Go to Heaven and featuring the villainous Carface as this version's Scrooge analog
• Whatever Happened to Tiny Tim? by John Mortimer (New York Times Book Review, 1992). In this short story, Tim grew up to be a successful businessman and gained a knighthood, but became even more heartless than Scrooge (beginning his career by embezzling funds from Scrooge's Christmas Turkey fund, then buying Scrooge out and pensioning off his own father). On Christmas Night 1894, he is visited by both the ghosts of Scrooge and Christmas Yet-to-Come who force him to see a horrible vision of the world in 1992 in which war, crime, poverty, famine and corruption are rampant. This story was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 7 on January 1, 2003 under the title Not So Tiny Tim and was read by Richard Pasco.
• The Spirit of the Season, 1998, by Don Flowers; Paralleling the visitations of the three "spirits" 20 years before, Scrooge prevails on a grown-up Tim Cratchit to help to him try to reconnect with (and win freedom for) Marley's Ghost, during the pair's visits to three "spiritualists" on the last Christmas Eve of Scrooge's earthly life. Later adapted by Flowers and Fred Walton as a musical (Ebenezer Ever After) that premiered in Portland, Oregon in 2010.
• A Christmas Carol (2000), A TV-movie that takes place in the present where Ross Kemp plays Eddie Scrooge, a London loan shark. Jacob Marley (Ray Fearon) not only warns Scrooge of the three impending spirits, but doubles as The Ghost of Christmas Present.
• In 2000, Adventures from the Book of Virtues did an adaptation of A Christmas Carol with Annie in the role of Scrooge, Zack in the role of Bob Cratchit, Plato in the role of Jacob Marley, Aristotle in the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past, Socrates in the role of the Ghost of Christmas Present, Aurora in the role of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, and an unnamed blond orphan boy in the role of Tiny Tim.
• A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000), TV movie that premiered on VH1, now on Lifetime, portraying Vanessa Williams in the Scrooge role as "Ebony" Scrooge, one third of a late-'80's pop trio called "Desire" and now an egotistical, arrogant, grouchy solo diva.
• Marley's Ghost, (2000), by Mark Hazard Osmun: The prequel to A Christmas Carol. A novel imagining the life and afterlife of Scrooge's partner, Jacob Marley and how Marley came to arrange Scrooge's chance at redemption.
• Marley's Ghost (2003) by Jeff Goode is a stage play which is a prequel to A Christmas Carol along similar lines to the novel by Osmun.
• The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge (Ohio State University Press, 2001) by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita. A uniquely philosophical take on the Scrooge mythology set in the afterlife with Scrooge on trial to determine if he merits entry into Paradise.
• Scrooge & Cratchit (Scrooge-and-Cratchit, 2002) by Matt McHugh. Bob Cratchit is now Scrooge's partner in business as they both face the wrath of bankers as ruthless as Scrooge in his prime. Reprinted in 2007 as The Index-Journal holiday edition insert. In print and Kindle/iPhone/ebook formats.
• Scrooge Blues was written by Nicholas McInerny and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2002 and re-broadcast on BBC Radio 7 on 28 December 2010. This continuation, starring David Hargreaves, takes place one year after the events of A Christmas Carol after the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge.
• A Carol Christmas (2003), another TV movie portraying Scrooge as an arrogant female celebrity, this time as a TV star named "Carol Cartman", played by Tori Spelling, with her own talk show. Having premiered on The Hallmark Channel and then shown on ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas, the movie, currently back on The Hallmark Channel, also featured Dinah Manoff as Marla, Carol's stage-mother type aunt, and two of the three Christmas Spirits portrayed by Gary Coleman (Christmas Past) and William Shatner (Christmas Present).
• The Last Christmas of Ebenezer Scrooge: The Sequel to A Christmas Carol (Wildside Press, 2003) by Marvin Kaye. This sequel picks up right where the original left off, with Scrooge trying to right an unresolved wrong. This version was also adapted for the stage.
• Mr. Timothy (HarperCollins, 2003) by Louis Bayard. Here again is an adult Tiny Tim, only this time as a 23-year-old resident of a London brothel who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Mr. Timothy was included in the New York Times's list of Notable Fiction for 2003.
• The Haunting Refrain to Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (2004 revised 2007) This short novel details the lives of the original characters, plus a few new introductions, 21 years later. It is posted exclusively to the web at his time and is out of print from its original printing run. It is available for free viewing at www.dickensworks.com
• Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006) the second Looney Tunes adaptation; this time, it features Daffy Duck as Scrooge.
• Barbie in a Christmas Carol (2008), Barbie stars as the female version of Ebenezer Scrooge.
• Of Christmas Past is a short comic strip by Johnny Lowe and Seaward Tuthill in the literary trade paperback Iconic released in 2009 by members of the Comicbook Artists Guild. It deals with Scrooge's nephew Fred facing the decision of what to do about a criminal who murdered his wife, with the ghost of Scrooge playing the role of the three spirits to try to save him from a path of darkness.
• A Christmas Carol – Scrooge's Ghostly Tale (2006), animated.
• Nan's Christmas Carol (2009)
• I am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas is a novel by Adam Roberts (Gollancz, 2009). It deals with the aftermath of Tiny Tim's parlous health. It turns out that the child was a harbinger of an infectious virus that threatens a zombie apocalypse, and it is left to Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to rectify the matter. It is scheduled to coincide with Christmas 2009.
• A Klingon Christmas Carol (written c. 2006) is an adaptation set on the Klingon homeworld of Qo'noS in the Star Trek fictional universe. The play was co-written and directed by Christopher O. Kidder, and was performed from 2007–2010 by Commedia Beauregard (a Saint Paul, Minnesota theatre company), and also presented in Chicago for 2010.
• Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2010) - the 2010 Christmas special episode of Doctor Who is a science fiction story that borrows elements from the original. Dialogue acknowledges the source, and Dickens himself has appeared as a character in two episodes.
• An American Country Christmas Carol (2010) a new stage country musical adaptation with a book and lyrics by Scott Logsdon and music by Rand Bishop, Kent Blazy, Roxie Dean, Tim Finn, Billy Kirsch, J. Fred Knobloch, and Pam Rose. It was presented as a staged reading at the Boiler Room Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee on December 5, 6 and 13 of 2010.
• A London Carol (2010) - the sixty-fourth episode of Disney Channel Original Series The Suite Life on Deck. Cody and Bailey collect toys for poor children. When they ask London for donations, she's too selfish to give anything. On the Christmas Eve night, London's mirror takes her to the past, present and future only for her to find out that everyone will loathe her and she will be lonely.
• Christmas Cupid (2010), made-for-TV movie starring Christina Milian as the Scrooge-inspired character Sloane Spencer.
• Mega Man Christmas Carol (2010) - In this Mega Man fangame, Mega Man gets his Christmas presents stolen by an evil Santa Claus. To get the presents back, Mega Man must fight four Robot Masters based on the four ghosts from A Christmas Carol. The Ghost of Jacob Marley, The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present and The Ghost of Christmas Future. This game also got remade as Mega Man Christmas Carol Remix in 2012.
• Christmas Cupid (2010), made-for-TV movie starring Christina Milian as the Scrooge-inspired character Sloane Spencer.
• Batman: Noël (2011) A graphic novel written and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, featuring a tale with the caped crusader inspired by A Christmas Carol.
• Mega Man Christmas Carol 2 (2011) - The sequel to Mega Man Christmas Carol. Mega Man, Proto Man and Bass fight against five more Robot Masters based off A Christmas Carol characters. This time, you face Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit (who are both fought together) Ebenezer Scrooge, Want and Ignorance.
• It's Christmas, Carol! (2012) made-for-TV movie starring Emmanuelle Vaugier as an arrogant Chicago-based book publisher whose staff hates her so much they plan a revolt against her; her former boss, Eve (Carrie Fisher) approaches her on Christmas Eve night and functions as all three spirits, Past, Present and Yet To Come, showing her the unhappiness she has caused. Recently premiered on The Hallmark Channel.
• Orange Carol (2012), an episode of The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange where Orange's annoying antics are spoiling everyone's holiday cheer, then a visit from three ghosts appeared and try to make Orange learn about the holiday sprit.
• A Christmas Carol (2012), an episode of The Looney Tunes Show, features a stage adaptation of the tale.
• Scrooge: The Year After (2012) is a sequel written by Judy La Salle taking place one year after the events of the original novel. It is broken into volumes, and thus far, only the first volume of the sequel has been released.
• Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale (2013), a NBC television special loosely based on A Christmas Carol featuring Kelly Clarkson playing a Scrooge-like role.
• Arrow (2013) season 2 episode 9, Three Ghosts
• The Internet series Epic Rap Battles of History released on December 19, 2013 a Christmas Carol-themed episode featuring Ebenezer Scrooge, the ghosts of Christmas (represented by the businessman J.P. Morgan, the millionnaire rapper Kanye West and the ghost of Christmas Yet To Come as itself) and Jacob Marley (represented by the businessman Donald Trump).

Further reading

• Fred Guida, A Christmas Carol and Its Adaptations: Dickens's Story on Screen and Television, McFarland & Company, 2000. ISBN 0-7864-0738-7.