The 12 Best Animated Versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’

When Charles Dickens published his novella A Christmas Carol in 1843, he almost certainly did not expect that his little holiday story would entertain and inspire millions of people for years to come. But even 180-plus years after its publication, the classic story of the miser who despises Christmas has not lost its magic.

A Christmas Carol has been adapted numerous times for the stage, radio, film, and television. Some movie versions of the story have become beloved classics in their own right. For my list of the best live-action adaptations (and one from Disney, also included here, which animates live performances), see my article “The Best Movie Versions of ‘A Christmas Carol.’”

For more than a half-century, beginning with Mr. Magoo’s take on Ebenezer Scrooge in 1962, animated film and television adaptations of A Christmas Carol have competed with live-action versions, envisioning Dickens’s fable in new ways. Thanks to these animated versions, viewers of all ages can enjoy watching Ebenezer Scrooge discover the spirit of Christmas through the intervention of spirits who visit him during the night before Christmas.

The animated versions of A Christmas Carol profiled in this article vary in style and quality, but all of them are worth watching. Some feature familiar cartoon characters, while animated human characters in Victorian dress populate the others. Some of the versions are musicals, some are not. Some are more child-friendly than others.

Most of these adaptations stick more or less faithfully to Dickens’s original storyline, although several add or omit scenes or  characters or both. Some versions add a framing device around the story. And then there are a couple that bend the story in crazy cartoonish directions.

Here, then, are a dozen very good animated versions of A Christmas Carol for your holiday viewing pleasure. They are listed in chronological order, oldest to newest.

The first animated version of Dickens’s story was Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, a 1962 television special that aired on the NBC network. It features the extremely nearsighted character J. Quincy Magoo, voiced by Jim Backus.

Mr. Magoo was a popular cartoon star who made his first appearance in 1949. Two Magoo cartoons won Academy Awards in the 1950s.

In Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, Magoo is starring as Ebenezer Scrooge in a Broadway musical production of A Christmas Carol. Once he has bumbled his way to the theater, Magoo plays the miserly Scrooge pretty much as Dickens wrote the character. One difference between this production and the Dickens book, however, is that the Ghost of Christmas Present appears before the Ghost of Christmas Past. Another is that Scrooge’s nephew Fred does not figure in the story.

Songs enhance several of the standard Dickensian scenes. For example, in Scrooge’s office, a split screen illustrates the power differential between Scrooge and Bob Cratchit (voiced by Jack Cassidy) as they sing the contrapuntal duet “Ringle, Ringle.” Later, in Old Joe’s shop, Joe and the three scavengers of Scrooge’s belongings celebrate their good fortune by singing, “We’re Despicable (Plunderer’s March).”

Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol conveys the uplifting moral lessons of Dickens’s story in a way that is both heartwarming and humorous. Of course, much of the humor is based on Magoo’s myopia, which might be considered insensitive today (although as a very nearsighted viewer myself, I found it quite amusing).

Scrooge has a change of heart about Christmas, but his eyesight doesn’t change—he’s still nearsighted. When he walks through the streets on Christmas morning spreading good cheer, the first “person” he greets is a horse, the second a snowman. Instead of shaking the poulterer’s hand as he wishes him a Merry Christmas, Magoo shakes the leg of the turkey he’s buying and pokes the poulterer’s belly, mistaking it for the turkey.

Finally, when Magoo takes a curtain call at the end of the play, he bows with his back to the audience. As the audience applauds, the sets come crashing down around him. Oblivious as always, he congratulates himself: “Oh, Magoo, you’ve done it again, and by George, I’ve brought down the house!”

The animation studio UPA produced Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol with its so-called “limited animation” style. The film has a pleasing mid-century modern look that is crisp and colorful. It’s good to look at and fun for all ages.

Running time: 52 minutes

This short version of A Christmas Carol is a British-American production that was aired on U.S. television by the ABC network in December 1971 and then released theatrically. It won the 1972 Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Animated Film. To date, it is the only adaptation of A Christmas Carol to be honored with an Academy Award. (Mickey’s Christmas Carol was nominated but didn’t win.)

The voice cast features two of the primary actors from the classic 1951 live-action version of A Christmas Carol reprising their roles. Alistair Sim voices Ebenezer Scrooge, while Michael Hordorn supplies the voice of Jacob Marley’s ghost. The narration by renowned English actor Michael Redgrave adds another appropriately “Dickensian” voice to the production.

Of all the animated movies and TV specials profiled in this article, this version is the most faithful to Dickens in both style and content. The sketchbook-style animation is reminiscent of John Leech’s illustrations in the original edition of the novella, as well as the pen and ink drawings by Milo Winter that illustrated some later editions. Overall, the style is quite dark and scary, which is appropriate for what is, after all, as the opening titles remind us, “a ghost story of Christmas.”

Most of the scenes in Dickens’s book are included in this version of A Christmas Carol. Unlike many other versions, this one even includes brief stops on Scrooge’s tour with the Ghost of Christmas Present to see miners who work in the bowels of the earth, two lonely lighthouse keepers, and a sailor alone at sea, all of whom know and celebrate Christmas despite their circumstances.

Much of the narration and dialogue come directly from Dickens with little or no alteration. Just as Dickens does in the book, Redgrave assures us after Scrooge’s transformation that “to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father … and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge.”

If you’re looking for a very faithful animated adaptation of A Christmas Carol with a traditional “Dickensian” look, this is the one to watch.

Running time: 27 minutes

The Stingiest Man in Town is an animated musical version of A Christmas Carol. It is a remake of a live-action television special from 1956, also called The Stingiest Man in Town, which starred Basil Rathbone as Ebenezer Scrooge. This newer version was also created as a television special. It premiered on NBC in December 1978.

Rankin/Bass Productions, the studio that produced the film, was known for a string of popular animated holiday classics that began with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). Unlike the Rudolph special and many other Rankin/Bass productions, which use the “Animagic” stop-motion animation technique, The Stingiest Man in Town uses traditional cel animation. The animation was outsourced to the Japanese studio Topcraft, and the style of the film seems more akin to other Japanese animation than, for example, to Disney’s work.

In this adaptation, Walter Matthau provides the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge—and once you’re aware of that, it’s hard to forget it. The animated Scrooge speaks with Matthau’s characteristic New York accent, and he even looks like Matthau. The actor does a fine job in the role, but it is a bit odd to hear the Victorian-era Englishman Ebenezer Scrooge speak (and sing) like a New Yorker.

The Stingiest Man in Town follows Dickens’s story fairly closely, although numerous scenes are interrupted by songs. A few are catchy, notably “The Christmas Spirit,” but most are forgettable.

One other notable and amusing addition to the story is the narrator, a good-natured bug named “B.A.H. Humbug” (get it?) voiced by Tom Bosley. He introduces the story by welcoming viewers to “the merry household of the kindest and most generous man in town, Ebenezer Scrooge.” He immediately admits, though, that there was a time when Scrooge “was not so jolly, when he was as mean and miserable as the counting house where he conducted his business.” Ah, there’s the Scrooge we were expecting.

But true to Humbug’s word—and to Dickens—Scrooge does change into a kind and generous man. His transformation is illustrated in the last scene in his office. Wishing Bob Cratchit a Merry Christmas, he tells him to make up the fire and use lots of coal. Bob asks whether that will be good for business, and Scrooge answers with a song (of course!), telling Bob that “Mankind Should Be My Business.”

This one doesn’t get my highest rating, mostly because of Matthau’s jarring voice as Scrooge. But The Stingiest Man in Town is still enjoyable, and kids especially will like B.A.H. Humbug.

Running time: 51 minutes

Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol is a cartoon short that premiered on the CBS network on November 27, 1979, as one of three segments comprising the holiday special Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales. Veteran award-winning animator Friz Freleng directed the film, and Mel Blanc, “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” voiced all of the characters.

Given its eight-minute length, it should come as no surprise that Bugs’s Carol condenses Dickens’s story and omits much of it. And given its pedigree as a Merrie Melodies / Looney Tunes cartoon, it should also surpise no one that’s a very loose adaptation of the story, featuring sight gags, pratfalls, and jokes. Even so, it does convey the themes of redemption and transformation that are central to Dickens’s story.

Bugs Bunny narrates the story (with frequent asides to the audience) and plays several parts in it. The rest of the small cast is made up of other Looney Tunes regulars, led by Yosemite Sam as Mr. Scrooge, Porky Pig as Bob Cratchit, and Tweety the bird as Tiny Tim. Sylvester is Scrooge’s long-suffering cat, and Pepé le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, and Elmer Fudd portray Christmas carolers, led by Bugs, who try to sing for Scrooge.

The initial scene of the film is the familiar one from Dickens in which Scrooge is counting his money while a freezing Cratchit works diligently in the next room. Scrooge refuses to give him more than one lump of coal. Bugs comes to Scrooge’s office three times—first to wish him a Merry Christmas, then to sneak more coal to Bob, and finally to lead the carolers in “Deck the Halls”—but Scrooge throws him out each time and fires Bob.

Bob invites Bugs to his home for dinner and introduces him to Tiny Tim (Tweety). When Bugs remarks that he’s kind of puny, Tim retorts, “If you had to live on bird seed you’d be puny too!” Dinner is interrupted by a man from the light company, who removes the family’s lone candle, and a representative of Scrooge with a foreclosure notice.

Now that Scrooge’s meanness has been clearly established, Bugs vows to teach him a lesson. He goes to Scrooge’s house and sabotages Scrooge’s bath. Then, when Scrooge goes to sleep, Bugs disguises himself as a ghost to give Scrooge a Christmas Eve he’ll never forget. Bugs’s tactics work: it only takes one “ghost” instead of Dickens’s three. Scrooge has an almost immediate conversion and promises to have Christmas spirit and give money to “widders and orphans.”

All’s well that ends well, as Scrooge joins the Cratchit family and Bugs for dinner. Scrooge’s essential Yosemite Sam nature still comes through, though. When Bugs gives him a big kiss, he fulminates that he hates kissing. “Bah humbug!”

If you’re looking for a quick take on A Christmas Carol with lots of hijinks along the way, Bugs Bunny’s Christmas Carol is the one to watch. It omits the scary parts and the pathos of Tiny Tim’s health, but it still conveys Dickens’s essential message of hope. And it’s great fun for all ages.

Running time: 8-1/2 minutes

This version of A Christmas Carol is an Australian television movie from Burbank Animation Studios. Part of a series of Charles Dickens adaptations, it was originally broadcast in 1982 by Australia’s Nine Network. Distinguished Australian actor Ron Haddrick provides the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge, as he had previously done in a 1969 animated version. The animation style features two-dimensional human characters on painted three-dimensional backgrounds.

The film adheres quite closely to the Dickens source material, although it changes or omits a few scenes and adds some small touches of its own. The opening scene, which does not appear in the book, quickly reveals Scrooge’s character. Scrooge is walking alone through a London street surrounded by cheerful people. But a dog growls at him, and a beggar cowers from him.

When Scrooge arrives at the office, he doesn’t respond to Bob’s greeting as he puts one small lump of coal on the fire. And when he rebuffs his nephew Fred, he snarls at him and shoves the Christmas wreath Fred has brought him around Fred’s neck.

Scrooge’s chambers are ominously dark and gloomy, and Marley’s ghost is very scary. The spirits appear much the same as Dickens describes them in the book—except for the Ghost of Christmas Past, who oddly looks like a teenage boy in a tunic. The spirits take Scrooge to just about all the places where he goes in the book, and along the way, hints appear, as they do in Dickens’s original, that Scrooge is beginning to feel some regrets about his life.

Some small humorous additions enliven the story. When the Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge Belle’s children, he first says, “It’s just three brats making a mess.” Then, addressing the Ghost, he corrects himself: “I mean, it’s three delightful children playing happy games.” When the Ghost of Christmas Present escorts Scrooge to Bob Cratchit’s house and Scrooge sees Martha hiding from her father, he exclaims (unheard, of course), “She’s hiding behind the sofa, you fool!”

With Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, he sees another man sitting in his accustomed lunch seat. His first reaction is that he’s decided to work through the lunch hour. His second is that the inn has raised its prices. He doesn’t get it yet. Not until they go to the churchyard does he realize the implications of what he’s seen of the future.

Scrooge’s transformation in the morning is joyful and humorous. He reminds the solicitors that he’d been “dubious” about the amount he would contribute. One responds, “You were very dubious!” After dinner at Fred’s house, Scrooge surprises everyone by volunteering to sing “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.”

He’s also modest. He doesn’t correct the beggar who calls him Mr. Marley when he gives him a coin, and he doesn’t reveal to Bob Cratchit that he was the one who sent him the Christmas turkey.

This adaptation of A Christmas Carol is an enjoyable alternative to some of the better-known versions. Visually, it’s quite attractive. The characters are well-drawn, although the animation is uneven and some of the secondary characters are wooden. The standout features are Ron Haddrick’s performance as Scrooge and the excellent painted background art.

Running time: 73 minutes

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is a 1983 animated short feature from Walt Disney Productions. It was released theatrically in the United States on December 16, 1983, and was first shown on U.S. television by NBC in December 1984. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film of 1983.

Although the film is not a musical, it borrowed the cast of characters and much of the dialogue from the 1974 Disneyland Records audio musical An Adaptation of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. Alan Young, the voice actor who played Scrooge in the musical, also provides his voice in the film.

Most of the characters in the film are familiar Disney anthropomorphic animals. Scrooge McDuck, speaking with his classic Scottish burr, fittingly plays Ebenezer Scrooge. (Scrooge McDuck was named after the Dickens character when he was created in 1947.) Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine) plays Bob Cratchit, with Minnie Mouse and other Mouse relatives playing the Cratchit family. Donald Duck (voiced by Clarence Nash for the final time before his death) is Scrooge’s nephew Fred, and Goofy (Hal Smith) plays Jacob Marley’s ghost.

The story follows the traditional plot of A Christmas Carol. On Christmas Eve, after Scrooge demonstrates his miserly character at work, he gets a visit at home from the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley. In a clever, subtle Disney touch, Scrooge is followed up the stairs by the shadow of Marley’s ghost. Marley tells him he will be visited by three spirits (while Goofy, as the ghost, holds up two fingers).

As a short film, Mickey’s Christmas Carol condenses Scrooge’s nighttime journeys. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jiminy Cricket, to whom Scrooge remarks, “I thought you’d be taller”) takes him to Fezziwig’s party, where he sees “Isabelle” (Daisy Duck). Then, ten years later, Scrooge is in his office counting his money. Isabelle arrives and asks if he’s made his decision. Yes, he says: she was an hour late with her last mortgage payment and he’s foreclosing. So much for true love!

With the Ghost of Christmas Present (Willie the Giant), Scrooge looks in on the Cratchits as they eat their dinner. The portions are so meager that Bob cuts a pea in half on his plate.

The Ghost of Christmas Future (the notorious Pete) takes Scrooge only to the graveyard. He sees the Cratchit family mourning the death of Tiny Tim and then visits a newly dug grave. When Scrooge asks whose grave it is, the Ghost responds by striking a match on the tombstone to reveal Scrooge’s name and then throws him into the grave.

Scrooge has the traditional joyful Ebenezer Scrooge reaction on Christmas morning. Running outside in excitement, he gives so many gold coins to the solicitors who visited him the day before that one of the gentlemen’s pants fall down to reveal his polka-dot underwear. Scrooge then continues to embrace his new-found Christmas spirit by surprising the Cratchits with toys for the kids and a partnership for Bob.

Mickey’s Christmas Carol is well-regarded for the appealing way it blends Disney’s beloved characters with Dickens’s timeless message of hope and redemption. Many people view the film as a holiday classic, especially those who appreciate both traditional Disney animation and classic Christmas stories. It’s great for kids and adults alike.

Running time: 25 minutes

If you doubt that A Christmas Carol is a timeless story, take a look at A Flintstones Christmas Carol. This animated television special, which debuted in the U.S. on November 24, 1994, transports the Dickens classic to the prehistoric town of Bedrock, where the familiar characters from the 1960s TV series The Flintstones put their own unique stamp on Dickens’s story.

The movie has a similar format to Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol, in which the “real-life” cartoon characters put on a theatrical performance of A Christmas Carol. But the Flintstones’ version adds a more robust framing story. Fred Flintstone, who plays Scrooge in the play, has taken method acting to such an extreme that he’s become Scrooge-like in his own life. Consumed with his role, he’s forgotten to buy Christmas presents for his family and pick up his daughter Pebbles from day care.

The play itself is quite faithful to the Dickens story, with some dialogue coming word-for-word from the book. Of course, this being the Flintstones, some characters’ names are Stone Age puns: Charles Dickens becomes Charles “Brickens,” the narrator and director of the play; Scrooge is “Ebonezer” Scrooge; the Cratchits, played by Barney Rubble and Wilma Flintstone, become the “Cragits”; and Jacob Marley, played by Fred and Barney’s boss Mr. Slate, is Jacob “Marbley.”

There is other prehistoric humor too, as one would expect from the Flintstones. At “Bloomingshale’s” department store, Fred asks the saleswoman if a necklace is real sabertooth. “Of course not,” she replies, “they’re an endangered species.” After Scrooge is transformed on Christmas morning, he sends the Cragits a huge “turkeysaurus” to replace their usual meager “chickosaurus.”

In Act One of the play, Scrooge has the standard Dickens encounters with Cragit, the charity solicitors, and his nephew. After Marbley’s ghost warns Scrooge about the upcoming visits from the spirits, the curtain comes down. Fred basks in the audience’s applause and reminds Barney that he’s the star of the show. No self-awareness yet from either the character or the actor.

A running gag is that performers are getting sick from the “Bedrock bug” at the last minute, and Wilma has to take their places. Wilma is pressed into service as the Ghost of Christmas Past, then as Belle, and finally as one of the solicitors on Christmas Day. As a result, Wilma is on stage with Fred a lot. When Fred tells the solicitors he’s a changed man, the exasperated Wilma counters, “Of course you’ve changed, it’s in the script!”

When non-Dickens action or dialogue is added, Brickens protests in the wings that none of this is in his script. Although the play does mostly follow Dickens, one significant departure is that Belle accompanies Scrooge to his nephew’s house on Christmas Day. It appears that not only has Scrooge’s relationship with Belle been repaired, but so has Fred’s relationship with Wilma.

As the play ends, the cast assembles on stage as Brickens reads the closing lines from Dickens. We’re left with the hope that Fred has recovered the Christmas spirit (thousands of years before Christmas, of course) and now knows how to keep it well.

This colorful and humorous adaptation of A Christmas Carol is a great addition to the Christmas Carol canon. Even young kids should understand the message of the story as it’s presented here. And if you’re already a Flintstones fan, you’ll especially enjoy it.

Running time: 70 minutes

This 1997 animated musical version of A Christmas Carol stars Tim Curry as the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge. It also features several other prominent actors among the voice cast, including Michael York as Bob Cratchit, Ed Asner as Jacob Marley’s Ghost, and Whoopi Goldberg as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Jodi Benson, best known for voicing Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid and for her work in other Disney productions, provides the voice of Belle.

For the most part, the film features traditional animated human characters in Victorian dress. The animation style is appealing. Most of the costumes are brightly colored, and they stand out against the attractive backrounds, which are generally more subdued.

The plot follows Dickens’s novella, although like many other adaptations it omits various scenes and adds some touches of its own. The most significant departure from Dickens is the addition of a cartoon bulldog, Debit, as Scrooge’s pet. Although Dickens purists may not appreciate Debit, in my opinion the dog not only adds humor to the story but also reinforces Scrooge’s character transformation from a misanthropic miser to a generous man who “keeps Christmas in his heart.” Children especially will have fun watching Debit’s antics as he mimics his master, even snarling a recognizable “Bah humbug!” like Scrooge.

Scrooge’s mean and stingy nature is on full display from the outset when he’s in his office. He throws some lumps of coal at a street urchin and then orders Bob Cratchit to retrieve them. When Tiny Tim comes to the office at closing time, Scrooge assumes he’s a beggar and threatens him with a cane.

The movie kicks into full musical gear at the tavern where Scrooge eats dinner, as all the staff and diners burst into a song extolling “random acts of kindness,” while Scrooge alone offers objections. Scrooge clearly has a reputation in this place: the waitress gives Scrooge the scraps he requested for Debit and gives Scrooge’s meal to the dog.

Several of the ghosts do not resemble Dicken’s descriptions. Jacob Marley’s ghost is plump and not particularly scary-looking, although he does frighten Scrooge (and confuses Debit). The Ghost of Christmas Past is especially odd—a good-humored boy in a blue uniform who speaks with a Cockney accent. The Ghost of Christmas Present not only sounds like Whoopi Goldberg but also looks like her. Her portrayal is fun, as she bosses Scrooge around in a nice way.

Several small touches add to the story. We hear Scrooge using his “Bah humbug!” catchphrase already as a boy at school. Both schoolboy Scrooge and Tiny Tim are shown reading the same book, Robinson Crusoe (not Ali Baba as in the novella). And Debit is great—he keeps forgetting that everyone and everything around him is a spirit.

When a joyous Scrooge wakes up in his own bed on Christmas morning with Debit by his side, he hugs the dog. “I’ve been given another chance, Debit, and so have you!” Debit understandably looks confused. Going to Bob Cratchit’s house, Scrooge at first pretends he’s angry (even rearranging the expression on Debit’s face to convey the same message). But he soon reveals his transformation and joins Tiny Tim in saying, “God bless us, every one!”

This is a creditable version of A Christmas Carol. I don’t love the songs, other than the energetic “Santa’s Sooty Suit” that Scrooge sings with Fred. But the animation is attractive and Dickens’s message should be clear even for children. Debit helps to sell it, so although he’s not a Dickens character, he is “Dickensian.”

Running time: 72 minutes

Although Christmas Carol: The Movie tells its version of The Christmas Carol through animation, it frames the story with live-action sequences. The movie begins with Charles Dickens reading his story to an audience in Boston in 1867. This is historically accurate. Dickens began a U.S. tour in Boston late that year, reading A Christmas Carol from the stage at the Tremont Temple on December 2.

Christmas Carol: The Movie is a British production directed by Jimmy T. Murakami. The voice cast is impressive. Veteran English actor Simon Callow plays Charles Dickens and provides the voice of Ebenezer Scrooge, and the ensemble cast includes Kate Winslet, Nicolas Cage, Jane Horrocks, and Michael Gambon, among others.

As Dickens begins his performance, a (CGI) mouse scurries near his foot and scares a woman in the audience. Dickens makes a joke about being upstaged by a mouse and then begins the story with a mouse “making its way through London Town.” One might think this is just a small detail soon to be left behind, but in fact, not only do two mice accompany Scrooge everywhere, but he is kind to them—as opposed to everyone else in his path. Maybe it’s a hint that he might actually have a chance at redemption? The mice also add some child-friendly humor.

The movie’s plot departs significantly from the book. The biggest difference is in Belle’s role. Instead of marrying and having a family, she has become a nurse who works at a charity hospital that is threatened by Scrooge’s debt collectors. Belle writes a letter asking Scrooge for help, but he doesn’t see it when it’s delivered. Throughout the movie, the mice become caretakers for the letter and there is doubt whether Scrooge will ever read it.

The Ghost of Christmas Past appears very much as described by Dickens—maybe the most accurate depiction of this spirit in any animated version. The spirit is luminous, with bright light emanating from its head, and morphing from a  child to an old man and back again.

The Ghost of Christmas Present is also Dickensian, but the sequence with this spirit is best described as psychedelic. Scrooge and the spirit (and the two mice) fly through rainbow-colored skies spreading sparkling good cheer. Besides the usual destinations, they witness Old Joe carrying out an eviction on Scrooge’s behalf. At the end of the journey, the spirit comments sarcastically, “I trust you’ve seen the joy you bring to this world, Scrooge.”

Scrooge’s transformation on Christmas morning is not immediate. When he looks out his window, his first inclination is to berate the boy below, but after seeing a chain around himself in a mirror, he apologizes and chokes out “Merry Christmas!”

He finally reads Belle’s letter, vows he won’t let her down again, and goes outside to spread Christmas cheer. He fires Joe and tells Belle he’ll do everything he can to help her and the hospital. In the office, he promotes Cratchit and offers to help his family however he can.

Then we’re back to Boston, where Dickens admits that the story is “not quite the same one I wrote in the book … I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.”

This adaptation has not generally been as well received as some of the others. I find much of the animation to be dark and muted, except for the first two Ghosts. But the voices are very good, Kate Winslet sings a lovely song, the mice are fun, and the non-traditional elements do add a different perspective to the familiar story.

Running time: 77 minutes

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas is a loose adaptation of A Christmas Carol from Warner Bros. Animation. The studio released it on DVD in November 2006, and it then premiered as a holiday special on the Cartoon Network in December. Unlike some other cartoon versions of the story, Bah, Humduck! doesn’t have the familiar cartoon characters playing the Dickens characters. Instead, most of the Looney Tunes characters appear as themselves, with attributes that evoke Dickens’s characters.

The film stars Daffy Duck (voiced by Joe Alaskey) as a modern version of Ebenezer Scrooge. Daffy is the greedy owner of the “Lucky Duck” megastore. As the movie makes clear from the beginning, he thinks only of himself and his money, and he will resort to anything to make or save a buck. As he says at one point, “Who needs a white Christmas when you can have a green one instead?”

Bugs Bunny introduces the story and reappears periodically to try to prod Daffy’s conscience, which needs a lot of prodding. When several small children tell Daffy they’re collecting donations for needy families, he replies. “Well, that’s an interesting spin on trespassing, pandering, and illegal solicitation. Scram!” He instructs an employee to triple the prices on everything: “Parents are suckers this time of year!”

Instead of having only one employee to mistreat, as Scrooge does in Dickens’s book, Daffy has a whole storeful of minions, led by Porky Pig, his assistant manager. When Porky cautiously complains that he can’t afford the doll his daughter wants for Christmas, Daffy suggests he should stop eating. When employees ask for time off on Christmas, he announces instead that the store will open at 5 a.m.

In the office, Daffy is visited by the ghost of Sylvester the Investor (Sylvester the cat), a ruthless rival businessman whom Daffy admired. Sylvester warns Daffy to change his ways. Instead, Daffy locks himself in his vault to “roll around in my money.” But the Ghost of Christmas Past (Granny, with Tweety at her side) finds him and takes him to the orphanage where he spent his unhappy childhood. His takeaway: to survive, be as selfish as possible.

Daffy’s visit from the Ghost of Christmas Present (Yosemite Sam) is filled with characteristic verbal and physical Looney Tunes humor, including the spirit flushing Daffy down a toilet—cartoon physics at its best. But again, Daffy seems to learn nothing.

So it’s up to the terrifying third Ghost (the Tasmanian Devil). In the churchyard, Porky and his daughter Priscilla are visitng Daffy’s grave. Porky notes that the store has been closed and all the employees are out of a job, but at least now they can spend Christmas with their families. Priscilla says she’ll visit the grave every Christmas, because on Christmas everyone is family. This finally appears to do the trick. Daffy asks for a second chance.

Back at the store, when the exhausted employees trudge in at 5 a.m., Daffy surprises them with a big party and gifts for all. He almost succumbs to second thoughts (“I’m going to go broke!”), until Priscilla brings him Christmas cookies and calls him Uncle Daffy. Porky toasts him as the greatest boss ever.

It’s not exactly Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim in Victorian London, but in between all the classic Looney Tunes humor and slapstick, Bah, Humduck! delivers the same message. If you want to warm your heart and have a lot of laughs along the way, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas is the one to watch.

Running time: 46 minutes

Disney’s 2009 version of A Christmas Carol has a unique feel, distinct among the animated versions featured in this article, thanks to the digital 3-D performance capture process used by director Robert Zemeckis to create the movie. Because the characters on screen are avatars of live actors, the film has a quasi-live-action feel.

Jim Carrey plays Ebenezer Scrooge at various ages, as well as all three of the Christmas spirits who come to haunt him. Other actors also play multiple characters, including Bob Hoskins (Fezziwig and Old Joe), Gary Oldman (Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, and Tiny Tim), and Robin Wright (Fan and Belle). Carrey won a Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie, and by and large, all the acting performances are excellent.

The film opens on December 24, 1836—seven years before Dickens published A Christmas Carol—with Scrooge signing the death certificate of his partner, Jacob Marley. Scrooge quickly reveals his skinflint character when he reluctantly gives the undertaker two gold coins, only to recoup his loss by removing the coins from the eyes of Marley’s corpse. “Tuppence is tuppence,” he says.

The story picks up seven years later on Christmas Eve, with Scrooge in his office ill-treating his nephew Fred, the two solicitors, and Cratchit, as Dickens describes in the book. In the next scene, with Marley’s ghost, the dialogue is quite faithful to Dickens. But visual touches enhance the encounter: Scrooge tumbles backwards down the stairs when Marley roars at him, and then watches in horror as Marley’s jaw flops loose when he bellows, “Mankind was my business!”

Scrooge’s nighttime travels with the three spirits follow a similar pattern: they are largely faithful to Dickens’s story, but additional visual details augment some of the scenes. For example, Fezziwig’s party looks especially fun as the rotund Mrs. Fezziwig’s dance moves defy the laws of physics. Later, when Scrooge asks the Ghost of Christmas Present if Tiny Tim will live, the spirit’s face morphs into Scrooge’s as he repeats Scrooge’s line about decreasing the surplus population.

In my opinion, some of the visual additions are ill-conceived. The scene in which pent-up energy from the Ghost of Christmas Past shoots Scrooge out into space is over the top. Scrooge’s treatment by the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is also bizarre—it includes a very long scene in which Scrooge is chased through the streets and the sewers and ends up the size of a mouse, with a squeaky voice to match.

Several additions to the dialogue reinforce Dickens’s message about the spirit of Christmas. One of the most notable is Christmas Present’s reply to Scrooge’s criticism of the shops closing on Christmas when poor people need them most: “Hear me, Scrooge. There are some upon this earth of yours who claim to know me and my brothers and do their deeds of selfishness and ill will in our name. These so-called men of the cloth are as strange to me and my kin as if they never lived. Charge their doings to them, not us.”

Despite my criticisms of a few details, I think the movie is consistent with the spirit of the original story, as well as very entertaining. It beautifully recreates many details of Dickens’s London of the 1840s and features stunning and scary special effects that brilliantly bring to life the imaginative ghost story that Dickens created.

Running time: 94 minutes

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is a musical version of the Dickens classic from U.K.-based Timeless Films. It was released in select U.S. theaters on November 18, 2022, and began streaming on Netflix on December 2, 2022. Stephen Donnelly directed the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Leslie Bricusse.

Bricusse had written the screenplay for the 1970 live-action musical Scrooge, starring Albert Finney, and this film is essentially an animated adaptation of that one. Bricusse wrote the songs, re-working some he wrote for the 1970 movie and adding new ones. The 1970 version of one repeated song, “Thank You Very Much,” was nominated for an Oscar.

The lively musical vibe of the movie is established with the opening scene. On Christmas Eve, a young man—Scrooge’s nephew (called Harry here and voiced by Fra Fee)—dances through the streets of London singing “I Love Christmas,” an up-tempo number that would feel right at home kicking off a Broadway musical. The film includes ten songs in all, plus a reprise of “I Love Christmas.” The performers sing very well, although the songs themselves vary in quality.

The plot is only somewhat faithful to Dickens’s novella. The basics are there, of course: Ebenezer Scrooge (Luke Evans) is an unrepentent miser who is visited first by the ghost of his late partner, Jacob Marley (voiced by Jonathan Pryce) and then by three spirits who conduct Scrooge on tours of the past, present, and future. And when Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning he’s a new, better man. But numerous scenes are omitted, added, or revamped.

Several changes add interesting background details to the story. For example: It’s revealed that Scrooge hates Christmas and disdains his nephew because his sister died giving birth to the nephew on Christmas Day. Scrooge’s fiancée (called Isabel here and voiced by Jessie Buckley), is Fezziwig’s daughter rather than just a girl that Scrooge met at Fezziwig’s party, making it even sadder that their engagement was broken. And not only has Scrooge been treating Bob Cratchit poorly as his clerk, but when Bob was a boy, Scrooge accompanied Marley (portrayed as a classic villain with a twirled moustache) as he evicted Bob’s father from his bakery shop.

The best of the three ghosts is Past (Olivia Colman), who looks like Scrooge’s candle come to life, a shape-shifting yellowish wax figure with fire coming out of her head. The character is an imaginative update of Dickens’s description. She mimics and mocks Scrooge at every turn—her imitation of Scrooge blathering on about why he didn’t marry Isabel is especially funny.

The movie’s portrayal of the Ghost of Christmas Present is bizarre, more out of science fiction than Victorian England. Christmas Future is an appropriately scary, black-cloaked figure with burning red eyes. As in the 1970 movie, Scrooge’s visit to the future begins with him misinterpreting a celebration of his death.

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol got mixed reviews when it came out. Although I like the overall bright look of the movie, I don’t love some of the design choices. For instance, all the human characters are smooth-faced and most are very tall and thin, and Scrooge looks as young as any other one, except for his gray hair.

The best part of the movie is Scrooge’s visit to the past with Olivia Colman’s sassy, shape-shifting spirit. This portion of the movie is fairly long, and it’s worth every minute. The rest of the movie is enjoyable too, but watch it for Scrooge’s visit to the past.

Running time: 96 minutes

There are additional animated adaptations of A Christmas Carol that didn’t make my list of the top dozen versions. Those who are fans of the “All Dogs Go to Heaven” franchise, for example, may want to take a look at An All Dogs Christmas Carol. It’s fun, although it does stray a long way from the Dickens story.

But you can’t go wrong with one of the movies on the list above. Whether you’re in the mood for a faithful reproduction of the Dickens book or a high-energy cartoon adaptation, there’s an animated version of A Christmas Carol that will fit the bill.

No matter which one (or more) you choose, Charles Dickens’s little “ghost story” is sure to brighten your Christmas season.