Saturday, December 21, 2019

Christmas Carol Comparison, Pt. 7



THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Along with GCF, he’s my favorite character.  His rightful judgment of Scrooge’s selfishness complements his positive façade. He’s often sardonic.  He has potential to be a rare heroic example of one of my favorite villainous temperaments.





10. JIM CARREY
A Christmas Carol (2009)
The use of colors is particularly rich with this character, and his performance is surprising effective.  He adds some glib humor to the role.  His exit is one of the most needlessly overdone moments in the film, and the interpretation of Ignorance and Want trades creepiness for ridiculousness.  This adaptation adds an anti-religious dig at "men of the cloth," which brings this version down in the ranking.  It seems particularly at odds with his Judeo-Christian moralizing.




9. CAROL KANE
Scrooged
Cloud Cuckoolanders can be very tiresome unless they’re creative enough, and this grating harpy is no exception.  Her “humor” consists solely of randomly kicking Frank in the crotch (without any clever timing or context) her “look how goofy I am” demeanor.




8. WILLIE THE GIANT
Will Ryan, Mickey’s Christmas Carol

A clumsy, but surprisingly sensible, version of a character who matches the role in appearance, if not personality.  





7. YOSEMITE SAM
Maurice LaMarche, Bah, Humduck!
An appropriate choice. His antagonistic attitude matches the character.  While he and Granny both physically abuse Daffy, he actually does so effectively in one moment in which he accentuates a point by punching Daffy in the arm.




6. FELIX FELTON
A Christmas Carol (1971)
A competent version of the character who boasts the one flaw in the movie’s animation: Chest hair that looks like a brown manbra.  Ignorance and Want are particularly terrifying in this one.




5. JESSE L. MARTIN 
A Christmas Carol: The Musical
A good choice of actor, but this is brought down substantially by an incredibly tedious and pointless song number.




4. DESMOND BARRIT
A Christmas Carol (1999)
Another decent, faithful version.  This one focuses more on sadness.




3. FRANCIS DeWOLFF
Scrooge (1951)
Breaking the tie for coming first.  The booming voice is nice.




2. JERRY NELSON
The Muppet Christmas Carol
The obvious runner-up for having the sense to realize that it wasn’t going to top the 1984 version. Instead, the character’s jolliness is emphasized while maintaining solemnity for appropriate moments.  He sings the most energetic and enjoyable song in the movie.




1. EDWARD WOODWARD
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Seriously, there is no touching this guy, the absolute GOAT.  This is a man who is 100% done with Scrooge’s shit.  His emotions range from sardonic laughter, to seething contempt, to full-blown rage.  It’s all justified.  Martin Wood as body double.






HONORABLE MENTION:
GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST
David Johansen, Scrooged
He’d rank as #3 between the 1951 and Muppet versions.


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