I always thought the Mr. Magoo version was the ultimate!
Jim Carrey to play Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Jim Carrey, who brought Dr. Seuss' Grinch to life on the big screen, will soon play another holiday curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge, and three ghosts who haunt him, in a computerized remake of "A Christmas Carol," the Walt Disney Co. said on Friday.
Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis will direct the movie from his own script, based on the Charles Dickens classic novel, a Disney spokeswoman said.
The movie will blend live action with 3-D digital animation and a computer-graphics style called "performance capture," which Zemeckis used in his 2004 holiday adventure "The Polar Express" and his upcoming film "Beowulf," the spokeswoman said.
Zemeckis, the Academy Award-winning director of Tom Hanks' 1994 hit drama "Forrest Gump," wrote his "Christmas Carol" screenplay specifically for Carrey, who will portray the miserly Scrooge through various periods of his life. Carrey also will play the ghosts of Christmases past, present and future who visit Scrooge.
The movie will be produced through Zemeckis' production company, ImageMovers Digital, and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. No release date has been set.
Several Internet sites have reported that Bob Hoskins, who starred in Zemeckis' 1988 live-action/animated comedy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," also has been cast in "A Christmas Carol" but Disney said no such deal is in place.
Carrey, 45, is no stranger to playing holiday-season heavies, having starred seven years ago as the title character in the Ron Howard-directed "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," based on the popular Dr. Seuss story.
"Grinch" was a huge box-office hit, but in recent years Carrey has suffered through a string of flops such as "Fun with Dick and Jane" and "The Number 23."
Dickens' classic tale of a bitter, old merchant given a Christmas Eve chance at redemption has been adapted many times for TV and the movies, including two Hollywood versions -- 1938's "A Christmas Carol" starring Reginald Owen as Scrooge and 1951's "Scrooge," with Alastair Sim in the title role.
Oh no! This doesn't sound all too appealing to me. And as much of a scrooge that I am (both against Christmas and Charles Dickens), I love A Christmas Carol. My favorite version is probably Scrooge from the 50's, and then the muppets version.
The Mr. Magoo version is how I learned the story as a kid. And it scared me. A lot.
But I was very fortunate to see both Roger Daltrey and Tim Curry starring as Scrooge in the musical version.
It's interesting that they're casting Jim Carrey in the role that Tim Curry was so great in, because as we've discussed in the past, Tim Curry should've played The Grinch - not Jim Carrey!
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"Tell me, does it move you, Does it soothe you, Does it fill your heart and soul with the roots of rock & roll? When you can't get through it you can listen to it with a 'na na na na', Well I've been there before" -"Been There Before" by Hanson
