Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Favorite Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is one of the stories I have experienced the most in my life. Each year, I either read the story, watch the play, or watch an adaptation. This list has many different takes on the story that I have loved over the years. They are my top recommendations for those looking for new takes on such a classic story. It will always be one of my favorites.
1. BTE (Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble) A Christmas Carol play
- The BTE is a theater near where I live that puts on various plays every year. We go to see them almost every year and have always loved their performances, especially their holiday show. I cannot even tell you how many of their performances I have seen, but they are always wonderful. They have put on a version of A Christmas Carol many different times and I have seen four or five of their performances of it over the years. Below there is an audio radio version that they did a few years ago. I will be listening to this version this year.
The two pictures below are from past productions they have done. The first is from our local newspaper from 2012 and it shows a huge puppet they made for The Ghost of Christmas Present. It is one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life. I wish I could have found a better picture of it online. The second picture is of the cast of their 2021 production.
2. Miracle at Christmas: Ebbie's Story movie
- My grandmother was a big fan of the soap opera All My Children and she loved Susan Lucci. This was one of the movies she and I would watch every Christmas over at her house. Susan Lucci plays a female version of Scrooge, who is named Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge. It is a modern-day take on the story. I have not watched it since Grandma passed away and I think I might have to do so this year.
3. Episode of Highway to Heaven called "Another Song for Christmas"
- One of my mother's favorite shows is Highway to Heaven and she watches it quite often. This is a great show that I enjoy watching. Last summer, my mom, aunt, and I were watching this episode together when we were visiting my aunt. It is a modern day take on the story, with a heartless car salesman playing the "Scrooge" role in the story. Definitely, a great take on the story that I highly enjoy.
4. Muppet Christmas Carol movie
- I haven't watched Muppet Christmas Carol in so many years but I always loved it. It is definitely one of the best takes on the story and it holds a special place in my heart. I will be watching this in December. Cannot wait to revisit this classic.
5. The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
- One of my favorite Young Adult books from recent years. It is a contemporary take on the classic story where a spoiled teenager, Holly Chase is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve, who try to get her to mend her ways. She does not and then she dies. Most of the book follows her working at Project Scrooge as the new Ghost of Christmas Past. Her life changes when she meets the new "Scrooge" character. This is a brilliant take on the story and I look forward to picking it up again.
6. William Shakespeare's Christmas Carol by Ian Doescher- play
- Two of my favorite things A Christmas Carol and Shakespeare plays. Ian Doescher is famous for his Shakespearean versions of the Star Wars movies (which are very good) and this is his take on if Shakespeare wrote A Christmas Carol. It has many references to Shakespeare's plays and many of his characters playing the famous roles. My favorites are Puck (from A Midsummer Night's Dream) as The Ghost of Christmas Past and The Witches (from Macbeth) as the thieves. Such a clever take that I highly recommend.
7. Harvey Kurtzman's Marley's Ghost adaptation by Harvey Kurtzman, (expanded by Gideon Kendall (artist), Josh O'Neill, Shannon Wheeler)
- I had a great time reading through this graphic novel adaptation of the story. The illustrations were stunning and fit very well with Scrooge’s adventure. It keeps with the story beats for the most part and also has many of the famous original lines. My favorite graphic novel adaptations are ones like this which are able to keep the story intact but make it fit for the medium. This does a great job.
8. The Merry Beggars: A Christmas Carol Advent Calendar
- Last year, I listened to the Merry Beggars A Christmas Carol advent calendar throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas. It was such a wonderful experience that I highly recommend to fans of the story. When Charles Dickens first wrote A Christmas Carol he would do readings of it, this is made as if he is doing one of those readings. It has music and sound effects along with the story being told. I will share both the advent version here and also full almost three hour version that was made of it.
9. Disney's A Christmas Carol (2009) movie
- This movie is a great version of the original story, which highly surprised me when I watch it. I am not the biggest fan of this type of animation style but I liked it in this movie. It helps make the ghosts have a semi-creepy presence in Scrooge's tale. Jim Carrey does a great job playing Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. I remember it being very close to the source material, but I haven't seen it in many years.
10. Mickey's Christmas Carol movie
-The first version of A Christmas Carol I ever saw was Mickey's Christmas Carol which I used to watch every year at Christmas when I was a child. It is a much shorter version of the story but they do a descent job sticking with the major story beats. This short holds so many great memories for me and will always be a favorite for me.
Some others I want to check out soon:
- Muppet Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Holiday Classic by Brooke Vitale and illustrated by Luke Flowers- I have wanted to check out this book version of one of my favorite movies for years and might just do so this year.
- The Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley- I've heard that this is an interesting take on A Christmas Carol story dealing with two new characters, Sam and Lizzie, who are freezing and hungry living on the streets. Sam asks Scrooge for some money and is turned away. He vows to kill Scrooge after this. Sam meets some spirits similarly to how Scrooge does in the original and they take him on a journey. Definitely will be picking up this one sometime in December.
- Mr. Dickens and His Carol by Samantha Silva- A reimagined take on how Charles Dickens came up with the idea to write A Christmas Carol. I love fictionalized versions of author's lives and inspiration, so I definitely want to pick this book up. It was one of the books I found this year at a book sale that I have been saving for Christmastime. I cannot wait to read it.
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