Byron Brubaker (hypathio7)

What a difference this new 3-D technology makes! Very enjoyable! Nice sturdy, Buddy Holly type glasses that fit over prescription glasses easily bring depth and life to the images. This isn't the type of 3-D entertainment you see at amusement parks. This movie feels very grounded in reality (with a couple exceptions) because of the life-like depth created by the 3-D animation. Also the motion capture effects have been greatly improved, especially for the main characters. They don't look so plastic anymore.

The story is very faithful to Dickens' novel. The exceptions to the movie feeling live action include Fezziwig's dancing, Scrooge rolling a barrel like a circus performer while being chased by Yet to Come, and Scrooge becoming miniaturized to take a ride down a drain pipe and on an icicle like a soon to be created Disney theme park ride. So much of the movie succeeded in giving justice to the time period, original story, and language though. The animation allowed the filmmakers to be creative storytellers without being physically limited. I forgot I was watching an animated movie at times! Even though this is Disney, this is no kiddie Mickey's Christmas Carol. Marley's ghost, the three spirits, and Scrooge's grave are rendered with real suspense. They are quite frightening for a PG film. Carey and Oldman do a great job with the bulk of the characters. The supporting cast contributes strong turns as well. A satisfying telling of the classic Christmas tale.

Terrible, awful, rip-off of King Kong. I like the old arcade game Rampage and the new update. You're a giant gorilla, or lizard, or wolf, or other monster and you smash buildings apart. This does not make a satisfying plot for a movie though! The A*P*E stomps and punches through lots of plywood models, swats at a hang glider and a few helicopters, throws oil barrels and rocks that all explode on contact, and of course wrestles with a rubber shark. It's all done with unbelievably bad effects. In a good portion of the early scenes, which are set at night, you can hardly see the A*P*E. Video clips are looped (especially military vehicles) and audio sound bites are looped (especially the blond actress's screaming) for grating effect. The 3-D tech was such an eye sore. Every time I tilted my head thinking, "Huh!?" or "Really?!," the image merging effect was destroyed. You had to keep your head still. You had to really work at seeing the 3-D depth and it was lame and gimmicky anyways.

I've read all the books, and even though it takes liberties with a few things, I still love it. In this most well-known adaptation, the special effects for the time, the technicolor, the quotable lines, and the simple values of brain, heart, courage, and home are what make it great. It'll always be my favorite!

This was a Disney after-school TV series, but the first few (to-be-continued) episodes were edited together to make this feature length video. It's not what you'd expect from a Disney cartoon- it's darker, more dramatic, a great mix of sci-fi and fantasy, with mythical and Shakespearian characters, and many Star Trek actors providing voices. I stand by my 5-star rating for the story of these heroes!