By Jolie Nguyen, Staff Writer

It is almost Christmas time and students are going to have a long break. This week’s movie review is going to be a movie based on a Charles Dickens novel called “A Christmas Carol”.

The movie is written by and directed by Robert Zemeckis first published in 1843 in London, UK by Chapman and Hall. The movie was released by Disney Digital 3D in November of 2009 by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

The story begins with the death of Jacob Marley, Ebenezer Scrooge’s partner. Scrooge is a rude, old man that hates Christmas and refuses to enjoy any activities for Christmas. Seven years after Marley’s death, his ghost suddenly appears in front of Scrooge’s house. Marley’s ghost is chained and he comes to Scrooge to warn his partner about the same fate. 

Marley’s ghost tells Scrooge about the three spirits that will emerge and visit him. Scrooge must take heed, or else, he will endure the same fate as Marley, which is being chained even heavier than Marley. 

The first spirit, the “Ghost of Christmas Past”, brings Scrooge back to his childhood when he was still an innocent child.

The second spirit, the “Ghost of Christmas Present”, brings him to the scene of a joyous market where people are buying items and food for Christmas decorations and celebrations.

The third spirit, the “Ghost of Christmas yet to come”, brings him to the scene of the future Christmas, where he sees his own death, a lonely funeral with no one present that has any sympathy toward him. 

Throughout the movie, audiences can clearly see the changing within Scrooge’s personality. The main theme of the movie is the transformation of Scrooge, from a rude, old man who hates Christmas, to becoming a happy, good, old man who starts to love Christmas.

By going through three spirits that represent three different stages of his life, Scrooge can watch himself through another perspective and be able to feel the sympathy toward other people.

The moment when Scrooge sees his own death is the trigger for him to change himself. He does not want to be isolated forever. The heavy chain that Marley talked about is actually his own loneliness. If he does not change, he will be lonely forever. 

The movie is a horror cartoon that can haunt young audiences but it delivers a great message with a moral meaning. At the end of the movie, the change of Scrooge is the moral of the story.

With colorful animated pictures, contrasted with the darkness of the ghost scenes, audiences can sense the chill of the movie during Christmas. For horror fans, this is a great holiday movie to be shown on Christmas.