An animated experience. (Christmas Carol - The Movie (DVD))

Member Name: honest_ed

Product:	Christmas Carol - The Movie (DVD)
Date:	13/01/02 (167 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good story, Good cast

Disadvantages: Poor animation, Lost momentum in parts

I had the good fortune to attend the premiere of this movie as part of the totally awesome Cinemagic international film festival for young people which is held annually in Belfast. I was really looking forward to the experience, not just because of the occasion, but also because I like the story and, most important of all, I was accompanied by my 10-year-old daughter. The involvement of highly respected actors, including Nicolas Cage, Kate Winslett and Simon Callow, added to expectation that we were in for a real treat.

As there were no reviews available, I did not know what to expect but, having seen a number of versions of the story, including the rather enjoyable Muppets one, I did not anticipate any real surprises. The opening sequences, with real people, centred around Dickens telling his story to an audience and were fine, although I thought the use of mice to link into the main body of the animated film was a bit naff. The storyline kept broadly faithful to the original, which was a relief as the tagging on of “The Movie” to the film title had me worried that it would be irreparably messed about with.

By the end of this film, as the credits rolled up to the surprisingly pleasant voice of Kate Winslett, my overall impression was one of disappointment. There were two main reasons for this. Firstly, I found it difficult to hold my attention to the film. At parts, it seemed to drag out a little too much and I thought that it struggled to engage its audience. But the main source of my disappointment was the quality of the animation. Animated films have been enjoying a bit of a resurgence in recent years through Toy Story, Antz and the magnificent Shrek as well as offerings from the Disney camp among others. As an art form, it has evolved significantly and we now have a variety of approaches being used, from traditional two-dimensional to state-of-the-art computer generated 3-D images. Such variety is no bad thing.
r>Christmas Carol was in the traditional mode but I have to admit, the animation left me cold. I thought the colours were flat, as were the characters, and I had reservations about the consistency and overall quality of animation in the film.

I had set out really wanting to enjoy this film, but in the end I found it very disappointing and could not recommend it. But I will end with a word of caution about my opinion. My daughter thought it was a great film, bought the Kate Winslett song and wanted to go again when the film went on general release. It just goes to show that grown-ups may not always be the best judges.