Disney have unveiled the Japanese trailer for their forthcoming version of
A Christmas Carol, and by doing so have served up a smattering of fresh footage from this latest in a looooooong line of big-screen adaptations of Charles Dickens’ seasonal classic. But, while there is surely no doubt that plenty of effort and endeavour has been parlayed into the creation of the movie’s 3D motion capture animation, the indications seem to be that the finished product is going to lack the kind of idiosyncratic charm promised by a
Fantastic Mr. Fox , and fall short of the sheer quality offered by an
Up.
Unlike the domestic trailer, this new international edition refrains from wasting thirty seconds of its running time by simply reeling off the prior credits of writer-director Robert Zemeckis, and instead gives us more Scrooging action as reward for our viewing efforts. We get to see Jim Carrey’s Ebenezer Scrooge (who sounds a wee bit like a Caledonian Homer Simpson) indulging in some characteristically mean-spirited snippiness, before his mind is spun out by an encounter with a freaky green door-knocker. Compared to previously glimpsed trailers, we this time get a much better look at the Brian Blessed-alike Ghost of Christmas Present (Carrey again, and the rubber-faced one also tackles the roles of the flame-headed Ghost of Christmas Past and the shadowy Ghost of Christmas Future), as well as briefly seeing the young Scrooge, back before he turned into a bitter old curmudgeon.
With Carrey taking on the aforementioned quartet of acting roles in
A Christmas Carol, Gary Oldman also grabs a slice of the multiple-parts racket, with the British thesp playing Scrooge’s ill-fated business partner, Jacob Marley, his downtrodden employee Bob Cratchit, and Cratchit’s wheezing yet winning young son, Tiny Tim.
A Christmas Carol is due for release on the not-really-that-Christmassy date of 6 November.
Were one to receive a visit from the Ghost of
A Christmas Carol’s movie past then you would really have to settle in for the long haul, so ubiquitous has Dickens’ source writing been as a movie property over the years. It’s been done with real people, Disney ducks, Muppets, and there was another animated take on it as recently as 2001. Meanwhile, Zemeckis has been beavering away on his motion capture shtick for a while now - his
Polar Express and
Beowulf both attracting interest, without receiving particularly fulsome critical endorsement. And again,
A Christmas Carol looks as if it might fail to deliver the blend of hyperrealism and cinematic wonder that the technology promises. Yes, there are some nice effects on show, but the characters appear to be a curious mix of detailed faces and awkward limbs. Which means it looks like
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is going to continue its lengthy reign as Zemeckis’ most satisfying foray into animation. Still, at least the dulcet tones of the Japanese trailer-voiceover man were really rather soothing. Can we get him on all trailers? Very therapeutic indeed.
Source:
Latino Review 
December 08, 2007, 07:51:12 AM
