 "Photo: Courtesy Photo")
We all know the holiday tale of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," but Walt Disney Pictures and director Robert Zemeckis have decided to share the story of Ebenezer Scrooge yet again. With more than 50 stage, film and television adaptations in just the past few decades, the latest cinematic version will rely on 3D animation technology to set itself apart from the pack.
"You have the underlying intellectual material, which is what Dickens wrote, and you embellish it with music, and you embellish it with color, and you embellish it with performance, and now with what is the 3-D aspect … we've been able to really immerse the audience in Dickensian London," said Zemeckis in an Oct. 26 teleconference.
Zemeckis said the modern animation remains more true to the original 1843 novella because it allows moviemakers to delve further into the fantasy of the tale, capturing more of the spectacular and surreal tone with which Dickens penned his story.
There are no cameras involved in the movie-making process, at least in the traditional sense. Actors perform scenes in stages surrounded by infrared lights, which detect movements from sensors placed strategically on the actors' joints, facial features and even pores. This digital performance is captured on a hard drive, which is fleshed out with digital hair, skin and clothing by animators. The virtual actors are then placed in animated settings, and then computers are used to finally "shoot" the scene.
Zemeckis said his cast, which includes Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth and Robin Wright Penn, liked that they could focus on pure acting without relying on costumes, makeup, or elaborate backdrops. The actors also enjoyed being able to record entire scenes at once and act all day, something uncommon when shooting live-action films.
"[The actors] immediately fall in love with it within the first hour of working because they realize it's all about performance," Zemeckis said.
This style of animation, which allows actors' full use of their bodies, as opposed to simple reliance on their voices, was in alignment with Carrey's acting style, Zemeckis said. The director said this served as an outlet of creativity for the performers because he was not willing to compromise on maintaining the original Edwardian-Victorian English dialogue.
"This role called for a very much straightforward dramatic performance, so no one was going to tamper with Mr. Dickens," Zemeckis said. "Most of Carrey's improv came from doing physical things that just gave Scrooge this magnificent characterization. The amazing thing with Jim when he acts is his whole body acts."
While Zemeckis did not write the script with Carrey specifically in mind for the role of Scrooge, he said it became apparent to him that he was the first and only choice for a role demanding a great sense of humor and a strong grasp on drama.
Carrey, who also starred in the holiday family film "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," plays not only Ebenezer Scrooge at different stages in his life, but also the three Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. He gives each ghost a slightly different dialect, ranging from Irish to Scottish to Queen's English.
"I felt that, you know, I've got a great actor who can do any kind of character, so it was the logical extension in my mind that these ghosts would be the extension of [Scrooge's] ego," Zemeckis said.
To balance out the modern day technology, the soundtrack for the film incorporates various traditional Christmas melodies and the talents of a 102-piece orchestra and 50-person choir.
"We don't get that much these days, with everything being digital," Zemeckis said.
The musical score is arranged by Alan Silvestri, who has won both an Oscar and a Grammy for his work on "Forrest Gump" and "The Polar Express." "A Christmas Carol" will also feature an original song titled "God Bless Us Everyone," which is inspired by Tiny Tim's famous line at the end of the story. The song was recorded by the internationally famous tenor Andrea Bocelli.
"It's a sweet and majestic song with a pleasantly surprising evocative power which suffuses our senses and tells us about the triumph of forgiveness and redemption," Bocelli said in a press release. Bocelli recorded the song in English and Spanish, as well as his native Italian.
The film aims for a traditionalist approach with a captivating amount of technological magic. While Zemeckis said he "realized this is a great form to reintroduce classic stories in a new way to a new generation of moviegoers," his final hope is for the film to lead audiences to the literary classic.
"What I'd like people to take away is that it's really one of the greatest stories every written. Maybe you'll want to go back and read it after you see the movie, which would be great," Zemeckis said.
The film was released in both conventional and IMAX theatres nationwide today.
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