Interview with “A Christmas Carol” actor Jim Carrey (voice of Ebenezer Scrooge) – J!-ENT Interviews and Articles

Images courtesy of © Walt Disney Studios Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

With the upcoming release of “A Christmas Carol″ on Blu-ray and DVD on November 16th, J!-ENT will be featuring interviews with the talent behind the voices of the characters of the popular Christmas animated film. Our first interview is with talented actor/comedian Jim Carrey who plays the Scrooge / Ghost of Christmas Past / Scrooge as a Young Boy / Scrooge as a Teenage Boy / Scrooge as a Young Man / Scrooge as a Middle-Aged Man / Ghost of Christmas Present / Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Here is the interview with Jim Carrey:

You are well known for tackling highly physical and comedic roles. Was that part of the attraction of playing Ebenezer Scrooge in the new movie, A Christmas Carol?

This role was a dream come true. Playing Scrooge was challenging in every possible way and I had to use everything I had to make this character work, but it was a wonderful, wonderful challenge. It’s something I will never forget because it was a fantastic experience. You find yourself standing in the middle of an empty warehouse wearing a ridiculous motion capture suit with balls all over it. You’re wearing a hat with pincers attached to it, with cameras pointing right into your face and you have to act as hard as you’ve acted before. You have to create a whole new world in your head – and you have to make it believable for the audience. It was a great challenge for me. I couldn’t be more proud of this movie.

It sounds like you had a pretty unreal experience shooting the movie…

To be honest, it was wonderful to work with all this new technology. It was incredibly exciting to work with motion capture because I couldn’t wait to see what the performances would turn into. It was certainly a little odd to be dancing around in the suit in front of loads of cameras, but it was also fun. You’re on a motion capture stage and there are grids and outlines of furniture and props, but you have to create the mood in your head. It’s certainly a little more difficult than doing a regular film where you’re helped by the scenery, costumes and props around you. It’s also an odd thing to stare at your acting partners and have two prongs sticking out of your head with HD cameras attached to it.

What was your most bizarre experience during the shooting of the movie?

I had a lot of face-to-face scenes with Gary Oldman and at one point he said to me, “I wanted to work with you, but I never imagined it would be like this. It’s like acting on Mars!” He not only had the pincers and the cameras staring at this face, but he was also on a crane for 90% of his performance. You have to transcend all of that and give a performance and believe it. It was a daunting prospect, but the process soon became very comfortable, especially with the help of the director, Robert Zemeckis. He made things very easy. It was a nice atmosphere on the set. It all worked out well.

How much faith did you have in the director?

It’s so important to trust your captain on any project you work on. It’s important to have faith and to love their work. I always knew this was going to be a beautiful movie – and it is.

How tough was it to play loads of different roles in A Christmas Carol?

The wonderful thing about this digital process is that I can be cast in roles that I would never be cast in. If I have it in my soul to play a character, it doesn’t matter what my face looks like, or my age. I find that really liberating. It was a huge challenge to play all these different characters, but that’s what made the movie fun for me. I wanted to give each character a distinctly different accent from the UK, which was another challenge for me. However, it was a challenge I was looking forward to working on.

How did you decide on the different accents for the various characters you play in the movie?

I used many different avenues, but they were all shepherded by Barbara Berkery, who is a wonderful voice coach. The Ghost of Christmas Future was a tribute to Marcel Marceau and I chose a Yorkshire accent – from Sheffield – for the Ghost of Christmas Present because I felt he was really connected to the common man. Nobody enjoys Christmas like the common man. He has an innate need to party and an innate need to enjoy the Christmas season, so I felt that was appropriate.

What about the other characters?

I thought Irish would be cool for the Ghost of Christmas Past because the Irish are very good with old stories. They are wonderful at reminiscing about old times and the way things used to be. I went for a very gentle, dreamy voice from Ireland for this character. I’ve got Irish blood on my mother’s side, so it was a tribute to my Irish roots. I put a little bit of myself in there.

How did you come up with the voice of Scrooge?

I had particular pleasure in working on Scrooge. I thought someone like Scrooge would be very careful to speak correctly, but I also wanted his words to cut like a knife. I chose to bring out the pronunciation of words with him and it had a little bit of an exaggeration to it.

How would you describe Scrooge?

I always think the only thing we have to be aware of in this world is the unloved – and Scrooge is certainly there as an unloved character. For a long time, Scrooge desperately tries to cling to whatever is good. He clings to his sister and he clings to the things that he cares about, but life slowly disappoints him over and over again. Scrooge is abandoned.

What do you think Scrooge was like as a child?

Children try to think positively about their situation and they try to make the best of it – and Scrooge was certainly like that as a child. However, by the time he is 35 years old, he’s done with making the best of life. That void can’t be filled anymore unless he really goes inside himself. However, the ghosts in the movie are his opportunity to do that.

Did you have any concerns about playing such an iconic character and making him your own?

I felt a huge responsibility because A Christmas Carol is one of the greatest stories ever written. However, I was also sure that if I was true to myself and true to my understanding of the character, then everything would be original in its own way.

What do you think of the look of your Scrooge?

It’s a little bizarre, but the character looks exactly like my father. It is really spooky. If you take away the pointed nose and the chin, that is the exact look of my father, so I got a glimpse of what I’ll look like when I’m old. What a scary thought.

What makes your version of A Christmas Carol different to other Scrooge movies?

I hate to compare movies. All I will say is that this new movie is a really beautiful holiday film. It’s got everything. You get the scares. You get the catharsis. It’s a beautiful story of redemption – and when is that not popular?

Apart from your new adaptation, what is your favorite version of A Christmas Carol?

When I was a little kid, my favorite version of A Christmas Carol starred Alastair Sim. I used to watch that version every year and I loved it, but Alastair Sim was a man whose face was born to play that part. His whole being had an acid reflux bitterness to it that was splendid to watch. I wanted to have that feeling in my Scrooge; that deep feeling that causes rheumatism. I hope I pulled it off.

DISNEY’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL AVAILABLE ON DVD & BLU-RAY 11/16/10!

A Christmas Carol (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

A wonderful CG animated adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic!  Impressive visuals and a fantastic vocal performance by Jim Carrey.   This film has now become my favorite adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” and on Blu-ray,  you can’t help but love the wonderful picture and lossless audio quality plus the special features.   A magnificent Blu-ray release that is highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © Walt Disney Studios Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: A Christmas Carol

FILM RELEASE: 2008

DURATION: 96 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz/24bit), English 2.0 DVS, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French and Spanish

COMPANY: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

RATED: PG (For Scary Sequences and Images)

Release Date: November 16, 2010

Based on the novel by Charles Dickens

Screenplay and Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Produced by Jack Rapke, Steve Starkey and Robert Zemeckis

Executive Producer: Mark L. Rosen

Co-Producer: Steven J. Boyd

Associate Producer: Katherine C. Concepcion, Heather Kelton

Line Producer: Peter M. Tobyansen

Music by Alan Silvestri

Cinematography by Robert Presley

Edited by Jeremiah O’Driscoll

Casting by Scot Boland, Victoria Burrows, Nina Gold

Production Design by Doug Chiang

Art Direction by Marc Gabbana, Norman Newberry, Mike Stassi

Set Decoration by Karen O’Hara

Featuring the voices of:

Jim Carrey as Scrooge / Ghost of Christmas Past / Scrooge as a Young Boy / Scrooge as a Teenage Boy / Scrooge as a Young Man / Scrooge as a Middle-Aged Man / Ghost of Christmas Present / Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit/Marley/Tiny Tim

Colin Firth as Fred

Robin Wright as Fan/Belle

Jacquie Barnbrook as  Mrs. Fezziwig / Fred’s Sister-in-Law / Well-Dressed Caroler

Bob Hoskins as Mr. Fezziwig/Old joe

Lesley Manville as Mrs. Cratchit

Molly C. Quinn as Belinda Cratchit

Fay Masterson as Martha Cratchit/Guest #1/Caroline

Leslie Zemeckis as Fred’s Wife

Steve Valentine as Funerary Undertaker/Topper

Daryl Sabara as Undertaker’s Apprentice / Tattered Caroler / Beggar Boy / Peter Cratchit / Well-Dressed Caroler

Sage Ryan as Tattered Caroler

From Walt Disney Pictures comes the magical retelling of Charles Dickens’ beloved tale – Disney’s A Christmas Carol, the high-flying, heartwarming adventure for the whole family. When three ghosts take penny-pinching Scrooge on an eye-opening journey, he discovers the true meaning of Christmas – but he must act on it before it’s too late. Complete with spirited bonus features, this exhilarating and touching Disney classic is destined to be part of a family holiday tradition, adding sparkle and heart to all Christmases yet to come.

The Charles Dickens classic has been a popular story since it was first published back in 1843.  Created during a time during the Victorian Era when people were forgetting Christmas traditions, Charles Dickens wanted to create a Christmas tale that was inspired by his humiliating experience of his childhood and his sympathy towards the poor.

A tale that actually came from his love/hate relationship for his own father, the character of Ebenezer Scrooge was inspired by him having to work at a young age because his father was imprisoned and because after his father’s release, he was still forced to work and make money.  So, the cold and stingy character was inspired by his own father, while the discovery of the goodwill of men towards the poor inspired the rebirth of Scrooge.

Needless to say, his perspective towards the intolerance towards the poor made him craft this powerful Christmas tale which would inspire many dramatizations of “A Christmas Carol”.  Even for Walt Disney, the company would do their own version in 1983 titled “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” using Donald Duck as Scrooge and Mickey Mouse as the character of Bob Cratchit.  And in 2009, Disney would once again take on an adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic.

This time around, the studio would experiment with their first film in IMAX 3-D and also release it via Disney Digital 3-D.  The technology would utilize performance capture that was used effectively for “The Polar Express” (2004) and “Beowulf” (2007) and would feature director Robert Zemeckis (known for the “Back to the Future” films, “Cast Away” and “Gothika” and known for animated films such as “The Polar Express”, “Monster House” and “Beowulf”).

So, for this film, a few major talent would partake in the performance capture and also take part in several roles.  The main role of Ebenezer Scrooge would be handled by Jim Carrey (“Bruce Almighty”, “Me, Myself & Irene”, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”, “Yes Man”), the character of Scrooge’s nephew Fred by Colin Firth (“Love Actually”, “The English Patient”, “Easy Virtue”), the character of Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley and Tiny Tim courtesy of Gary Oldman (“The Dark Knight”, “The Professional”, “The Fifth Element”, “Batman Begins”) and the character of Fan and Belle by Robin Wright (“Beowulf”, “Forrest Gump”, “Unbreakable”).

The film was released in theaters in November 2009 and the film which was budgeted around $200 million would make over $323 million worldwide, a major success in the box office. And now the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD and also a Disney Blu-ray 3D (the first 3D film on Blu-ray for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment).

“A Christmas Carol” revolves around the coldhearted, bitter moneylender named Ebenezer Scrooge.  The opening for the film shows him signing a witness form on Christmas day for his deceased former business partner Jacob Marley.   He is not too fond of Christmas activities and would rather focus his life on making and lending money at his counting house business.  While walking to his office, you can see the fear of the neighborhood towards Scrooge, knowing that during the Christmas Holiday, not only is he a cold man, he is very irritable and thus, they try to stay out of his way.

The film then flash forwards to seven years later on Christmas Eve.  Working for Scrooge is Bob Cratchit who doesn’t make much money at his job but he tries to take care of his family with whatever little he makes.  When Scrooge’s nephew Fred comes to invite him to Christmas dinner with the family, Scrooge berates him and tells him that he has no intention in celebrating the holiday.  When a group of people trying to get donations to provide the poor with food on Christmas Day, Scrooge tells them that the poor are better off dying to contribute to the country’s surplus.     And as for Bob Cratchit, Scrooge hates that his employee has to be away from work on Christmas Day but expects him to do some work and come in early.

When Scrooge walks home from work, a strange light shows up at his home.  When Scrooge goes inside his home, a ghost shows up in the middle of his room.  It is his former business partner Jacob Marley who tell shim that he is forced to spend his afterlife chained because of his greedy lifestyle.  Marley gives Scrooge a warning that he will suffer an worse fate if he doesn’t repent but Scrooge has a hard time believing him.  Thus a second spirit of Christmas arrive and the first is The Ghost of Christmas Past.  He takes Scrooge on a journey to visit himself in the past.

We learn that Scrooge was a nice young man growing up but was neglected by his own father and was put in a boarding school and was brought home one Christmas Day thanks to his loving sister Fan. We learn that Fan died when she gave birth to Fred (Scrooge’s nephew).    We also see how Scrooge began to work in the business of money lending and became successful at it.  He would also meet his beloved Belle who he would be engaged to.

But when Scrooge began to become obsessed with making money and growing his wealth, he ended up neglecting Belle and she leaves him. Scrooge is so dismayed that he extinguishes the first spirit.

Scrooge then meets the Ghost of Christmas present and this ghost shows Scrooge how people he knows are having fun on Christmas Day but he sees how people really think of him.  Only his employee Bob Cratchit is grateful for the work that Scrooge has provided him but because he doesn’t make much, Cratchit is poor and to make things worse, his son Tiny Tim is sick and if he doesn’t get help, he will die.  The spirit then warns Scrooge about the evils of Ignorance and Want.

But then Scrooge meets the final spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and Scrooge learns the fate of himself due to greed.  Scrooge sees a dark future of himself and is warned that if he doesn’t change, he will die alone.

But having lived a bitter life for so long… Can Ebenezer Scrooge ever change?

VIDEO:

“A Christmas Carol” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1 aspect ratio) and the first thing that came to my mind was…”wow!”.  I didn’t watch this film when it came out in 2009 but looking at the animation and seeing how much progress there has been since “The Polar Express” and “Beowulf” in terms of capturing near realistic CG, I was quite impressed.  From the skin textures as you can see detail from Scrooge’s face to a kid with his face full of zits, suffice to say, this animation was quite impressive, remarkable and just all out fantastic!

The lighting was also amazing in this film. Vibrant colors, the flicker of the flame and the extending heat from that flame was impressive.  Seeing the various spirits and how well they were animated, especially the hair of the Spirit of Christmas Present, that was pretty awesome.   But just the whole detail of the whole environment, the city, the streets, the surroundings, objects, everything you can think of, it looks fantastic in HD.  Everything is literally detailed.  Movement was well-captured.  The technology has definitely improved since “Beowulf’s” release and once again, this is state of the art animation and another step closer to achieving realism via CG.

Visually, this film just stands out in colors, detail, animation.  Blacks were nice and deep and really, there is nothing negative I can say about the picture quality, it’s perfect!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“A Christmas Carol” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (48 kHz/24-Bit) and English 2.0 DVS along with French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1.  And similar to the picture quality, you also get the immersive soundcape that audiophiles want.    Crisp and clear dialogue through the center channels, sound effects and music through the front channels but also how good the directional sound effects were used for the surround channels.  There is also a good amount of LFE with that slow rumble.

The film has so many action sequences as Scrooge is being whisked away by the Spirits but also when he meets the final spirit, that is when the film starts to really take another leap in terms of action and surround usage.   But it also goes beyond the expected action sequences, from crowd ambiance, creaking wood, clothing and curtains being ruffled, bells, clocks, pounding on tables, “A Christmas Carol” definitely delivers and once again, another category that achieves perfection in this Blu-ray release.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“A Christmas Carol” comes with the following special features:

• Behind The Carol: The Full Motion Capture Experience – A feature length picture-in-picture viewing mode takes the audience behind the scenes of motion capture filmmaking.  Also, features the audio commentary by director Robert Zemeckis.  While watching the film, you can easily toggle what you want to see.  Very in-depth commentary and the fact that you can have control of what you want to see and the inclusion of the full-motion capture experience is fantastic!  Awesome addition to this Blu-ray release.
• Countdown to Christmas Interactive Calendar – 25 days of holiday surprises extend the holiday cheer, as viewers come back to discover what each door holds.
• Deleted Scenes – (8:39) Six deleted scenes on the Blu-ray Disc. (note: CG is not fully rendered)
• Capturing Dickens: A Novel Retelling – (14:43) Actress Jacquie Barnbrook hosts a journey through the creative process of Disney’s “A Christmas Carol”.  Behind-the-scenes of the making of the film, scanning of the characters and its creative format.
• On Set With Sammi – (1:52) Follow Sammi Hanratty, one of the film’s young stars, as she shares a kid’s eye view of an “anything but average” day on the set.

EXTRAS:

“A Christmas Carol” comes with a slip-over cover case.  Also, included is a DVD featuring the feature film and bonus features.  The DVD is presented in 2:40:1 – Enhanced for 16×9 Televisions.  Audio is in English, French, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and English 2.0 DVS.  Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

Throughout my life, the Charles Dickens classic of “A Christmas Carol” is usually a yearly Christmas ritual.  There are various incarnations of this story that I have enjoyed.  From the Steve Martin early ’80s classic to even the Disney animated feature.  But I have to say that this is probably the best adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” that I have watched.

Not only was Jim Carrey fantastic in his vocal role (for many characters), Disney did a fantastic job in choosing him to provide the voice because he nailed the voice of Scrooge perfectly.

But where other adaptations have done a good job in portraying the spirits of Christmas, “A Christmas Carol” for 2009 definitely managed to capture the emotion of fear that haunted Ebenezer Scrooge.  You watch this film and you can understand why he’s scared.  There are quite a bit of scary sequences and even my son had his eyes closed or running back from the hallway and back to the living room because he was scared at times.

That is one thing I have never gotten from “A Christmas Carol” as a child is an adaptation where you actually feel the fear that Scrooge is going through.  So, it’s great to have that animated film in which you can also feel that fear and the soundtrack helped contribute to that.  The lossless audio on Blu-ray really enhances your experience of watching this film as sound does play a good part in enveloping your soundscape of your room and feeling that fear, those rumbles but also the more happier parts of the film which include the overall feeling of Christmas through song, the sound of snow, the bells, it all sounds remarkable on Blu-ray.

Another thing where this film also succeeds is showing us the past.  The film does a great job of showing us how Scrooge had grown up and the challenges he had faced in his life and why he became bitter.  The scene between Scrooge and Belle was fantastic and it was captured quite well in this film.  Also, the Cratchit family was well-presented, showing us Bob’s good heart but also showing us the despair Bob and and his wife feel towards Tiny Tim.  This was well-done!

And of course, the best part of “A Christmas Carol” is how wonderful the film looks.  This is one of the best animated films I have ever seen thus far.  And I’m talking more towards capturing realism in CG.  The skin textures were amazing and how they gave characters a different look was fantastic as some animation studios tend to reuse models with slight changes, in this film, there was actually differences in the people shown throughout the film.  As mentioned, the skin detail was amazing.  From Scrooge’s face and hair, the Spirits of Christmas Present’s hairy beard to the little kid working at the mortuary with his face full of zits, it’s great to see the animators really going all out in the creation of these characters.

And it goes beyond the characters as we see that same detail applied to the city, the whole landscape, the interior objects, the flames, the snow as we see shoes or a carriage driving by and snow being trampled afterward.  This is a heavily detailed animated film and it justifies the heavy budget that this film cost.  I’m glad they made their money back and more because this is a major step in the world of animation and capturing realism.

The motion capture was fantastic and movements were natural and for the most part, this film will no doubt become a Walt Disney Christmas classic and that because the animation is so realistic, it’s one of those films that will probably hold up for many years to come.

As for the Blu-ray release, you get the additional DVD but for the Blu-ray release, the picture and lossless audio quality is fantastic and the special features are well-done, especially the picture-in-picture mode which was well-done!  There are a good number of special features that really, it’s hard to come up with any negative about this film.  It’s a solid Blu-ray release but if I really had to nitpick, the only thing I can come up with is wishing there was more special features that maybe went into the actual history of the Charles Dickens classic or maybe the inclusion of “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”, so people can watch the other Disney adaptation of “A Christmas Carol”.  But really, this is a pretty solid Blu-ray release and there is nothing negative that I can say about this release.

It’s also important to let people know that there is also a 3D version of this Blu-ray release that is available.  The 3D version marks the first Walt Disney 3D release and for those with a 3D enabled TV and Blu-player can definitely take advantage of this release.

For families, “A Christmas Carol” is a very good family but it’s also one that I recommend that parents watch with their children and for those with young children, this film may not be suitable for them just yet.  Because there are so many scary parts, I recommend at least the film being shown to children that are 7-8 years-old minimum.  My son is seven-years-old and he enjoyed the film but I can tell you, he ran out many times or buried his face under his hands because of the scary scenes and of course, the well-done sound effects did a fantastic job in adding to those more action-driven or scary moments of the film.  But parental guidance is definitely suggested and if you do have older children, fortunately this Blu-ray release does come with a DVD, especially if you are planning a long winter commute.

Overall, this is a magnificent Blu-ray release from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.  This is now my favorite adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic and I wouldn’t be surprised if this film would become a classic for many years to come.  “A Christmas Carol” is highly recommended!