Disney’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Dazzles Visually, Disappoints Emotionally

“Finding Entertainment Appropriate for Kids,” or FEAK, runs every Friday and discusses places – mainly the movie theaters – where parents can look to find things for their kids to watch over the weekend. This weekend, there is one movie that towers above the rest….

For the most part, parents probably frown on buying their kids candy or soda at a movie. It’s expensive, it’s full of sugar and it gets them bouncing off the walls not only in the theater, but on the car ride home.

Well, you are probably going to have to make an exception for Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” for two simple reasons. First, you are almost assuredly going to see it. The fact that it’s Disney, the holidays and 3D animated with Jim Carrey seems to make it a can’t miss for the whole family. Second, though, is the unfortunate fact that the movie simply isn’t that engaging. It drags. And if your kids are pumped full of sugar, maybe they’ll pay more attention.

That’s not to say the movie is bad. It’s far from bad. I mean, it’s Robert Zemeckis – who did “Back to the Future,” “Forrest Gump” and “The Polar Express” – doing Charles Dickens’ most famous story, “A Christmas Carol.” The story and filmmaker are both iconic.

However, the film is way more about the visuals than the story. Instead of truly honing in on the moral lessons Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) learns when he’s visited by three ghosts, Zemeckis’ vision is more about the jaw-dropping animation. He is absolutely in love with his motion capture 3D and it looks beautiful. But he throws in totally pointless action scenes in favor of the poignant moments that are present in another Disney production of this story, “Mickey’s Christmas Carol.”

Your kids will probably love that, though, IF they can get through the interesting, but too immaculate character set ups that start the film. That stuff is very drawn out – yet it has to be, because once the ghosts start popping up, the film moves at a breakneck speed and hardly lets up. That pace ultimately makes “A Christmas Carol” more akin to an action movie than a nice holiday drama.

And while he begins amping up the action, Zemeckis seems to attempt to stay close to Dickens’ original text. There are a lot of big words and eloquent sentences (and did I notice an anti-Catholic slam in there?) that will go over kids heads. Not that that matters as images whiz out of the screen in glorious 3D but, if they don’t already know the story of Scrooge, Cratchet, Tiny Tim and more – kids might be a little bit confused.

For parents, Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” is going to be a let down. It won’t transport you back to your childhood or make you super excited to put up the tree this year. Your kids, though, will find plenty to enjoy with the film and maybe that’s all that matters. One only wishes though that this film lived up to its superstar pedigree.

Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” opens in theaters, Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D today. For tickets, click here.