There are literally dozens of adaptations of A Christmas Carol. Let's take a look at a few of them:
A Christmas Carol. (1910) -
This is one of the earliest film adaptations of the story. It featured Marc McDermott as Ebenezer Scrooge and Charles S. Ogle as Bob Cratchit.
A Christmas Carol. (1938) -
Even though the film is based on the book the film adds different twists from the novel and most other film versions. In this film Fred is more of a supporting character rather than being a minor character. Bob is sacked by Scrooge in this film. And in the end Scrooge rehires Bob and makes Fred his new partner.
The Christmas Carol (1949 TV special) -
This is a very rare example of a 1940s television broadcast still surviving in entirety. In the infancy of television, programs were always broadcast live because videotape recording technology did not yet exist.Although crude (a film camera was pointed at a television monitor filming the broadcast,) it was the only available method to record a live broadcast during the earliest days of television.
Scrooge (1951) -
Scrooge was likely based on a real person named John Meggot, (born John Elwes), who was a local celebrity, a member of Parliament, and a famous miser from Dickens' part of England, and who was dead by the time Dickens was born, but whom Dickens heard much local lore and urban legends from the English townspeople where Scrooge grew up; family, friends, etc.
Scrooge (1970) -
Although the music was composed by Leslie Bricusse and nominated for two Academy Awards, Bricusse could not write music. He would dictate lyrics and melody to music supervisor Ian Fraser who would transcribe and arrange them for Scrooge's score. Bricusse did so on many other movies to much acclaim.
A Christmas Carol (1971) -
This was the only film version of A Christmas Carol to win an Oscar. After this television short won the Oscar, the Academy changed its rules so that a made-for-television cartoon could never again win this honor, even if it was shown theatrically.
Blackadders Christmas Carol (1988) -
It has been noticed by some that Robbie Coltrane's costume and character in this Christmas special, has a nearly identical portrayal to his much later role as Hagrid, in the film versions of J.K.Rowling's series of Harry Potter books. Also, its been claimed that JK Rowling herself had said Robbie Coltrane was always intended to have been cast as Hagrid in the films, suggesting that this Blackadder episode may in part have inspired the creation of Hagrid.
This could be the greatest mash-up ever, or at least the most labor intensive. Heath Waterman has spent 18 months putting together this labor of love, retelling the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in his video Twelve Hundred Ghosts - A Christmas Carol in Supercut.
Mr. Waterman uses clips from over over 400 versions of the holiday classic. (Make it your business to watch this!)
And there is no better way to get into the holiday spirit than drinking spirits -
Eggnog is usually thought of as a Christmas beverage and to tell the truth I am not a huge fan of Eggnog. So I find it amusing that the recipe that I'm posting is for Eggnog (Above is a copy of my family recipe - my father sent it to his sister in 1962.)
Coquito, a Puerto Rican twist on the classic, is a family favorite and I thought I'd share it with you and perhaps you can try it out on your family.
Please note: these drinks go down quite smoothly and are very potent - they could be administered as a calmative for frayed nerves during the holiday season.
Ingredients:
* 4 large egg yolks
* 1/4 cup of sugar
* 1/2 can of (14-ounces) condensed milk
* 1 14-ounce cans evaporated milk
* 1 1/2 cans of 15-ounce cans cream of coconut
* 1/2 of a Fifth of white rum (or more)
* 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1 teaspoon coconut (or vanilla) extract
Tools:
* Drink Blender
* Can opener
* Glass
Directions:
Add the egg yolks, sugar, spices and vanilla into the blender. Mix until well blended.
Add the evaporated and condensed milk to the blender and briefly mix. (Condensed milk is very thick - you may want to open the can up all the way and scrap out all of the milk with a spatula.)
Vigorously shack the can of cream of coconut (it tends to separate.) Pour the cream of coconut into the blender and mix well. Scrap out any remaining coconut stuff from the can.
Add the rum and mix. Taste. If you think you need more rum, add it.
Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve cold.
A Christmas Carol Tom Lehrer -
Demand Euphoria!
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