A Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001 animated film)

I remember seeing this in theaters when it was out in England because my mum wanted to see it with me and my sister. Afterwards, I didn't seem to remember anything because I wasn't really paying attention during the movie because of how boring it was. 12 years later, when deciding to pick which animated films I'd review for December, this film seemed to always be in my mind for some reason. The only thing I'd really remember from this was the Kate Winslet song What If which became a hit in 2001. Anyway, does this film show that celebrities like Kate Winslet can bring some cheer into this adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, or was there a reason why I forgot this movie shortly after seeing it as a kid? Let's find out!

Story: here's the biggest problem with the movie: the story. I know it's an adaptation and changes have to be made, but they have to make sense! I have two words to describe it: boring and stupid. This is told from the perspective of two annoying mice. I'm not kidding. The editing is clumsy as well as the structure and most of the time, nothing happens which could've been used to explain what was going on because everything is underdeveloped! It doesn't help they expanded Belle's role for the sake of Kate Winslet having more lines and has a subplot involving having to pay money for sick children in a hospital which contributes nothing to the plot nor it was ever in the book. Another problem I have is the script, they add in so many random lines which have nothing to do with the movie and feel like they were added in to make up more time. Speaking of time, despite it being an hour and 10 minutes, it feels much longer because of how much scenes drag or are never mentioned again! But the biggest problem I have is it detracts the themes of the original story. Scrooge feels sorrowed after many years wasted, but what do they do? Give him a second chance of love with Belle! Overall, I think it's lifeless and it feels very slow with nothing explained at all! This actually makes the Robert Zemeckis film look good in terms of story!

Animation: OK, here's another problem with the movie, the animation is crap! It's on par with a Saturday morning cartoon, it's that bad! I'm shocked it got released in cinemas, if I can be honest. What are the problems? Well, the character designs look very odd with no detail whatsoever (especially Belle I think they were trying to make them look more realistic), the character animation is very lazy and stiff, the backgrounds look very dull and uninspired(which is weird, since it's set in the Victorian era, which is a perfect era to look creative), as well as the effects like the magic looking terrible. It doesn't really help that the lip synching is off for most of the movie and at times, their lips don't move properly whenever they say more than one syllable. Overall, some of the worst 2D animation I've ever seen and even direct to video animated films have better quality than this!

Characters: Remember the book where the characters were memorable and well written? Well, they've butchered them here! Scrooge is probably the only one left intact compared to the others and it's only because of his voice actor trying. Belle is greatly expanded and is having financial troubles at a hospital and wants help from Ebenezer. This wasn't in the book at all and she's just so dull. Same goes to Fred who's very annoying and Cratchit is so bland and is more wooden than a tree. The ghosts are also boring and annoying and the children in this are so unrealistic and say the weirdest bits of dialogue. Oh, and did I mention that the hero in this IS A MOUSE?! Yeah, this whole movie is told from the point of view of two mice who have no purpose whatsoever!Also, this is a huge waste of star talent: Simon Callow, Kate Winslet, Nicholas Cage, Jane Horrocks, Michael Gambon, Rhys Ifans and Juliet Stevenson! They try, they really do, but the characters are so stock, underdeveloped and boring that not even their good acting can help with the weak script!

Honestly, I felt like this was only a way for people to buy that Kate Winslet song, which is actually pretty good. I believe this is the Christmas version of Quest For Camelot in that the soundtrack is more popular than the actual film, the characters are boring and bland, the animation is bad and the story is completely butchered. I'm glad I didn't remember anything after watching this as a child in the cinema because it actually helps me appreciate the source material even more.
Story: 2/10
Animation: 3/10
Characters: 2/10
Overall: 2/10