Holiday Rhymes - A Christmas Carol

 

Here we have two versions 

Of another Christmas tale, 

Both adaptations of Charles Dickens 

Whose works rarely go stale. 

A Christmas Carol is a favorite 

Amongst the festive kind, 

A story of redemption and joy 

And how healthy it is to unwind. 

This story has been adapted 

Many times if you just look, 

It’s been on the screen, stage, and radio

Even a Batman comic book. 

But there are two versions of this tale 

That stands out to me the most, 

One for television and one by Disney 

Both with a memorable ghost. 

These two takes on the classic 

Are a proud part of my youth, 

Both carry the message of the story 

With conviction and truth. 

We’ll start with the TV special 

My favorite of the two, 

It has many good things going for it 

I promise that is true. 

George C. Scott plays Scrooge

The best I’ve ever seen, 

His acting chops along with his voice 

Are top-notch and pristine. 

The rest of the cast is great as well

Even the boy playing Tiny Tim, 

Played as sweet and darling as ever 

Though you always feel for him. 

The production design is gorgeous 

Nothing looks phony or fake, 

The same goes for the special effects 

It’s all incredible, make no mistake. 

What makes this version of the story 

My favorite as of late, 

It remembers that it is a ghost story 

Playing it well and straight. 

It is also a Christmas tale

There’s no doubt about that, 

But it has ghosts, spirits, and hauntings 

All that’s missing is a flying bat. 

It takes pride in its horror roots 

And plays with its few scares, 

By showing the horror of apathy 

And what happens when no one cares. 

Now we turn to the Disney version 

Of the classic Dickens story, 

Though it’s a lot shorter than the other one 

It’s still quite extraordinary. 

Scrooge McDuck plays the titular role 

With Micky as Bob Cratchit, 

The evil Pete plays Christmas futures ghost 

And is scarier than Nurse Ratchet. 

The animation is beautiful 

No real surprise there, 

Disney prides in its stunning visuals 

Of that, they would swear. 

You might be tempted to suspect 

That because it made for kids,

The story and theme would be dumbed down 

Causing many rolled eyelids. 

Fortunately, that’s not the case 

The stories integrity is well preserved, 

Any claims to the contrary 

Are simply false and undeserved. 

It carries the theme of darkness and light 

As well as it really should, 

Making this iteration of the classic tale 

A proud part of my childhood. 

Watch them both this Christmas 

For they are equally fun, 

Though for me, the George C. Scott version 

Will always be my favorite one. 

Next on our list 

We look at something sort of new, 

An anthology story about love in Britain 

And a fun one through and through. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.