A Christmas Carol: Is A Christmas Carol Appropriate for Children?

Originally written in August 2023 for a College assignment for my Master's degree in creative writing

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a novel that has become a classic read at Christmas time by multitudes of people since 1843, when the story was first published. The story has many movies that have been from it that tell the story perfectly, and others have taken the liberty and modernized the story and children’s movie versions to make it more child-friendly. With all the movie versions of the story, is A Christmas Carol appropriate for children, even those with a child-friendly twist? Will children understand the message(s) of the story? Here is my exploration of whether A Christmas Carol is appropriate for children.

For those who have never seen a movie or read the story, many movie versions of A Christmas Carol and several children’s book versions also exist. I have read the original text and four or five children’s versions and watched several movie versions of the story. 

A Christmas Carol is about an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, famously known as Scrooge, who cares for nobody and is only interested in his money. He is lonely, and nobody likes him because he is always grumpy. On Christmas Eve night, the ghost of his dead business partner, Marley, visits Scrooge and warns him that if he, Scrooge, does not change his ways, he will end up in chains wandering in agony after his death. Marley tells Scrooge that three spirits will visit him: Past, Present, and Future, and he must listen to the spirits, or his future will be in jeopardy.

The children’s books shorten the story, making it easier to read and skip over much detail that children might find boring. There are a range of books for young readers to adults. The books for young readers vary in length and images that may or may not frighten the reader. The adult books all have original text and may or may not have pictures on the pages. I did find a YouTube subscriber who uses a book as a read-a-long for children. The authors wrote the book in a bit of a rhyme that might be enjoyable for young children, and the images are not frightening. 

My Thoughts on the Books I Read and Movies I Watched

The movies are lively; depending on which version, the movie sometimes might be scary. There are the ones that are more adult-friendly and could scare children. Then there are child-friendly ones like Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol.

I have three movie favorites of the story; two are new favorites. The first one, A Christmas Carol, has Patrick Stewart playing Scrooge. As an English actor and his many years as a Shakespearean actor, I feel he is the best Scrooge. This movie does have frightening scenes that children might not enjoy. I introduced this version to my children when my younger children were relatively young, and parts of the movie were scary for my younger children.

The second is Disney’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey as Scrooge. Honestly, I was very apprehensive to watch this movie. Depending on Jim Carrey’s role, he is not one of my favorite actors. I was surprised by how well this movie made and how close it stayed to the story. There were some embellishments, but overall, the movie was excellent. Since I just found this movie, my children have not seen it, they are all older now, and I imagine they would not mind seeing this. Marley might be scary for young children, and the ghost of Christmas Future has some possible intense scenes that may or may not frighten very young children. It is Disney and rated PG; I agree with that rating. 

My third pick is An American Christmas Carol, starring Henry Winkler. Like the movie with Jim Carrey, I just found this movie, and when I noticed Henry Winkler was starring in it I had to see it, he is one of my favorite actors, who does not like The Fonze in a movie. This movie is a modern take on A Christmas Carol, and the characters are not Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, or the other familiar names in the original story. The main character is Benedict Slade (Ebenezer Scrooge), a businessman who is not pleasant to those around him. Like the original story, three spirits visit Benedict, which causes him to have a change of heart. The movie is enjoyable, and the scenes are not intense. The movie was made for TV in 1979 and had no rating. It would be something the whole family would enjoy. 

For my more child-friendly movie picks. There are a few I found, some more enjoyable than others. My number one pick is Mickey’s Christmas Carols. I loved this version the first time I saw it many years ago. It would be my favorite until I saw Patrick Stewart play Scrooge. This twenty-six-minute short is fun yet covers all the story’s themes that need to be covered. My favorite part is Goofy as Marley. It is an excellent short movie that children will enjoy; it would not overwhelm them since Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck, and others are the cast of characters. You cannot go wrong with this version of A Christmas Carol.

The Muppet Christmas Carol, I am not sure if I had ever watched this until now. I know a few people who like this version. It is a good version, but not my favorite. However, my favorite two parts are after Scrooge has seen all the ghosts, has woken in his room, and finds all his things still there. The second part is at the end when they are gathered at the Cratchits for dinner, sitting around the table and singing the song that Tiny Tim had sung earlier in the movie; this scene touched my heart.

I watched The Smurfs A Christmas Carol. This movie was okay, but it lacked the other movies’ energy. It was twenty-two mins long, and it lost a lot of the themes and feel of the original story.

Themes of A Christmas Carol

Belonging

Everyone wants to feel wanted and needed in some way or another. There is never any mention of who his mother was, but his father had sent him away to school. It appears that he was never home for the holidays until his young sister came and retrieved him one Christmas, telling him that their father said he could come home for good. As a young child, there is a sense that Scrooge always felt alone even though he had friends. 

Friendship and Love

Scrooge did have friends at a young age, but he did not hold those friendships dear to him. As he got older and gained friends through his work, he did not hold on to those either. Scrooge would have a fiancé that would “release him from his contract” to marry her because he would love money over their relationship. Scrooge would lose all the people who cared about him, or he cared about, due to his desire for money. In my opinion, this caused him to become the miser he became.

One idea that seemed to come to mind was when Scrooge’s fiancé “released him from his contract,” ending their engagement. Because he lost the love of his life, he went deeper into his love of money. Anytime anyone mentioned being in love or caring for others, Scrooge could not accept the idea of anyone loving another person, especially him loving people. 

Love of Money

On Christmas Eve, Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, invited him for Christmas dinner, but Scrooge would not accept the offer. Scrooge asked Fred “why he was so happy because he was poor.” Fred asked Scrooge “why he was so unhappy because he was rich.”

It would take visits from the three ghosts to change Scrooge’s mind that money has no problem and does not make you happy unless you use it for the right reasons. Because Scrooge saw his past, present, and future, he saw what needs to happen and that money is not always the answer to everything if you keep it to yourself and do not help others when you can.

Faith, Hope, and Believe

In my opinion, Scrooge lost faith and hope in humanity. When money was all he cared about, he lost faith in what others could do. Scrooge did not see any hope in what people could do if given a chance. When a person loses faith and hope in people, they cannot believe they can be better than they are, and all they will see is how deficient a person is or could become. Sometimes all a person needs is to be believed in and given a chance. Sometimes that chance is in a smile, a hello, maybe a small amount of money, or a dinner. It does not always have to be something big and grandiose; the smallest gestures can change a person’s life. That is something Scrooge would have to learn.

Generosity

When the ghost of Christmas Present, there is food and drink all around him. In Mickey’s Christmas Carol, the ghost says that all the food and drink is “food of generosity.” Throughout the journeys with the Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge sees what generosity should look like, and even though there are institutions that are there for the poor, the institutions are not enough to help those in need.

Being Grateful

One theme that was very prevalent in the story was the theme of being grateful for what one has. Bob Cratchit is one of the most grateful characters in the story. Even with meager earnings from Scrooge because Scrooge does not believe in paying more than he has to, to Bob, Bob is grateful. When the ghost of Christmas Present showed Scrooge what Christmas was like at Bob’s house, Scrooge saw a happy family being joyful for what they had. Their dinner would be small unless things changed, but they were grateful. Bob toasted Scrooge for being the reason they had food to eat.  

Joy and Happiness 

When the ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge over the different areas of the country, the ghost showed Scrooge that despite whatever circumstances people were living in, Christmas was a time of year to be joyful even if there are disagreements with others; it was a time to be kind and be grateful. We all need joy in our lives, and when people come together to celebrate, it can and should be a joyful occasion, whether it is Christmas, Easter, or any other holiday. Joy can be in anything we do in life. 

When hearts are open, and we see all the good in people, happiness will abound. Happiness is found when we let people into our lives and not shun them away. When we give with a giving heart, we will find happiness. When we want people to succeed and are willing to cheer them on, we will find happiness. When Scrooge finally saw what he was missing, he found happiness, which brought him joy. 

Ending Thoughts

Some moments that intrigued me with all the different movies I watched and reading the text were the transformation Scrooge made as he journeyed through his past and into his future. The story starts with Scrooge as a bitter old man who turns into someone who truly wants to change. Depending on the movie I watched and the text, there were moments when he was emotional and times of remembrance that brought him great joy.

The one moment that stood out above all others was when Scrooge returned to his room after being visited by all the ghosts and how happy he was. In the text and a few of the movies, Scrooge says something similar to this, “I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man.” Scrooge jumps around and kicks his feet; in different movies, he jumps on his bed. The thought comes to mind that he is a kid in a candy store for the first time and is in awe of all the candy. In this case, Scrooge sees life in a new way with fresh eyes. It is like a spiritual awakening; he has come out of a deep sleep. Oh, the joy and happiness he feels, and he carries it throughout his life.

I believe my answer is yes to answer my question about whether A Christmas Carol is appropriate for children. There is much to learn from Scrooge and all the other characters in this story. The themes are many, and I am sure I missed a few. I do not see why children cannot learn the lessons that Scrooge learned. Scrooge turned inward and caused himself a lot of grief and pain because he saw the world through the eyes of money. 

Despite the scary scenes, such as Marley and the ghost of Christmas Future, there is a lot children can learn from watching or reading A Christmas Carol. All the themes I mentioned are things that all people need to know, and what better time in life than to teach children young so they do not grow up unhappy and turn into a scrooge?

Bibliography

Barnes, Peter, et al. A Christmas Carol. TNT, 1999.  

Dickens, Charles. “A Christmas Carol.” Charles Dickens: Five Novels, Barnes & Nobles, New York, NY, 2006, pp. 287–344.

Dickens, Charles, et al. “A Christmas Carol - Scrooge - Children’s Version - Bedtime Story Read Aloud.” YouTube, 17 Nov. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GiggvR6tHw.

Dickens, Charles, and Jerome Coopersmith. An American Christmas Caral. American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 1979, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9djZqx-FgSg. Accessed 24 July 2023.

Dickens, Charles, and Brett Helquist. A Christmas Carol. First ed., Harper Collins, 2009.  

Henson, Brian, director. The Muppet Christmas Carol. Jim Henson Video, 1992, https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/the-muppet-christmas-carol/6BumPfZlq5OH. Accessed 24 July 2023.

Mattinson, Burny, director. Mickey’s Christmas Carol. Walt Disney Educational MedTia, 1983

The Holy Bible, “1 Timothy 6:10.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/nt/1-tim/6?lang=eng&verse=10#p10. Accessed 3 Aug. 2023.