Disney's a Christmas Carol (2009)

It's Christmas in London, 1835, but crotchety moneylender Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) just isn't in the spirit. Ignoring his family and treating his only employee, Bob Cratchit (Gary Oldman), like dirt, the miserly grump gets a rude awakening when three ghosts try to give him a new perspective on life.

The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge the events that led to his current state, while The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him how a lifetime of bad faith has alienated his friends and family. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come, meanwhile, presents a shocking vision of how bleak Scrooge's future will be if he doesn't change his ways.

Robert Zemeckis's dazzling take on the Charles Dickens classic employs motion-capture techniques to create a fresh twist on an oft-imitated tale. While managing to bring the nuanced performances of Carrey et al to the screen, there has clearly been an effort to create characters instilled with more humanity than those in Zemeckis's previous mo-cap projects The Polar Express and Beowulf.

Carrey is a tour de force, voicing no less than four characters (Scrooge and all three ghosts) with his customary gusto, while the talented British trio of Oldman, Colin Firth and Bob Hoskins provide earthy support.