Scrooges of this penny-pinching world, who have enjoyed the credit crunch a little too much, can suck on their ‘Bah humbugs’.

Robert Zemeckis’ technologically groundbreaking adaptation of Charles Dickens’ festive novella is a delightful early Christmas present.

Harnessing the technology he developed for The Polar Express and Beowulf, Zemeckis and his vast team drag the timeless fable kicking and screaming into the 21st century using state-of-the-art motion capture technology.

The actors’ individual performances and facial movements are digitally recorded in real time, then rendered in eye-popping computer animation.

This time-consuming technique allows one actor to play multiple roles in the same scene.

Jim Carrey not only smack his lips and snarls as curmudgeonly Ebenezer but he also brings to life the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Christmas Yet To Come.

Gary Oldman plays both overworked clerk Bob Cratchit and his sickly son Tiny Tim as well as the ghost of Joseph Marley.

In Zemeckis’ films, the cast certainly works hard for the money.

Scrooge would undoubtedly approve.

This version of A Christmas Carol opens, fittingly, with a copy of the novel, which flicks open to chapter one and its famous opening lines: ‘Marley was dead: to begin with.

There is no doubt whatever about that.’ Ebenezer attends the funeral of his business partner and takes the coins from the dead man’s eyes, snapping, ‘Tuppence is tuppence’.

Neighbours scurry for cover as he trudges through the snow-covered streets, sending a chill through the heart of carollers who only want to spread a little festive cheer.

Several years pass and the old coot prepares for the impending celebrations in typical fashion: by berating his employee Bob Cratchit and impossibly cheerful nephew, Fred (Colin Firth).

That night, the spirit of Old Marley visits Scrooge and reveals that the miser will receive visits from three ghostly guides.

The apparitions propel the grouch on a whistle-stop tour of past, present and future, juxtaposing visions of mentor Old Fezziwig (Bob Hoskins), sweetheart Belle (Robin Wright Penn) and the Cratchit family in the throes of despair.

With his eyes fully open to his selfishness, Scrooge has an opportunity to make amends to his friends, family and neighbours.

Screening in Disney Digital 3D in selected cinemas, A Christmas Carol remains largely faithful to the source text, using some of Dickens’ dialogue word for word.

Zemeckis can’t resist the odd directorial flourish, hence a protracted, first-person perspective chase involving Scrooge and the gnarled Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come on a horse-drawn carriage that resembles a theme park ride.

The technology never obscures the heartfelt emotion of the novella, including some heartbreaking scenes between Bob and his wife (Lesley Manville) as they prepare to lose their youngest son to his unspecified illness.

Certain sequences are a tad scary for very young audiences, so parents may need to provide a reassuring cuddle.

• Release Date: Friday 6 November 2009
• Certificate: PG
• Runtime: 95mins

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