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It's a standard thing this time of year. Travelers loaded with gifts are trying to make their way home to spend the holidays with family and friends. This scenario is often played out in movies where our hero finally makes his or her way home just in time to spend Christmas with the family. After all...

It was the super-secret holiday movie that you weren't supposed to know about. Until Bob Hoskins -- in a July 4th interview with EmpireOnline -- revealed that ... "... ( Robert Zemeckis ) is going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey . He wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing in...

"Tell the truth. You're getting kind of tired of writing about ' A Christmas Carol ,' aren't you?" No, this wasn't an e-mail that some disgruntled JHM reader sent me. But -- rather -- the ever-wise & patient Nancy (Who -- FYI -- has been formatting each & every one...

Are you a fan of William Shatner 's Emmy Award-winning work on ABC 's " Boston Legal "? If so, then you should be aware that one of the main reasons that William was cast as daffy Denny Crane was because " The Practice " creator David E. Kelley supposedly caught Shatner's...

Belle has always been one of the more intriguing characters in Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale. The woman who gave Ebenezer Scrooge back his engagement ring because she was the first to see how hard his heart was becoming. Whatever became of Belle after she walked out of Ebenezer's life...

Some adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" are like a huge holiday meal. Rich, meaty, memorable. Really stick-to-your-ribs kind of shows. And then there are those holiday specials like " A Diva's Christmas Caro l." Which are the television equivalent of Chinese food. Don't get...

Well, at least there's some truth-in-advertising to be found in this 1998 home premiere. For -- though " An All Dogs Christmas Carol " may not actually be an adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale -- this holiday special is definitely a dog. Copyright 1998 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Animation...

As I mentioned in this past Sunday's review of " Ebbie ," " A Christmas Carol " is a surprisingly resilient story. It can survive a change of location or time period. Even giving Ebenezer Scrooge a sex change operation doesn't necessarily undercut the emotional effectiveness...

On paper, this sounds like such a clever idea. Shifting the location of "A Christmas Carol" out to the Old West. I mean, what better place is there to tell a ghost story than around a campfire? And then the truly genius notion of hiring Academy Award-winner Jack Palance to play a westernized...

Just how good is The Muppet Christmas Carol "? Well, to be honest, that depends on whether or not you saw the version that ran in theaters back in 1992 OR the version of this Brian Henson film that now runs on television and/or is currently available for sale on DVD. "What's the difference...

During this special time of year, when we're reminded (over & over & over again) about how we must be kind to our fellow man ... How nice it is to have Rowan Atkinson on hand to give us a bit of mean-spirited fun. To cut through all of the saccharine of this season. I guess (to be fair) I...

You know, when you think about it, "A Christmas Carol" has contributed many memorable phrases to our holiday vernacular. These include: "Bah, Humbug!" "God bless us, every one! " And, of course, my personal favorite: "The b*tch hit me with a toaster." Wait a minute...

For "A Christmas Carol" fans, it's one of the guilty pleasures of watching " Scrooged ." Those brief glimpses you get of that totally ridiculous version of "Scrooge" that Bill Murray & Co. were struggling to get on the air. Copyright 1999 Paramount Home Entertainment...

When you've seen as many versions of "A Christmas Carol" as I have recently, you begin to notice that there's this pattern to the way a lot of actors portray Ebenezer Scrooge. That they tend to employ the same sorts of acting tricks in order to keep their performances entertaining & emotionally effective...

You want to hear something ironic? It was an act of generosity that -- in a roundabout way -- led to Alan Young being cast as the world's most miserly duck. Copyright 2004 Disney Enterprises, Inc. I'm serious, folks. Back in the 1960s, this " Mr. Ed " star helped a young man who was just getting started...

In ballet circles, " The Nutcracker " is now considered a lucrative cliché. Meaning that it's a show that most companies HAVE TO produce each year. Given that many people nowadays just don't consider it Christmas unless they're able to: Get dressed up. Go to the theater. Nod off while Clara & her...

Just the name seems somewhat sacrilegious: " An American Christmas Carol ." Copyright 1999 Image Entertainment I mean, is it even legal to do that? Take Charles Dickens' almost quintessentially English story out of its familiar 1840s London setting and then drop it into Depression-era America? To be...

I don't really need to explain who Basil Rathbone was, right? I mean, we're talking about the acclaimed actor who crossed swords with Errol Flynn in " The Adventures of Robin Hood ," traded quips with Danny Kaye in " The Court Jester " and even served as the narrator of the...

It is one of my favorite Hollywood "What If" stories. And -- appropriately enough -- you can read a full-blown account of this tale over on one of my favorite blogs, Mark Evanier's great " newsfromme.com ." Here's the Reader's Digest version: W.C. Fields (Who was a Dickens...

Okay. I know. We all love those moments in "A Christmas Carol" after Scrooge has been redeemed. When the old skinflint tries to make amends to all those he's wronged over the years. That's when Dickens' classic holiday tale becomes truly heart-warming. But -- prior to this point...