Hey, you guys. It's been awhile since my last article. Between camp, helping my mom out after shoulder surgery, and other stuff to numerous to talk about, I've been very busy as of late. I do have three other articles in draft right now, but I don't feel motivated enough to continue writing them at the moment. So, I decided to put those articles on the back burner for the time being so I can write something then I'm a bit more passionate about at the moment. And with Christmas right around the corner, I felt there was no better time than now to write an article regarding one of my favorite Christmas stories, and the story is question is none other than the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. Everyone knows the old story right now: a greedy, old miser who hates Christmas and mistreats his employee, is visited by three ghosts who scare him into turning over a new leaf and and teach him the true meaning of Christmas. And like many stories, A Christmas Carol has been adapted and parodied in numerous ways by multiple studios. And more often than not, a lot of those studios have their own characters playing the roles of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future (or yet to come, depending on the version). And today, I've decided to list six of my favorite adaptations of the story that I've personally grew up watching. Why six? Because I didn't want to settle with just five. 

Now as I said, these are my personal favorite adaptations that I grew up, meaning that I will be talking about specials and movies that aired on TV or were released on video in the 90s and early 2000s. If I didn't mentioned an adaptation that you guys personally like, it means I either forgot about it or wasn't into it. So don't get mad that I didn't mention an adaptation that you personally liked, these are just my opinions. Also, since I will be talking about the plots of these different attention, I will be pulling up a spoiler warning. If you somehow haven't seen any of these yet, click off this article right now. If you have seen them already or just don't care about spoilers, then stay here. Without further ado, here are my six favorite adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)

 First on my list of my favorite adaptations of A Christmas Carol, we have the 1994 Hanna-Barbara animated special, A Flintstones Christmas Carol. This was one of three Christmas specials starring Fred Flintstone, his family and friends. Now unlike the other adaptations on this list, the story is told through a in-universe play in Bedrock, with many of the bedrock residents, The Flintstones and Rubbles, playing the characters from this iconic and classic story, with Fred Flintstone himself playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Other characters in the play include Fred's best friend and neighbor, Barney Rubble, playing the role of Scrooge's employee, Bob Cratchit, Barney's son, Bam-Bam, as Bob Cratchit's, Tiny Tim, Fred's wife, Wilma as the ghost of Christmas past, and Fred's loyal "canine" companion, Dino, playing the role of the Ghost of Christmas future, with the latter two stepping up to play those roles after the original actors set to play them came down with an illness known as "The Bedrock Bug", which was actually an internal part of the plot of the special itself. The play within the special does a great job adapting the source material while also putting its own Bedrock spin on it. From the opening act with Fred and Barney as Scrooge and Cratchit, to the parts involving the ghosts, all the way to the ending sequence where Bam Bam, as Tiny Tim, says the iconic line, "God bless us, everyone!", even though he does say it after the play is over.

Now this is one of my favorite specials growing up back in the 90s when it was on Cartoon Network. I've thought that Fred was the perfect person to play Scrooge, especially considering that fed himself can be a real grouch sometimes. But also like Scrooge, Fred also has a soft side. This special is available on DVD and VHS, if you can find a copy. It can also be watched on certain streaming platforms. If you guys are looking for something classic to watch for the holiday season, I recommend giving this a go. You will not be disappointed. 

A Jetsons Christmas Carol (1985)

 Next up, we have another Hanna-Barbera animated special, this time starring The Jetsons. Now unlike the previous special we talked about, this one doesn't have the characters actually playing the characters from the source material, but rather, the special copies the plot of the source material and the characters standing in for sudden characters. In this case, George Jetson and his boss, Mr. Spacely, step into the shoes of Bob Cratchit and Ebenezer Scrooge respectively. Like Scrooge with Cratchit, Spacely is overworking poor George on Christmas Eve at his company, Spacely's Sprockets, and is making him work on Christmas Day. To make matters worse, George comes home to find that the Jetsons' beloved family dog, Astro (who's our Tiny Tim stand-in for this special) has fallen ill after accidentally ingesting a sprocket from his Christmas gift and might not pull through. Meanwhile, Spacely is counting money back at Spacely's Sprockets, when he is visited by the ghost of his old business partner, Marsley (our Jacob Marley stand-in for this story), who says he'll be visited by three spirits, whom, in this special, are actually all robots. (Yes, I know it doesn't make sense for the spirits to be robots, but this is a Jetsons Christmas special, so just rolled with it.) In any case, the spirit of Christmas past takes Spacely to his youth, where he was just as stingy as he is now. Then the spirit of Christmas present shows Spacely how the Jetsons are doing with Astro dying from the sprocket in his stomach. Finally, Spacely is taken to the Future by the spirit of Christmas yet to come, who shows him what will happen if he doesn't change his ways. I won't spoil it for those who want to see the special. In the end, Spacely learns the errors of his ways and rushes over to the Jetsons to save the day. 

This is another holiday special that I enjoyed watching on Cartoon Network when I was a kid. You can find this special on videotape and on DVD along with the rest of the show. It was a really good special, and it showed a softer side to Mr. Spacely. While I admit that Spacely could be a real jerk sometimes, you have to admit that he's a real saint compared to his business rival, Cogswell. Now that guy was a real slave driver! 

Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

Out of all the studios, Disney is probably the most recognizable when it comes to holiday-related media. Between between their many, shorts, movies, specials, comics and TV episodes, Disney has probably cranked out more holiday related media then all other major studios combined. I could be wrong about that, but that's why I said "probably". Another thing that Disney was good at was adapting classic stories from the olden days, like Snow White, The Three Little Pigs and The Little Mermaid, just to name a few. So it was only a matter of time till Disney decided to make their own little spin on the classic Dickens Christmas tale. Coming out in 1983, this story has many iconic Disney characters playing the roles of the different characters from the original story, with the role of Ebenezer Scrooge being played by none other than Disney's own greedy miser, Scrooge McDuck. Other characters that were in the short included (but not limited to) Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit, Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck's own nephew, as Ebenezer Scrooge's nephew, Fred, Goofy as the ghost of Scrooge's old business partner, Jacob Marley, Pinocchio's Jiminy Cricket as The spirit of Christmas past, Willie the Giant from Disney's 1947 short, Mickey and the Beanstalk, as the spirit of Christmas present, and Pete the Cat has the Spirit of Christmas yet to come.

Yet another holiday special that is near and dear to my heart. While I never seen this when I was a kid, I do remember watching it in my teen years. In addition to being on video and dvd, as well as on Disney Plus, this short was also one of the many holiday shorts featured in the 2001 movie, Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at The House of Mouse, 18 years after it came out. And this wouldn't be the last time that Disney would adapt this Dickens classic. 

An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998)

Next we have a movie that is probably not as well known or as well liked as the other specials/movies on this list, but it didn't feel right not to include it. Coming out in 1998, An All Dogs Christmas Carol was the 3rd movie in the All Dogs Go to Heaven trilogy. The Ebenezer Scrooge stand-in for this movie is Carface, the main antagonist of the first movie and the pseudo-antagonist of the second movie, who, along with his sidekick, Killer, crashes a Christmas party thrown by Charlie and Itchy, the main protagonists from the first two movies, and Sasha, Charlie's love interest in the second movie, who are trying to raise money for a pup named Timmy (who, if you couldn't tell by the name, serves as the Tiny Tim stand-in for the movie) who is in need of an operation. However, Carface, being the greedy bulldog that he is, uses a magic whistle to force the partygoers to fork over all of the stuff at the party, including the money needed for Timmy's operation. To make matters worse, he reveals that he's working with the true main antagonist of this movie, and and the ruler of Dog Heaven, Annabelle's evil cousin, Belladonna, AKA The Boogie Dog, to make a larger version of that whistle he just used, to make all the dogs in San Francisco steal presents from their owners. In order to prevent this from happening, Charlie, Itchy and Sasha, with the aid of a magical collar given to him by the aforementioned Annabelle, decides to pull a Dickens and scare Carface into changing his ways and hopefully, get him to foil Belladonna's evil plans for them. So using the collar's Magic, itchy, Sasha and Charlie pose as the spirits of Christmas past, present and future, respectively, to hopefully make Carface turn over a new leaf. 

Now like the first two All Dogs go to Heaven movies, this movie is a musical, so expect tons of musical numbers throughout the movie.

Now while I'm not as big a fan of this movie as the other ones on this list, or the first two All Dogs Go to heaven movies for that matter, I do like it enough to give it a watch whenever I can, especially around the holiday season. It can be found on video and DVD, as well as certain streaming platforms, so give it a watch if you're curious.

Bah, Humduck!: A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)

 Next we have a special that didn't come out when I was a kid, but when I was a teen, but his still one of my favorite things to watch during the holiday season. Coming out in 2006, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, while not having the word "Carol" in the title, is indeed the Looney Tunes franchise's modern retake on the Dickens classic. In this special, the Ebenezer Scrooge stand-in is none other than the Looney Tunes' own greedy and foul-tempered fowl, Daffy Duck, who is CEO of the Lucky Duck Superstore, where he treats all of his employees like slaves, including our Bob Cratchit stand-in, Porky Pig, who is desperately trying to take care of his daughter and our Tiny Tim stand-in (even though she's not actually sick), Priscilla. Later, Daffy is visited by the ghost of his idol and inspiration, as well as Jacob Marley stand-in (even though he was never Daffy's partner in this special), Sylvester the Investor, who warns him that he will be visited by three ghosts, with the ghosts in question being Granny and Tweety both serving as the Ghost of Christmas past, Yosemite Sam as a very surly Ghost of Christmas present, and the Tasmanian Devil as a not-so-silent ghost of Christmas yet to come. And of course, Daffy has to deal with Bugs Bunny's antics, because you can't have a proper Looney Tunes special without that wascally wabbit in the mix.

Now I am aware that Warner Brothers already did a Looney Tunes Christmas Carol before this one, with Yosemite Sam playing the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in that one, but this is the one that I'm more familiar with. Now I know some people aren't as fond of this special as I am, but I like it a lot myself. If you're interested in checking it out for yourself, it's available on DVD (which is what I have it on) and can also be watched on certain streaming platforms, like Tubi. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do. 

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Finishing up this list, we have a movie that I'm sure a lot of us has grown up watching. Coming out in 1992, the Muppet Christmas Carol, as the title might suggest, was the Muppets' attempt at adapting the classic Dickens story, with everyone's favorite blue... whatever-he-is, The Great Gonzo (playing Charles Dickens himself, for some reason), serving as the narrator. Other Muppets featured in this movie include, but not limited to, Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Mrs Cratchit, Rizzo the Rat as himself, Fozzie the Bear as scooges old employer, Fozziwig (a stand-in for the character, Fezziwig from the original source material), Statler and Waldorf as the second of Scrooge's old business partners, Jacob and Robert Marley (yes, I am aware that only Marley in the original story, but in this version, there's two of them, because you can't have Statler without Waldorf) and three new Muppets made specifically for this movie to serve as the ghosts of Christmas past, present and yet to come. No Muppets played Ebenezer Scrooge though, he was played by a real actor, Michael Caine. He played the older Ebenezer Scrooge throughout the movie, while younger actors played younger versions of him. Muppets that appeared in this movie included, Dr. Honeydew and Beaker, Sam the Eagle and The Swedish Chef, just to name a few. And like most Muppet movies, this one is a musical, so expect a lot of catchy tunes.

Aside from Mickey's Christmas Carol, the Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my favorite Disney versions of the classic Dickens story. While I was too young to watch it when it first came out, I do remember watching it when I was older. It's definitely a funny movie to watch. It stays somewhat faithful to the original source material, while also bringing in that classic Muppets humor. It's available on video and DVD, as well as on Disney Plus. If you ever decide to watch this movie for Christmas this year, I guarantee that you won't be disappointed. 

And there you have it! Six of my favorite adaptations of A Christmas Carol. While I've never read the actual book (which I hope to fix in the near future), I am definitely aware of how big of an impact that this story has been, not just for the holiday season, but for writers, directors and artists who have grew up reading the story and gone on to make their own versions. Now just like I said, these are my personal favorites that I grew up with. Everyone in the title to their own favorites. With that being said, which version of A Christmas Carol (written, drawn, live-action or animated) is your favorite? Let me know in the comment section below. And make sure you give me a retro rating. I would love to see this article become a featured article. I'm hoping I can continue writing articles into the new year, and I hope I can finish the other three articles that I have in draft right now. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, a Happy Holidays in general, and overall, a happy new year!