I haven't found an exact number but after 59, I gave up. That's how many "A Christmas Carol" movies or shows have been filmed. It seems like everyone has done an adaption from the Muppets, to the Flinstones, or some have even filmed it under a new name (example Scrooged). But my all time favorite would be "A Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol". Ah, yes, it does bring back memories. Tiny Tim has never been so cute....
But it got me thinking....What is it about this tale that has so many others trying to duplicate it? The theme has been done time and time again, but we keep turning back to it. Why?
My answer is simply the message. We want a story of second chances. Of hope. That maybe someone can change their life around. But the climax is when the ghost of Christmas Present appears and Scrooge eventually falls to his lonely grave, usually with the lines, "I've changed!" ringing in the background. And then it happens: Scrooge awakes on Christmas Day to find he's been given a second chance. To set things right and save himself and others from a grim future. It leaves us with those warm, fuzzy feeling that all is right with the world.
It sounds a lot to me like the story of Salvation....Jesus came with a story of second chances. That's what He came to give us. We look over our own "ghosts"; our past of which we might not be so proud of or we look back at with regret. Our present, where we are completely lost without Jesus. And our future, with without Jesus and saving us from our own selfish decisions, might not look a whole different than Scrooge's. But at the end of the day, we look back and cry, "I've changed! I've changed!" And Jesus wakes up our hearts and gives us that second chance. Because we all like Scrooge better at the end of the movie rather than the beginning....
So if you watch "A Christmas Carol", I want you to think about it. Why is it that we like this movie? Because something about it resonates within our hearts and there's something beautiful about second chances.
What are your thoughts, why do you think there are so many adaptions? What is your favorite Christmas Carol?
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