Movies · TV

400+ Versions of ‘A Christmas Carol’ – One Supercut

Everybody gets in the spirit in this ultimate holiday video.
Scrooge A Christmas Carol 1951
Renown Pictures
By  · Published on December 22nd, 2016

Fun fact: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens — you know the one: rich asshole gets haunted on Xmas Eve for being a rich asshole and somehow this process turns him into a rich do-gooder — has been adapted for film and/or television more than any other story written in the English Language.

It’s a timeless tale of greed tainting character and holiday-season redemption that fits into pretty much any context in any culture at any time. Since its initial publication in 1843, the story has been adapted — are you ready for this? I wasn’t — 400+ times.

In addition to the umpteen film adaptations starring the likes of George C. Scott, Patrick Stewart, Henry Winkler, Michael Caine, Bill Murray, Kelsey Grammar, and Mister Magoo as everyone’s favorite stingy miser, pretty much every single sitcom and television drama in American history has had “a very special episode” modeled after Dickens’ timeless tale. And then there are countless cartoons, commercials, and even a few pornographic films. How’s that for narrative versatility?

In what is easily one of the most impressive supercuts I’ve ever seen in my entire life, YouTuber Heath Waterman has taken clips from these 400 adaptations and built from them a 53-minute, coherent narrative. That means you get the entire story you know and love, but told from such various narrators as Mickey Mouse, the Cryptkeeper, Boy Meets World, Veronica Lodge, Oscar the Grouch, and WKRP in Cincinnati. If there’s a bigger, better Xmas montage out there, I don’t have time to hear about it because I’m going to be watching this on repeat through the holiday weekend.

Bonus: as the credits roll at the end letting you know just what was included, there’s a five-minute mini-montage of all the Scrooges saying the character’s catchphrase “Bah Humbug!” Set it to K-Pop and you’ve got an undeniable dance groove.

Whether you celebrate the season or not, this one deserves your attention if only for the sheer breadth of its accomplishment. Consider it my gift to you. Happy Holidays, gang.

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