Charles Dickens

According to my Grandpa Main’s notes (which formed the basis of the first version of the ITTDB), he struggled with what he called the Carol Question as long ago as 1916. Is there actual travel through time in “A Christmas Carol” or not? It’s easy to see why the Carol Question is central to the ITTDB. On the one hand, Scrooge does take a clear trip to the past:

Now if that’s not time travel, what is? Ah . . . “Not so fast!” says Ghost!

Even Ghost Himself admits there’s no interaction with the past. Observation is permitted, but not interaction. They might as well be watching a movie! In general, if you can’t interact with the past and the past can’t see you, then there’s no actual time travel!

Fair enough, but what about Future Ghost? Isn’t He bringing information from the future to Scrooge? Transfer of information from the future to the past may be boring compared to people-jumping, but it is time travel, so the Carol must be granted membership in the list after all, don’t you think? Ah, not so fast again! At one point, Scrooge asks a pertinent question:

The answer is critical to whether time travel occurs. The difference between things that May Be and things that Will Be is like the difference between Damon Knight and Doris Day: Both are quite creative, but (as far as I know) there’s only one you go to for a rousing time travel yarn. Future Ghost never clear answers the question, and moreover, Scrooge appears intent on not having the future he sees come true. So, I want to say that Scrooge saw only a prediction or a prophecy or a vision of a possible future—which is, at best, debatable time travel.

Thus speaketh the ITTDB.
—Michael Main

Dickens gave his first public reading of A Christmas Carol in 1853 and continued to do so until the year of his death in 1870. A version of the popular dramatic reading, with an illustration by S. Eytinge, Jr., was first published in 1868 by Ticknor and Fields in Boston. According to the British Library, the publication may have come from  one of his specially prepared manuscripts, or it may “have been transcribed on behalf of the publishing firm.” —Michael Main

The surviving footage of this first silent film of A Christmas Carol—nearly three and a half minutes at the British Film Institute—has no dialogue cards, but does include intertitles at the start of each scene, including one that makes it clear that Scrooge sees only visions of the past with no interactions (and thus, no actual time travel. The few seconds of the Christmas “that might be” is not enough to tell whether it’s also a mere vision. I enjoyed the special effects, possibly made with double exposures (note the convenient black curtain). —Michael Main

Naturally, we have no interest in the fact that this is the first American film adaptation of the Dickens’ classic. None at all. We just want to know one thing: Does Scrooge actually travel through time in this one? According to a contemporaneous review in Moving Picture World:
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[*] Looking into a fire, Scrooge sees a vision of his boyhood and his lost sweetheart, but does not (from the description) interact with them.[/*]
[*] Scrooge then follows the spirit to the homes of Cratchett and his nephew, but these sound to be in the present. He does, however, interact with each, showering them with money and promising to devote himself to the happiness of others.[/*]
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Based on this, the conclusion up in the ITTDB Citadel is that the 1908 version has no more than illusory time travel. —Michael Main

The Daily Cinema of 21 November 1960 says this 28-minute black-and-white presentation of the Carol “relates the familiar story as economically as possible, managing to retain the spirit without dwelling in detail on the background” (cited in Guida). —Michael Main

In this 54-minute black-and-white CBC broadcast of Claman and Morris’s stage musical, the Ghost of Christmas Past arrives on a tricycle, Christmas Present is inebriated, and Christmas Future holds his own severed head in his hands. —Michael Main

A faithful musical retelling of the original (complete with humbugs and the ambiguity over whether viewing the past and present consists of actual time travel). —Michael Main

The tale is a somewhat faithful retelling for children, abridge to about a third of the original length, in simple language, and with copious illustrations by Chris Russell. It even retains the metaphysical thought that the future will be bleak for Tiny Tim if things remain unchanged. —Michael Main

You’ll enjoy all the Disney characters’ renditions of all the Dickens characters, from Scrooge McDuck (as Scrooge, of course) to Goofy (as Marley), Jiminy Cricket (as the Ghost of Christmas Past), and the weasels (as Scrooge’s gravediggers).


With Dickens, we always want to know whether Scrooge actually time travels or merely observes the past and present. In this case, none of the spirits explicitly explain one way or the other, but if you watch carefully when Scrooge and Jiminy arrive in the past, you’ll spot Scrooge definitely interacting with a physical object the past when he’s unable to see the festivities inside Fezzywig’s. Verdict: probably time travel!

This cartoon was based on a 1972 audio musical entitled Disney's A Christmas Carol, although the cartoon is not a musical. —Michael Main

A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future. —from publicity material

Jack Cameron, a Christmas grump, is taken back to 1965 by the ghost of Christmas Past who then decides to stay there, putting Jack and the cosmos at risk. It’s then up to Christmas Present to save the day, although in the end it’s deus ex machina rather than Christmas Present who puts things right. —Michael Main

Patrick Steward delivers a nuanced portrayal of Scrooge in this faithful adaptation. Much of the dialog came verbatim from Dickens’s original, and the costumers paid careful tribute to John Leech’s original illustrations. —Michael Main

A radical retelling of the holiday classic that starts with a Victorian performance of the Charles Dickens tale before diving into the imagination of one of the children in the audience, taking the story to a darker fantasy realm. —from publicity material