Identifying the Differences between Novella “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and

Its Film Adaptation by Walt Disney

Identified by Kadek Yunita Adriyanti, 1712021181, 6F

A very famous novella entitled A Christmas Carol was written by Charles Dickens and it
was published in 1843. The story that carries the theme of Christmas is very popular, not a few
people remember their childhoods who always told this story by their parents at Christmas Eve.
Because of the popularity of this story, then the story was adapted through films, one of which
was the film adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" by Walt Disney in 2009. The story in the novella
and its film adaptation has several differences that can be seen from several elements, namely the
number of major characters, the characterization of the main character, the setting of the story,
and the plot development.

The first elements to see the difference of the novella and its film adaptation is the
number of the major characters. The major characters of the story in the novella are Bob
Cratchit, who is the clerk of Scrooge’s company. He is the major character of this story because
the conflicts of the story that affect the main character are also related to him. Thus, it can be
said that he indirectly influenced the story. Besides, there are also three ghosts that came to
Scrooge, namely the ghost of past, the ghost of present, and the ghost of future. These three
ghosts are the major characters because they influenced the story, especially in changing the
characterization of the main character. The third is Jacob Marley’s Ghost whose appearance
became the beginning of the conflicts of the story. The other two major characters are Fred,
Scrooge’s nephew who is the only family he had, and Tiny Tim, the youngest son of Cratchit
whose life changed the characterization of Scrooge. In its film adaptation, the major characters of
the story are only Bob Cratchit, Marley’s ghost, the ghost of past, the ghost of present, and the
ghost of future. It is because only these characters are told who the most influential characters for
the main character.

The second element of the story is the characterization of the main character. The main
character of the story is Ebenezer Scrooge. Both in the novella and its film adaptation, Scrooge
was a very stingy old man. He had no love on his self; it was why he did not care too much about
his surroundings. When two men came to his office asking for charity, he refused to give
anything he had for charity. He also hated Christmas; he thought that Christmas is waste. He was
a person who had no conscience and compassion, no wonder that people were afraid of him and
stayed away from him. However, his personality changed in the end of the story, he became a
very friendly person, he liked to share what he had to poor people, and he was a very pleasant
old man as well. Therefore, there is no difference of Scrooge’s characterization in the novella
and its film adaptation.
 The third element of the story in the novella and its film adaptation is the time, place, and
sociocultural setting. There is no significant difference of this element. The time of the story,
both in the novella and its film adaptation was mostly at the Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve is
when her best partner dead. The moment when he visited and saw his past, present, and future
life took time when Christmas Eve. It is because it was told the moment of his life when
Christmas Eve came. The place setting is also the same such as in London, Scrooge’s office,
Scrooge’s house, Cratchit’s house, and many more. The only thing that differentiates the place
setting is only the way the narrator describe the place, especially in the novella. The places were
described as detail as the narrator could, for example

“…old Scrooge sat busy in his counting house. It was cold, bleak, biting
weather: foggy withal: and he could hear the people in the court outside, go
wheezing up and down, beating their hands upon their breasts, and stamping their
feet upon the pavement stones to warm them.” (pp. 8)

From that example, it can be seen that the counting house was describe in detail to help the
reader imagine how the story goes. Besides, the sociocultural setting was also the same. In the
novella and its film adaptation, it was told the Christmas Eve celebration. The people gathered
with family and friends to have dinner with turkey and also have a deep conversation to each
others.

The last element of the story in the novella and its film adaptation is the plot
development. Again, there is no significant difference of plot development between the novella
and the film. Both in the novella and its film adaptation has the same beginning. In the
beginning, it was told the death of Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley. Also, it indirectly
introduced the characterization of Scrooge who was a very stingy old man. There is a flashback
in this story, it was when the ghost of the past came and Scrooge went to his past life. The
novella and the film had also the same conflicts. Thus, the climax of the story, both in the
novella and its film adaptation, is when the ghost of the future came and showed Scrooge about
his future life if he still becomes a stingy person and a man who has no love. It was shown that
he was full of fear when he saw what will happen to him. Mostly, these events appeared both in
the novella and its film adaptation, therefore there is no significant difference of the plot
development.

As a conclusion, when comparing the novella “A Christmas Carol” and its film
adaptation by Walt Disney in terms of the number of major characters, the characterization of the
main character, the setting, and the plot development, it shows that these two have no significant
difference. The major characters of the story are the same, but in the novella there are seven
major characters, meanwhile in the film, there are only three of those seven characters who
influenced the story the most. The characterizations of Ebenezer Scrooge as the main character
are the same from the beginning to the end of the story. As well as the setting of place, time and
sociocultural, these are also the same. The only thing that differentiates the novella and its film
adaptation is that the narrator described the place more detail. The last one is the plot
development which also has the same plot both in the novella and in its film adaptation.