Holly Jolly Holly Jolly

True to my commitment to immerse myself in some Christmas cheer, the family and I carved out a little bit of time this week to watch a couple of Christmas movies. This past Wednesday, we watched a version of A Christmas Carol I had never seen before: the 2009 Disney rendition featuring Jim Carrey. I was skeptical at first, knowing that it was Disney and being somewhat put off by computer generated animation that was more reminiscent of The Polar Express than anything you'd find from Pixar. Of course, A Christmas Carol wasn't a Pixar production.

However, I was surprised at how close the movie followed the Dickens narrative. In fact, there were a couple of spots (such as the entrance of Marley's ghost) that would have undoubtedly been frightening for young kids. Whatever else it was, this version was not your typical happy Disney fare. Still, you have to have some signature magic, which the makers accomplished through a somewhat weird extended scene of Scrooge trying to run away from the Ghost of Christmas Future. Even Jim Carrey, supplying the voices of several characters, seem to treat the Dickens classic with a respect that falls outside the usual larger than life caricatures he usually brings to his subjects (think the Grinch). In fact, the voice work was quite well done. At one point, I was convinced I was hearing the voice of Bill Nighy, the actor who played Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But it was Carrey all the time. All in all, I enjoyed it, but I'm definitely partial to the black-and-white versions in the queue for later in the week.

Then Friday night, at my younger son's request, we put in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. There is something strangely nostalgic and comforting about the folksy crooning of Burl Ives. Somewhere in the basement, I actually have a Burl Ives vinyl record. Ives, of course, is the snowman narrator of Rudolph. Watching this classic has only one small side effect, an affliction that plaques me for a couple hours after each watching. That song. That "Holly Jolly Christmas" song. It just keeps playing over and over and over in the back of my mind. It's not a bad song, mind you, it's just that it sticks to the walls of my mind. So, in the spirit of Christmas, and in the hopes that such cheer sticks to you like the price sticker on puzzle box, here is the great Burl Ives with "Holly Jolly Christmas":


Next up on the playlist: It's a Wonderful Life.