Yet Another Christmas Carol: Difference between revisions

[[File:A-Christmas-Carol_2668Carol 2668.jpg|link=Doctor Who|frame| [[Recycled in Space|This time in space]]...[[Everything's Even Worse with Sharks|with sharks]].]]

'''Wonderella''': God, ''why?'' I've seen this episode like fifty times! Christ, even'' [[Blossom]] ''did one of these!|''[[The Non-Adventures of Wonderella]]''}}

A very popular [[Fanfic|Fanfiction]]tion trope, with most shows having at least one such plot in their [[Fan Work]]. For actual Christmas carols, see [[Christmas Songs]].

A [[Sub-Trope]] of [[Whole-Plot Reference]] (so anything less than the plot is merely a [[Shout-Out]]) and [[Christmas Ghost Story]].

Compare [[How the Character Stole Christmas]] and [[It's a Wonderful Plot]]. Related to [[Time Travel]], particularly [[Intangible Time Travel]] -- as—as well as [[Pensieve Flashback]].

=== [[Fan FictionWorks]] ===

* Even ''[[Light and Dark - The Adventures of Dark Yagami|Light and Dark The Adventures of Dark Yagami]]'' gets in on the act, when Soichiro is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas. Christmas Past claims all girls should go out with fanfic writers, Christmas [[You Make Me Sic|Presents]] shouts at Soichiro for not getting Dark ''[[Guitar Hero]]'' and Christmas Future [[Plot Dump|Plot Dumps]]s. Merry Christmas to all.

* ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7670402/1/An_Excellent_Christmas_Carol An Excellent Christmas Carol]'' features [[Stuart Ashen|Ashens]] in one of these, {{spoiler|with the subversion that it's a [[Dying Dream]]... [[Mind Screw|maybe]].}}

* [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2146514/1/Marios_Christmas_Carol This] pretty good ''Mario'' fanfic, which casts Wario (of course) as Scrooge.

=== [[Live Action TV]] ===

* ''[[Roseanne]]'' had the title character deciding to give up on Halloween pranks -- andpranks—and being visited by the ghosts of Halloween past, Halloween Present, and Halloween Future. They show that if she gives up the pranks, she'll turn into her mother (literally).

{{quote|'''Donna, [[Call Back|three years later]] in the [[Agatha Christie]] episode:''' Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders, not really! I mean, that's like meeting Charles Dickens and he's surrounded by ghosts. At ''Christmas''.<br />

* An episode of ''[[Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman]]'', had the titular character shunning the holiday, but not because she's being Scrooge-like. Instead, she's lonely spending her first Christmas away from her family and depressed over the recent death of a patient, named Marley. A character who died early in the series comes to serve as all three Ghosts. In contrast to other adaptations, the vision of the future is quite happy, showing her married with children and grandchildren, though she is left in the dark about who her husband will be. She recovers in time to celebrate the holiday and assist a young woman in giving birth--inbirth—in a stable, of course.

=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===

* In ''[[FoxTrot]]'', Jason has a dream sequence where his family appears as the Christmas ghosts --— but with their original obnoxious personalities. For instance, Peter, as ghost of Christmas Present, who doesn't know what he should do due to only skimming the Cliffs Notes, and ate the feast associated with the traditional depiction of the spirit, remarking "I had (burp) a light lunch, OK?" Paige, as the ghost of Christmas Past, is more concerned with herself than Jason (at one point showing him a Christmas before his own birth and crying "See how happy I was?!"). Marcus, as "[[Parody Names|Jacob Marcusly]]," gets weighed down with "the cables of the many video game controllers I selfishly clung to in life." The warning he gives "Jasonezer," incidentally, is to not waste his money on a particular brand of joystick.

=== [[Professional Wrestling]] ===

* [[Vince McMahon]] as Scrooge [https://web.archive.org/web/20160909061159/http://www.pwbts.com/columns/2007/b111207.html\]

=== Radio ===

=== [[Video Games]] ===

* There was a very much obscure [[Super Mario Bros.|Mario]] version starring Wario as Scrooge and various Nintendo characters as the ghosts that came with the German Club Mrio magazine, which was called Warios [[Weihnachtsm Ã]]&curren;¤rchen (Wario's Christmas Tale).

* ''[[RunescapeRuneScape]]'''s 2009 [[Holiday Mode|Christmas Event]] had the player character take the role of the ghosts.

=== [[Web Comics]] ===

* ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' did a [[Super Mario Bros.]] version for the 2009 holiday season with the [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229161240/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=947 Mushroom Kingdom Carol.] In it, the part of Scrooge is played by Mario who, after finally driving Bowser away from Mushroom Kingdom for good, was convinced by Wario (who is here as Marley) to assemble a financial society, effectively retiring from heroics. However, years later, Bowser {{spoiler|Jr. (on behalf of his dad)}} comes back with a vengeance to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and, not being in his prime physical condition anymore, Mario fails to save now-Queen Peach, leading him to become an embittered old codger with "a wrench [[Curse Cut Short|up h-]]", as Daisy puts it, and allow the Kingdom to sink into misery and degradation, with Bowser's Toadies collecting extorsive taxes from the citizens (and even kidnapping their relatives should they fail to pay!). Luigi's role in here is that of Bob Cratchitt, living in poverty without receiving a shred of compassion from his brother. And to top it off, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come are represented by [[Super Mario Galaxy|Princess Rosalina]], [[Kirby]] and {{spoiler|[[Super Mario Sunshine|Shadow Mario]]}}, respectively.

=== [[Web Original]] ===

=== [[Western Animation]] ===

* A variation on the theme appears in the Christmas episode of ''[[Back to The Future The Animated Series]]'', where Doc and family, plus Marty, travel back to 19th century England during Christmastime to escape some nasty summer heat. One of the B plots of the episode features Ebiffneezer Tannen, who forecloses on the owners of a toy shop the main characters met in the beginning and sends them to debtors' prison. Clara, who was in the shop at the time and refused Ebiffneezer's advances, is sent too. Marty, attempting to break Clara out, is told Ebiffneezer is a real "Scrooge," which inspires him to pull the Ghost act on the Tannen. Ebiffneezer is a hard sell, though -- eventhough—even after seeing stuff that "would make the Terminator cry," he refuses to change. It's only through Marty dropping and accidentally activating a projection movie system that he was watching on his hoverboard at the beginning of the episode that Ebiffneezer is inspired to change -- thechange—the Tannen is terrified by the Godzilla movie and swears to be good. The episode may be unique in having the lesson also not STICK -- EbiffneezerSTICK—Ebiffneezer reverts near-immediately to his nasty self once he sees Marty at the end and realizes he's not a ghost. There's an amusing bit of lampshading when Marty first appears as the ghost -- Ebiffneezerghost—Ebiffneezer asks him if he's "Past, Present, or Future," and Marty, being a time traveler, admits to being all three.

** To be fair, they do have the grave-digging weasels say that the man they were burying (Scrooge) had absolutely no mourners or friends to say farewell to make it clear that he would [[Dying Alone|die a lonely death]]. And the entire story is condensed, not just with the "Future" segment--thesegment—the "Past" ghost only shows him the Christmas party where he met Belle and their break-up (unlike most versions where we see his childhood, etc), while the "Present" ghost only shows him dinner at the Cratchits (instead of adding on the party at his nephew's). And given that we see the Cratchit family at Tim's grave (his death having been hinted at in the "Present"), I don't think the "Future" ghost missed the point at all.

* Barbie does her own [[Gender Flip|Gender Flipped]]ped version of ''A Christmas Carol'' for a Direct-To-DVD movie. This time the Scrooge who gets the ghostly visits is a bossy Victorian theater owner/diva named Eden Starling.

* Another [[Gender Flip]] version: ''Ebbie'', an '90s made-for-TV movie that re-imagines Scrooge as a selfish and grasping modern-day businesswoman, played by [[All My Children|Susan Lucci]]. This one should get special notice because of a [[Relationship Writing Fumble]] -- our—our protagonist has better chemistry with Marley than with her lost past love.

* ''Ebeneezer'' is another resetting, starring [[City Slickers|Jack Palance]] as a crooked and crotchety saloon owner/gunslinger on the Canadian prairies. This Scrooge does have Christmas dinner--withdinner—with his friend the madam of the local whorehouse. Marley is his old business partner, Christmas Past is a First Nations woman, Christmas Present a Mountie, and Christmas Future is {{spoiler|Ebeneezer's (long-dead) father.}} Instead of Nephew Fred, there is a young rancher Ebeneezer cheats out of his land and "Marley's" daughter.

* In 1960, [[Beatnik]] poet/humorist/monologist [[Lord Buckley]] retold the whole story in hipster slang. Listen to it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOLrZar3XRE here].

* Used in a Christmas Edition of [[Sweet Valley High|Sweet Valley Twins]], in which Jessica has been pulling numerous selfish stunts, most recently, sabotaging a celebrity lunch that her twin sister ELIZABETH was meant to have in order to garner said celebrity's support for a charity (Jessica could care less about the charity, she just wants to meet a celebrity). So she's not shunning Christmas, but is instead, completely focused on her own happiness and no one else's. While there's no Marley character, three ghosts are present. Christmas Past--showsPast—shows how Jessica used to love sharing her toys and clothes with her sister. Christmas Present--showsPresent—shows how Jessica has become selfish and estranged from her sister. Christmas Future, who in true Dickens style, is a ghostly, shrouded figure--fastfigure—fast forwards to a teenage Jessica and Elizabeth. Jessica is unpopular and loathed by nearly everyone because of her cruelty and selfishness. Of course, she wakes up determined to change for the better.

* [[The Dukes of Hazzard]] had the cousins try to pull the ghost scam on Boss Hogg, but it falls apart in a major way. Turns out Roscoe gave Boss a copy of the book as his gift. Reading it while alone on Christmas Eve, Boss has a change of heart--forheart—for that episode, anyway.

* In the webcomic ''[[Sexy Losers]]'', in the [https://web.archive.org/web/20130925204450/http://sexylosers.com/257.html Chafed Dickens] storyline ([[NSFW]]) "ghosts" (sometimes images of people who're alive) visit compulsive masturbator Mike and try to show him the error of his ways. It ends with him [[Comically Missing the Point]] they're trying to make. It doesn't really help that the situations they take him to are situations which are even more likely to inspire him to... well...

* Bob of ''[[Weebl and Bob]]'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20140422051230/http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/ghosts/ gives his advice on how to deal with this sort of thing].

* ''[[Akuma TH]]'' had the Christmas Special "A Christmas Batol." Fluke visits Kari on Christmas with his [[Soul Edge]] shard tagging along <ref> For those wondering: Fluke is a rookie fighter with an exceptionally powerful and abnormally sentient piece of Soul Edge, and is in love with Kari, who is the world's third strongest fighter. Fluke's shard constantly makes schemes to take Kari's body as his new host</ref> and gets rejected. He remarks to Soul Edge in passing that Kari's behavior reminded him of Scrooge, and then explains the plot of [[A Christmas Carol]] to Soul Edge. Soul Edge decides he likes the idea and modifies it a bit, visiting Kari's house in the middle of the night to force her into three battles representing the Past, Present, and Future; if she loses a battle, he takes her body. Kari ultimately does learn a lesson, sort of: Her last opponent tells her that curbing her overwhelming desire to become stronger and taking a break from training once in awhile will also help make her strong. So she resolves to gain a social life. For the sake of becoming stronger.