Xmas Carol Train Tour!

They call Jim Carrey the man of many faces and damn, he’s about to really prove it. He’s starring in Disney’s new motion capture film, A CHRISTMAS CAROL. And I mean starring! He’s playing Ebenezer Scrooge (at all ages), and all three ghosts! Last week JoBlo.com got a sneak peek at the film at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. This was the big premiere of…wait for it, cause it’s a mouthful…”Disney’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL Train Tour”.

The tour is aboard an Amtrak train, and will be traveling across the country, stopping in 40 cities. It will be traveling 16,000 miles and will feature a few scenes from the film in an inflatable 3D theater (now the kids will never be satisfied with a mere moon bounce for their birthdays), a behind-the-scenes look at the motion capture technology of the film, concept art, maquettes and portraits of the characters.

It will even snow on your head, which, let me tell you, was a bit disconcerting since I was in the process of getting a sunburn on my shoulders at the time. And the extra-cool part? It’s free. No, you didn’t read that wrong. FREE! Click here for a list of cities.

The film looks incredible, beyond anything we saw in BEOWULF, and certainly leaps and bounds ahead of THE POLAR EXPRESS. We were shown the scene where Scrooge’s nephew Fred (Colin Firth) comes to ask him to spend Christmas with the family. Don’t ask me why, but Scrooge’s line about how anyone who celebrates Christmas should be “boiled in his own pudding and buried with a sprig of holly through his heart” stuck in my head. Perhaps I should talk to someone about that. Anyway, the body movement is spot on. They haven’t quite managed to get rid of the whole “uncanny valley” thing with the eyes yet, but from what we saw, that isn’t going to take away from the beauty of the film as a whole. Next, we saw the famous scene where Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Marley (Gary Oldman). Seriously, the film is stunning. I found myself entranced by the movement of the leather chair under Scrooge’s fingers as he curls up and tells Marley that he is merely a vision brought on by indigestion. (One of my favorite parts of the book. I still love this story. I was Belle in the musical version…stop laughing.) A bit of a warning here. Marley’s entrance is a bit intense, especially in 3D. His jaw detaches as he’s yelling and it would have scared the crap out of me as a kid. It was also nice to see Marley’s chains fly out of the screen at you. All I keep hearing is about how film makers are trying not to make the 3D obvious. I understand the idea, but come on now. That’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

The train tour is definitely worth checking out if it’s hitting your town. (I loved the idea of digitally putting your own face onto one of the characters, but I couldn’t seem to make it work. Electronic things break around me.) Check out a whole bunch of pics from the event below!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL opens November 6th, 2009.