Anyone looking for a bit of early Christmas cheer were sure to find some while visiting Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” train tour. The train, which has been traveling across the United States since May, made its appearance in Union Station last week for two days. Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman and Colin Firth will star in this latest animated adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel.
Before entering the train, visitors were given a special souvenir ticket to acknowledge their admission. This ticket was also used later in the tour for admission to see a 15-minute preview of the movie and the opportunity to photograph your face and morph it into a character from the film.
Each train car housed a different element to the making of “A Christmas Carol.” In one car, costume replicas from Scrooge’s closet were on display, along with authentic artifacts that once belonged to Charles Dickens. Concept art for the Disney animated movie was also up for show. To add a bit of interactivity to the train tour, visitors had the chance to use Hewlett-Packard Touch Screen computers to explore Dickens-era London and test their “Christmas Carol” knowledge.
One of the more impressive train cars featured a multitude of screens playing interviews with the cast and crew of “A Christmas Carol” and a demonstration of how the movie was made with state-of-the-art motion capture technology. Videos showed the actors dressed all in black with colorful spots pasted on their faces. They filmed on a giant sound stage with minimal pieces of furniture. In post-production, the actors were put into their animated form amidst very detailed settings.
Two clips from “A Christmas Carol” were shown as a part of the preview. In the first scene, Scrooge (Jim Carrey) receives a visit from his nephew Fred (Colin Firth) who is proclaiming the joys of Christmas. Fred gives a very passionate speech, only to be scoffed at by Scrooge. In the second scene, the ghost of Scrooge’s former business partner, Marley (Gary Oldman), visits Scrooge and warns him that three other ghosts will soon also be visiting him.
The incredible motion capture technology used in “A Christmas Carol” allows for almost life-like animations with every facial expression registering a specific emotion. The characters also bear very similar appearances to their real-life counterparts, and Scrooge’s movements strongly resemble Carrey’s distinctive traits.
“A Christmas Carol” opens nationwide Nov. 6, with select theaters playing the movie in Disney Digital 3-D.
