Trivia / A Christmas Carol

• Adaptation Overdosed: The other wiki lists scores of adaptations in every form of media, including at least 40 separate full-length film and TV productions. We have our own list here on the Derivative Works page. And that's not even getting into the Yet Another Christmas Carol trope.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The third ghost met by Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, not the Ghost of Christmas Future.
• Colbert Bump: Scrooge (1935), featuring Seymour Hicks, has gained notoriety, if not infamy, after being riffed on Atop the Fourth Wall.
• Money, Dear Boy: Dickens originally wrote it to pay off a debt. Ironically, he insisted that it come with full-colour illustrations, which ate into the profits he needed. However, the story was a hit from the first release. Dickens was also quite fond of the story and would keep revisiting it.
• Referenced by...: Has its own page.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Urban Legend has it that Dickens originally considered calling Tiny Tim "Little Larry", "Small Sam", or "Puny Pete". Whether or not he considered those names, one alternate name he really did consider was “little Fred,” possibly after his own younger brother. Eventually, though, he transferred the name “Fred” to Scrooge’s nephew.
  • In the manuscript version of the story, Tiny Tim's fate after Scrooge reformed wasn't revealed, with his survival presumably added when Dickens went to the publishers.
  • Originally, the story was supposed to take place 10 years after Marley died. Dickens changed this to seven years, as seven has always been considered a magical number.
• Word of Dante: Several details of the story have been used in so many stage and screen adaptations that it's surprising to learn that they weren't in Dickens' original.
  • In adaptations Belle is usually seen dancing at Fezziwig's ball, sometimes being his daughter or niece. In the book she's first seen when she breaks up with Scrooge, and no relation to Fezziwig is given.
  • The reason for Scrooge's hostility toward his nephew is never clearly spelled out, though most adaptations assume it was because his mother Fan died giving birth to him. Likewise, the reason that Scrooge's father is cold to him is never spelled out, but is often given a similar Freudian Excuse.
  • Mrs. Dilber is often made the unnamed housekeeper who stole the curtains, sheets, and shirt off Scrooge's corpse, while in the book she was the laundress who stole his sugar tongs, boots, and spoons.

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