The Zemeckis version of A Christmas Carol sticks closely to the well-known Dickens tale that sees Scrooge starting the holiday with contempt, then being visited by spirits who help him open his heart to undo years of ill-will towards his family, his faithful clerk Bob Cratchit and sickly Tiny Tim.

The movie uses the motion capture technology Zemeckis showed off in The Polar Express (2004) and in Beowulf (2007) that merges an actor’s facial expressions and physical likeness with computer-generated, animated characters.

It allows Carrey, and fellow cast members Gary Oldman, Bob Hoskins and Robin Wright to bring several roles to life while giving Zemeckis the freedom to take the audience hurtling through time, space and snowy Victorian London skies while adding elements of horror and slapstick humor to the mix.

Scrooge has been played by actors ranging from the Britain’s Alastair Sim in a 1951 black and white movie version to Bill Murray in the modern Scrooged (1988) and Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992.

Carrey said Scrooge was such an enduring character because “in some degree or another everyone has a little of him in themselves.”

“Every spirit is an aspect of Scrooge himself,” Carrey said, explaining his casting. “I think Scrooge is a guy who was abandoned and unloved...and who has slowly been disappointed by life over and over again.”

“I think Bob (Zemeckis) has created the best version so far of this story...I am extremely honored to be part of it.”