The Ghosts of Dickens’ Past
1998, G.
Directed by Bruce Neibaur, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Cary Lawrence, Jennifer Bertram, Christopher Heyerdahl.

Not reviewed at press time. This family drama/fantasy film is a co-production of Canada’s CINAR television production studio and Feature Films for Families, a U.S. company that shoots straight-to-video family films. The story is a fictionalized account of the process Charles Dickens underwent in order to write his enduring classic, A Christmas Carol. Told through flashbacks, the character of Dickens recalls a young street urchin who saved him from being robbed and then, years later, returns as an apparition to show him the deplorable living conditions caused by child labor laws and poverty. Sounds like a perfect film for mid-February.

This article appears in February 19 • 1999 (Cover).

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.