Dec 21, 2025
Arthur Rackham - Illustrations for A Christmas Carol
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Arthur Rackham - Illustrations for A Christmas Carol
I've posted about this before, but I'll do it again.
I still think it's hilarious that in Scrooge (1970), both Scrooge and Marley are played by actors who went on to play older versions of Ewan McGregor.
Albert Finney...
...played the older version of McGregor's character in Big Fish.
And as for Alec Guinness...
...I think everyone knows.
Even without this coincidence, it's funny to see Guinness playing a ghost in Scrooge, since Obi-Wan spends two-thirds of the original trilogy as a Force ghost.
Now all we need is for Ewan McGregor to play either Scrooge or Marley in a new Christmas Carol adaptation (not that we need another one, but they never stop), and it will all have come full circle.
@justice-for-jacob-marley
...images from the lost continent of cult films, b-movies and celluloid dreamscapes
With a rattle of chains: Notable depictions of the late Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol
Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost (1901) The Right to Be Happy (1916) A Christmas Carol (1923) (1938) Scrooge (1951) (1970) The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Scrooge & Marley (2012) The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017) Spirited (2022)
Remembering the late Harvey Kurtzman on his birthday.
Merry Christmas And A Bah Humbug To You!
Top 12 Portrayals of Jacob Marley
The last two characters I’ve covered in this little marathon were the two most important human characters Scrooge encounters in “A Christmas Carol.” Of course, not all of the major characters can exactly qualify as “human” any longer. Enter Jacob Marley: Scrooge’s former friend and business partner, and the first of the phantoms he encounters in the story. While Fred and Bob Cratchit stand as opposing foils to Scrooge, Marley is something different: just like the words he utters, he, himself, acts as a warning to Ebenezer of what his ill behavior could lead to. Through Marley (and the other Tormented Spirits Scrooge sees), not only does Dickens create arguably the scariest and most unsettling scene in the original book, but he also conjures up a karmic punishment so ingenious, Lucifer himself should really take notes! Here we have a man who is forever doomed to wander around, forced to see hardship and suffering and realize he is truly no different from any other human soul. He can do nothing to help, only reflect on his mistakes, his guilt, and his inability to make amends and atone for his crimes, however direct or indirect they might have been. The only “comfort” he has are the very material objects he hoarded in his lifetime, lashed about him to ironically provide even more agony, with every link of the chains that strap them to his form acting as a reminder of a sin he can no longer redeem himself for. As harrowing as Marley’s scene is, there’s also a good deal of humor to it, given the very surreality of the whole scenario and Scrooge’s snappish personality. There’s also a hint of something deeper and sadder under it; in the book, at least, it’s revealed that Marley himself is the one who arranges the whole debacle and manages to get this whole story to get underway, and he does it because he wants to give his friend a sporting chance to escape. It’s not clear if Marley, himself, will get anything out of this, but he tries his best to help Ebenezer, which shows a great change in his character, and helps to sell the message of the story: it’s really never too late to change. It CAN, however, be too late to do anything about it if you don’t shape up in time. Redemption and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin, and Marley is a prime example of that: he sees the error of his ways, but it no longer matters. That is the tragedy of the whole situation. This is yet another character I’ve played, and I’d love the chance to do so again. (Annoying as the costume requirements may be.) With so many versions of the Carol, Marley has been played a lot of different ways: some make him more frightening, others more human, and some even make him a more comical figure. All of them are fairly solid and viable options, if handled right. With that said, here are My Top 12 Favorite Portrayals of Jacob Marley!
12. Mr. Slate, from A Flintstones Christmas Carol. (Here the character is referred to as "Jacob Marbley." Because rock puns. :P )
11. Goofy, from Mickey’s Christmas Carol. (He ranks low only because it’s so weird imagining Goofy “robbing from widows and swindling the poor.” Like…something there doesn’t sound right. Unless this is Jack Kinney’s Goofy, maybe. :P )
10. Basil Rathbone, from Shower of Stars: A Christmas Carol.
9. Ed Asner, from A Christmas Carol (1997).
8. Statler & Waldorf, from The Muppet Christmas Carol. (Here they make up the duo "Jacob and Robert Marley.")
7. Jason Alexander, from A Christmas Carol: The Musical (2004). (A lot of people seem to dislike this take on Marley, but I personally love it.)
Marley’s Ghost
Marley’s ghost, weighed down by his locks and chains,
Confronted miserly Scrooge and sternly
Warned him, that a similar ghastly fate
Awaited him, if he did not quickly
Change his penny- pinching ways. Scrooge
Was shocked to hear these words of dread and doom,
From his now deceased business partner, whom
He assumed still shared his self-seeking views.
He didn’t know whether this ghost was real
Or merely a dream, but it scared him to
The very core of his being. He could feel
Darkness drawing near. And as for the Truth,
He did not wish to hear it. The death- cold
Eyes of the ghost gazed into Scrooge’s soul.
More visitations from the spirit world
Would follow until bitter, old Scrooge learned
The errors of his ways. Marley’s ghost wailed
And then fled, leaving Scrooge looking most grave.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Due to popular demand on the poll I made about what fic I should work on, here's my take on Scrooge x Marley, set after the ending of the movie, one year later.
Summary: In which Ebenezer Scrooge has a ghostly visitor in the form of his old lover Jacob Marley.