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LOS ANGELES – It is 166 years since the publication of "A Christmas Carol", Charles Dickens heartwarming seasonal story of redemption wrapped up in a biting indictment of 19th century capitalism.
Yet in the era of global financial crisis and multi-billion-dollar fraud, Jim Carrey believes Dickens's tale about how the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge learns to change his ways remains as relevant today as ever.
"I think it's a very pressing story nowadays, too," says Carrey, the star of Disney's re-imagining of the classic, released in North America on November 6. "I think stories get told at times when they?re supposed to be told.
"Scrooge is the first corporate scumbag. The unloved scumbag. So, in this time when all our constructs are breaking down because of greed, this story is so pressing," Carrey adds.
"Everybody loves a good transformational story. You know, somebody who sees the light, who finally finds out what's important in life. And, this is one of the greatest ones ever written."
Just like the character of Scrooge, Carrey was confronted with a vision of his future during the making of the film.
But while Scrooge's insight came via the spooky Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Carrey's own premonition was entirely due to his appearance after the 3D movie's special effects wizards went to work.
Instead of the familiar 47-year-old face known to millions in hits such as "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," and "Bruce Almighty," Carrey says he was left staring at the spitting image of his father.
"When I saw the movie, one of the first things I said when I saw the first close up of Scrooge is, 'my family is going to have a heart attack, because that is my father,'" he said.
"It's unbelievable. It's really a look into the future for me. Not the long chin and the long nose, but the look is what I'm going to look like when I?m old," Carrey added.
Disney's new take on the classic is the latest in a long line of adaptations of the beloved 1843 novella, with the first screen version coming more than a century ago with in the 1901 British short "Scrooge".
The new film sees Carrey play the bitter, money-grabbing Scrooge as well as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
The film, also featuring Robin Wright Penn and Gary Oldman, is directed by Oscar-winner Robert Zemeckis.
Zemeckis, writer and co-director of the phenomenally successful 1985 hit "Back to the Future", says the story of Scrooge "might be the greatest time travel story written in the English language."
"It's fabulous... definitely this story influenced my own time travel stories," he says.
Like his groundbreaking 2004 hit "Polar Express", Zemeckis uses performance capture technology to bring Scrooge and other characters to life, where each actor's movements are filmed and fused with animation.
For Carrey, the technique meant he and other performers were acting blind, with only a vague idea of what would actually end up on the screen.
"For an actor, there are certain aspects of the technology that are so exciting and amazing creatively that you can't wait to see what it turns into," he revealed. "For an actor, there are extra challenges. You have to create the ambiance and the belief in your surroundings in your head.
"I can't wait to do the process again. Watching it, you never know where it was going to go. You have to go through months of panic, not knowing and then slowly you start to fall in love with it. 'Oh, my God, look what they've done.' It's unbelievable." - AFP/ra
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