Luke Manning of Disneyland News Today attended the opening weekend of the A Christmas Carol Train Tour at Los Angeles’ Union Station. This tour provided a unique look into the creation of the film, which opens in theaters nationwide November 6th, 2009, as well as an 11 minute preview of the movie. Let’s take a look at some of Luke’s photos from the tour:
This way to all trains
Yes, the wait really was 3 hours! Even worse is that later in the day, the line got up to nearly 6 hours!
A lot of people obviously wanted to come out and see this thing
Thankfully, entertainment was provided for guests in the line, including this circus artist, as well as carolers and a band
The train itself
Looks like HP forked over quite a lot of money for this
Kids waiting in line got given an Activity Sheet to keep them occupied
Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Jim Carrey
At this point, it looks like the wait is over…
Unfortunately there’s still an hour and a half to go!
Cleverly deguised speakers
Carolers
Very cheap water compared to WDW :)
More activities to keep the kids occupied
You could enter for a chance to win an HP TouchSmart PC and Photosmart Printer
And you could also enter to be a Disney Channel Movie Surfer representing your hometown
The crowd of people waiting to get on the train
Not that far to go!
Although these people down here aren’t so lucky, they have about 6 hours to go!
Disney was apparently filming something at the tour today, although Luke didn’t see anything
Snow machines were being blasted occassionally. Happy May everyone! ;)
A couple of screens were put up in the last section of the queue to keep guests slightly entertained
Do you get the feeling that Jim Carrey might be playing too many roles? This is him as the Ghost of Christmas Past
After a 3 hour wait, we are finally on the train! The first part of the tour is the Portrait Hall
Scrooge as a young man
Old Scrooge
Some old “A Christmas Carol” related artifacts on lend from the Charles Dicken Museum in England
Teenage Scrooge
Colin Firth as Scrooge’s nephew Fred
Gary Oldman as Bob Cratchit
Leslie Zemeckis as Mrs. Fred Scrooge
Robin Wright Penn as Fan
More Charles Dickens artifacts
Robin Wright Penn also played Belle
And Gary Oldman also played Tiny Tim. Modern technology is truely wonderous
Can’t quite make out the name of the actress who plays Mrs. Fezziwig
Bob Hoskins is Mr. Fezziwig
The second car features the Landscape Hall showcasing some of the beautiful scene designs
Scrooge’s Magic Siting Room
Rag & Bottle Shop
A Phantom Hearse, which I don’t believe has been featured in any other movie version of “A Christmas Carol”
I don’t believe a Lighthouse has been featured before either
Scrooge’s visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past
Very reminiscent of Peter Pan
Yet more Charles Dickens artifacts
Daytime in old London town
Fred’s Foyer
Scrooge’s Office
Mr. Fezziwig’s
The Royal Exchange in London
Scrooge’s childhood schoolhouse
And finally Scrooge’s grand house
The first part of the third car featured models of the characters in the film, as well as some of the locations
Here you see Scrooge and Bob Cratchit
Mr. Fezziwig and Scrooge
Scrooge again and Mrs. Fezziwig
This version of “A Christmas Carol” is set around 1834 when Big Ben in London was being constructed
A Carriage Hearse
Scrooge’s house
Scrooge’s office
The Ghost of Christmas Present (yes, played by Jim Carrey) and Scrooge as a kid
A middle age Scrooge and his old business partner Jacob Marley
This movie was created in a very unique way. The actors acted everything out in this enviroment, and the animation was put on from their acting in special suits…
Sort of like this
Certainly is a very different way to do a Christmas movie!
The next part had some screens showing various concepts, at different stages, in the film
The final car is the interactive section, where you can take “A Christmas Carol” quiz or morph your own face into that of either Tiny Tim, Scrooge, or Jacob Marley
The Christmas spirit really comes out in the last car where you can have your picture taken with a “well cooked Christmas dinner”
After guests experience the train tour, you get to wait in line again, this time to see an 11 minute preview of the film
That’ll do it for this special WDWNT photo report. The Christmas Carol Train Tour is going to be making stops all throughout the country through November 1st, 2009 in New York’s Grand Central Terminal, which is just a few days before the film debuts. For more information on the Christmas Carol Train Tour, please visit the official site by clicking HERE.
