The film and Mars Needs Moms (2011) were the only ImageMovers Digital projects made, before the studio was shut down by the Walt Disney Company for unsatisfactory box office results.

His loyal employee Bob Cratchit requests to not work on Christmas Day so he can spend time with his family, to which Scrooge reluctantly agrees.

At one o'clock, Scrooge is visited by the candle-like Ghost of Christmas Past, who shows him visions of his early life, such as his lonely boarding school days, his relationship with his beloved sister Fan and his time as an apprentice under the benevolent Fezziwig.

Scrooge takes pity on Bob's ill son Tiny Tim, whom the rapidly ageing Ghost comments might not survive until next Christmas.

Scrooge desperately vows to change his ways before falling into his empty coffin above the flames of Hell, only to find himself returned to his bedroom in the present.

Scrooge becomes a father figure to Tiny Tim, who overcomes his ailments and is restored to health, and now treats everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion, thus embodying the Christmas spirit.

After making The Polar Express (2004), Robert Zemeckis stated that he "fell in love with digital theater" and tried finding an avenue in order to use the format again.

The film's music was also orchestrated by William Ross, Conrad Pope and John Ashton Thomas and performed by London Voices and The Hollywood Studio Symphony.

[14] Much of the film's music was based on traditional Christmas carols such as "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen", "Deck the Halls", "O Come, All Ye Faithful", "Hark!

The film's theme song, titled "God Bless Us Everyone", was written by Glen Ballard and Alan Silverstri and performed by Italian classical crossover tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The site's critical consensus read, "Robert Zemeckis' 3-D animated take on the Dickens classic tries hard, but its dazzling special effects distract from an array of fine performances from Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman.

"[27] Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal wrote in his review that the film's "tone is joyless, despite an extended passage of bizarre laughter, several dazzling flights of digital fancy, a succession of striking images and Jim Carrey's voicing of Scrooge plus half a dozen other roles.

"[28] The Daily Telegraph reviewer Tim Robey wrote, "How much is gained by the half-real visual style for this story is open to question—the early scenes are laborious and never quite alive, and the explosion of jollity at the end lacks the virtue of being funny.

"[30] Time Out London praised the film for sticking to Dickens' original dialogue but also questioned the technology by saying, "To an extent, this 'Christmas Carol' is a case of style—and stylisation—overwhelming substance.

[32] He felt Scrooge’s encounter with the final ghost to be “a bit tedious, as it soon becomes an elaborate chase scene purely designed to show off the 3D” but called the film “an enjoyable and memorable version.”[32]