text:
Ghost of Christmas Past
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ghost of Christmas Past
Scrooge "extinguishes" the Ghost of Christmas Past. Original 1843 illustration by John Leech
First appearance
A Christmas Carol 1843
Created by
Charles Dickens
Information
Species
Spirit
Gender
Neutral
Occupation
Producer of Visions
Relatives
The Ghost of Christmas Present, The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, Jacob Marley
The Ghost of Christmas Past or The Spirit of Christmas Past is a fictional character in the work A Christmas Carol by the English novelist Charles Dickens.
Contents
[hide]
1 Description
2 Role in the story
3 Appearance in various film adaptations
4 See also
5 References
Description[edit]
The Ghost of Christmas Past is the first of the three spirits (after the visitation by Jacob Marley, his former business partner) to haunt Ebenezer Scrooge. This angelic spirit shows Scrooge scenes from his past that occurred on or around Christmas, in order to demonstrate to him the necessity of changing his ways, as well as to show the reader how Scrooge came to be a bitter, cold-hearted miser.
According to Dickens' novel, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears to Scrooge as a white-robed, androgynous figure of indeterminate age. It has on its head a blazing light, reminiscent of a candle flame, and carries a metal cap, made in the shape of a candle extinguisher. The ghost is often portrayed as a woman in dramatic adaptations of the story:
...being now a thing with one arm, now with one leg, now with twenty legs, now a pair of legs without a head, now a head without a body: of which dissolving parts, no outline would be visible in the dense gloom where in they melted away.[1]
Role in the story[edit]
After showing up in Scrooge's house, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes his hand and flies with him over London. It first shows Scrooge his old boarding school, where he stayed alone, but for his books, while his schoolmates returned to their homes for the Christmas holidays. The spirit then shows Scrooge the day when his beloved younger sister Fan picked him up from the school after repeatedly asking their cold, unloving father to allow his return, as she joyfully claims that he has changed and is now kinder than he was. Next, the spirit shows Scrooge a Christmas Eve a few years later in which he enjoys a Christmas party hosted by his first boss, Mr. Fezziwig, a kind and loving man, who treated Scrooge like a son, and was more compassionate to him than was his own father.
The spirit also shows Scrooge the Christmas Eve when, as a young man, his beloved fiancée Belle ended their relationship upon realizing that he now cared more for money than he did for her. Scrooge did not ask Belle to end their engagement, but he did not fight to keep her. Finally, the spirit shows him how she married and found true happiness with another man. After this vision, Scrooge pleads with the spirit to show him no more, to which the spirit replies:[citation needed]
"These are the shadows of things that have been. That they are what they are, do not blame me!"
Angered, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit with his cap and finds himself back in his bedroom, the time on the clock not having changed.[citation needed]
Appearance in various film adaptations[edit]
[hide]This section has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
This article appears to contain trivial, minor, or unrelated references to popular culture. Please reorganize this content to explain the subject's impact on popular culture rather than simply listing appearances; add references to reliable sources if possible. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2017)
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
(Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Various adaptations have added to the history shown by the Ghost. For example, in a 1984 film version of A Christmas Carol, the spirit shows Scrooge an encounter between him and his unloving father, in which his father tells him that he has arranged an apprenticeship for young Scrooge, and that the boy's much longed-for homecoming is only to last three days.[citation needed]
Other significant variations over time have included the following:
In the 1935 film Scrooge, the Ghost is portrayed as an outline.
In the 1938 version of A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is portrayed as an angelic young woman.
In the 1951 film A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is an elderly man. In this version, the story is changed so that Fan is older than Ebenezer and the ghost shows him his sister’s death in childbirth.
In the TV special Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, a 1962 animated version, the Ghost is portrayed as a young, slight, androgynous figure (voiced by a female voice actor) with a flame above his/her head, a sprig of holly and an orange glow (and appears, erroneously, as ghost #2, after the Ghost of Christmas Present and before the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come).
In the 1970 version titled Scrooge, the Ghost is portrayed as an elderly but elegant lady with a red dress and a black hat.
In the 1971 animated version of A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is depicted as a small, white, androgynous figure which shimmers in an effect similar to double-vision.
In the 1979 Dutch musical De Wonderbaarlijke Genezing van Ebenezer Scrooge ("The Wonderful Cure of Ebenezer Scrooge"), the ghost is played by Bram van der Vlugt[2]
In a 1982 version of A Christmas Carol, the spirit is a Cupid-like young man
In Disney's 1983 animated adaptation titled Mickey's Christmas Carol, Jiminy Cricket (Eddie Carroll) plays the role of the Ghost to Scrooge McDuck's Scrooge
In the 1984 made-for-television adaptation of A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Past (Angela Pleasence) is portrayed as a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and a white robe.
In the 1988 comedy film Scrooged, the Ghost of Christmas Past (played by David Johansen) is portrayed as a cigar-smoking cab driver with a Brooklyn accent.
The 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol did not use a Muppet character to portray the spirit, but re-imagined it. This version appeared as a tiny, ghostly girl, dressed in white and floating as if immersed in water. This effect was created by immersing a special puppet in a large water tank and then green-screened into the film. The voice for the Ghost was provided by Jessica Fox, while the character was performed by Karen Prell, Robert Tygner, and William Todd-Jones. The Ghost of Christmas Past was featured in the "Holiday Time!" entry of The Muppets Character Encyclopedia.
In the 1993 Alvin and the Chipmunks episode Merry Christmas, Mr. Carrol!, released on VHS as Alvin's Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Past is portrayed by Dave Seville. In this appearance, Dave has white hair and wears a gray robe lined with holly green. He shows Alvin his first Christmas with his brothers, reminding Alvin of how kind he had been giving to Dave.
In Ebbie, the Ghost is portrayed as two spirits with but a single thought, played by Jennifer Clement and Nicole Parker, who also were the two perfume salesladies at Dobson's.
In the Animaniacs episode "A Christmas Plotz" The Ghost of Christmas Past is played by Wakko Warner, who shows Plotz his past misdeeds (ex. suing Santa for getting him a pony instead of a horse) through a home theater pulled from his "Gag Bag."
In the 1994 television special, A Flintstones Christmas Carol, a woman named Garnet was originally supposed to play the Ghost of Christmas Past, but Wilma ended up portraying the Ghost instead after Garnet caught "The Bedrock Bug".
In the 1997 animated version of A Christmas Carol, the Ghost of Christmas Past is portrayed as a mischievous young boy in a messenger boy's outfit.
In the 1998 animated musical television film An All Dogs Christmas Carol, Itchy becomes the spirit appearing to Carface Carruthers.
In the 1999 made-for-television version of A Christmas Carol, the spirit is portrayed as a glowing being of indeterminate age, as described in the novel.
In the 2000 made-for-television film A Diva's Christmas Carol, Kathy Griffin plays the spirit.
In the 2003 made-for-television film A Carol Christmas, Gary Coleman plays the spirit.
In the 2004 made-for-television film A Christmas Carol: The Musical, the Ghost of Christmas Past first appears in the real world as a lamplighter, and then as a barefoot fairy-like creature in a white shift and garlands.
In the 2006 CGI film A Christmas Carol, the Ghost is portrayed as an anthropomorphic stork.
In Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, Granny (June Foray) and Tweety (Bob Bergen) take on the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past.
In the 2008 film "Barbie: in a Christmas Carol" the actress Tabitha St. Germain portrayed the Spirit of Christmas Past as a bubbly young appearing girl who wore a sparkling white and gold dress, accompanied with a golden wand that produced magical specks of gold. Using said wand she created portals and gave both herself, Eden (Morwenna Banks) and Eden's loyal cat, Chuzzlewhit the ability to fly. The Spirit of Christmas Past takes Eden back to her childhood home, showing her how cruel her Aunt Marie (Pam Hyatt,) was to her during her upbringing. The spirit continues to show Eden the memory of when she snuck out to join her only friend, Catherine (Kandyse McClure) and her family for Christmas. That was before (older) Eden demands the empathetic spirit to take back to her room, after reliving the wrath of Aunt Marie finding out and crashing the previously joyful Christmas party.
In the 2009 performance captured film Disney's A Christmas Carol, the voice and acting of the Ghost of Christmas Past is provided by actor Jim Carrey. Similar to the original novel, the spirit appears as a candle-like being with an occasionally flickering flame for his head. Scrooge extinguishes this spirit with its giant candle snuffer hat, but in this version, this causes Scrooge to be rocketed thousands of feet into the air while clinging onto the snuffer, only to have it disappear, resulting in Scrooge falling down to earth, back into his bedroom for the next visitation.
In the Doctor Who 2010 Christmas special "A Christmas Carol", the Doctor (Matt Smith) uses the TARDIS, his time machine, to play the role of the Ghost of Christmas Past to Michael Gambon's Scrooge.
In the 2016 My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode "A Hearth's Warming Tail", Applejack (Ashleigh Ball) represents the "Spirit of Hearth's Warming Past".
In the Thomas and Friends episode, Diesel's Ghostly Christmas, the Ghost of Christmas Past is portrayed by Salty.
In the 2017 film The Man Who Invented Christmas, Anna Murphy plays the spirit.
See also[edit]
Jacob Marley
Ghost of Christmas Present
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Stave 2, note 7, Hearn, Michael P. 1989. The Annotated Christmas Carol / A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens; illustrated by John Leach; with an introduction, notes, and bibliography by Michael Patrick Hearn. Avenel Books. New York. ISBN 0-517-68780-1.
Jump up ^ De wonderbaarlijke genezing van Ebenezer Scrooge, Theater Instituut Nederland
[show]
v
t
e
Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol
Characters
Ebenezer Scrooge
Bob Cratchit
Mr. Fezziwig
Ghost of Christmas Past
Ghost of Christmas Present
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
Jacob Marley
Tiny Tim
Films
Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost
A Christmas Carol (1908)
A Christmas Carol (1910)
Scrooge (1913)
Scrooge (1935)
A Christmas Carol (1938)
Scrooge (1951)
It's Never Too Late
A Christmas Carol (1960)
Scrooge (1970)
A Christmas Carol (1971)
An American Christmas Carol
Mickey's Christmas Carol
Scrooged
The Muppet Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1997)
A Diva's Christmas Carol
Christmas Carol: The Movie
A Carol Christmas
Springtime with Roo
Chasing Christmas
A Christmas Carol (2006)
A Dennis the Menace Christmas
An American Carol
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
A Christmas Carol (2009)
The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (2011)
Television
"The Christmas Carol" (1949)
A Christmas Carol (1954)
Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol
A Carol for Another Christmas
Rich Little's Christmas Carol
A Special Sesame Street Christmas
The Stingiest Man in Town
Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1982)
A Christmas Carol (1984)
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
A Flintstones Christmas Carol
Ebbie
Ebenezer
An All Dogs Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol (1999)
A Christmas Carol (2000)
An Easter Carol
A Christmas Carol (2004)
Karroll's Christmas
Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas
Nan's Christmas Carol
"A Christmas Carol" (Doctor Who)
It's Christmas, Carol!
Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale
Musicals
Scrooge (1992)
A Christmas Carol (1994)
Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge (2002)
Plays
A Christmas Carol (1988)
Fellow Passengers (2004)
A Klingon Christmas Carol (2007)
Soundtracks
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (2011)
Other
Adaptations of A Christmas Carol
Batman: Noël (comic)
"Green Christmas" (single)
The Misadventures of the Wholesome Twins
[show]
v
t
e
Ghosts
List of ghosts
Manifestations
Haunted locations
Haunted highways
Haunted house
Haunted trains
Haunted ships
Hungry ghost
Phantom vehicle
Poltergeist
Residual haunting
Vengeful ghost
By continent
and culture
African
South Africa
Asian
South Asian
Bengali
Burmese
Chinese
locations
Ghost Festival
Filipino
locations
India
Japanese
Onryō
Korean
Malay
Thai
locations
Tibetan
Vietnamese
Europe
France
Slavic religion
Romania
United Kingdom
Scotland
North America
Canada
Caribbean
Navajo
Ghost sickness
Ghost Dance
Mexican
locations
Day of the Dead
United States
District of Columbia
South America
Colombia
Oceania
Maori
Polynesian
History
Mesopotamian
Ancient Egyptian culture
Classical Antiquity
Ghosts in English-speaking cultures
Ghosts in Spanish-speaking cultures
Parapsychology
Apparitional experience
Electronic voice phenomenon
kaidan
Ghost hunting
Séance
Mediumship
Spirit photography
Popular culture
Films about ghosts
India
Stories about ghosts
Halloween
Samhain
Paranormal television
Court cases
Booty v Barnaby
Related
Fear of ghosts
Spectrophilia
Spiritualism
Spiritism
The Ghost Club
Category
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ghost_of_Christmas_Past&oldid=826439448"
Categories:
A Christmas Carol characters
Fictional characters introduced in 1843
Fictional ghosts
Hidden categories:
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017
Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016
Articles with trivia sections from January 2017
Articles needing additional references from January 2017
All articles needing additional references
Articles with multiple maintenance issues
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Español
Italiano
Polski
Edit links
This page was last edited on 19 February 2018, at 03:00.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

key: html

type: local

value: div

attrs: id class

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

value: a

attrs: id class lang

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: th

attrs: colspan style

value: tr

value: img

attrs: alt src width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: A Christmas Carol - Scrooge Extinguishes the First of the Three Spirits.jpg

attrs: href class

attrs: href title

value: td

value: i

values:
infobox
width:22em;border-spacing: 2px 5px;

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2017)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values: This claim needs references to reliable sources. (December 2016)

values: Edit section: Appearance in various film adaptations

values: Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trivia sections

values:
plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content
presentation

values: Help:Introduction to referencing with Wiki Markup/1

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove

values:
mw-collapsible
width:95%; margin: 0.2em 0;

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-multiple_issues compact-ambox

values:
/wiki/Voice_actor
mw-redirect
Voice actor

values:
/wiki/Dave_Seville
mw-redirect
Dave Seville

values:
/wiki/Tweety_Bird
mw-redirect
Tweety Bird

values:
/wiki/Thomas_and_Friends
mw-redirect
Thomas and Friends

values:
reflist mw-references-wrap
list-style-type: decimal;

values:
/wiki/An_Easter_Carol
mw-redirect
An Easter Carol

values: Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge

values: Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol (soundtrack)

values: The Misadventures of the Wholesome Twins

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in South Africa

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in China

values: List of haunted locations in the Philippines

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in India

values:
/wiki/Malay_ghost_myths
mw-redirect
Malay ghost myths

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in Thailand

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in France

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in Romania

values: Reportedly haunted locations in the United Kingdom

values: Reportedly haunted locations in Scotland

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in Canada

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in Mexico

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in the United States

values: Reportedly haunted locations in the District of Columbia

values: List of reportedly haunted locations in Colombia

attrs: alt src title width height srcset data-file-width data-file-height

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner

values: Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1843

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from December 2017

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016

values: Category:Articles with trivia sections from January 2017

values: Category:Articles needing additional references from January 2017

values: Category:All articles needing additional references

values: Category:Articles with multiple maintenance issues

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/Ghost_of_Christmas_Past
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values:
p-variants
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-variants-label

values: Past revisions of this page [ctrl-alt-h]

values: p-views navigation vectorTabs p-views-label

values:
p-cactions
navigation
vectorMenu emptyPortlet
p-cactions-label

values:
mw-wiki-logo
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page

values:
/wiki/Main_Page
Visit the main page [ctrl-alt-z]
z

values: Featured content – the best of Wikipedia

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: Fantasma de las Navidades Pasadas – Spanish

values: Duch minionych świąt Bożego Narodzenia – Polish

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Ghost_of_Christmas_Past rootpage-Ghost_of_Christmas_Past skin-vector action-view