Christmas in Entertainment Trivia

1. Which 1988 blockbuster action film starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman takes place on Christmas Eve?

From Quiz Snow Time Like Christmas

Answer: Die Hard

Regarded as Bruce Willis' big break into films, the action-packed 'Die Hard' saw Willis' character, John McClane, a New York policeman, face off against German criminal Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman. After Gruber breaks into the Nakatomi vault to steal some $600 million, McClane begins working to stop Gruber and his men escaping and blowing up the building. This high-octane action flick was based on the novel 'Nothing Lasts Forever', by Roderick Thorp, which was published some nine years before the film's release.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: 1843

This was his best known Christmas work, and really brought back the spirit of Christmas in that time era.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: Carol Kane

Carol Kane played the pugilistic spirit. Karen Allen played Bill Murray's girlfriend.

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost

It was a pretty ambitious plan to fit the entire story into a film that ran for a bit over 6 minutes! To facilitate this, the three Ghost of Christmas characters were cut out, and the story had Marley's ghost the only one required to help Scrooge see the error of his ways by showing him images of Christmas from his past, present and future. The writing credit for the film is usually given to both Dickens and to C. J. Buckstone, whose stage adaptation 'Scrooge' is considered to be the more direct inspiration for the film's approach. Director Walter R. Booth told the story in twelve scenes, connected by explanatory intertitles. The film had some impressive (for the time) special effects, such as making Marley's face appear superimposed on a door knocker. About half of the original footage has survived, and is preserved by the British Film Institute, which has made it available for viewing as a download from their website.

From Quiz It's Christmas Time Again!

Answer: He was riding a horse in a Los Angeles Christmas parade.

In 1946, Gene Autry was riding his horse in the Santa Claus Lane parade in Los Angeles. He was inspired to write the words to a song, by the crowds of children watching the parade and chanting "Here comes Santa!". Oakley Haldeman helped him compose the music. In a demo recording, ice cubes were used to mimic the sound effects of jingle bells, which inspired Autry to keep it as part of the song when he released it on record in 1947. It topped the charts that year as number five in country music lists.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: Patrick Stewart

Known for being on Star Trek, Mr. Stewart once performed a one man play of 'A Christmas Carol' before bringing it to TV land.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: he bounces

To quote Yukon Cornelius, 'Bumbles bounce'.

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Lionel Barrymore

Lionel Barrymore (1878-1954) may be best remembered for the Academy Award he earned portraying the nasty Mr Potter in 'It's a Wonderful Life', or as the crusty Dr Gillespie in multiple 'Dr Kildare' films, but his annual Christmas performance as Scrooge was equally memorable. He first performed it in 1934 on CBS radio, and repeated the performance every year until his death, with two exceptions. In 1936 the part was played by his brother John, because Lionel was in mourning for his recently-deceased wife, and in 1938 Orson Welles filled in when Barrymore was ill. He was planned to play Scrooge in the 1938 MGM movie of 'A Christmas Carol', but was replaced by Reginald Owen because of the worsening arthritis that confined him to a wheelchair.

From Quiz It's Christmas Time Again!

Answer: Santa's Christmas Chaos

In 1984, the 8-bit game "Santa's Christmas Chaos", featured Santa unprepared to do his job on Christmas Eve. Santa had overslept on the night of his big event and had five hours to deliver presents to the entire world. Santa Claus had to hurry to collect presents dropped by angels while avoiding those dropped by demons. If his night wasn't bad enough, to accomplish his mission, Santa also had to avoid killer children who could make him explode in a single touch. The game was made for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Atari 8-Bit.

From Quiz Snow Time Like Christmas

Answer: The Snowman

Less than half an hour long, the animated adaptation of Raymond Briggs' children's book has been one of the most popular Christmas films since it was first broadcast in 1982. A boy builds a snowman, which comes to life later that night. Entranced, the boy goes on a journey with the snowman, flying all the way to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas who gives him a scarf. When the boy wakes up the next morning, he finds his snowman friend melted. Its memorable soundtrack included 'Walking in the Air', written specifically for the film and performed by choirboy Peter Auty. The song later saw success in 1985 when it was covered by Welsh singer Aled Jones.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: Alastair Sim

Alastair Sim gave a performance of his life for this version. This is one of my favorites also.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: the Christmas Queen

Lucy talked Charlie Brown into being the director so that she could boss him into giving her the role she wanted. What a fussbudget!

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Jim Backus

The framework of the film shows us Mr Magoo on his way to the theatre where he is going to perform as Scrooge in a musical adaptation of 'A Christmas Carol'. The musical follows the traditional story, except the three ghosts appear in a different order, with the Ghost of Christmas Present coming first, followed by the Ghost of Christmas Past, and finally the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Being a musical, of course, it also has songs, featuring music from Jule Styne and lyrics from Bob Merrill. Jim Backus (1913-1989) was the voice of the bumbling, extremely near-sighted Mr Magoo from 1948 until his death. You may also remember him for his portrayal of James Dean's father in the 1955 film 'Rebel Without a Cause', or as Thurston Howell III in the television series 'Gilligan's Island', which first aired 1964-1967.

From Quiz It's Christmas Time Again!

Answer: Charles Dickens

"A Christmas Carol" was first published in London, December 1843. During this time the traditions of Christmas trees and Christmas cards, were becoming popular. Dickens focused many of his writings and stories on social injustice and poverty. As a child, he had a father that was imprisoned, forcing him to work in a factory and live under many of the conditions his fictional characters went through. Christmas and the season of Christian charity, provided a perfect opportunity for Charles to share his viewpoint in the form of a story. The book was an immediate hit among London critics and editors. It became a tale that continued to spread its message through decades of generations.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: 1984

This is regarded as the second best version after the 1951 version.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: Vince Guaraldi

Guaraldi was a successful jazz pianist. He died within the last couple of years.

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Glendale, California (USA)

At the time of writing this quiz, tickets are available for the 54th season - and it shows no sign of stopping! The Glendale Centre Theatre produces 'A Christmas Carol' as its final show each year, running from late November until around Christmas. A live performance from the 2015 season, starring Tom Killam as Scrooge and Bradley Bundlie as Tiny Tim, was filmed for theatrical release. (I must point out that some sites say the first performance was in 1964, which would make the 50th year be 2013, not 2015. But the theatre's site describes the 2019 season as the 54th one. Perhaps a few years did actually get missed, for one reason or another.)

From Quiz Snow Time Like Christmas

Answer: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, having been evacuated and set to live with a professor in his large house in response to the Blitz threatening London, discover a magical land in a wardrobe, and the wonders and dangers it holds. Ruled over by the White Witch, the children enlist the help of the lord of Narnia, a lion named Aslan, to bring an end to the White Witch's permanent winter in Narnia. Despite it being chronologically the second book in the series, after 'The Magician's Nephew' (which was written after 'The Lion...' as a sort of "origin of Narnia" story), it was the first to feature the Pevensie children.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: Bill Murray

He plays a miser who owns a television station wanting to perform a live version of the book on Christmas Eve.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: he was drunk

Kris was Johnny on the spot. He even provided his own Santa suit.

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Yosemite Sam

This eight-minute cartoon was the first part of a Christmas special called 'Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales', and was only very loosely based on the Dickens original. Most of the characters were just themselves, suitably cast so that their characteristic phrases and temperaments suited the character. This included Yosemite Sam as Scrooge, Porky Pig as Bob Cratchit, Tweety Pie as Tiny Tim, and Bugs Bunny as Scrooge's nephew Fred, who disguised himself as the ghost of Marley to scare Scrooge into behaving more generously, totally deleting the three dream journeys with Christmas ghosts. Sylvester was Scrooge's cat, and Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn and Pepé le Pew made an appearance as carollers.

From Quiz It's Christmas Time Again!

Answer: The Penguin

Tucker and Esther Cobblepot, a highly respected and wealthy couple, are horrified when their newborn child is born disfigured. Considering their son a monster, they throw him in the sewer. Years later, he returns as "The Penguin" and tries to run for mayor of Gotham City. Behind the scenes he is involved in a scheme to kill Batman and a scheme with Max Shreck to drain Gotham City of its electrical supply. Batman has to foil both schemes along with a kidnapping attempt of all the city's male babies.

From Quiz Snow Time Like Christmas

Answer: Charles Dickens

'A Christmas Carol' is the quintessential piece of literature in Charles Dickens' bibliography. Often cited as his best work, the story centres around the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge after the death of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former partner in business. Visited by the ghost of Marley, as well as the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come, Scrooge is shown that continuing his life as a grumpy, Christmas-hating, unkind miser will end with no one liking him, no one attending his funeral, and no one tending to his grave. Moved by the images shown to him by the ghosts, Scrooge vows to abandon his current outlook on life and embrace the warmth and joy of Christmas, attempting to atone for his miserable and parsimonious ways.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: 1983

Mickey Mouse played Cratchit.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: Old Fezziwig

The ghost of Christmas Past takes Scrooge to the Christmas party at Fezziwig's business.

From Quiz So Many "A Christmas Carol"s

Answer: Mickey's Christmas Carol

While Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Alan Young for the first time) featured as Scrooge, and Donald Duck (voiced by Clarence Nash for the last time) appeared as his nephew Fred, it was the role of Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine, who took over from Walt Disney in 1947) as Bob Cratchit that got the title. This was, after all, the first new theatrically-released Mickey Mouse cartoon for over 30 ears, and he has always been the Disney centrepiece. It was also the last time that any of the characters appearing in the film would be voiced by their original voice actor: Clarence 'Ducky' Nash voiced Donald Duck for the last time, and the original actors for the other well-known Disney characters had all died.

From Quiz It's Christmas Time Again!

Answer: Ben Weaver

Sheriff Taylor is forced by the local department store owner, Ben Weaver, to arrest Jim Muggins, a moonshiner on Christmas Eve. In order to keep the Muggins family together, Sheriff Taylor arrests them all claiming they had knowledge of Jim's bad habit. Later the Taylor family bring a Christmas party to the family in jail. Ben Weaver watches from the outside and is touched by their joyful time. He then tries to get himself arrested so he can join the fun. He brings presents from his store and is welcomed in by the Taylors and the Muggins to celebrate the Christmas night with them. The episode first aired on December 19, 1960.

From Quiz Snow Time Like Christmas

Answer: Bob Geldof

Written in 1984, 'Do They Know It's Christmas?' was performed by all the members of Band Aid, a collection of many bands and solo artists coming together in aid of the Ethiopian famine. Despite Geldof's initial forecast was that the single would raise around £70,000 for the cause, its popularity skyrocketed, receiving plenty of radio air time and raising a few million pounds from sales. Controversially, Geldof stood up to the government at the time who were refusing to remove the Value Added Tax on the single. Overwhelmed by the public backlash caused by this, the tax was eventually donated to the cause.

From Quiz Many Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Answer: Albert Finney

This is really an excellent version of the movie....really flows well.

From Quiz Christmas on the Screen

Answer: Buffalo Gal

They sing this song with George wearing a football uniform and Mary wearing a bathrobe.

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