How Johnny Depp’s Ebenezer Remake Rewrites the Original Climax: Ending Explainer

A more active redemption

After waking on Christmas morning, Scrooge begins making amends for the relationships he has neglected. He buys a turkey and delivers it to his nephew Fred and Fred’s wife, Clara, after years of turning down Fred’s invitations.

That gift differs from Dickens’ novella, where Scrooge gives a turkey to the Cratchit family. The film instead makes his efforts to reconnect with Fred central to the morning’s events.

A message to Belle

Scrooge also reaches out to Belle, his former fiancée. He learns that she has moved on and built a successful writing career, so he buys one of her novels at a local book shop.

He leaves an unsigned letter inside, congratulating her and expressing happiness that she has made the life she wanted. Their relationship is not restored, but Scrooge acknowledges her achievements.

A new partnership for Cratchit

Scrooge’s most consequential gesture is to Bob Cratchit. He promises a substantial pay increase so Cratchit can afford medical treatment for his son, Tiny Tim, and offers him a share in the business. Scrooge says he wants to rename their shop “Scrooge and Cratchit.” Dickens’ original has Scrooge promise a raise and support for the family, while the film extends his offer into a business partnership.

Money and the film’s focus

The partnership changes Scrooge’s relationship to money: rather than only giving away wealth, he uses his position to offer another person an opportunity. The ending presents his redemption through a change in how he treats someone who worked beneath him.

An opening flashback establishes that Scrooge and Jacob Marley were business partners before Marley died seven years earlier. The account begins describing their relationship as part of the commercial environment that shaped Scrooge, but it ends before explaining the flashback further.