In the Cratchit home, there is a portrait of the story's author, Charles Dickens, hanging by the fireplace.
Gary Oldman and Lesley Manville play Mr. and Mrs Cratchit. They were married in real life (1987 - 1990) and have a son.
The movie is set in the year 1843, the year that Charles Dickens wrote and published "A Christmas Carol." At the beginning of the film, when Scrooge signs Marley's death certificate, it is dated "1836." A caption tells that Scrooge's encounter with the spirits takes place, "Seven Christmas Eves Later," making it 1843. Also, the Ghost of Christmas Present mentions that he has "eighteen-hundred forty-two brothers."
Jim Carrey has described the film as "a classical version of A Christmas Carol. There are a lot of vocal things, a lot of physical things, I have to do. Not to mention doing the accents properly, the English, Irish accents. I want it to fly in the UK. I want it to be good and I want them to go, 'Yeah, that's for real.' We were very true to the book. It's beautiful. It's an incredible film."
Robert Zemeckis has stated previously that 'A Christmas Carol' is one of his favorite stories dealing with time travel.