There are dozens of movie and TV adaptations of “A Christmas Carol” (1843) by the brilliant British author Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Some computer algorithms, such as eigenvalue extraction, are complex enough that they allow for dozens of different implementations. “A Christmas Carol” is rich enough in ideas and characterizations that it can be remade over and over, with something new each time. Here are my top 10 favorites, listed by year.

1. “A Christmas Carol” (1938) – This early version was made a bit more family friendly than the novel, by eliminating things such as some of the grimmer ghosts. And Scrooge’s fiance, who left him when they were young, is dropped from the movie altogether. Excellent acting and very good cinematography for the time in which it was made.

2. “A Christmas Carol” (1951) – This adaptation tops most best-of lists. It hasn’t held up quite as well as some of the other early movies on this list but it’s still excellent, especially the portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge by actor Alastair Sim. This movie added some back story, such as the fact that Scrooge’s mother died when giving birth to him.

3. “Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol” (1962) – I like this animated version of ACC more than most people. My generation grew up watching Mr. Magoo cartoons. Magoo was nearly blind which led him to all kinds of mistakes and predicaments, but he ultimately always prevailed by pure luck. Here he plays Scrooge. Magoo cartoons are rarely shown anymore.

4. “A Christmas Carol” (1971) – This animated version appears on several best-of lists but I had never seen it until recently. The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. It’s surprisingly good — very good (but not great) animation, good voice characterizations, and nicely edited pace. This film is very close to the novel.

5. “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” (1983) – A pleasant adaptation. Mickey Mouse plays Bob Cratchit, and Scrooge McDuck plays Ebenezer Scrooge. Jiminy Cricket, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy also appear. A nice Disney production before Disney went bat-poop crazy off the rails with its current hyper-liberal agenda.

6. “A Christmas Carol” (1984) – This movie is notable for the great performance by actor George C. Scott (1927-1999) as Scrooge. Scott refused to accept his Academy Award for “Patton” (1970) because he realized what utter nonsense the Awards are. He was proven correct recently when the Academy established weird quotas for Best Picture.

7. “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (1992) – This is my favorite of my favorites. Actor Michael Caine plays Scrooge, Kermit plays Bob Cratchit. This movie is hilarious. I especially like the attention to small detail in the sets and background action.

8. “A Christmas Carol” (1999) – It would seem risky to attempt a no-nonsense adaptation of a Christmas Carol following the great portrayals of Scrooge in 1951 and 1984, but actor Patrick Stewart as Scrooge is tremendous here — so much so that it may be a very long time before another standard version is attempted.

9. “Christmas Carol: The Movie” (2001) – This is a relatively obscure animated version. It was a pleasant surprise for me. I like the story-within-a-story approach where the movie is framed as Dickens telling the story to an audience (as he really did when he was alive). This version received poor reviews but I think it’s pretty good.

10. “Dr. Who: A Christmas Carol” (2010) – I’m not a huge fan of the Dr. Who TV series but I thought this episode was pretty good. Dr. Who plays the part of the Ghost of Christmas Past. He tries to convince a mean old man to act to save a space liner that is going to crash. Kind of a confusing plot (as usual for DW) involving a flying shark and a sonic screwdriver — but mildly entertaining.