Mr Popper's Penguins/A Christmas Carol/Miracle On 34th Street (DVD)

A collection of three festive favourites. In 'Mr Popper's Penguins' (2011), Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a business executive who has become disillusioned with the daily grind. But when he unexpectedly inherits six penguins, his life is transformed into a series of madcap adventures as he finally gets the excuse to indulge his childhood hankering for polar exploration. Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll and Angela Lansbury co-star. In Charles Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol' (1984), Ebenezer Scrooge (George C. Scott) is a misanthrope unimpressed by the fuss everyone makes during the festive season. That is, until his sleep is disturbed one Christmas Eve by the ghosts of Christmas past (Angela Pleasence), present (Edward Woodward) and future (Michael Carter), each of which takes him on a journey which helps him to open his heart to his fellow man and to thereby learn the joy of Christmas. Finally, 'Miracle on 34th Street' (1994), is a remake of the 1947 'feel good' classic, telling the heart-warming story of a young girl's desire for a fully-functional family, complete with a father and a baby brother. The girl, Susan, confides in Kris Kringle (Sir Richard Attenborough), the kindly old man who is acting as the grotto Santa in the department store managed by her mother. Kris Kringle, however, believes he is the genuine Santa Claus and this devotion to the cause makes him very popular indeed, leading to record profits for the store. This annoys rival retailers so much that they try to discredit the so-called Santa, leading eventually to a court case in which Kringle and his lawyer try to prove that he is the real thing.