The stunning piece “Carol of the Bells” was composed by Mykola Leontovych in 1914 and it’s been a timeless classic ever since. Throughout its many uses it has been set in TV, film, and various other venues where it has been notably powerful and almost always just forceful enough to be considered a truly wondrous piece of work. In some cases it has been added to or remixed in order to make it fit just a little better into its current settings. Always though it has carried much of the same power as it’s original rendition.
Here are a few films that use the tune in a masterful way to enhance the experience.
5. The Santa Clause
Sometimes you can’t fight fate. The tune shows up early in the movie and then isn’t heard again but it kind of sets the pace for change in this movie, like something on the horizon that you might not see but it sees you and it’s coming. That almost sounds like a line for a horror movie, but the Santa Clause is a fateful film in which Scott Calvin is in desperate need of a way to reconnect with his son, and is given that when he is granted the mantle of Santa Claus.
4. The Muppets
So this is the silly side of the tune. The Muppets are not known for taking anything too seriously and that’s actually great because taking this film seriously would have been a bad idea. Instead they parody this song in just the right way to make it work and still stand as a unique piece that can be fit into almost any genre.
3. Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban
Go on and say it, you wouldn’t really associate Harry Potter with a Christmas tune do you? It’s okay, so long as you don’t put Christianity into it then you should be okay. Of course it does lend something to the film just because it is a classic tune and it does have a good deal of force to it once the track gets going. So it’s a Christmas track, that doesn’t matter so much really considering that yes, they do have Christmas in the wizarding world. I’d go into the theory of how Christianity fits with wizardry but, ah, yeah, let’s not.
2. A Christmas Carol
A classic track for a classic film. It helps that both the song and the movie have been done so many different times in so many different ways. This way they can both help one another over the culture shock that usually comes when a classic is redone and spit back out for the public to judge. This film however does include a very talented cast and the song itself is a great deal more powerful now that it’s been altered and updated.
1. Home Alone
In recent times this probably stand as one of the best uses of this song to date. The film is still kind of dated but the song leaves no doubt in the mind of the viewer that once Kevin leaves that church it’s time to get ready for battle. If only real burglars could be foiled by such simple traps then the burglary rate of many states would drop dramatically. Just think, if all it took was a floor filled with Micro Machines and a couple of paint cans, we might all feel safer.
Carol of the Bells is an awesome song, plain and simple. Any film it gets attached to is better for its addition.
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