On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge tells two businessmen that he has no intention of celebrating Christmas. He refuses to donate to two men collecting for the poor. His nephew, Fred, invites him to dinner the next day, but Scrooge refuses, disparaging Fred for having married. Scrooge reluctantly gives his clerk Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off since there will be no business for Scrooge then, but expects him back to start working earlier the following day. Scrooge returns home and is visited by the ghost of his seven-years-dead partner, Jacob Marley. According to him, Scrooge must change his ways or after death forever walk the earth bound in chains, as Marley does. He warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits; the first will arrive at one o'clock in the morning. Frightened, Scrooge takes refuge in his bed.
The Ghost of Christmas Past arrives. Scrooge is shown himself alone at school, unwanted by his father after his mother died in childbirth. His beloved sister Fan arrives to take him home, telling Ebenezer that their father has had a change of heart toward him. The Spirit shows Scrooge the annual Christmas party thrown by his former benevolent employer Fezziwig. He watches his proposal to his sweetheart Alice, who accepts. He is shown how he is tempted to leave Fezziwig's to join a business run by Mr. Jorkin. Scrooge witnesses the death of Fan, after giving birth to Fred, and discovers he missed her last words asking him to look after her son. Scrooge joins Jorkin and meets Jacob Marley. Jorkin's firm buys Fezziwig's business, and Alice breaks her engagement to Scrooge because of his dedication to "a golden idol". When Jorkin is found to have embezzled funds from the now bankrupt company, Scrooge and Marley make good the missing funds, on condition they can control the company. On one Christmas Eve, Scrooge refuses to leave work to visit a dying Marley. When Scrooge arrives, Marley, on his deathbed, knowing he will be punished for his misdeeds, tries to warn Scrooge against his avarice. The Spirit reproaches Scrooge for taking Marley's money and house, as an ashamed Scrooge finds himself back in his bed.
Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present who takes him to see how "men of goodwill" celebrate Christmas. He shows him poor miners joyfully singing Christmas carols and the Cratchits' Christmas celebration on Christmas Day. Scrooge asks whether their disabled child, Tiny Tim, will survive his physical disabilities. The Spirit hints that he will not unless the future is changed. They visit Fred's Christmas party, where Fred defends Scrooge from his guests' critical remarks. An older Alice is working in a poorhouse, where she ministers to the sick and homeless. The Spirit shows him two emaciated children, personifying Ignorance and Want. When Scrooge shows concern for their welfare, the Spirit mocks him and scourges the miser with his own words: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"
Scrooge encounters the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who shows him the Cratchits mourning Tiny Tim's death. Three people, including his charwoman Mrs. Dilber, sell off the possessions of a dead man, and two businessmen discuss the man's upcoming funeral. When shown the man's grave bearing his own name, Scrooge begs the Spirit for a second chance. He re-appears in his bed, learns that it is Christmas Day, and realises he still has an opportunity to make amends. Though Mrs. Dilber is initially frightened by his transformation, Scrooge reassures her and promises to raise her salary. He anonymously purchases a prize turkey for the Cratchits and sends it to them. He delights Fred by attending his dinner party and dancing with his niece-in-law.
The next day, Scrooge plays a prank on Bob Cratchit and pretends to be about to fire him for lateness, but instead says he will raise Bob's salary and assist his family. Scrooge later continues being a generous man and becomes a second father to Tiny Tim, who does not die and recovers.
