On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly London commodities trader, does not share the merriment of Christmas. He declines his nephew Fred Hollywell’s invitation for Christmas dinner and reluctantly accepts his loyal but underpaid employee Bob Cratchit’s request to have Christmas off since there will be no business for Scrooge during the day.
As he leaves for the exchange, Scrooge encounters Bob’s ill son Tiny Tim waiting across from Scrooge’s office.
After initially mistaking Tim for a beggar, Scrooge assures him that he will have a long wait for his father in the cold before leaving. At the exchange, Scrooge charges three other businessmen 5% extra for corn because they failed to meet his demands the day before, much to their dismay.
Scrooge then refuses to give a donation to two gentlemen collecting money for charity, Mr. Poole and Mr. Hacking.
Later that night in his house, Scrooge encounters the ghost of his deceased business partner Jacob Marley, who warns him to repent his wicked ways or he will be condemned to the same afterlife as his, carrying heavy chains forged from his own greedy ways. He informs Scrooge that three spirits will visit him that night.
At one o’clock, the Ghost of Christmas Past visits Scrooge and takes him back in time to his unhappy childhood and early adult life.
They visit Scrooge’s time as a boarding school student, abandoned there by his father who wanted nothing to do with him after Scrooge’s mother died in childbirth. He sees his grim father Silas, who gets him an apprenticeship with Fezziwig, and his older sister Fan, who has since died. Eventually becoming successful in business, Scrooge becomes engaged to a woman named Belle. However, the Ghost shows Scrooge that Belle left him when he chose his wealth over her.
Finally, the spirit shows Scrooge a now-married Belle with her large, happy family on the Christmas Eve that Marley died. Angered, Scrooge extinguishes the spirit with its cap and finds himself back in his bedroom.
At two o’clock, Scrooge meets the Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows him the joys and wonder of Christmas Day. Scrooge and the Ghost visit Bob’s house, learning his family is surprisingly content with their small dinner.
Scrooge takes pity on Tim and the spirit comments that he will not survive until next Christmas; the ghost mocks his change of heart, quoting Scrooge’s previous callous comments about the poor.
The spirit then takes Scrooge to Fred’s house for the Christmas party that Scrooge had earlier declined to attend, where Fred states that he continues to pursue a relationship with Scrooge for the sake of his late mother, Fan, whom Scrooge loved deeply.
Scrooge is touched by this. Scrooge and the spirit then go to a desolate street where Scrooge witnesses a homeless family with a husband desperate and eager for work, contradicting Scrooge’s earlier comments that the poor are shiftless. The spirit shows Scrooge two hideous children named Ignorance and Want hidden under his robes, warning Scrooge to beware of them before he disappears.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come appears to Scrooge, and takes him into the future. Scrooge witnesses the businessmen discussing the death of an unnamed colleague where they would only attend the funeral if lunch is provided. Scrooge recognizes several of his stolen possessions being traded to a fence named Old Joe. The spirit transports Scrooge to Bob’s residence where he learns Tim had died and the Crachits mourning him. A moved Scrooge is then escorted to a cemetery, where the spirit points out the man’s neglected grave, revealing Scrooge was the man who died. Tearfully, Scrooge vows to change his ways and begs to be spared and finds himself back in his bedroom.
Scrooge finds it is Christmas Day and anonymously sends the Cratchits a large, prize-winning turkey for dinner. He then ventures out into the city to spread happiness among the citizens of London and finds the charity workers he encountered before and much to their elation, he agrees to make a large donation. Scrooge also accepts Fred’s Christmas invitation after reconciling with him. The following day, he gives Cratchit a raise and becomes like “a second father” to Tim, who escapes death. A changed man, Scrooge now treats everyone with kindness, generosity, and compassion; he now embodies the spirit of Christmas.