There are countless versions of this Charles Dickens classic, most of which stay true to the story's 'dark' narrative. It is set in Victorian England, in the mid- to late-1800s (during the Industrial Revolution), a time when the struggle to survive was brutal for nearly everyone, except the few in possession of great wealth. These misers, not only lacked any compassion or empathy for the poor, but continued to take from the as they (men, women, and children) were sick, starving, and dying. Not a story I would normally recommend as appropriate for young children.
Dickens wrote an introduction where he refers to his "ghostly little book", ending with: "May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it."
In a way that only the great minds of Disney can, they took the essential plot points and found a way to convey the moral of the story, in a way that is completely child/family friendly and still entertaining and endearing to adults.
From the ghosts that visit Ebenezer in the night to show him the consequences of his many, selfish, and cruel choices in life, including the struggles that the poor, starving family of Scrooger's underpaid, and overworked, employee Mr. Cratchit, has had to endure. The hardest to contemplate is what Cratchit's youngest boy, Tiny Tim who is physically disabled, must endure (and his parents and siblings must witness) who we learn is destined to die, because his body is particularly weak and vulnerable to starvation.
It is a unique experience to have watched this as a child and as an adult parent with my young son. I could not have decided to do that as easily without this perspective. As a child, it wasn't the sadness I felt from seeing the starving family and even the anger that little Tiny Tim would die because a selfish old man cared for money over everything and everyone, that I dwelled on or remembered after watching the movie. It was that Scrooge finally saw these people and their lives, and his assumptions about those "beggars" was wrong and realized his actions directly caused the pain and suffering that the Cratchit family (& others like them) endured, not their actions or choices. He wasn't a monster, he was ignorant and stubborn no more and determined to make things right in the best possible ways.
I would recommend this movie to people of all ages, but it's parents of young children that I'm writing this for. I have appreciated the reviews I've partially relied on in the past, in addition to knowing my son's sensitivities and understanding.