Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
This Scrooged trivia quiz has 48 free questions with answers and covers the 1988 film from the opening 'Night the Reindeer Died' promo to the sing-along finale: Bill Murray's return from a four-year break, the script by two Saturday Night Live veterans, the chain-smoking cab driver and the toaster-swinging fairy who play the ghosts, the cameos from Lee Majors, Buddy Hackett, Mary Lou Retton and Miles Davis, and the three real Murray brothers in the cast. It also digs into the production: the $32 million budget, the Seagram Building exteriors, the fights between Murray and director Richard Donner, the improvised final speech that had the writers thinking he was having a breakdown, the Thanksgiving-weekend box office, the Al Green and Annie Lennox single, and the Best Makeup Oscar nomination it lost to Beetlejuice. Early questions are for anyone who watches it every December; the last third is for people who can name Frank's mentor and know which network executive wanted TV for pets. Every answer was checked against a reference source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 48 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who directed Scrooged (1988)?
Richard Donner
Richard Donner, director of Superman and The Goonies, directed Scrooged between Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2.
Q 02What is the job of Bill Murray's character in Scrooged?
Television network president
Frank Cross is a ruthless television network president, staging a live Christmas Eve broadcast of A Christmas Carol called 'Scrooge'.
Q 03Who plays Herman, the homeless man Frank meets at Claire's shelter?
Michael J. Pollard
Michael J. Pollard, Oscar-nominated for Bonnie and Clyde, plays Herman, the homeless man who later freezes to death under the street.
Q 04Which two former Saturday Night Live writers wrote the Scrooged screenplay?
Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue
Mitch Glazer and Michael O'Donoghue, both SNL alumni, wrote Scrooged; O'Donoghue publicly disowned the finished film.
Q 05How long a break from leading film roles did Bill Murray take before Scrooged?
Four years
Murray stayed away from starring roles for four years after 1984, studying in Paris and living in New York's Hudson Valley before Scrooged.
Q 06How much was Bill Murray paid for Scrooged?
$6 million
Murray received $6 million for Scrooged; producer Art Linson argued that his long absence from the screen had only increased his drawing power.
Q 07What was Scrooged's production budget?
$32 million
Scrooged cost about $32 million to make, shot from late 1987 into early 1988 mostly on Hollywood sound stages.
Q 08How did Frank's mentor Lew Hayward, the film's Marley figure, die?
Of a heart attack while golfing
Lew Hayward died of a heart attack while golfing; John Forsythe plays his decaying corpse, which warns Frank of the ghosts to come.
Q 09In Scrooged, the Ghost of Christmas Past appears in what form?
A chain-smoking taxi driver
The Ghost of Christmas Past is a chain-smoking New York taxi driver who hauls Frank back through his childhood; Sam Kinison had been considered for the part.
Q 10Which musician plays the Ghost of Christmas Past in Scrooged?
David Johansen
David Johansen, the New York Dolls frontman and a friend of Murray's, plays the ghost; bandmate Arthur Kane was reportedly enraged by how big the part was.
Q 11Carol Kane's Ghost of Christmas Present is a violent fairy who hits Frank with what household appliance?
A toaster
Carol Kane's fairy whacks Frank with a toaster among other blows; she really did hurt Murray, once tearing the inside of his lip.
Q 12What does young Frank's father give him as a Christmas present in the flashback?
Veal
Young Frank's father Earl hands him a package of veal for Christmas instead of the toy train he wanted, a scene the ghost forces Frank to relive.
Q 13Who plays Claire Phillips, Frank's ex-girlfriend who runs a homeless shelter?
Karen Allen
Karen Allen, of Raiders of the Lost Ark, plays Claire Phillips; the Christmas Future vision shows Claire hardened into a cold socialite after taking Frank's advice.
Q 21Which comedian plays Scrooge in IBC's live broadcast within the film?
Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett plays Scrooge in IBC's live 'Scrooge' broadcast, grumbling through the Dickens role while the real story unfolds backstage.
Q 22Which Olympic gymnast plays Tiny Tim in the broadcast-within-the-film?
Mary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton, the 1984 Olympic all-around champion, plays Tiny Tim, tossing away the crutch to perform a tumbling pass.
Q 23Which jazz great appears as a street musician in Scrooged?
Miles Davis
Miles Davis plays a street musician alongside Paul Shaffer, David Sanborn and Larry Carlton; Frank tells the band to get a job.
Q 14Which screen legend plays Preston Rhinelander, the IBC boss who wants programming that appeals to pets?
Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum, the star of The Night of the Hunter, plays Preston Rhinelander, the boss who muses that cats and dogs could be a TV audience.
Q 15Who plays Grace Cooley, Frank's loyal assistant, in Scrooged?
Alfre Woodard
Alfre Woodard plays Grace Cooley, the assistant Frank overworks on Christmas Eve; her son Calvin has not spoken since his father died.
Q 16What are the first words the mute boy Calvin says at the end of Scrooged?
God bless us, everyone
Calvin finally speaks Tiny Tim's line, 'God bless us, everyone', as the film ends; Nicholas Phillips plays him.
Q 17Which song does Frank lead the cast and audience in singing at the end of the film?
Put a Little Love in Your Heart
Frank leads everyone in 'Put a Little Love in Your Heart', Jackie DeShannon's 1969 hit, which a new duet version revived for the closing credits.
Q 18Which two singers recorded the closing-credits single from Scrooged that reached No. 9 in January 1989?
Al Green and Annie Lennox
Annie Lennox and Al Green's duet from Scrooged reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went top 30 in the UK.
Q 19How many of Bill Murray's real brothers appear in Scrooged?
Three
Three Murray brothers appear: Brian Doyle-Murray as Frank's father, John Murray as his brother James, and Joel Murray as a party guest.
Q 20In Scrooged's promo 'The Night the Reindeer Died', which TV action star saves Santa with a minigun?
Lee Majors
Lee Majors, star of The Fall Guy, appears as himself in 'The Night the Reindeer Died', mowing down terrorists with a minigun to save Santa.
Q 24Which dance troupe made its final appearance in Scrooged?
The Solid Gold Dancers
The Solid Gold Dancers, whose syndicated show had ended earlier in 1988, perform in IBC's Christmas Carol broadcast in what proved their final appearance.
Q 25To what year does the Ghost of Christmas Past first take Frank, to see his neglected childhood?
1955
The cab first drops Frank in 1955, where his young self escapes a dismissive father through television; later stops visit 1968 and 1971.
Q 26Where does the Ghost of Christmas Present abandon Frank, next to Herman's frozen body?
A utility space under a sidewalk
The ghost drops Frank into a utility space under a sidewalk, where Herman, the homeless man Frank mocked at Claire's shelter, has frozen to death.
Q 27In the future the Ghost of Christmas Future shows Frank, what has happened to Calvin?
He has been institutionalized
Frank also sees his own cremation, attended only by his brother and sister-in-law, and ends up inside the burning coffin before snapping back to the elevator.
Q 28How is Frank's body dealt with in the vision of his own funeral?
Cremated
Frank is cremated in the vision; he finds himself inside the coffin as the flames close in, with only his brother James and sister-in-law Wendie attending.
Q 29What gift does Frank have sent to his brother James for Christmas?
A bath towel
Frank's cheap gift for most of his list, his own brother included, is a bath towel, while the network's big shots receive VCRs.
Q 30What does Frank insist the mice in the 'Scrooge' broadcast must wear?
Antlers
Frank demands antlers on the mice for the live 'Scrooge' broadcast, suggesting they be stapled on when the handler objects.