Deep Dive Disney Christmas Special: Wes Looks at The Muppet Christmas Carol

Greeting friends, and Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kwanza, Blessed Solstice, Yule, Festivus and whatever else you celebrate in late December. Hell, if you celebrate Halloween on December the 25th, that’s awesome too, just as long as everyone’s happy. And I know what makes me happy, watching my favorite Christmas movies, particularly today’s offering, The Muppet Christmas Carol. If you’ve been following me since before Deep Dive Disney and even before Wes’s Guide to Gargoyles, you may recall that once upon a time that I named this as my favorite Christmas movie ever, and in the ensuing years since, that has not changed. So, as a very special present for my Patrons, we’re going to deep dive into this Christmas Classic. I’m going to assume that the majority of you have at least a passing familiarity with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the story of a mean-spirited, miserly old man named Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited by three ghosts who show him that the path he’s on will only bring himself and others to ruin and in the end, the old miser resolves to change his ways. There have been more adaptations of this story than I could possibly count, and each one has a little something special to distinguish itself. If you want a fairly straightforward adaptation, I recommend the 1999 version with Sir Patrick Stewart. If you want a more modern version with a lot of laughs, check out Scrooged with Bill Murray. If you want a version that takes the source material and makes some very creative choices, we have the Jim Carrey version for that. If you want a movie that looks at the source material from a unique angle, I highly recommend The Man Who Invented Christmas from 2017. However, in my mind, this 1992 version starring The Muppets and Sir Michael Caine still stands out amongst its peers, mostly because, well… the Muppets make everything better. Speaking of, this production is actually a fairly significant one of the Muppets since it was the first Muppet feature film to be released following the tragic passing of the great Jim Henson as well as long time Muppet performer Richard Hunt. For that reason, a lot of classic Muppet characters either remain silent or are omitted altogether out of respect for their original puppeteers. However, for my money, this movie was a resounding success and I watch it multiple times every year, and I would like to share that special feeling with you. So, let’s dive right in and take a look at the holiday classic, The Muppet Christmas Carol

Main Character:

A Christmas Carol, being a redemption story, is one of those instances where the villain is also technically the main character. I think it’s relatively pointless to tell you who Ebenezer Scrooge is since he’s arguably one of the most recognizable characters in all of literature. Over the years there have been many great Scrooges, be they Patrick Stewart, Christopher Plummer, George C. Scott, Kelsey Grammer and even Scrooge McDuck, but in my opinion, the great Sir Michael Caine will always be the definitive Scrooge in my mind. It helps that Caine is an absolutely phenomenal actor in his own right. He’s the kind of professional who will always take a project seriously and give one hundred percent no matter the circumstances. It doesn’t matter if he’s performing for the royal Shakespeare company, a children’s high school auditorium or, as it happens, opposite a green piece of felt, Caine is going to turn in a strong performance just as he does here. Naturally, Caine hits all the usual Scrooge beats. He starts off as a greedy and cynical jerk, he spouts off all the catchphrases (Bah Humbug and all that), he is terrified of the ghosts and in the end learns his lessons, recants his selfish ways and becomes a good person. However, what I like about this version is that there’s a progression leading up to his ultimate face turn. See, with most Scrooges, even some of the truly great ones, they usually stick to their guns until the Ghost of Christmas Future shows them their grave, resulting in a huge personality one-eighty at the end. Here, we actually see Scrooge taking the spirit’s lessons into account, starting to think that there might be something to this Christmas thing and realizing that his actions have been wrong. It’s nice to see Scrooge actually have a more visible character arc over the course of the film.

Side Characters:

Well, as a Muppet production, this flick has all of your Muppet favorites in one form or another, though as I said, some of them were given reduced roles out of respect to their departed puppeteers. Rowlf the dog was given no lines of dialogue and Scooter was omitted entirely. However, the Muppets who do stick around for the fun play their parts well.

Kermit the Frog, in the first theatrical Muppet production in which he is not the main character, plays Bob Cratchit, and does so well. I mean, what do you want me to say, it’s Kermit the Frog, he’s awesome and impossible not to love.

Miss Piggy is her wonderfully hilarious self as always in the roll of Emily Cratchit. We’ll be swinging back around to Piggy a little later, but I do need to acknowledge that apparently this world operates on Bojack Horseman rules since Kermit and Piggy’s children are Frogs and Pigs instead of nightmarish hybrid creatures.

Fozzie Bear fills the roll of Scrooge’s old employer, Nigel Fezziwig, renamed Fozziewig in this version causing me to applaud the pun game of the writers. He’s pretty much how you expect him to be and fills his small roll well. Interesting note in this version, unlike other iterations of A Christmas Carol, Fozziewig is shown to still be alive, which means we get a brief scene of old Fozzy, which thankfully is significantly less creepy than old Gonzo from Muppets Haunted Mansion.

Sam Eagle, who, the more I think about it, might low key be one of the funniest Muppets of all time, has a brief yet hilarious scene as Scrooge’s old schoolmaster who sets him up with an apprenticeship. I absolutely love the fourth wall moment where the uber patriotic American eagle forgets that the story takes place in England.

Statler and Waldorf play the ghosts of Jacob and Robert Marley, Scrooge’s old business partners. They’re as funny as they always are, but I’m not sure if Dave Goelz has gotten the hang of his Waldorf voice quite yet at this point.

Casting Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim is just not playing fair. See, I get what Dickens was going for with Tim. He was supposed to be wise beyond his years since he was aware that he may not have much time left. That works fine in print, but on screen, the kid can come across a bit, for lack of a better term, Jesus-y, which can rub some people the wrong way. It also doesn’t help that we don’t spend enough time with Tim to really get emotionally invested in him before he dies. However, having Robin, the adorable little green tadpole who sang The Middle of the Stairs and It’s In Every One of Us, in that role changes everything. Now, when you tell us that ROBIN is dead, you bet your ass that we were all completely shook.

However, the Muppets who get used the best in this movie are Gonzo(who may or may not be Charles Dickens) and Rizzo, both of whom act as the film’s narrators and get some of the funniest scenes in the entire movie. It’s nice to see these two characters get such a huge role in this film, especially Gonzo, since he’s always been one of my favorites and Dave Goelz is one of the only Muppet performers left who was part of the original lineup. Moving away from the traditional Muppets, let’s talk about the three ghosts, an essential component of any Christmas Carol adaptation worth its salt. We’ll be saving Christmas Future for another section so let’s talk about The other two, starting with Christmas Past. Fun fact, in an earlier draft of the film, the three ghosts were also played by known Muppets. I mention this because originally, the roll of Christmas Past was to go to Miss Piggy. Don’t get me wrong, I think the movie is better with the Ghosts played straight, but I can’t help but wonder how fun the character could have been with Piggy in that role. However, if we did that, we wouldn’t get the actual Ghost of Christmas Past from this movie, which is a most unique and visually interesting puppet. Something about its doll like appearance is both unsettling and calming at the same time. Also, fun fact, they filmed it in a water tank to get that ghostly look.

Then there’s the Ghost of Christmas Present. Come in and know him better man. Of the three ghosts in this film, Christmas Present differs the most from his literary counterpart. True, the original ghost was giant and jolly, but he also seemed to take great pleasure in messing with Scrooge’s head, taking his own words and throwing them back in his face. The ghost in the Muppets version tries a different tactic and he and Scrooge actually end up getting along, which I think is a pretty interesting change. They also added a short-term memory, which kind of makes perfect sense. He’s the ghost of Christmas Present so it makes sense that he’d have a hard time remembering the past since his mind is filled with the here and now. The film also omits the creepy ignorance and want children which is probably for the best, that would give kids nightmares. I actually think it’s Christmas Present’s more friendly approach is what contributes to that progression for Scrooge I alluded to earlier. In my mind, it’s a different take on the character that I think works very well.

Songs:

Honestly, my favorite song in the film is probably the opener, a song simply entitled Scrooge in which all the Muppets of London sing about what a nasty man Scrooge is. It’s actually pretty catchy and sets the tone for Scrooge as a character before we even see his face. This song also reminds me a lot of the opening number to Beauty & The Beast in the way it has the town singing an insulting song about the main character while they’re in earshot. No wonder Scrooge is such a grouch, everybody keeps insulting him in song form.

One more Sleep ‘til Christmas is Kermit’s big number and it’s a ton of fun. You can’t help but tap your toes at this one.

Marley & Marley is a nice and creepy number and hits the perfect balance of Muppet zaniness and the horror that came with the original moment in the book. Also, do they say “Chains” or “Change” at the end of the song. That’s been bugging me for years.

It Feels Like Christmas is a big happy number sung by The Ghost of Christmas Present. It’s a ton of fun and Scrooge dancing is usually pretty funny.

Bless us All is a heartfelt number but a bit schmaltzy for my taste. Not that it’s bad, it’s just not as strong as some of the others.

Thankful Heart is the big finale and it’s great. Michael Caine isn’t an especially great singer, but I don’t think it matters since he performs this number with so much joy and enthusiasm.

Finally, let’s talk about The Love is Gone, the song that’s been cut from the film, added back in and cut again more times than I can count. It’s… okay. Yeah, it’s a pretty song and all, but it doesn’t really wow me. It’s removal doesn’t really hurt the movie one way or the other so I guess I don’t mind.

Memorable Scenes:

As I mentioned, any scene with Gonzo and Rizzo is comedy gold. I especially love how nothing, not even a door slammed in his face or falling from a two story window, breaks Gonzo’s concentration and the bit where Rizzo has to fall from a high gate only to later learn he can fit through the bars always gets a laugh.

There’s this scene early on where a Muppet pleads with Scrooge for an extension on his rent. Scrooge says nothing, just grabs him by his neck and casually tosses him out the door. That’s just so hilariously mean.

Fozziewig’s Christmas Party is a ton of fun. We get the surreal sight of a young Statler and Waldorf, we get their usual schtick of heckling Fozzie and we get the hilarious scene of a super depressed animal gently hitting a triangle instead of banging the drums like he usually does. I agree with Nostalgia Critic, this scene could totally be an ad for depression meds

Finally, we close out this section with a much more somber scene. I speak of course of the scene where the Cratchit family mourns the loss of Tiny Tim. It hits hard, like I said, but you want to know how to make it hit even harder. Imagine any time they say Tiny Tim, take away the Tiny part and replace the T with a J. And that’s all I’ll say about that.

Story:

Something that I think a lot of people don’t quite grasp about Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol and all of its various adaptations is that the story isn’t actually about Christmas at all. Don’t misunderstand, the story does preach keeping the spirit of Christmas alive, but more so, it’s just a general message about being a good person with Christmas as its chosen backdrop. Scrooge was a cruel and miserly man but saw that if he continued down that path, he’d lead himself and others to ruin and meet a horrible fate in the afterlife. So, seeing his past, present and future, he vowed to change his ways as kindness and love are their own rewards, which is a message one can keep all year round. It is a lesson that many people could use these days. If we all choose kindness, we can take the first step in making our world a better place.

The Dark Disney Factor:

I already mentioned how his movie kills off poor little Robin, and that’s pretty messed up. However, what I’d really like to talk about is The Ghost of Christmas Future. I love this thing. It’s not the most memorable version of the ghost, but the design is neat. It looks like something that would feel more at home in Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal than a Muppet production. Also, it has no feet. That’s weird.

Final Thoughts: This movie is absolutely masterful, a true triumph for the Muppets team. It's a film that I make a point to watch every Christmas season multiple times and it's not hard to see why. I hope you enjoyed my thoughts. and to all of you, I wish you Merry Christmas or whatever your festive December celebration of choice may be. And stay tuned, because I have plenty more Deep Dives to come in the new year.