Restrospective: Muppets Christmas Carol

So I have a few holiday traditions that I follow every year. I start off the season by pulling out the small Christmas tree from a closet in my apartment and plugging that in (after I spend fifteen minutes looking for an extension cord.) I buy my presents and when they arrive I wrap them, poorly, and the one movie I watch every year is The Muppets' Christmas Carol. It is by far my favorite Muppet's movie (close second: Muppet's Treasure Island... because pirates,) and my favorite adaption of my favorite Christmas story. It is quite possibly my favorite Christmas movie of all time. I was watching it again the other night and I noticed more than a few things worth talking about.

The Muppet's Christmas Carol was the first Muppet's project that the studio undertook after the death of Jim Henson. It was headed by his son, (and all around awesome guy,) Brian Henson. It was also one of the first projects Muppet Studios did under the Disney brand. The idea was originally conceived by Jim Henson himself. The film had a meager box office showing of $27,281,507, as it found itself competing against Aladdin and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, but as time has passed it has proven itself to have the kind of staying power needed to become a seasonal and holiday classic.

Part of that is because the 1992 movie has held up so well in the past twenty-two years. Even when you watch it today, with all the CGI-dominated movies and TV shows out there, The Muppet's Christmas Carol, (as with most Muppet productions, is not only entertaining but still looks good.) This is in no small thanks to Henson's dedication to practical effects. Even the Ghost of Christmas Past, (who looks like CGI) is actually a practical effect with computer enhancements. A special Muppet character was  submerged in water to get an unearthly floating effect and then imposed on the screen and given a glow through the use of primitive 90's computers. However, special effects are only really a by-product, as the film not only an incredible cast but true heart.

Look at that Ghost. That is a small glowing child. It's
nightmare fuel and it's perfection. That was done in 1992,
when the most sophisticated CGI of the time was the T-1000
looking it was done with MS Paint.

Many people may be shocked to find out that The Muppets' Christmas Carol is actually one of the closest adaptations to Dickens' original novel to grace the screen. Henson not only followed the story almost to the letter, but much of the dialog and narration (as performed by The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens) is lifted right from the author's own words. The movie also manages to find a good balance between its serious and dark subject matter and the more light-hearted fun you expect from a Muppet movie. A lot of the humor comes from Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat being allowed the break the fourth wall as narrators. It also means that the movie can take risks to be a bit darker because the pair is there to hand-hold younger views through the scarier parts of the movie (even though they chicken out and abandon the viewers during the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come segment.) However, a lot of the credit for the movie's balance of culture and fun has to go to Michael Caine who plays Scrooge, and solidifies his position in my heart as one of the greats. To watch him act you would have no idea he is directing most of his lines at pieces of felt with plastic eyeballs. He screams and cries real emotions, and unlike almost every Muppet actor Scrooge is never portrayed with silliness. He plays his part like a classically trained Victorian actor, and it is because of Caine's ability that the movie is kept on track to walks that thin line of serious and funny. Similarly, the three ghosts are not played by notable Muppets for much the same reason. They were specially designed for the roles, which helps keep the mood of the movie. Had they been played by Miss Piggy, Scooter, and Gonzo (as one of the earlier drafts had suggested) the seriousness of the subject matter would have been ruined, possibly along with the rest of the movie.

Rizzo: Boy, that's scary stuff! Should we be worried about
the kids in the audience?
Gonzo: Nah, it's all right. This is culture,

Also helping to keep the tone is the soundtrack. The songs sung by the actors are all serious ballads and overtures. There is nothing too wacky or zany in their lyrics or in their instrumentation. However they are tremendously memorable. Written by Miles Goodman, (who was nominated for an Academy Award for writing Rainbow Connection,) and Paul Williams, the score helps keep the movie's tone of dark ominousness. They did, ironically, cause some tension with Disney. The song, "When Love is Gone," sung by Scrooge's fiance before she decides to end her relationship with the young and greedy Ebenezer was cut by Disney, under the pretense that children would find the song boring. Brian Henson fought to keep the song in, citing that when it is taken out the transition of Clara's rejection of Ebenezer is jarring and lacking of proper emotion. Additionally, that song is meant to stand as a direct counter to the song "When Love is Found" that acts as the movie's final musical piece. Unfortunately, Disney got their way for the 1992 theatrical release, but the song has been added back in to all regular screen format home releases of the movie. (For some reason Disney still refuses to allow the song on the wide-screen DVD releases, HD versions, Blu-ray releases, and even the Netflix edition of the movie.)

I had no idea, as I only own the original regular-screen release of the move, so when I first saw the movie without that song I can't help by find myself agreeing with Mr. Henson. The transition is jarring and lacking in emotion. You get no context as for why Rizzo is left crying at the end of the sequence. Still even without the song The Muppets' Christmas Carol is a classic holiday movie. It has the right mixture of that special formula, which it seems like only the Henson family can produce. It is both dark and light, fun and serious, and seeing Kermit and the rest of the Muppets in their roles does little to take the viewer out of the world... at least not as much as if you were watching Tom Cruise play a part in a movie, (and he's more of a puppet than Kermit.) This is a Muppet movie, and a Christmas movie, at it's finest.

The Muppets seem to always be at their best when they are tackling literature, (A Christmas Carol, Treasure Island, etc) and I wouldn't mind seeing the next big Muppet film to follow in this trend. Yet, until such a time, I recommend everyone should pick up a copy (but only the regular-screen DVD releases, because seriously. That's a good song.) So during this crazy holiday of shopping and commercialism, remember to take some time to watch a movie or two and remember what the spirit of Christmas is really all about: friends, family, caring for one another, and Sam the Eagle forgetting that he is not playing an American in this movie.