There are two movies that I associate with Christmas and that is because living in an autistic home there are certain rituals, and we call them traditions that must be followed. Many years ago, I was granted Christmas Eve as ‘dad’s day’ and I crammed in everything I could into one day. There was a hat raise to my dad with a full English breakfast that became a bit Scottish as I grew to love the country. Then their games and quizzes and all sorts of other things but squeezed into that day was two movies. Two movies that signal Christmas is here and the family is together and supporting, helping, and loving each other. To quickly answer the question, why is the ‘Muppet’s Christmas Carol’ at number 15 on my list, please see above. With my score of 95% the other two just couldn’t compete with the individual joy this movie brings so they scored it down a bit with a 7.7 out of 10 from IMDb and 75% from Rotten Tomatoes. OK, to finally get to the movie itself, Released in 1992, This was the directorial debut of Brian Henson with a screenplay by Jerry Juhl. Obviously based on the classic tale of Charles Dickens. This movie stars the muppets along with Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. It made a modest profit at the box-office with a return of $27.2m from a budget of $12m. It was also the first muppets movie to following the death of Jim Henson so had some big shoes to fill, that was taken up by Jim’s son Brian. Brian now is the Chairman of the Jim Henson Company.
The plot sticks reasonably closely to the Charles Dickens classic with the evil and nasty Ebenezer Scrooge being visited by three ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present, and the scary Ghost of Christmases to Come. Based on the history, current and future Ebenezer has the choice to make his and others better or remain the grumpy git he is. I am assuming that you know the story and do not need it in detail hence me skimming over it. With Scrooge played by Michael Caine with many of the other main characters being the muppets. With Gonzo being Charles Dickens and narrator assisted by Rizzo the Rat. Kermit is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy is Emily Cratchit, Robin is Tiny Tim, Fozzie is Fozziwig, Waldorf and Stadler are Robert and Jacob Marley respectively, Sam Eagle is the Schoolmaster, Dr Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker are the Charity Collectors and the others make appearances as well. The ‘Ghosts’ are new characters not played by existing Muppets that have not really returned in other muppet movies.
I think I have already mentioned why this movie gets such a high score from me, but I feel that doesn’t tell you the full story. As this movie must be good to be loved the way it is. When the kids were younger, we would watch many different Christmas movies some stuck, and others haven’t. I am seeing more and more Christmas movies coming out of the woodwork and they simply don’t cut it. There are some good ones out there but this one has stuck with us as a family forever. There must be a reason for that, and my best guess is that is fantastic. It is a light-hearted and sweet movie that’s soul is kind and some nice little touches here and there like Gonzo at the end saying well if you enjoyed this movie you should go and read the book. It doesn’t too far away from the classic story but does it in a Muppets way. This is a musical and there are songs but unlike most other musicals I’ve seen the songs do not distract from the story but add to it. I have felt many a time when watching musical movies oh Jeeze another blooming song – JUST GET ON WITH IT!!! I never got that this with this movie, it is well paced, and all zipped up in an hour and twenty-six minutes. Which is perfect for kids as it keeps them entertained and its enjoyable for you too. I must add that I was a Muppets fan from a kid, but I also appreciate that they are not perfect and there are some duds out there, but this is definitely not one of them. It conjures up memories of Christmas past and I know that it will be watched again this Christmas and I guess will be passed down generations long after I am gone because I loved it.
Next up is the other Christmas movie that I mentioned in the first paragraph of this review…
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