The Muppet Christmas Carol

Released in 1992, The Muppet Christmas Carol had a lot going against it. It was up against 'Home Alone 2' as the holiday movie to see in theatres, and was the first production after Jim Henson's death, directed by his son, Brian Henson. The Muppet Chistmas Carol was also the studio's first attempt at adapting a classic rather than telling an original story, and was significantly darker in tone than previous movies, though the characteristic humour still shone through.

All in all, it's not surprising that it's something of a cult classic among older Millennials, but less well-known to most others.

That said, The Muppet Christmas Carol is probably the best and most faithful adaption to date. Yes, even with the cast being a mix of human and puppet.

Reason number one: Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge.

When he was offered the role, Caine warned Henson that he would be playing the part straight, "As if [he] were in a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company". He followed through, as well, giving no indication that he was interacting with puppets rather than human actors. Most scenes have Michael Caine walking on an elevated plank, giving the actors a place to hide.

While the majority of actors who have portrayed Scrooge have produced a fairly one-note character, Caine gives a surprisingly nuanced performance, with a complexity to Scrooge that most adaptions lack. Watching him, you get the impression that Scrooge has reasons for disliking Christmas, but only becomes truly angry about it when others try to force him to celebrate it with them. This is re-enforced through flashbacks with Christmas Past; Scrooge has a lot of unhappy or tainted memories tied to Christmas, and doesn't enjoy being reminded of them.

I can relate.

Caine giving his all as a complex, creepy character in a dark story is balanced out with the subtle - and not-so-subtle - comedy of the muppet characters. Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchett is the obvious stand-out, along with Miss Piggy as Mrs Cratchett and their assorted offspring, but The Muppet Christmas Carol is also the only adaption to keep Charles Dickens's original prose through including the writer as the narrator, played by Gonzo and backed up by Rizzo the Rat, as Himself.

Their buddy dynamic mellows a story that borders on Psychological Horror down into something that children can consume and enjoy.

Charles Dickens: "And with that, the spirits of Scrooge's old business partners vanished into the darkness, leaving him once again alone in his room..."

Rizzo: "Whoa, that's scary stuff! Hey, should we be worried about the kids in the audience?"

Charles Dickens: "Nah, that's all right; this is Culture."

Woldorf and Statler also shine, with a genuinely creepy song interspaced with their usual banter.

Turning the single character of Jacob Marley into the Marley Brothers Jacob and Robert works well here, adding another layer to Scrooge as someone who had friends, but those friendships brought out the worst in each other.

It's a creepy-yet-comedic set up for the experience of the three spirits.

The spirits are also very well done. There's a kind of uncanny valley effect to Christmas Past, a glowing, child-like spirit, with the proportions just different enough to be unsettling. The vocal effects support this effect, high-pitched like a young child, yet mature and experienced and monotonous, so you're never quite sure whether the spirit is young or old, or even definitively male or female.

"When Love Is Gone" is a short song, barely two minutes long, but it shows a lot.

(Go click play and watch it. The article can wait.)

Cut from some versions, reinstated in others, this scene can be rightfully described as the moment that Ebenezer became Scrooge.

From the instant that Christmas Past brings him to this moment, it's clear that this is a painful memory. Scrooge actively begs not to be shown it, and his demeanour as a bystander unable to change the course of events is one of pain and regret. On some level, he knows that he made the wrong choice, even back then, and this really shows when he walks up behind his once-love, falteringly echoing her words in an almost-duet for the final refrain.

The younger Ebenezer of this past Christmas still has some softness to him, has not yet shut himself off from warmer emotions, but it's equally clear that money and ambition are tightening their hold on his heart, and he and his friends are enabling their worst tendencies. When Belle walks away, Ebenezer doesn't chase after her, but takes it as confirmation of his worst assumptions about mankind, and closes himself off.

Throughout it all, Christmas Past keeps their impersonal monotone, as if only superficially invested in whether or not Scrooge amends his behaviour, or even in Scrooge's opinion of them.

Scrooge: Why do you delight in tormenting me?

Christmas Past: These are but the Shadows of the Past that you see. They are what they are; do not blame me.

Christmas Present, aside from being the only one of the three spirits to get a song, is particularly interesting. One addition that I've yet to see in other adaptions is that he has an inability to form permanent memories.

Christmas Present: No, I'm a large absent-minded spirit! My mind is in the here and now, and the now is Christmas!

Some adaptations have presented Christmas Present as almost hostile at times, throwing Scrooge's words about prisons and poorhouses back in his face. This is due to Dickens's strong feelings of Social Justice, the whole motivation behind A Christmas Carol, raging by proxy at the conditions in which the poor live.

But The Muppet Christmas Carol is a kids movie, and that flies a little over the head of the intended audience. Here, Christmas Present is Jolly, Kind and Compassionate. It's fitting, because Christmas Present is when Scrooge does a lot of self-reflection on how he is viewed by others. He experiences Joy and Empathy and Sorrow and Shame, and it takes a very particular kind of person to coax him through those emotions without Scrooge shutting down in self defence.

Scrooge is taken through a marketplace during "It Feels Like Christmas", witnessing people talking and laughing and putting aside their problems for the day. By the end of it, he requests to see his nephew Fred, only to hear himself the punchline of a game.

Clara: Wait, then, is it an unwanted creature?

Fred: Often

...

Clara: It's Ebenezer Scrooge!

Again, Michael Caine's non-verbal acting really shines through here, displaying shock, hurt, and sorrow, but also resignation and acceptance, as though acknowledging that they have a point, and hinting at almost expecting it on a subconcious level. It shows self-awareness of how much he's pushed people away over the years, but also that he's not as happy about it as he usually pretends.

Christmas Present doesn't comment, but places a hand on Scrooge's shoulder, and guides him to the Cratchett house.

This is another scene that is very well done.

Miss Piggy's characteristic sass is in full force, and mirrored in her daughters, while Peter and Tiny Tim are Kermit in miniture. It's adorable.

Tiny Tim is a surprisingly difficult character to adapt in visual media. In the original novella, he's wise beyond his years, knowing that he has few of them left, and that's hard to get across without the narration of Dickens's prose.

Here, it's a surprisingly accurate (for the early 90s) depiction of chronic illness and a terminal condition. Tiny Tim really is tiny, even for his age and puppetry. He's limited in how much he can do at a time, excitement and singing sending him into severe coughing fits. He tags after his siblings, but falls behind almost immediately, even when only crossing a small room.

The family is aware of it, too, shown in heavy - if brief - silences and concerned glances. Even if Tiny Tim is doing his best to live life to the fullest, the approaching parting weighs on the family, yet they persist in making an effort.

It's a situation that touches a nerve in Scrooge, some vestige of care and compassion long-buried. He's been exposed to people who take joy in what they have, a sharp contrast to Scrooge, ever grasping for more. He's seen those far less fortunate, celebrating even when they have much to mourn or be bitter about, again a contrast to Scrooge's pessimism and tendency to cling to grudges.

This same concern leaves Scrooge open when Christmas Present confirms that without intervention, Tiny Tim will die, and sadly repeat's Scrooge's words.

Christmas Present: I see an empty chair by the fire, and a crutch without an owner. If these events remain unaltered, I fear the boy will die. But then, if he's going to die, then he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.

This care is extended to the Spirit himself, visibly ageing before our eyes as they go to a graveyard, where he slowly fades away. In the background, a tall figure cloaked and cowled in black stands waiting.

Like Christmas Past, there's something of an Uncanny Valley effect. The cowl is a gaping chasm, and far too large for a human face, even when taking the spirit's abnormal height into account, and especially for a skeleton.

Unlike the first two, this spirit doesn't speak at all, and the parallels with the typical portrayal of death are unmistakable. Scrooge sees a man unmourned and unmissed, reactions to his death ranging from indifference to relief.

(Another benefit of puppetry: the muppets picking over Scrooge's looted possessions are literal vermin)

It's a sharp contrast with the Cratchett house, diminished from the place of joy and laughter as it was the last time Scrooge saw it, muted by grief. The Cratchetts are visibly affected by their own loss, mourning one who was deeply loved for all his short time on earth.

Scrooge hasn't let himself be affected by such grief for a long time, and he's unprepared for the impact with which unease turns to heart-rending sorrow. This leaves him already rattled when he is shown his own gravestone, where grief gives way to determination.

As Scrooge tells the silent Christmas Future, a life can be changed, and events can be altered. and it's with that new resolve that Scrooge finds himself returned to his room, just in time for the dawn of Christmas Morning.

The remainder of the film is short, chronicling Ebenzer's change of heart and its implementation over two final songs, then panning up into the end credits.

There are a few other things that I didn't cover but are worth mentioning, like the inevitable pun of Fozzie the Bear as Mr Fozziwig (come on, you were thinking it too!), Sam the Eagle as the Headmaster of Young Ebenezer's School, and how Young Ebenezer himself seems to be the only one aware that he's being given life advice by a giant puppet. None of these things specifically add anything, but they make the film that much better.

If you haven't watched this film already, go do so.

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