Summary:
A retelling of Charles Dickens’ classic novel featuring the Muppets.
My Thoughts:
When it comes to watching most Christmas movies, I am very much a Scrooge. The idea of sitting down to watch a movie specifically because ‘it’s that time of year again,’ sounds like more of a chore than anything else, and while I don’t hate Christmas itself, people that want their Christmas to last a ‘whole season’ drive me bonkers. I’ll be cheery for a day (with the aid of alcohol), and then please let me go back to being cantankerous. I’ll watch “Die Hard”, if you want to consider that a Christmas movie (I do), but other than that, I actively avoid all Christmas movies as if they were the plague; all Christmas movies, save this one, actually.
“The Muppet Christmas Carol” is the exception to the rule. I freaking adore this movie. I’ve watched it twice this year (once in November and once so far in December), and I’m sure I’ll watch it again before Christmas rolls around. Since I was a child, I’ve always loved the Muppets, so it’s no surprise to me that they should warm the frozen cockles of my heart in time for Christmas. I love their sense of humor, but I also love that they are introducing children to timeless stories. The Muppets were my first exposure to Dickens (and Robert Louis Stevenson now that I think about it), and this is a perfect way for children to learn about this story, which, in my opinion, is the best Christmas story out there.
The things that make any version of A Christmas Carol wonderful are vast, but one of my favorite things is that this story isn’t just some schmaltzy redemption tale; there is real darkness to this story. There are moments that terrified me as a child, and even now, I can understand why a child would be scared of all of the spirits that Scrooge runs into (not just future- all three of those spirits are spooky). That spookiness helps because without it, the joyous ending would feel totally unearned. We need to walk alongside Scrooge (Michael Caine, “Dressed to Kill”), through his past, present, and eventually future, to see that the way he’s living, greedy and alone, is no way to live when compared to the lively, friend-filled merriment that fills the Christmas season. No matter how many times I see this film, the ending invariably fills me with a sense of gratitude for life, and a sense of camaraderie with my fellow man.
The Muppets, of course, bring their own spice to the story. There are plenty of songs that are ridiculously catchy and fun, and that’s coming from a person who actively avoids Christmas music. I can’t go through a single day in December without thinking about the lyrics of ‘One More Sleep Till Christmas.’ I love Rizzo and Gonzo’s relationship in this film; Gonzo constantly makes meta-references to the fact that he is, in fact, the Charles Dickens, and there are some hysterical pranks that come from that. Miss Piggy has a few wonderful lines, and the rest of the Muppets make some pretty memorable cameos here and there- like Stalter and Waldorf as the Marley brothers (in the book there was only one Marley, but what do you do?). Michael Caine is also my favorite Scrooge; I think he strikes the perfect balance of despicable and respectable throughout. Children wont have too hard of a time sympathizing with him, but he still has plenty of room to grow at the end.
Verdict:
I literally have nothing bad to say about this film. It’s the only Christmas movie that I’ve never grown tired of even after multiple repeated viewings, and even though I’ve probably seen it more than forty times, I honestly can’t imagine I’ll ever grow tired of this timeless classic.
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