The Muppet Christmas Carol **** (1992, Michael Caine) – Classic Movie Review 505

‘December is the foreclosure season. Harvest time for the money-lenders.’ – Ebenezer Scrooge.

Michael Caine makes his musical movie début as the singing curmudgeon and super-miser Ebenezer Scrooge in the Jim Henson Productions company’s very jolly 1992 reworking of the Charles Dickens tale as a vehicle for Kermit as Bob Cratchit (Steve Whitmire) and Miss Piggy as Emily Cratchit (Frank Oz). All the other Muppet favourites – the Great Gonzo as Dickens (Dave Goelz), Fozzy Bear as Fozziewig (also Frank Oz) and Rizzo the Rat (also Steve Whitmire) – are out in force too, of course, in The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Caine shows what a good sport he is, giving an enjoyable, well-judged turn in this traditional Christmas fare well cooked to please kids and parents alike. It’s stuffed with laughs, good humour and charm. Steven Mackintosh plays Fred, Scrooge’s Nephew, while David Rudman is the voice of Rat, Peter Cratchit, Old Joe and the ever delightful Swedish Chef. Jerry Nelson has a busy time vocalising Tiny Tim Cratchit, Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Present, Lew Zealand, Ma Bear, Mouse, Mr Applegate, Penguin, Pig Gentleman, Pops and Rat.

Jerry Juhl’s entertaining script adds delightful new humour while making sure it keeps enough flavour of the beloved original as the old and bitter miser Scrooge enjoys a redemption on Christmas Eve after night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

And Paul Williams’s super bundle of nine new festive tunes jolly the movie along very happily. Scrooge, One More Sleep ‘Til Christmas, Marley And Marley, When Love Is Gone, It Feels Like Christmas, Christmas Scat, Bless Us All, Thankful Heart and When Love Is Found really get you in the Christmas spirit, adding to the magic.

The Muppet Christmas Carol was made in Shepperton Studios, England, at a cost of $12 million, and released by Walt Disney. Jim Henson’s son Brian Henson directs and produces, with Frank Oz as executive producer.

This is the fourth Muppet movie, followed by Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999), The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014).

London’s Prince Charles cinema shows the singalong version at Christmas.

The closing credits include one for Rizzo’s personal caterer.

Brian Henson says: ‘My dad’s message was that we should respect others for how they’re different from us, not how they’re similar. He appreciated eccentrics and dreamers. That’s what his characters are.’ Tragically Jim Henson died of bacterial pneumonia on 16 May 1990, aged 53.

‘Every one of my friends did The Muppet Show, except me,’ says Caine. ‘So it’s an honour and a privilege to finally work with Miss Piggy.’

Steve Whitmire, who took over as the voice of Kermit after the death of Jim Henson in 1990, was fired in July 2017 by Brian Henson, chairman of the Jim Henson Company for his ‘outrageous demands’ and ‘destructive energy’. Matt Vogel has been taken on to replace him.

The Muppet Christmas Carol comes back to UK and Irish cinemas from 2 December 2022 to celebrate its 30th anniversary, and the film’s famous long-lost song ‘When Love is Gone’ will be included. ‘When Love Is Gone’, sung by Scrooge’s young fiancée Belle (played by Meredith Braun) in a flashback was originally cut from the finished movie and only found again in 2020. Over 150 cinemas around the UK and Ireland will be screening the new long version of the Christmas classic.

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© Derek Winnert 2013 Classic Movie Review 505

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