24/12/2023
Just because - it is that time of year again!
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
"The Marleys were dead: to begin with". "Pardon me?" "That's how the story begins, Rizzo." "As dead as a door-nail." "That's a good beginning, kind of creepy and spooky".
Like the first sentence, slightly amended, in the Charles Dickens’ original novella, published on the 19th of December in 1843 (remember, that Dickens completed this groundbreaking work in mere six weeks), we now know we are being introduced to an atypical, slightly darker Christmas story than the jolly fare we are used to. With an ironic twist. We are not being told by an old, accomplished male author or a deep voiced narrator. We, instead, are being told by a finely dressed Gonzo the Great and a gluttonous Rizzo the Rat. Welcome to the world of the Muppets.
There are many ways one could approach the review of this movie and I have given it much thought. I certainly have had plenty of time to form an opinion, considering I have revisited it on a fairly regular annual basis, since I first watched it in the movie theater in December 1992, as part of a double feature with ‘Aladdin’. The best place to start, seems to be the introduction to the story world for this beloved and popular tale, which happens to be the best -quiet and opulent- scene of the movie.
For one thing, considering this is ‘just’ a kid’s movie (actually, I am going to be making a counterclaim to this shortly), the film does something pioneering by incorporating Charles Dickens as narrator in the story throughout. The idea of adapting the Dickens story for the next Muppets feature came in the wake of creator Jim Henson’s sudden death from bacterial pneumonia at age 53 in 1990.
The Henson company had already begun negotiations with Walt Disney at this point, as the creative limitations of a small, independent company became clear by the end of the 1980s. Jim Henson had expressed his wish of the Muppets living on long beyond himself. The future with Henson’s death threw more uncertainty into the mix, especially as his son, Brian Henson, despite his vast experience as a puppeteer, beginning with ‘The Great Muppet Caper’ in 1981, principal plant performer in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ in 1986, in addition to being director of smaller features, showed hesitation in becoming the director of the next project.
Screenwriter Jerry Juhl had come up with the idea for an adaptation of one of his most cherished books, but pitched it to ABC as a TV movie, with the original intent of making it a parody of the source material. Within that framework, the roles of the ghosts were meant to be filled by main characters, such as Gonzo and Miss Piggy. When the concept started taking on a grander and more elaborate form, Disney offered to produce a full feature film instead and the distribution of roles also changed.
The idea of incorporating Dickens as the narrator turned out to be the most critical. Trying to envision writing the screenplay, Juhl apparently lamented the fact that he couldn’t include Dickens beautiful prose into the script – unless, of course, he had a narrator who would quote the text of the novel. Thinking of which Muppet character would make the most unlikely Charles Dickens, the agreement was that this would be Gonzo the Great. Comic relief was added in the form of the snarky, shabby sidekick Rizzo, who also functions as a Greek chorus. All of these calculations and innovations are main contributors as to what makes this movie so memorable and astonishing.
Gonzo and Rizzo are arguably the best part of this movie (closely followed by Michael Caine). Their cynical and sharp jabs, back and forth, are gratifying to watch. It also adds a social commentary to some of the questions and concerns the audience may have, such as the suitability of the more terrifying scenes in the movie for children, or topics that the novella addresses, e.g., when Gonzo voices disgust that Rizzo is eating up all of the apples they are trying to sell, and Rizzo replies “I am creating scarcity - drives the prices up" – a wink at the criticism by Dickens in the novella of contemporary economic theories, such as that of Malthus (theories Scrooge spouts throughout and essentially embodies).
We meet Gonzo and Rizzo in their new roles at a Victorian period London marketplace, where, when we pay close attention, we can discover a lot of the many Muppet characters as part of the busy scene. It reminds me of the recognition at the end of, ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan’, when Kermit and Co. are trying to figure out why their play, which was such a hit in college, isn’t finding any backers to produce it on Broadway in Manhattan. After failure and separation from each other, Kermit suffering an accident that causes amnesia and Piggy thinking he is cheating on her (have you ever thought about how adult some of the themes in these supposed kids’ movies really are? It is no different in this movie!
Kermit views the new acquaintances his buddies have made in New York and suggests that what was missing from the play was a greater wealth of characters – one could be tempted to use the word ‘diversity’ – and indeed, Kermit is proven right. Implementing these changes, everyone celebrates a major success as a result. I would argue this wealth of unusual and diverse characters is exactly what makes the beginning of ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ so compelling and winning. It is fascinating to examine the strange creatures that are part of the Muppet universe and realistically part of the typical 19th century city market. These are a few of the ones I detected: pigeons, fish, turkeys, cats, lobsters, bears, pigs, cockroaches, mice, rats and feral cats. Oh, and, of course, the singing vegetables who also pop up in another scene, with the Swedish Chef. Adding frosting on the cake, in the last scene there is a nod to Dickens’ much discussed line, “a dismal light about it, like a bad lobster in a dark cellar”, by featuring some lobsters hanging out of the windows of buildings and joining in the celebration of Scrooge’s redemption.
Now, to further exemplify how marvelous this movie really is for the story world, these animals, insects and whatever else, that many of us would, understandably, consider to be vermin and pests which deserve shunning, are all humanized in this scene. They are presented as part of the vibrant and warm culture of this city and its marketplace. The mice have sweet little voices, begging for some cheese in questionable English grammar, and crocheting clothes for each other on Christmas Day. The feral cats are singing along with them and so are the cockroaches.
I feel this is a genius way to prepare for the icy cold atmosphere which Charles Dickens described so eloquently in the novella, the harmony only being disturbed when the human protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge dramatically enters the screen. Rizzo comments on this, in case we didn’t pick up on the contrast -“Geez, is it getting cold in here?” Michael Caine, with his typical acting prowess, makes this entrance gloriously and the song that follows, ‘Scrooge’ is catchy and cheeky, yet powerful. Caine stands out first of all because he is obviously much taller than the little Muppets and even the humans in the scene – he is 6.2 ft tall after all. Unlike the other colorful creatures, Scrooge is dressed in black. The play with colors in the movie is interesting to observe – towards the end, when Scrooge is redeemed (hopefully, this doesn’t come as a spoiler!), an action is taken to visually both lift Scrooge out of the crowd but also serve to help him fit in with the other characters, finally becoming a part of their community. Since I am hopeful you revisit this film thanks to this review, you will see what I mean. It is a clever tactic. Concluding this point - while the city creatures are being humanized, Scrooge is dehumanized, due to his unkind deeds in the past and present; he is secluded from normal society, and he embraces this isolation until he sees the light (literally and figuratively) and is redeemed. There is another scene where Scrooge is, in fact, referred to as an ‘unwanted creature’ and is brutally mocked, much to Scrooge’s dismay and surprise. Needless to say, the scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Future add to the depiction of Scrooge as some wretched, cold and unworthy being.
While this is the first Muppet feature film production (Christmas Carol was overall the fourth, and the first after several years) in which a human rather than Kermit is the main protagonist, and we are soon introduced to Scrooge’s mistreated, underpaid and overworked but hopeful accountant, Bob Cratchit. While he represents a lonely figure in the office in the novella, liberty is taken to add a group of outspoken rats - so memorable, working in the kitchen in ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan’ – and they provide for plenty of brazen comments and hearty laughs, much needed in Scrooge’s dreary office. Another freedom that is taken in a production that is surprisingly true to the source material, partly because - according to Henson about 95% of Gonzo’s utterances are directly from the book - Scrooge’s former business partner, Marley, is duplicated into a pair of brothers, so that they could be played by Statler and Waldorf. The scene where they make their appearance is a real triumph musically and dramatically and unnerving for the young viewer. This fact does not go unnoticed by Rizzo, when he questions Gonzo on the suitability of the material for children to which Gonzo dryly responds that is it is fine because this is culture. These little side remarks are one of the factors that make this movie so lovely, especially after the initial viewing where some of these quick quips may be missed.
Christmas Present is a new and charming figure added to the Muppet universe, with him performing what some consider to be the best song of this movie and one of the most excellent of all of the Muppet movies: ‘It Feels Like Christmas’. It certainly is a superb and joyful song that provides satisfaction for a viewer of any age and some of the movies most cheerful and uplifting footage, sorely needed to counteract some of the darker and more depressing scenes shown. Not surprisingly, the tear-jerking moments come upon us when we are introduced to Tiny Tim. Again, color is used well and skillfully here – not only are we cued into the fact that something is wrong with this precious little frog, as it descends into a coughing fit and is carried by his father, because he has a walking disability (in a feat of showing a full-figured Kermit walking which proved to be a major puppetry challenge), but Tiny Tim’s green is of a sicklier nature, compared to the other two frogs. Needless to say, if your eyes haven’t teared up at this point, at the prospect of him not surviving, they might very well as the story goes on. The subject matter, like in the book, gets much gloomier and so do the continuing scenes when the Ghost of Christmas Future arrives.
One of the questions I pondered when preparing for this is the following: Is this a kid’s Christmas movie exclusively or does it go beyond that? If you read some of the original reviews, you would assume this is a pure kiddy movie. ‘The New York Times’ presented a particularly scathing account trying to prove this point:
‘"The Muppet Christmas Carol" is not one of those clever children's films that keep adult escorts from gazing longingly at the exit signs. What you expect -- Muppets -- is pretty much what you get. There's no great show of wit or tunefulness here, and the ingenious cross-generational touches are fairly rare. But there is a lively kiddie version of the Dickens tale, one that very young viewers ought to understand.’ (Janet Maslin, The New York Times, Dec. 11, 1992)
So, in case it is not clear from my review thus far, I completely disagree with this assessment. There is plenty of wit, not only - quite obviously - from Dickens’ original prose but from Gonzo’s and Rizzo’s banter alone. Also, there are certainly many ‘ingenious cross-generational touches’ in this movie. A lot of this has to do with some of the adult subject matter which are not shunned here. For one, this is a movie that deals with death and it does not conceal this much for children’s’ sakes either. Not only with regards to the resurrection of the Marley’s but also Scrooge’s confrontation with his own possible demise. Several reviewers, who are much more familiar with other ‘A Christmas Carol’ adaptations than moi, have pointed out that ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ illuminates Tiny Tim’s ill health and possible imminent death a lot more openly than many other adaptations. It is no coincidence that this is so believably and touchingly achieved, considering the Muppets team, and Brian Henson, were not only still reeling from the loss of Jim Henson, but also Richard Hunt, who died of AIDS in January 1992. Hunt had been a major influence in the Muppet universe and came to be best known for voicing Scooter. Steve Whitmire, who took over the role of Kermit, shared his anxiety and his eventual release from this, thanks to a dream about Henson providing his blessing on later occasions. In fact, as a dedication to Henson, the motif of Kermit observing a shooting star, found its beginning in this movie as he gazes up to the sky, while the song ‘Only One More Sleep ‘Till Christmas’ is playing.
Furthermore, ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ marked the return of Paul Williams, who had previously worked on ‘The Muppets Movie’, writing the Academy Award nominated song ‘The Rainbow Connection’. Williams had gone through the agony of suffering from substance abuse and addiction and had completed rehab in 1990. To his surprise, he was asked by Brian Henson if he would work on the musical score for this new movie and wasn’t sure if he could do it after believing addiction had killed his career. But he did and found that he could relate to Scrooge’s tale of redemption like nobody else on the production team. His experiences are reflected in the lyrics of the songs – particularly in ‘Thankful Heart’ where he could express his emotions of feeling connected to the world around him again, which he hadn’t while he was in active addiction.
“There was a connectedness to the world around me, and a level of gratitude that, to this day, is probably one of the most powerful emotions I’ve ever experienced.”
Overall, this summed up his experience working on the music for the movie:
“I was longing to live life in a totally new way, one day at a time, trusting that what I needed was within me to get things done. And I’m sitting down to write these songs, and I’m writing about Scrooge: a man who’s learning to live life in a whole new way, who’s having a spiritual awakening [laughs]. It’s like, okay now, this is my inventory of dealing with where I am in my own life.”
It is interesting to read the backstory on this, with not only regards to the lyrics, but it seems apparent that there are more serious and complex undertones hidden which may not be apparent on superficial hearing or reading. In my opinion, Scrooge’s story can be viewed as an addiction tale, when considering Scrooge’s obsessive-compulsive relationship to his money, which makes him incapable of love and other feelings, robs him of empathy for other human beings, and ultimately forces him into social isolation. There is a telling scene in the recently reviewed movie here ‘The Man Who Invented Christmas’ (2017), where Charles Dickens, pondering what Scrooge’s fate in the story should be, tries to explain to his skeptical best friend why Scrooge doesn’t deserve saving – namely, because he is such an awful person. After some back and forth, Dickens seems to realize that Scrooge only clings to his money because he has nothing else and is trying to fill a void. Naturally, if one looks at the story of Scrooge, it is true that he has nothing else left to grasp, but we also all can see that he lost everything because of his obsession with it. Scrooge is essentially trapped in a vicious cycle, not too different from other addictions we are more accustomed to hearing about, which we, ourselves, are suffering from or are witnessing in others.
This surely could be delved into and analyzed more deeply, and I will share the article that provides more background on the evolution of the music; however, if this is considered, this movie that explores subject matters such as death and addiction possibly is not merely some ‘lively kiddie version of the Dickens tale’. It goes far beyond that simplistic purpose. I would argue, remembering, albeit vaguely, how I reacted to it when I watched it throughout my childhood and teen years, then viewing it today as a lot more cynical and life worn adult. I see it as both – a children’s movie and an adult Christmas movie, respectively.
The major scene that shifts this movie from being either one or the other, is the much-discussed song, ‘When Love is Gone’. As a brief overview, this song was written as the turning point in Scrooge’s path to redemption, and also as a counterpart to the ‘Finale: When Love is Found’. It provides an important moment in Michael Caine’s performance as well, where his devastation and regret about the choices he made can evidently be seen. Disney chairman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had displayed an unusually hands-off approach in the production of this movie, trusting Brian Henson in his directorial debut and Frank Oz as Executive Producer, made the one demand of removing his song from the finalized movie. It had not been very well received by children in the test audiences and Katzenberg was worried that the scene was too sad and too mature and would interfere with the momentum of the story. The compromise was to cut it from the theatrical version but add it back to the VHS (for reference, I remember this being on the VHS that I had, soon after watching it in the movie theater). Over the years, it has been cut from DVD and Blu Ray versions, and the negative went missing, much to Brian Henson’s disappointment. The latest news on this is, however, that the negative was finally found, and that the song will make its way back to the upcoming 4K version. Lot of drama and lot of debate to be found here!
On this matter, I can only speak as someone who has seen this movie many times over the years since its original theatrical release. I was nine then and I am obviously older now (feel free not to do the math on this!) and my opinion about this song and my preference on viewing it as part of the experience has changed. As a child and teen, I found it dreadfully boring and insisted on fast forwarding ahead of it to get to the ‘fun’ parts. At this point, however, the idea of not having this song as part of the story and Scrooge’s emotional development seems wrong and nonsensical to me.
However, I fully understand Katzenberg’s decision on excluding this scene as to make it more palatable for the younger audience – because it does do that. The emotions expressed in this song are too complex for most children to grasp and the song does take away from the immediate and continuous action. And as someone more interested in the movie’s commercial rather than critical success, focusing on making this a movie enjoyable for children was far more imperative to Katzenberg. But with regards to quality, the sharp and uneven cutting of a song that explains Scrooge’s character and past experiences so well, is a major downgrade. On that ground, the fact that the lack of this song has caused such stir and controversy is also more evidence this movie ultimately is a lot more than just a children’s movie. Moreover, it still ranks highly in the Best of Christmas movie lists, despite its original reviews and mediocre commercial success (to be fair, it was facing extraordinarily stiff contemporary competition from one of the most acclaimed Christmas movie series ‘Home Alone’ and Disney itself), and still is widely discussed, more so than any of the other Muppet movies even, goes to show how much depth this movie really has beyond its silly ‘Muppety’ exterior.
If that is not a convincing argument enough, there is the minute detail that this movie stars one of the 20th century’s finest actors of all time, in what I believe is one of his best performances ever: Michael Caine. He seems to agree, as he believes this is one of his most memorable roles and also one of his most challenging, due to the conditions of acting with Muppets, not real actors. A fascinating tidbit is that Brian Henson’s direction was so professional that Caine didn’t realize this was his directorial debut until halfway through the production. Another surprise is that Caine had never sung in any significant capacity before - yet, according to everyone involved, he went at it with gusto (embracing his weaknesses as well as his strengths as he himself describes his acting approach) and delivered a fine and heartwarming performance in a musical capacity as well.
The background story on Caine’s casting is enthralling here also. When the story was still primarily conceived as a parody, the idea was to cast a comedian perhaps – one of the names that was thrown around was that of George Carlin. But ultimately, they approached Michael Caine as someone deserving who had not depicted the iconic role of Scrooge yet. Caine’s answer as to how he would approach the role was much to Brian Henson’s delight, and us as viewers can fully attest, Caine stuck to his words:
“I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink; I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.” (The Guardian, December 21st, 2015)
Caine is magnetic and transformative as Scrooge. My only complaint is that Caine, despite the first-rate work of the makeup artists, who outdid themselves, especially by providing him with devil-like, bushy eyebrows, is much too handsome to play someone as presumably hideous as Scrooge. Realistically, I am relieved that he is though! Caine always delivers exquisite work – he deserved his long overdue Academy Award for ‘The Cider House Rules’, a story I have always been fond of, and certainly delivered a surprising performance in ‘Dressed to Kill’. But his portrayal in ‘The Muppets Christmas Carol’ ‘hits the nail on the head’ of the emotions expressed and felt. I would argue it is one of my favorite performances ever. Period.
Before I conclude, I would like to point out another absolute favorite element of ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ of mine – Bean Bunny. Nothing is more heartbreaking (aside from seeing Tiny Tim’s empty chair with the cane beside it) than watching Bean Bunny being flung into the snow by Scrooge after attempting to garner a shilling for singing a delightful little tune and shivering underneath a measly, brown paper bag in the snow, in a later scene. What I wasn’t aware of before researching this review, was that Bean Bunny only became a permanent part of the Muppet universe with this movie and that his appearances are usually only provided for other characters to mock and humiliate him. That’s awful, in my opinion. Bean Bunny deserves a lot more love than that!
This finishes the least critical review I have probably ever written. I am not sorry. It is a beautiful and timeless tale with the figures that feel like family to me. That sounds ridiculous but it is not untrue – I grew up in front of the TV for long periods of time, watching ‘The Muppet Show’. Something that probably became clear in this review is that my attachment to ‘The Muppets Take Manhattan’ is strong as well. But on a broader level, I do believe the Muppets are so popular still because they are cross-generational, and that solemn and thoughtful adult themes are explored and depicted so shrewdly - just with odd looking and seemingly trivial puppets. Takes genius, if you ask me, to successfully combine these two contradictory elements. As for the question if this is a children’s or adult movie – at this point, I believe it is more effective as the latter. I certainly love and appreciate this movie more now than I ever did before, as a younger person.
Also, follow Gonzo's advice if you like this movie - "go ahead and read the book!".
The Story Behind the Music of ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’
https://www.vulture.com/.../the-story-behind-the-music-of...
Here is the song ‘Scrooge’. The set-up of the Muppet Christmas Carol story world:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULaNvmjZWxg
