DECEMBER 20, 2018 // 3
SCRATCHPAD
‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’
is an unsung holiday classic
By ERICK BENGEL
COAST WEEKEND
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Features Editor Erick Bengel.
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hristmas confession: “The
Muppet Christmas Carol” is my
favorite holiday movie.
Yes, there are better Christmas mov-
ies, and even better “Christmas Carols”
(Alastair Sim’s 1951 version is the unsur-
passed adaptation). There are Christmas
movies with more laughs (“Elf”) and
Christmas movies with more machine
guns (“Lethal Weapon,” “Die Hard”).
But “Muppet Christmas Carol” (1992)
has secretly held my heart since Santa
dropped the VHS down my chimney
when I was 7. And I’m not the only one:
In recent years, I’ve met several millen-
nials who consider the film one of our
generation’s unsung holiday classics.
For starters, Michael Caine’s perfor-
mance as Scrooge is more powerful than
Muppet fans have any right to expect.
His Scrooge seems entirely unaware he’s
in a children’s film. The actor doesn’t
just stand around as a straight man for
wisecracking hand puppets; he creates a
tragic wretch worthy of the BBC.
Caine reportedly told director Brian
Henson (son of Jim): “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.”
Sir Michael doesn’t condescend to
the Muppets. He elevates them. The
Muppetry rises to his level.
And the music …
The songs were composed by Paul
Williams, who wrote the Oscar-nomi-
nated “Rainbow Connection” — and
who, while working on “Muppet
Christmas Carol,” was recovering from
a decade lost to coke and booze. (When
Scrooge sings, “With a thankful heart
that is wide awake / I do make this
promise, every breath I take / Will be
used now to sing your praise,” Williams
is describing his own salvaged soul.)
Has there ever been a tune that trumpets
the Yuletide quite like “It Feels Like
Christmas”?
I do wonder, though … if the film
were made today, would I find it so
funny, fleet-footed and spiritually sat-
isfying? Is my enjoyment the result of
childhood overexposure to the Mup-
pets? Am I merely programmed to love
“Muppet Christmas Carol”?
Truth be told, I never much cared
for “The Muppet Show” growing up.
“Muppet Treasure Island,” which is all
zany action and no heart, thoroughly
bored me, though perhaps I’d outgrown
the Muppetverse by then.
“Muppet Christmas Carol” is simply
special — and contains some pretty
poignant stuff for a kiddie flick.
At one point, Scrooge slams the door
in a caroler’s face. We later see the
singer shivering in the street, wrapped
in newspapers, alone on Christmas Eve.
When Scrooge tours his youth with
the Ghost of Christmas Past, he beholds
himself as a friendless, cheerless boy.
“Good heavens ... it’s me,” Scrooge
whispers, realizing it’s still him.
And of course there’s the death of
Tiny Tim, and the climactic graveyard
scene when Scrooge faces his own
meaningless end, and the meaningless
life that preceded it.
When the fuzzy antics get mildly
irritating (I’m looking at you, Gonzo
and Rizzo), they’re kept in check by
Charles Dickens’ story, which gives the
Muppets some unexpected depth and
darkness, but not too much. Meanwhile,
these sweet-souled characters — Ker-
mit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear,
et al. — are right at home in scenes of
warmth and Christmas cheer. It’s the
perfect marriage of the weighty and the
whimsical.
Dickens, frankly, is as responsible
for the film’s success as the Jim Henson
Company. From a filmmaking stand-
point, “A Christmas Carol” is virtually
foolproof, a dependable allegory that
forces us to reckon with our own sins
and shortcomings, while reminding us
it’s never too late to redeem our lives.
It’s a message that rarely fails to
inspire, even — or perhaps especial-
ly — when it’s delivered by a felted,
gentle-hearted frog. CW