Quick Reviews: The Muppet's Christmas Carol

The Muppets Christmas Carol is a wackier take on Charles Dicken’s, A Christmas Carol. The 1992 film is the first to not be directed by beloved Muppet creator, Jim Henson. Making his first directorial debut is Brian Henson, carrying on his father’s work with a wonderful iteration of the original book.

An aspect of this movie that I love is the songs, the musical scores just hit another level and are instantly stuck in my head. There’s been many days where I’ve been walking around my house humming ‘Scrooge’ or even ‘Marley and Marley’.

The Muppets have always had amazing songs going back to the days of ‘Rainbow Connection’ to the present with ‘Life Hereafter’.

The costumes aren’t anything elaborate, just winter suits and top hats. I do like how Scrooge is always wearing dark clothing until the very end when he is gifted a bright red scarf by Beaker. It’s very similar to Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, in which Luke Skywalker was dressed all in black for the entirety of the movie.

This led people to think he had joined the dark side, however, at the end of the movie during a fight with the Emperor it is revealed that his clothing is white underneath to show he was on the Jedi’s side all along.

In this case, Scrooge is all in black to show how dark and moody he is. But towards the end where he has changed, he’s given this small piece of colour to show that there is a good part of him.

The portrayal of the characters is amazing, I love the idea that any Muppet movie you watch is just actors doing their job. At no point are the characters acting, no, it’s Kermit acting.

This shows at certain points of the film where Sam the Eagle breaks character and is corrected by Gonzo or the constant fourth wall breaks by Rizzo the Rat.

The backgrounds and set design are very dull and completely fit the tone of the film. I love the way the houses aren’t exactly straight; they all lean to one side and the roofs are wonky.

The way Scrooge leans down to look into the houses shows how much of a giant he is compared to the others.

Another thing the movie does with its camera shots is stunning. Whenever Scrooge is on screen during the beginning of the movie the camera is always pointed up at him, the audience is always beneath him much like how he perceives others.

The humour is standard, some jokes land and can give me a good laugh while others don’t hit the mark quite as well as they could.

The funniest duo in this movie being Gonzo and Rizzo, who constantly talk to the audience as well as endure some of the best slapstick to come out of the Muppets since the Muppet show.

Overall, The Muppet’s Christmas Carol is a great movie. It uses quotes from the original book and isn’t afraid to get scary when it needs to be. It still holds up extremely well in today’s movie standards and is a must watch during Christmas.

The Muppet’s Christmas Carol gets 4 out of 5 turkeys from me.

The Muppet’s Christmas Carol is currently streaming on Disney+