So, here we are…
Title:
The Muppet
Christmas Carol
Format:
Colour feature film
Country:
USA (for the money, companies and production talent,
although it was primarily shot in the UK)
Production
company:
Jim Henson Productions, for Walt Disney Pictures
Year:
1992
Length:
86 minutes
Setting:
A fantastical version of Victorian London, where puppets
and talking animals and even talking vegetables live alongside humans without comment.
Background:
Created by Jim Henson, the Muppets had become
phenomenally popular through their series The
Muppet Show in the late 1970s, made for sale in the USA but produced in the
UK after Henson had failed to find backing in his own country. The Muppet Christmas Carol has a
similarly transatlantic background, with the finance and most of the creative
input coming from the States, but the film actually being shot at Shepperton
Studios in the UK.
The success of the Muppets had first seen them hit cinema
screens with The Muppet Movie in
1979, but The Muppet Christmas Carol
was their first big screen outing since The
Muppets Take Manhattan in 1984. It was also their first feature film to be
made after the death of the original creative force behind them, Jim Henson,
who had died in 1990, and their first movie to be based on a literary source,
something they would repeat with the subsequent Muppet Treasure Island. It was also the first Muppet production to
be distributed by Disney – they would go on to purchase the Muppets outright in
2004.
On its original release in 1992, The Muppet Christmas Carol was did not made a particularly huge
impact in the cinema, although it did make a profit. However, it’s gone on to
enjoy a long and hugely successful life on home media and on television,
becoming a festive staple and an integral part of the Christmas season for
millions.
Cast and crew:
Michael Caine was not yet a knight of the realm at this
point, and had yet to win his second Oscar, but he did already have one Academy
Award under his belt, as well as nearly thirty years as one of Britain’s
highest-profile film stars. He had undergone something of a career dip in the
late eighties and early nineties, appearing in all manner of tat as long as it
paid well, but whether by accident or design here he ended up taking on a role
that will long be remembered as one of the defining ones of his career. There
can be no doubt that for several generations of children for from The Muppet Christmas Carol is the first
– or indeed, only – exposure to Dickens’s story, Caine is Scrooge, and he’s no bad one at that.
This was the first Muppet feature film to be made after
the death of their creator and driving force Jim Henson in 1990, and the film
is dedicated to his memory, along with that of fellow Muppet performer Richard Hunt, who had
died at the beginning of 1992. In spite of these losses, the team is on fine
form, with Brian Henson stepping into his father’s shoes as director, and Steve Whitmire replacing Henson as Kermit the Frog, the most famous of all the
Muppets (although playing a supporting role as Bob Cratchit here). I am sure
Muppet experts can tell the difference, but for a more casual viewer like me it’s
hard to tell that it isn’t Henson doing the work, as Whitmire seems spot on.
Writer Jerry Juhl had been the lead writer on The Muppet Show, the original success
story, and he brings all of the wit, creativity and verve that was so often on
display there to his task of adapting Dickens for the world of the Muppets. He
was clearly a man who admired the source material, and it shows – there’s even
a line at the end telling the audience that if they enjoyed this, then they
should read the book!
Underdone Potato:
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| "Humbug!" |
Part of the charm of this film is that it is “narrated”
on screen by Dave Goelz-as-Gonzo-as-Charles Dickenks, accompanied by Steve
Whitmire as Rizzo the Rat. Their presence, interjections and relation of some
of the original prose of the book really adds a level to the film, and I don’t
think it would be quite the same – nor quite as well-loved – without them.
In the initial scene in the counting house, a new character
of “Mr Applegate” is added, someone whose home Scrooge is about to repossess,
presumably to demonstrate just what a nasty character he is. Applegate is a
fairly anonymous Muppet, but does get one of the film’s best lines – “thank you for not shouting at me!”
Steven Mackintosh is not one of the best Freds there’s
been, and sadly he loses a lot of the character’s best dialogue – the “fellow passengers” speech is
unfortunately absent. There is an interesting change made in that Fred remains
present for the visit of the two charitable gentlemen – a perfectly cast Bunsen
and Beaker.
The cheeriness of Bob/Kermit’s One More Sleep ‘Til Christmas is nicely undercut at the end of the
song by the carol singer Scrooge had earlier seen off shivering and homeless in
the cold. The scenes in Scrooge’s house all work very well, although while the
Marleys’ – two of them, played by Statler and Waldorf! – song isn’t bad, it
does come at the expense of losing most of the original dialogue from the
scene. While this doesn’t matter hugely when the intent and message are still
there, I do always miss it whenever anyone leaves out the fact that it’s (the)
Marley(s) who procured this chance of redemption for Scrooge. They do, however, get a nice moment where they point out what a dreadful old pun the “more of gravy than of grave” line is!
Past:
The Ghost of Christmas Past is an extremely well done
original puppet creature, created very cleverly by filming the puppet in a
water tank to give it a floating, ethereal presence. It’s clearly a female
spirit rather than androgynous as in the book, but is still very much within
the… er… spirit of what Dickens suggests, I think.
We see Scrooge at school, although there is no Fan to
come and take him away in this version – she’s omitted entirely, which means we
lose the dialogue between Scrooge and the spirit about Fred, further taking
away some of his presence in the film.
The casting of Fozzie Bear as “Fozziwig” was perhaps irresistible,
and for any long-term viewer of the Muppets it’s great to see so many familiar
characters in this scene. This includes Statler and Waldorf, with the film
perhaps taking a leaf from the book of the 1951 Alastair Sim version by having
(the) Marley(s) working at Fezziwig / Fozziwig’s alongside Scrooge.
Like many other adaptations, this version brings Belle to
the party. We then see her breaking off the engagement to Scrooge a few years
later, and depending on which version of the film you’re watching you may or
may not then have to suffer Belle singing a fairly dreadful song. As with a lot
of versions, they don’t show Belle at home happily married to her eventual
husband on the Christmas Eve when (the) Marley(s) die(s).
Present:
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| Unusually, they're not the stars - but it wouldn't be a Muppet movie without these two! |
The Ghost of Christmas Present is another original
puppet, this one closely resembling the traditional depiction of the character
as large, jolly and bearded. His initial exchanges with Scrooge provide one of
the very few jarring examples of
Jerry Juhl’s script trying a bit too hard to make the story more accessible to
younger viewers – Scrooge’s remark about the spirit’s 1800-plus brothers being “a tremendous family to provide for”
becomes “Imagine the grocery bills!”
We see the two traditional visions usually provided, of
the Cratchits at home and Fred and his wife and their friends at their party.
The scene at Fred’s is quite short, and loses something in that we only see
them mocking Scrooge in their game, and not the kind words Fred usually has to
say about his uncle at this juncture.
Seeing Miss Piggy as Mrs Cratchit and her and Bob/Kermit’s
little family of pigs and frogs is a joy, though, and this scene is pretty much
played straight and by-the-book. I love the production design of the street on
which the Cratchits live, with its skew-whiff, higgledy-piggledy houses that
really do look like something out of a faitytale.
The spirit ages, as in the book, although quite suddenly
towards the end of his sequence, rather than gradually across it. There are no
Ignorance and Want, which is usually a sign that the message of the story has
been softened a little, although any thoughts of that are excised by the
following section…
Yet to Come:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is everything you
would want of the spirit – tall, hooded, imposing and silent. The film itself
signals that things are going to be taken very seriously here, with our
narrators Gonzo and Rizzo decide to scamper off and leave the viewers to it
until the finale.
We have the businessmen discussing Scrooge’s death all
present and correct, and then a slightly truncated but basically all there
version of the scene with Old Joe being sold Scrooge’s belongings. I can only
imagine how surprised audiences back in 1992 must have been by what then
follows, with Kermit and Migg Piggy basically doing ‘straight acting’, as it
were, mourning the death of Tiny Tim… Robin the Frog, dead! Bob/Kermit gets to
keep the line about “…this first parting
between us,” from the book, all of which helps add to the impact of the
scene.
Scrooge then comes, as he must, to have his grave and
admit to himself who it was who was being talked of earlier… There’s a nice
little bit of business from Caine here, as with a movement of the arm and a
half a glance to the spirit, he tries to indicate a sort of “surely you actually meant this stone over
here, didn’t you…? Oh…”
What’s To-Day:
I can’t remember if this is done in other versions,
although it may be – the boy Scrooge calls down to after his redemption is the
same carol singer who he chased away from his business at the start of the
film. (Bean Bunny, for those of you who know your Muppets!)
This is quite a well-known bit of trivia now, I think, but watch out for shopfronts bearing the names of Statler and Waldorf, and Caine’s own real name, Micklewhite.
This is quite a well-known bit of trivia now, I think, but watch out for shopfronts bearing the names of Statler and Waldorf, and Caine’s own real name, Micklewhite.
We see Scrooge briefly visit Fred, and he does make up with
the two charitable gentlemen as well – receiving Beaker’s scarf in return,
which is rather nice. (Incidentally, is Beaker – clearly addressed as such
earlier on – the only Muppet in the film aside from the narrators who maintains
his Muppet name ‘in character’ in the story…?)
While various other adaptations have had Scrooge visit
the Cratchits’ household in person after his redemption, and have had him be
there to pretend to be angry at Bob not being at work, the Muppets take this
pretence to its logical conclusion and have Mrs Cratchit absolutely furious at
him and determined to give him a piece of her mind, until all is revealed.
Gonzo-as-Dickens, of course, gets some of the closing
narration from the book, which is often included, sometimes read by a narrator
and sometimes by the character of Fred – there can rarely have been a more triumphant
“who did NOT die!” when it’s being
delivered, though. Everyone and their brother is then at the Cratchits’
household for the final singalong, so it’s just as well that such a big turkey
was sent for. The film as whole, however, is very far from being a turkey of
any size.
Review:
 |
| Our intrepid narrator... plus the one who's only here for the food! |
In some features about Michael Caine and his career, I
have seen this film dismissed as being a part of his “I’ll do anything, me…” phase, when he was appearing in absolutely
any old tat that paid well, not bothered about the end result as long as it
paid for a new house or a swimming pool. Perhaps that may be true – perhaps
Caine was only in this for the money. But if that is the case, then not only
did he get incredibly lucky, but he’s also capable of putting in a pretty
decent performance for a man who’s not that bothered.
Make no mistake, ultimately this is the film for which
Caine will be remembered down the decades. When the likes of The Italian Job, Alfie and Zulu have faded
from the memories of anyone other than the film buffs and media historians,
this will still be a great festive
favourite, beloved of the generations.
And that is no bad legacy for anybody to have, because it
is a wonderful film.
The decision to cast Gonzo as a narrating ‘Charles
Dickens’ was a stroke of genius, and fits in perfectly with the style of the
book, and indeed of Dickens’s writing generally. For although A Christmas Carol is written in the
third person, it is not simply told.
It really is narrated by Dickens,
with a narrative voice which quite happily and frequently stops to chat to you
along the way – hence why Dickens always had such great success with it as a
public reading.
Gonzo’s cheekiness works well with conveying Dickens’s
tone, and enables the inclusion of some great bits of Dickens’s non-dialogue
writing which usually has to be left out of most adaptations. There have been
narrators before in other versions, of course – such as Vincent Price in the 1949 television version. But in that version Price was separate from the
action, reading the book somewhere else. This is as if he’d stepped onto the
set and joined in, and it’s amazing to think that nobody else has ever tried this,
although admittedly it may be difficult to make it work in a more ‘straight’
adaptation of the story.
All of the other pieces of Muppet casting work excellent
as well, down to Fozzie Bear as a renamed ‘Fozziwig’ in the Christmas Past
section. The one which probably does just pull you up short is Statler and
Waldorf as the Marley Brothers. I have no problem with there being two Marleys,
but the fact that we are so familiar with these two and their usual Muppet
characterisations means that it’s actually quite difficult to imagine them
having any kind of guilt or repentance for their meanness. This is why the
casting of Caine as Scrooge and of brand new, traditional to Dickens creations
as the three spirits, works much better, as we don’t have as much of a pre-conceived,
fully-formed idea of their characters.
Aside from that, if there is a weak link here then it’s
the songs, a traditional stumbling point for any musical version of the story.
The opening number, Scrooge, is
wonderful, but that’s part of the problem – it sets such a high standard that
none of the others ever quite live up to it. One More Sleep ‘Til Christmas, Marley
and Marley and It Feels Like
Christmas are okay, but everything else is a touch over-saccharine for me,
the latter being a constant issue which Carol
adaptations have to beware of. This is mainly a problem with the lyrics,
however – the music itself is lovely, and works very well as an opening theme.
Overall, though, these are minor quibbles. Adults may
cringe a bit during one or two of the songs, but outside of that this is an
utter delight from end to end, a film that really does seem to have something
for everyone. It’s terrific fun, but unlike some of the other versions aimed
primarily at a younger audience, it doesn’t really pull any of the story’s
punches, with perhaps the exception of the absence of Ignorance and Want at the
end of the Christmas Present section. If you’re a fan of the Carol but haven’t seen this adaptation,
then I beseech you to seek it out immediately – it’ll be the best Christmas
gift to yourself that you could possibly have.
In a nutshell:
One of the ‘Big Four’ adaptations of the Carol which stand head and shoulders
above the others. Real love and effort clearly went into this, and the end
result is superb.
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