Brian Henson, the son of famed Muppets creator Jim Henson, has created one of the best renditions of Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. It is played for all audiences, but this approach never holds back the movie and it certainly never feels like a movie that is talking down to its audience.
I reviewed another one of Brian Henson’s creations last year for Halloween. Battleground, an episode of the anthology Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King, featured a hitman (William Hurt) locked in an exciting battle with toys. The best episode of the collection by far, it does not surprise me then that The Muppet Christmas Carol is also such a standout. The attention to detail is as rich with the Muppets, as actors and puppet-actors mix effortlessly and with joy.
Michael Caine’s role as Ebenezer Scrooge is also timeless. Caine is just purely delightful to watch, as his eyes and subtleties give life to the well worn shoes. Scrooge grabs onto the characters and world around him and it is sincere and elevates the movie. The face certainly is not the whole movie, but if you are going to be one of the few people-people in front of the camera then it is what you would hope for.
Oh and the sets. They are absolutely charming. The Henson name comes with an expectation, at least in my eyes, to be captivated in a kind of magic for the worlds involved. The Muppet Christmas Carol is no slouch either in this regard as the puppets you expect to see are all standouts. What is even better are the newer characters, creations to fill the three ghosts, as they are striking and fantastic camera tricks make them all the better.
Finally, as a light musical, what would it be if I did not touch on the songs. Paul Williams composed a wonderful assortment of songs that mostly plays well to its setting and feels ripped straight from Dickens pages. In fact, a quick scouring of the internet reveals that this was in fact how Williams went about it, turning the pages and finding the words. Just listen as the song Scrooge opens the film and hear the affection or enjoy the Marley brothers in one of my favorite scenes. I can see some people not connecting with everything, I didn’t, but buying into the intent means a lot here.
If you find yourself watching The Muppet Christmas Carol, you will feel the magic or you should be checked for a pulse.