The film's original score was composed by Miles Goodman with songs written by Paul Williams. Williams previously worked with the Muppets on the soundtrack to The Muppet Movie (1979) in which he and Kenneth Ascher were nominated for an Academy Award for writing "Rainbow Connection." Goodman previously scored several films that were directed by Muppet performer Frank Oz.[38]
Soundtrack
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [39] |
The Muppet Christmas Carol: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack contains all of the songs from the film, which were written by Paul Williams, as well several cues from the score by Miles Goodman. However, most of them are different arrangements than as they are featured in the film. The performances are by the Muppet characters as well as Caine, and the album also includes the songs "Room in Your Heart" and "Chairman of the Board" that were recorded but never filmed. As with all preceding Muppet films, The Muppet Christmas Carol was shot as a musical. The soundtrack album peaked at number 189 on the Billboard 200 chart. The soundtrack was re-released on digital by Walt Disney Records on November 6, 2012.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Paul Williams (songs) and Miles Goodman (score), except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Overture" | 2:29 | ||
| 2. | "Scrooge" | The Muppet Cast | 2:27 | |
| 3. | "Room in Your Heart" (deleted song) | Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker | 1:49 | |
| 4. | "Good King Wenceslas" | Traditional | The Muppet Brass Buskers | 1:05 |
| 5. | "One More Sleep 'Til Christmas" | Kermit | 2:50 | |
| 6. | "Marley and Marley" | Statler and Waldorf | 3:13 | |
| 7. | "Christmas Past" | 1:09 | ||
| 8. | "Chairman of the Board" (deleted song) | Sam Eagle | 1:50 | |
| 9. | "Fozziwig's Party" | Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem | 2:22 | |
| 10. | "When Love is Gone" | Meredith Braun | 3:38 | |
| 11. | "It Feels Like Christmas" | Ghost of Christmas Present | 2:42 | |
| 12. | "Christmas Scat" | Robin and Kermit | 0:23 | |
| 13. | "Bless Us All" | Robin and family | 2:50 | |
| 14. | "Christmas Future" | 1:46 | ||
| 15. | "Christmas Morning" | 0:57 | ||
| 16. | "Thankful Heart" | Michael Caine and the Cast | 2:16 | |
| 17. | "Finale — When Love is Found/It Feels Like Christmas" | Ghost of Christmas Present, Caine, the Muppet Cast, Robin | 4:01 | |
| 18. | "When Love is Gone" (Pop Version) | Martina McBride | 3:48 | |
| Total length: | 41:41 |
"When Love Is Gone"
"When Love Is Gone" is a song sung by the character Belle (portrayed by Meredith Braun) as she laments that Scrooge's love of money has replaced his love of her. The song itself was cut from the original 1992 American theatrical edition of the film by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios, who believed that the song would not appeal to young viewers. Instead, the song was played during the film's end credits scene.[40] Brian Henson objected to this decision as the concluding song, "The Love We Found", was a direct counterpoint to it.[13]
Henson commented: "'When Love Is Gone' was not in the theatrical release, and is presently missing from some copies of the movie, which is a real shame." The song titled "When Love Is Gone" is only included on some home media releases of The Muppet Christmas Carol which are now out of print. It is included as a deleted scene in the "extras" section of the film on Disney+. The section also includes an option to view the entire film with the song restored to its original place.[41]
The song is included on all of the 1993 VHS and LaserDisc releases of the film,[8] as well as at least one UK VHS release. The LaserDisc version includes the only widescreen presentation of this song ever released.[42]
The 2002 and 2005 DVD releases of the movie retain the song in the 90-minute full-screen version of the film, but not in the 86-minute widescreen version on the same disc. A 2012 standalone DVD release of the film uses the same disc from the 2005 release, so it also contains the song. However, a different DVD was used for the 2012 Blu-ray combo pack which does not contain the song. The digital download release of the film contains the entire "When Love Is Gone" as a bonus feature, in widescreen and in high definition.
In a 2018 interview with The Big Issue, Henson said he believed that the song was "unlikely" to appear in any further releases of the film, because Disney had reportedly lost the original video master and film negative.[43] However, on December 9, 2020, Henson confirmed to BBC Radio 2 that the original film negative featuring the entire footage of the song had been found by Disney archivists and would be included in all future 4K releases. Due to time constraints, Disney+ was unable to include the new full version on its Christmas 2020 streaming release of the film.[44] At the 2022 D23 Expo in September, Henson stated the version of the film with the song restored would be available on Disney+ later that year.[45] The streaming service released the full-length version as an option in the film "extras" on December 9, 2022.[46]
