Each passing year and each new cinematic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic Christmas serves to broaden the consensus opinion held by many regarding several things about The Muppet Christmas Carol.
• It features the finest portrayal of Ebenezer Scrooge to date.
• It is one of the most faithful adaptations of Dickens’ novel, especially in its presentation of some of the story’s darker elements.
• It is a textbook example of how to create a postmodern adaptation of a pre-20th century work of literature.
• It proves that it is possible to make a musical adaptation that don’t feature songs that make you want to stick sharpened candy canes into your ears.
The truth of the matter is that Jim Henson Productions got everything right in what is truly a miracle of modern filmmaking. (Perhaps not a true miracle as the forces of business ultimately did get their chance to try to ruin the forces of art. Many later versions released on home media as well as the official theatrical version no longer feature the song “When Love is Gone.” While never a fan favorite, the song is nevertheless an essential thematic component of the film and is even directly addressed by the movie’s final song, “The Love We Found.”) The film works equally well Muppet comedy and Dickensian drama. The integration of 19th century sincerity 20th century ironic postmodern meta-fiction is seamless. The songs are not just catchy and hummable, but also serve to advice the narrative, enhance the film’s themes and fill in the information in scenes cut from the book.
The true genius of the filmmakers, however, lies in a decision that went against the conventional wisdom built up by the success of previous Muppet movies. All the theatrical films prior to this had included multiple human interacting with the Muppet characters as well as cameo by high-profile stars. In addition, the humans at times recognized and commented upon the fact that they were interacting with puppets. Henson took a huge risk by jettisoning what had been a successful template for the company by casting only one major role as a human, avoiding celebrity cameos and placing what few human characters there are into a world otherwise populated by Muppets and treating everything as if it were normal. In addition, while the film can generally be categorized as a musical-comedy, the performance by Michael Caine as Scrooge is entirely consistent with all previous dramatic interpretations. Without Caine’s absolutely believable and faithful Scrooge, everything about the film would work considerably less well.
The filmmakers also made another calculated risk; perhaps one that might be considered even more potentially disastrous. The Muppets are treated like actors being cast in a role. While all previous Muppet entertainment revolved around character expectations of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and the others, here they are not manifesting the familiar traits, catch-phrases and situations. Kermit is playing Bob Cratchit and Miss Piggy is playing Mrs. Cratchit but there is absolutely no hint of the Kermit/Piggy romance which had built up to them. They really are playing characters. Not only was this a risk, but because Scrooge is the main character and most of the story takes place in his encounter with the ghosts, Kermit is not the star of the film as he had always been in the past.
But the single greatest casting inspiration by the filmmakers lies in filling the roles of two characters who are not even in the novel. Gonzo steps forward as the Muppet with the most screen time which he shares with his companion Rizzo. These are the only two Muppets “playing themselves” but even that is a shaky statement since Gonzo is playing himself playing Charles Dickens. This is the postmodern element of the adaptation and as since they are “outside” the narrative--commenting upon the action, appearing in the action, but never taking part in the action—they are allowed to be seen as themselves rather than as the character they are playing. Even Gonzo as Charles Dickens is acknowledged as the Muppet Gonzo pretending to be Charles Dickens.
The Muppet Christmas Carol broke all the rules that had made the previous Muppet movies box office hits. In doing so, it allowed itself to (eventually) be seriously considered as an adaptation of A Christmas Carol rather than just a Muppet Christmas release. Against all odds, every risk not only paid off and came together, but they paid off and came together to create what is coming to be seen more and more as the definitive version of this familiar Christmas tale.
