Following Jim Henson's death in May 1990, the talent agent Bill Haber approached Henson's son Brian, with the idea of filming an adaptation. Haber told Henson that "Christmas Carol is the greatest story of all time, you should do that" and later informed Henson that he had sold the idea to ABC as a television film.[6] The longtime Muppets writer Jerry Juhl was hired to write the script and decided to insert Charles Dickens as the stand-in narrator in order to remain faithful to the original prose of the written material.[7] Henson stated that Gonzo was chosen because he was the least likely choice to play Charles Dickens,[8] while Rizzo the Rat was added to inject some humor and serve as a Greek chorus.[9] Established Muppet characters were initially written to portray the ghosts, with various accounts stating Robin the Frog or Scooter was to be the Ghost of Christmas Past, Miss Piggy to be the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Gonzo (before he was written to portray Dickens) or Animal as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.[6][8] However, the idea was scrapped in favor of new Muppet characters that would better underline the ominous nature.[9] After the script was submitted for approval to ABC, the executives of Walt Disney Pictures offered to purchase the script for a feature film instead of a television release.[8]
The English actors David Hemmings, Ron Moody, and David Warner and the American comedian George Carlin were considered to portray Ebenezer Scrooge.[10] Henson later offered the role to Michael Caine, who replied: "I'm going to play this movie like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me."[6] He took inspiration for the role from "Wall Street cheats and embezzlers; I thought they represented a very good picture of meanness and greed."[11]
Production took place at the Shepperton Studios, England.[12] During filming, in order to allow for the Muppets and the human actors to be in the shot, floors had to be removed and re-inserted, with Michael Caine having to walk across narrow planks between the Muppets and their performers.[13] Additionally, the buildings in the London street scenes were constructed by hand but diminished in size in order to achieve the appearance that the streets were relatively longer. When the musical sequence "It Feels Like Christmas" ends with a crane shot, the short buildings became visibly seen in the background; Brian Henson explained on the DVD audio commentary that they were aware of the problem during shooting, but eventually decided that the closing shot was worth it as they believed not many people would notice the error.[13]
