The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

(Disney Streaming, December 2022) The now-canon answer to “Who’s the best movie Scrooge?” is often considered to be Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol, a cliché-enough answer that usually leads to a whole discussion about how this entire comic take on Dicken’s A Christmas Carol works because the Muppets are funny and because Caine (as stated when he accepted the role) refused to consider his role as anything less than Shakespearian. This leads to a film in which Caine’s utter seriousness for the role acts as the foundation for the film’s laughs. Remove Caine or allow him to mug for the camera, and the entire film falls apart. The corollary to that statement is that while Caine may very well be in the running as best Scrooge, The Muppet Christmas Carol is not necessarily the best adaptation of the classic story—it’s an explicit counter-take on the story and not the story itself. As such, it goes to join Scrooged (in a very different comic register) as an all-time favourite Christmas film, but not necessarily as straight adaptation. (For what it’s worth, my own favourite straight adaptation is the BBC 1999 one featuring Patrick Steward as Scrooge.)  Otherwise, The Muppet Christmas Carol does a good job at combining the weight of the Dickens story with the gentle levity of The Muppets in their own sub-archetypes—the idea of splitting the Marley role between Statler and Waldorf is this close to genius, with Gonzo and Rizzo sharing narrative duties (as Charles Dickens) is a close second. Other aspects of the production aren’t as shining—the songs are largely unmemorable, and the film occasionally has a challenge on its hands in trying to balance the darker third act with Muppetish comedy (with even Rizzo bugging out of the narration out of sheer gloom). The Muppet Christmas Carol, as with many Christmas movies, has aged extremely well—after earning mixed reviews upon release, it has since become a strong crowd favourite for obvious reasons. It has earned a frequent-watch status because it’s good… and because Caine is the key to it all.