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The Muppet Christmas CarolArguably, the Muppets are responsible for the best cinematic adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic festive tale of redemption, 'A Christmas Carol'. It's certainly the most entertaining and downright sweet, and even boasts a splendid turn from Michael Caine as the curmudgeonly miser who's taught a lesson.
The Muppet movies might have an inconsistent track record - The Muppet Movie, Muppets From Space and Muppet Treasure Island, which followed this film, are of variable value, with the mayhem of the original series occasionally displaced by earnestness. Here however the formula works a treat. The Great Gonzo (voiced by Goelz) plays Dickens, reading his story to an audience of Ritzo The Rat (Whitmire). He introduces us to Ebenezer Scrooge (Caine), a miserable, miserly businessman who is threatening his clerk employees with redundancy just before Christmas. Among them is Bob Cratchit, aka Kermit the Frog (voiced by Whitmire again, who took over from the recently deceased Jim Henson), who's trying to mediate. Back home wife Mrs Cratchit aka Miss Piggy (Oz) is caring for the family, which includes lame little frog Tiny Tim (Nelson).
All is looking bleak, but the powers that be conspire to right things, and Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley (Nelson again), as well as the fabulous-realised ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet To Come. Together they succeed in giving the penny-pinching misery-guts an epiphany.
Caine's solidly thespy presence grounds the ebb and flow of technicoloured puppetry all around him, which provides a series of gleeful set pieces and asides. All the favourite Muppets are present and correct, including Fozzie Bear and Dr Bunsen Honeydew, but their activities don't distract from a successful adaptation of the story. The only disconcerting aspect is how Kermit and Miss Piggy managed to breed and produce a family of girl piglets and boy froglets. It really doesn't bear thinking about.
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