Muppet Christmas Carol

Starring: Michael Caine, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire

Directed by: Brian Henson

Rating: An Adam Favorite

This is the only Christmas movie I make it a point to watch EVERY year, and I've been watching the same VHS copy for quite a while now.  That's right!  VHS!  When the movie was released to DVD, a few scenes were cut.  For that matter, when the movie was released on VHS the same thing happened, but the VHS is closer to the original release than the DVD.

With that out of the way, I guess I should get to the film itself.  I am a firm believer that casting makes a movie.  You can take a so-so script with a decent director and/or producer and make it great with the right cast.  Now, that's not to say that you can take crap, put great actors in it and expect magic, but even that happens sometimes.

Feeling the way I do about that, I'd love to meet whoever decided the best classic to put a Muppet spin on was Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.  A better decision could not have been made.  Given, Muppet Treasure Island follows at a close second, but this one still takes tops in my opinion.

I just started reading the original story, and the Muppet's retelling is pretty close to the original, so far.  The only main difference I can tell is a shortening and somewhat modernizing of key dialogue...it really only improves it for the transition to film.  If you haven't ever seen this, watch it this Christmas season.

The Good:

• Michael Caine as Scrooge equals awesome.  I have yet to find a better Scrooge.  I thought that maybe Patrick Stewart would put up a good fight, but I was wrong about that.  Cain is Scrooge in all stages: sour, reflective and changed.  He conveys every emotion very well. 
• The entire Muppet cast fits SO well into their roles.  Who could play a better Bob Cratchet than Kermit the Frog?  Gonzo is seen as Dickens and leads us through the tale with his pal Rizzo.  We see almost all of our other Muppet favorites in small parts here and there.  They leave almost no one out of this movie.  
• As with most Muppet films, the music here is great, too.  "Thankful Heart" and "When Love is Gone" (the second being one of the scenes cut for the DVD) are exceptional tunes.  
• The film's pace is perfect.  We see everything we need to see, but it doesn't drag on with a lot of extra nonsense.  Each of the spirits gets their time, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is one of the creepiest I've seen in a retelling.  

The Bad: 

• I can't think of one thing to put down here.  

The Ugly: 

• Again, I'm at a loss.  I'll think on it, though.