Muppet Christmas carol

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Muppet Christmas Curral is, in my opinion, one of
the very best Christmas movies of all time, and I
stand by that. In fact, it's been a tradition of
mine to watch The Muppet Christmas Curl every single Christmas
since nineteen ninety three when I watched it for the
very first time on VHS tape, and from that first viewing,
I fell in love with this movie. It was this
movie that actually introduced me to the famous story written

(00:21):
by Charles Dickens, and as the years went on, I
seek to out other adaptations of Christmas Curl, but the
Muppets was always my favorite. The movie was released in
cinemas in nineteen ninety two, and it was the first
Muppet movie to be produced after the sad death of
Jim Henson. The movie was directed by Jim Henson's son,
Brian Henson, who did an absolutely fantastic job at bringing
this adaptation to life. He starts and the camera sweeps

(00:44):
over the snowy rooftops. It already feels like Christmas. You're
instantly overcome with festivity. With the amazing Christmas music, pared
with the very attractive visuals of the set pieces that
reimagine the nineteenth century London, and even though the set
pieces obviously look fake, they are utterly delightful, with the
buildings and doorframes having an angle designed to them that
made the sets unique.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
The movie was also.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Shot with some very really unusual but effective camera angles
that had not really been used before in a Muppet movie,
and the world that they actually created in this movie
you just accepted that it was the real world and
consisted of so many different kinds of Muppet characters that
are all individually dressed in their very own Victorian attire.
The costume designer even had real lining sold into the

(01:26):
Muppet jackets and real little pockets as well. The attention
to detail was immaculate. The movie set had to be
designed with raised flooring so that the puppeteers could actually
stand underneath and operate the Muppets, whilst a human cast
walked around on the ray's floor on narrow walkways, meaning
that they had.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
To watch the footing.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
And this movie was one of the very first Muppet
movies to actually use CGI in various green screen effects
to achieve some impressive shots, especially when you see the muppets.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Full body on screen throughout the movie.

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Where John by Gonzo, who has taking the role of
Charles dickens himself and provides to the story, and Rizzl Daurat,
who is actually the only muppet to play himself, comes
along for the ride and he is probably one of
the funniest characters throughout the movie with his wives cracks, hanilarious, misapps.
I am here to tell the story and I am
here for the food. Ha thank you for making me

(02:19):
a part of this.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
There's only two things in this life. I hate height
and jumping from them.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Oh dead smells wonderful. Oh at least I landed on
something soft. And then we have Ebenezer Scrooger, who is
played by Michael Caine, who really does shine in this role.
He plays Ebenezer so so well, and in my opinion
for me, he is one of the best versions of
Scrooge to ever grace the screen, and that is probably

(02:46):
because of the way he plays the character. Before the
movie went into production, Michael Kaine said the following I
am 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's an utterly dramatic role and there are
no puppets around.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
Me, which I think was absolutely the right choice.

Speaker 1 (03:06):
Playing him straight worked brilliantly and ensured that the movie
was grounded in the Dicking's story. Whats some muppets do
what they do best. But that's not to say that
the muppets did not add so much heart to this movie.
In fact, I said that they added a bucket load
of hearts with just the right amount of humor. In
my opinion, this is some of Kane's best work, and
his acting as phenomenal as he takes the character from

(03:27):
his mean spirited ways to his delighted, giddy, joyful ways
at the end of the movie. His range of emotion
is a pleasure to watch and sometimes heartbreaking. In fact,
most of the movie is displaying the tragic story, showing
Scrooge slowly turn into the mean, old miser as we
know him, but with the inclusion of the muppets and
the jokes that are scattered here and there, somehow make

(03:49):
it a fun watch, often with rizzo and guns or
breaking the tension when we are watching a dirk or
sad scene.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
Oh is it totally for breakfast, Yes, oh good supper time.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
At the start of the movie, we are treated to
the first of many absolutely brilliant musical numbers. This one
is titled Scrooge and it's basically the Muppets singing about
how cruel and mean Scrooge is as he watched through
the streets as a camera stays law not revealing his
face until the very end of the song when he
reaches his office. And I really like the way they

(04:20):
kept the camera angles low, not revealing Scrooge's face until
the very end of the song. I think it worked
really well in building up the mystery of who this
man was right up until the very end of the song.
It just worked perfectly. Inside Scrooge's office, we are introduced
to Bob Cratchett and his army.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
Of book keepers that happened to be rats like Rizzo.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
A great addition, and they have some pretty fun jokes
that never fail to get a laugh.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
From me every single year.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
The character of Bob Cratchit was played by Kermit the Frog,
and of course Kermit had been voiced by Jim Henson
for the longest time, but now the voice of Kermit
came from the vocal cords of Steve Whitmeyer, and Steve
was quite nervous and anxious about voicing Kermit after Jim
Henson did it for so many years. And in my opinion,
he does a fantastic job. And it is quite hard
to tell the difference. It's practically flawless. And it's in

(05:08):
the scene that we get to witness just how cruel
Scrooge can be by refusing to let his staff have
called for the fire.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
If you please, mister Scrooge, it's gotten colder.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
Any bookkeeping staff would like to have an extra shovel
full of cold for the fire?

Speaker 2 (05:19):
And would the bookkeepers like to be suddenly right?

Speaker 1 (05:25):
We also get to see him refuse to have Christmas
dinner with his nephew, and then we get to meet
Bean Bunny, who plays a little homeless boy who at
one point we see singing Christmas carols to Scrooge, only
to have a reef thrown in. And then we see
Scrooge refuse to give to two charity workers played by
Dr Bunsen, Honeydew and Beaker, and he shows them the door,

(05:45):
and if you watch very carefully, it almost looks like
Beaker is flipping Scrooge off before he leaves. I think
we've taken enough of mister Scrooge's time. A little later,
after to Bob Cratchit convinced Screw to let his staff
take Christmas Day off work, much to his dismay.

Speaker 2 (06:04):
It leads for the night.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Kermit and the book keepers start to tide and close
the office for the night. And it's here that we
are treated to our second song of the movie, One
More Sleep Till Christmas, which is so catchy and so
full of happiness and festivity, which is a great contrast
after the previous scene with Scrooge.

Speaker 3 (06:19):
There's magic in the air, this evening, Magic in the air.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
The song continues as a Muppets venture outside where the
Penguin's Christmas skating party is in full swing, and as
the song ends, with some.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Very beautiful visuals, we see the.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Little homeless bunny shivering in the cold, trying to stay warm.

Speaker 2 (06:37):
This is the way in the movie works.

Speaker 1 (06:39):
It kind of gives you a hard scene to watch,
and then they lift it with a bit of levity,
and then they give you another hard scene. They kind
of always dropping you in and out, so your emotions
are always up and down in the next scene, we
see Scrooge arrive home just before he encounters the ghosts
of Jacob and Robert Marley, and the movie does a
great job at building up the tension before they arrive,
with lots of dirt shadows and jump skurs, and for

(07:02):
a Muppet movie, it is really quite dark. Jacob and
Robert Marley are played by the Muppets Statler and Waldorf,
an absolutely perfect casting choice in my opinion, and they
have been cursed to never rest and were heavy chains
in the afterlife due to their misdeeds in life. They
tell Scooge that this is his destiny, this is his fate,
and that he were such a chain.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Now.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Of course, in the original Christmas Carol, there's only one ghost,
which is Jacob Marley, but in the Muppet version they
create a second character named Robert. And for the longest
time I thought this was the original story. I thought
there was actually two ghosts named Robert and Jacob. It
was only later on that I started watching other adaptations
and I actually read the book that I learned that
there was only one ghost, but because of the Muppet.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
Christmas Carol, I always thought there was two. It's in
this scene that we get.

Speaker 1 (07:47):
The next song in the movie sang by the Terrible
duo themselves titled Merley and Marley, and like the other songs,
it's catchy, but this time as much dark a tone
as they sing about the misdeeds in life, and the
song really does drive home that Scrooge is doomed.

Speaker 2 (08:02):
If he doesn't change his ways.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Scrooge, you're doing.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Scrooge is then told that he.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
Will be visited by three ghosts for a chance of redemption,
and to expect the first ghost when the bell tolls one.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Now, before we go in further, let me just talk
about the three Christmas Gulfs. They were originally meant.

Speaker 1 (08:19):
To be played by the Muppet cast, but it was
decided that the three ghost should be brand new Muppets
made especially for this role, and I think it was
the perfect choice, as all three are brilliantly designed. Now, first,
we have the Ghosts of Christmas Pass, which actually does
not look like any other Muppet on the screen. She
is quite unique, more like a little dull, and she

(08:40):
glows and she floats in the air and all the
costume is kind of wispy, and apparently the puppeteers achieved
this effect by actually using the puppet in a tank
of water to make the material float around like a ghost,
and then the image was flawlessly somehow placed into the
screen with Michael Caine perfectly. And then we are that

(09:01):
the Ghost of Christmas Present. It was a little forgetful
and he only lives in the now, in the present,
which I believe is only used in this version to
amplify the fact that this ghost lives in the present
and is forgetful when it comes to the past. The
puppet they created is a big, jolly, bearded ghost and
he shrinks down to Scrooge's size when they meet, and

(09:21):
you also see the muppet become older as the storyline continues.
And then we get possibly the scurriiest Muppet and the
whole movie, The Ghosts of Christmas Yet to Come, who
looks somewhat like a ring Ray from the Lord of
the Rings movie. He has outstretched arms with long, bony fingers,
and for a Muppet movie, this movie is kind of
dark and scurry, but it is so good. The first ghost,

(09:43):
the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge back to his
childhood days, back to his school as it is closing
for Christmas, and we see a very young Scrooge is
left alone, and then we see Scrooge grove a little
older and become the apprentice to Fozzy Wig, who is
played by Fozzy Burr. Is just perfect, and to have
any other mupp it play the part of Fozzy Wig
would have been a massive, massive mistake. Although I will

(10:05):
say this Fozzy Bird did seem a little bit underplayed,
but you can only give them up. It's as much
time on screen as story allows.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
I suppose.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Whilst that Fozzy Week's Christmas party, we see a young
Scrooge meet a young lady named Bell, and the love
story grows over the next scene and we discover that
Scrooge as this fixation with money and it forces a
couple to go those separate ways. But it's a way
that the movie plays a scene out. It is somewhat
brilliant with another song that this time is sung by

(10:34):
Bell herself, titled when Love.

Speaker 2 (10:37):
Is Gone Love He's Gone.

Speaker 1 (10:41):
Now. It is a really emotional song and really pulls
at your heartstrings as a couple separate forever. There's even
a small part where Ebenezer sings a few words behind
Bell with tears in his eyes, longing for his shadow
of the pass that he lets slip away. This song
is absolutely essential for the movie and this scene to work,

(11:05):
but when the movie was released, it was decided that
this song would be cut from the movie as it
was believed that it would be too boring for children,
although the song did make its way back into the
VHS release. And this is a version that I watched
as a ten year old, and even at that age
I could appreciate the scene, and later on when I
purchased the DVD, I was really disappointed to find that

(11:25):
the song was missing, and instead we got this really
hard cut where we see Bell and Scrooge have a
very short conversation and then the scene jumps completely cutting
out the song, totally ruining the emotional impact the scene had.

(11:46):
You see, this song wasn't only essential for this part
of the story, but it was essential for the end
of the movie also, where Scrooge sings a version of
this song called the Love We Found, and it drives
it home that the love Scrooge won lost he has
found again with his friends at the end of the movie,
and that is actually how it was for the longest time.
The clip just vanished from the movie, that is until

(12:09):
twenty twenty two when Disney Plus included the song once
again on the streaming service. And you can actually go
and view this yourself right now by selecting the Special
Features and then selecting the young cut version and you
will be treated to the full version with the song
by Bell, which is definitely the best way to watch
this movie.

Speaker 2 (12:27):
Next, Scrooge is visited by.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
The ghosts of Christmas Present, who shows him visions of
Christmas Day and shows him the happiness Christmas brings again
with an absolutely brilliant song, It Feels Like Christmas, probably
one of my favorite in the whole movie. True Wver
You Will Find Love, It feels like Christmas. Next, the
spiritA screws to his nephew's house, were he and his

(12:50):
family are enjoying a fun game of yes and no,
which is unfortunately at Scrooge's expense an unwanted creature, but
not a ratticlych or a cupcroach.

Speaker 2 (12:58):
Then what then what what? It's evan, He's a Scrooge.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
And the way Scrooge reacts to the cruel way they
are talking about him is actually quite sad, and you
actually feel for him as he realizes what people actually
do think of him. It's a scene that always hits hard.
The Ghost sent it Scrowge to the Cratchit's household, where
we meet Bob Cratchit's family, the dev and Miss Piggy
plays Bob's wife, and we have his daughter's Bettina and

(13:23):
Belinda Cratcher, his son Peter, and of course his other son,
Tiny Tim, played by Robin the Frog. The ghost shows
him how the family struggle with sole little money, but
nonethe lesser, enjoying Christmas Day with their very modest goose.
Kermit or Bob lifts a glass to the founder of
the feast, mister Scrooge, to which Miss Piggy emily quickly
shows her disgust. And it's in the scene that we

(13:45):
meet Tiny Tim, Bob Sickley's son, who walks over a
crutch and has a heart of gold and it's clear
that this may be his last Christmas. Here we get
the next song in the movie, bless Us All, sang
by Tiny Tim, and it's another heart warming tune that
only makes Tiny Tim's lost more difficult to burn.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
Later on in the movie, bless Us Agather here.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
And then we have the scariest spirit of them all,
the ghosts of Christmas yet to come, a truly terrifying creation,
shrouded in a black robe with a dark void where
his face should be, and arms that stretch out with
very long, bony fingers. Even Gonzo and Rizzo leave us
at this part of the story because they are too
scared to stick around.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
This is too scary. I don't think I want to
see anymore. Oh, when you're right, You're right.

Speaker 1 (14:30):
This is where the movie gets truly dark. The ghost
take Scrooge into the future were At first, we see
some characters discussing the passing of a man who will
not be missed, and then we see a scene where
Scrooge is witnessing a dead man's blankets and bed curtains
being sold by Old Joe, who is played by a
gangly spider that fits to see so well. In a

(14:51):
dark where alleyway, Scrooge it is desperate to see some
tenderness and ask the spirit to take him back.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
To the Cratchet House, which was a play of joy
and happiness the last time.

Speaker 1 (15:02):
Scrooge visited, And when they arrive, Scrooge discovers that tiny
Tim has passed away. And this is a very very
sad scene. In fact, out of all the different versions
of the Christmas Carol movie I have seen throughout the years,
the loss of Tiny Tim has never been more impactful
to me as it is in this movie. It really
is a very very sad scene as Kermit or Bob

(15:22):
talks about how he has chosen a nice place on
the hill in the cemetery where Tiny Tim can see
the ducks. When he delivers that line, it's heartbreaking, and
you really get a sense of loss as the instrumental
version of bless Us all that Tiny Tim sang earlier
in the movie plays in the background. And then the
scene changes and the spirit tait Scrooge to the graveyard
and shows him his own gravestone, and.

Speaker 2 (15:44):
Scrooge breaks down.

Speaker 1 (15:46):
Then it is played brilliantly by Michael Caine, and he
promises to honor Christmas and keep it throughout the year,
and promises not to forget the lessons of free spirits
I've taught him and begs for redemption. Then all of
a sudden, the movie gives us a very good transition
and Scrooge is back in his bedroom on Christmas morning,
and he's ecstatic and the dark tone of the movie.

(16:07):
We had moments ago as gone and color is back
in the scenery and even Gone's own Rizzo have returned,
and Kane's acting as spectacular as we see him overcome
with joy and Caine plays the scene out so so
well you really feel that he is just filled with
excitement for the very first time, and the comedy is
back also where Scrooge pushes a window open, knocking Gonzone

(16:29):
Rizzo off the ledge. Scrooge gets the attention off of
the homeless rabbit played by being Bunny from the beginning
of the movie and sends him off to buy a
turkey and have it delivered to the Cratchet house. We
then see Scrooge go into the streets wishing people a
merry Christmas and writing a few wrongs like giving to
charity and in return Beaker hand. Scrooge is on red scarf,

(16:51):
a really nice touch, and then we get the song
a Thankful Heart, which I think might actually be my
favorite song in this movie. Forget what I said before,
This may be actually my favorite song. In fact, I
kind of like every single song in this movie, but
this one is just so uplifting. It's fantastical, hard with
an endless joy, with a growing family.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
Every girl and boy will we know you and needs
to me?

Speaker 1 (17:16):
And I truly believe it's down to Kay's acting and
definitely not a singing voice, which isn't bad, but it
isn't great.

Speaker 2 (17:23):
But even Michael Kane was a word that.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
He couldn't sing, but he insisted it was better this
way for the character and he refused to have singing lessons.

Speaker 2 (17:38):
I think it's rather sad too that he gets he
can't even get the tune right.

Speaker 3 (17:43):
When I first came an actor, the producer said to me,
use the difficulty, and that's what we're We used the
fact that I can't sanction.

Speaker 2 (17:51):
Does it help to have the young lady in your headphones?
Or would you rather hear it just yourself alone?

Speaker 1 (17:55):
No?

Speaker 2 (17:56):
I don't ever want to hear myself beautiful right?

Speaker 3 (18:03):
I wish I could sing like that This part of
the movie, the ending of the movie is just filled
with so much happiness and joy as we see Scrooge
embrace Christmas. It just works, and it works really really
well as Scrooge sings a fankful heart as he goes
around handing out gifts and greeting everyone as he.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Makes his way to the Cratchet house.

Speaker 1 (18:20):
The ending of the movie sees Scrooge knocking on the
Cratchit door and pretends to be in a foul mood
as he tells him that he's going to raise his
salary and buy the house for him and asks him
to join him for a turkey dinner. And then we
get the final song, the Love We Found, which is
a callback to Bell's song when Love Is Gone, which
was cut from the movie, which is essential for the

(18:41):
final song to have an emotional impact as the credits roll,
a perfect ending to tie up both scenes from the movie,
a scene where we see Scrooge lose something and gain
something something that he has found once again, the Long Found.

Speaker 2 (19:00):
We Carry Winness.

Speaker 1 (19:03):
And when the movie does end, you feel such a buzz,
You feel such a fuzzy happy feeling of joy, and
I don't know, you kind of want to rewind it
and watch it again. That's that's how it makes me
feel every time. The Muppet Christmas Carol is a very
dark movie in places, and that's because it is very
faithful to the book. But the Muppets in the movie

(19:24):
provide levity to bring us back from some of the
more emotional scenes. You can definitely expect to be laughing
one minute and crying the next, But the comedy isn't overdone.
It's done perfectly and does not bring us out of
the story. It's just the right combination. The Muppet Christmas
Carol movie is my all time favorite Muppet movie and
Christmas movie combined.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
It's a must watch.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
Every Christmas and I always make sure that I do,
and if I ever did miss.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
It, Christmas just wouldn't be the same.

Speaker 1 (19:52):
Thank you so much for watching, and have a very
very merry Christmas.

Speaker 2 (19:57):
I'll see you soon. Observed.

Speaker 3 (20:00):
God blesses, God bless us everyone.