Who would’ve thought the most moving adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol would star the Muppets? In this version, Gonzo stars as Charles Dickens, who, along with a helpful assist from Rizzo the Rat, narrates the yuletide tale of Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine). A greedy capitalist living in 19th-century London, Scrooge hates Christmas and everyone around him. But when he’s visited by four ghosts on Christmas Eve, he’s forced to look back at his life and see how a past tragedy made him the unhappy man he is today.
In addition to it being a pretty accurate iteration of Dickens’ story, The Muppet Christmas Carol is also consistently funny, with great punchlines and sight gags occurring pretty much every minute. The film is also surprisingly moving, especially when Scrooge realizes Tiny Tim (Robin the Frog) will die if he doesn’t get medical help. The Muppet Christmas Carol is often dismissed as a “kids movie,” but its peculiar magic, catchy tunes (yes, there are songs) and good filmmaking (the ghost scenes are genuinely creepy!) are for everyone.
