O Natal dos Muppets

A The Muppet Christmas Carol is the Muppet's take on the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, a selfish old man who cares nothing for anyone but himself, until on Christmas Eve he is visited by three spirits, telling him to change his ways. This is a well done version of the story, and it is the only Muppet movie I can look at as a real movie, rather than a movie starring Muppets.

The way the story is told in this movie is done really well. Having Gonzo play Charles Dickens as he narrates the story was a smart move. It adds more humour to the story. The different characters that Muppets pop up as are genius, for instance, changing Fuzzywig to Fozziewig so Fozzie Bear could play him. Also, the movie manages to remain dark like the story should be, while also staying tame for kids.

Micahel Caine is great as Ebenezer Scrooge. He's actually one of the best Scrooge's I've seen. It really speaks for his acting talent when he is able to talk and react to Muppets like they're people.

Overall, this is a classic children's film, and is probably one of the best versions of the classic tale on screen.

8/10

This is a masterpiece. Not because it follows Dickens' marvelous story to the letter, but because it uses the Muppets to take the story to a wonderfully creative level. Michael Caine is Scrooge and he plays him really well. He never flinches at the fact that his clerk is a frog, that Tiny Tim is also a frog, and so on. Jacob Marley is played by those two old guys who carry on a commentary on the Muppet Show. As Scrooges wades through the famous story, meeting the ghosts of past, present, and yet to come, we are starting to believe that what we see on the screen are real characters. There are some wonderful songs that move the plot nicely along. Of course, the Muppets are incredible jokester, punning and dropping one-liners at will. Of course, we have to accept that Scrooge was apprenticed by old Fozziwig at a rubber chicken factory. Make this an annual event at the holidays.

This retelling of Charles Dickens' novella starring your favorite muppets in supporting roles has become a Christmas classic in its own right. Michael Caine is perfect as Scrooge, and his chemistry with the muppets in tow are an amazing match. The movie is legitimately funny, spooky or touching all at the right moments—it's one of those rare films that hits the right note every single second. There doesn't seem to be any pattern with the intermixing of humans and muppets, but regardless, it works just fine without any distractions. Perhaps the strongest point of all is the musical numbers composed by Miles Goodman and written by Paul Williams.

**** (out of four)

That question pretty much sums up my reaction to "The Muppet Christmas Carol", a hilarious, yet touching film.

What did I like about the movie? Just about everything! Michael Caine made a great Scrooge, and this film showed us, possibly better than just about any other version I've seen, just how Scrooge came to be such a miser (although that could partly be because the versions I saw which really go into Scrooge's childhood were clearly adult versions, which meant they could be more subtle in their explanations). To Caine's eternal credit, he made Scrooge very believable, which is no small feat considering most of his fellow cast members were puppets.

And what about the Muppets? They were also brilliant! Kermit made an excellent Bob Cratchit, loyal and humble, and he had a wonderful tribute to Tiny Tim which also served as a brilliant tribute to Jim Henson. Miss Piggy was a great Mrs. Cratchit, feisty yet very loving toward Bob (the worst of her temper was thankfully muted by the story). Fozzie the Bear was a hilarious Fozziwig, and The Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat made a great team, having some of the best lines out there (my favorite is Rizzo's "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat!"). The ghosts were definitely believable (and in the case of the two Marley Brothers, hilarious as well). Incidentally, the original text had only one Marley -- Jacob, but to get the two comedians from the balcony in the story, Robert Marley was added.

Finally, the songs were rather good, with the best one (in my humble opinion) being "When Love is Gone".

So, I firmly recommend "The Muppet Christmas Carol" to one and all.

Belle Book

In terms of humor or songs, I can't honestly rank this was high as most of the other Muppet films BUT it may be the most touching version of the Dickens classic story I've ever seen on film.

The lyrics to the last two songs are fantastic: very Christian-like and very profound. Scrooge (Michael Caine), meanwhile, is not portrayed as some screaming maniac as he so often is in other versions. His transformation from cold-hearted tightwad to caring, generous person is done more subtly, too, than in other films. However, to be fair, sometimes the slapstick humor in here gets in the way of the touching story.

The last part of the movie is a lot sentimental drama than Muppet comedy and I found that refreshing. Not much offensive in here, either, making this a good film for little ones as well as older, sentimental folks.