The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) REACTION - Scrooge is kind of a jerk...

[@thegirlwholovesmusic]

Hear me out: This is the best muppet movie, and the best version of Christmas carol.

[@gilbertbpuk]

AND one of the most faithful to the text, give or take the odd extra mouse and Marley. :D

[@InABroadwayStateOfMind]

Hear, hear

[@williamcarbajal383]

Kinda like "Men in Tights" is the best Robin Hood 😂

[@Knightowl1980]

@@gilbertbpuk I was gonna say I think it’s the only one at the time that lifts the prose and text directly from the book

[@timmoleft7147]

@@williamcarbajal383 Have you seen the 1938 version (The Adventures Of Robin Hood)? - that version will never be beaten.

[@kateorgera5907]

"Life is made of meetings and partings" hits different when you know this was the first Muppet movie after Jim Henson died

[@ianp1986]

There’s always a meme that goes round this time of year, it’s like a producer talking to Michael Caine about this film: Producer: “Ok Michael, this is with the Muppets, so feel free to have a bit of fun with it” Caine: “I’m going to play it as serious as a car crash” And it was absolutely the right choice. Best portrayal of the novel, IMO

[@nickthedreamer4434]

This was admittedly the first project to be made after Jim Henson's passing (as well as Richard Hunt whose roles on The Muppet Show included Scooter, Statler, Janice, Beaker, and Sweetums). When Kermit is saying "Life is a series of meetings and partings. That is the way of it. I'm sure we shall not forget Tiny Tim..." during the future section, they're also saying goodbye to the pair of puppeteers who brought so much life to puppetry. Jim Henson's son, Brian, was the one to direct this film in his father's name (a film which was originally supposed to be just a half-hour short before Disney discovered the project and helped turn it into a full-on movie). On a sillier note, the original Christmas Carol story on has Jacob Marley. When they made Statler and Waldorf the Marleys, they made Waldorf "Robert" Marley...AKA Bob Marley.

[@muppetsstoogesfan1]

The songs were written by Paul Williams, who wrote the songs for the original The Muppet Movie.

[@legendaccount3247]

"Scrooge is kind of a jerk" No shit man! That's kinda the whole story lmao

[@kathyastrom1315]

The worst of Scrooge’s lines before his transformation (“…buried with a stake of holly in his heart” and “…decrease the surplus population “ among them) are straight from the novel.

[@Nothing_2_Add]

It's a real shame that Belle's song "When love is gone" is cut from so many versions. Not only is the song brilliantly heart-breaking, but it also adds more reason to why Scrooge is so cold to everyone, including his nephew and his nephew's fiancé. Plus, it gives reason as to why both Scrooge and Rizzo are crying at the end of the scene.

[@ElectroTherapyFTSoul]

Absolutely. I understand the criticism that it goes on for too long (to be honest, I think so too despite it being quite pretty), but when our Scrooge starts singing with Belle but can't bring himself to finish, it cuts straight through to the heart and makes the entire scene worth it.

[@firebladetenn6633]

As a kid my problems with it were it was kinda boring but that she was smiling while she sang about leaving him. Just no.

[@sowhatchajen2846]

It’s not gone I just watched it on Disney + and the song is there. Just have to go to extra and click on full version

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

@@Nothing_2_Add “his nephew’s fiancé” Clara’s a bloke?

[@serenitynow940]

This is the best version of A Christmas Carol and my second favorite Muppet movie. #1 is Muppet Treasure Island. The Dark Crystal is Jim Henson too, all puppets but on a grander scale, I think you’d love it. That and Labyrinth were two of my favorite childhood movies, would be thrilled to see your reactions to all 3 of the above. Thank you for this one and happy holidays!

[@TheOrlandoTrustfull]

The greatest Christmas movie of all time, and I will fight over it

[@StrudelShaft]

You will win that fight.

[@littleflick]

I’m on your side in that battle

[@mossomness]

A Christmas Carol was written in 1843, which was around 1843 years after the birth of Christ and the 1843rd Christmas. So the Ghost of Christmas Past has nearly 1900 years of knowledge. And the ghost of Christmas Present has over 1800 brothers and sisters. He’s only for this Christmas, so there have been versions of him every Christmas.

[@NuttersIncorporated]

The reason Ghost of Christmas Past has a long memory and the Ghost of Christmas Present had a lot of brothers is because, when this story was first written, that was how many Christmases Charles Dickens though there had been. The songs are originals written for this movie. I LOVE The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is hands down the best movie version of this story. That said, I do think the original story does a better job of showing how Scrooge became the man he was and how the Spirits help him change for the better. In the book, he’d already seen the error of his ways and had decided to change before he saw the future. In the book, young Scrooge was basically abandoned at school by his father who was a cruel man. He was the only child left at school over Christmas so never had the chance to celebrate it. One year, his younger sister Fran (the one family member who ever truly loved and who he loved) came to pick him up, saying their father had changed for the better and he could come home. He was overjoyed. Fran later died after giving birth to Scrooge’s nephew, Fred. One of the reasons Scrooge and Fred aren’t close is that Scrooge blames him for Fran’s death even though he knows that isn’t fair. Scrooge used to love the Fezziwig Christmas Party. The Ghost of Christmas Past said it wasn’t a very expensive party but Scrooge said that wasn’t the point. It was kind and fun and… oh, suddenly he wished he could have a word with his own employee. Scrooge loved Bell but became more and more money focused so she left him. When the Ghost of Christmas Present came along. Scrooge learned how wonderful Christmas could be. He saw people being kind even though they gained nothing from it. He saw people in need and realised he had the power to help them. When they went to Fred’s Christmas party, someone else was the one who choose Scrooge as the unwanted animal. Fred, on the other hand, said he really wished Scrooge would accept his invitation one of these days. By the time the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come came along, Scrooge had already decided to become a better person. The reason Scrooge didn’t immediately make the connection between himself and the dead man everyone hated was because he assumed that his future self was off somewhere else doing good deeds. It wasn’t until he saw the gravestone that he realised he was wrong.

[@pamelajoanne3628]

My brother's birthday is 23rd December & he got it on vhs the year it came out & we've watched it every Xmas ever since including taking a tiny ipad all the way to Spain one year so my bestie & I could still watch it. It's not Christmas in our family until Mum's cried at a puppet frog 🤣

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

13:25 So basically, in the book and in most adaptations, there's only one Marley, that being Jacob (played here by Statler), and while it's not directly stated how he died, it's heavily implied to have been from a tooth infection (which was deadly in those times). However, given the somewhat comedic leanings of this version, I wouldn't be surprised if these two died from laughing at their own grandad jokes.

[@flyingkatya]

If it's the head scarf that implies the tooth infection, those were actually used to keep the jaws of corpses closed. That's why in the book and other iterations when he unties it to scare Scrooge, his jaw hangs open. It was a practical funeral custom of the time. I can't blame modern audiences for thinking that. I'd only just found out myself.

[@muppetsstoogesfan1]

All the background puppets are from previous productions. One of the puppets JP Grosse was Scooters uncle and the owner of The Muppet Show theatre. That puppet now sits in a cabinet in the bowels of the Smithsonian museum. The Hensons kept EVERYTHING. They donated a lot of puppets to the Center For Puppetry Arts in Atlanta and the Museum Of The Moving Image in New York.

[@martynnotman3467]

Theres a dog from the Fraggles in there too

[@katherinebaxter6870]

The ghost of Christmas past that you really found creepy and I think most do, they actually filmed it underwater to get it all floaty like that from what I remember. Originally they wanted to use existing muppets for the ghosts but changed their minds, which I think makes it even better because they didn’t have to stick to an existing personality. There is so much accuracy in this version between the amazing detail in the costuming to the direct quotes from the book by gonzo and many of the other characters. I love this movie. I didn’t watch it when it first was release because I was in high school and didn’t think it would be very good since it wasn’t produced by Jim Henson. When I watched it for the first time I was sad that I missed those years of being able to enjoy it.

[@muppetsstoogesfan1]

Both seasons of Muppets Tonight are on KZbin in full. Also highly recommend watching The Jim Henson Hour, which can also be found on KZbin in full. The Jim Henson Hour was the last show he did before passing away. It also has my favorite Muppet in it. Digit.

[@curtismartin2866]

According to the Dickens Society, this version of A Christmas Carol has the most Dickens of any filmed version.

[@AndreaBennett-w4x]

The reason Scrooge was like that as a child was because his mother died giving birth to him and his father couldn't stand to look at him so he left his sister to raise him until he was old enough to send off to boarding school and then never brought him home on holidays or summer vacation

[@kateorgera5907]

Yeah, as accurate as this version is to the original, that entire backstory being left out makes Scrooge look even worse than he already does. The exclusion of Fan is the only thing I really dislike about this film.

[@bigthecat100]

A few more recent Muppet recommendations : 2011 : 'The Muppets', a brilliantly entertaining movie that acts as both a love letter and reboot for the franchise. 2014 : 'Muppets Most Wanted', a sequel that doesn't quite hit the same highs as its predecessor but is still great. 2015 : 'The Muppets', a bit of a hidden gem, a series spoofing mockumentaries like The Office or Parks & Rec. Barely anyone watched it so it was cancelled after one season, but highly underrated IMO! All of the above are on Disney+, by the way!

[@jasonburmeister6727]

My favorite part is when Beaker gives Scrooge the finger!

[@haggis0257]

There was another song when Belle broke the engagement. It seems it was so sad that the kids in the tests audiences were crying so the song was cut. It can be found in some versions nowadays.

[@isleofredemption]

I have this psychotic Mandela Effect where I REMEMBER seeing it in the theater WITH 'When Love Is Gone' as part of the movie. It CAN'T be because I know they cut it, but maybe I saw it once in theaters, then watched the VHS which had the song so many times I don't remember it any other way.

[@HuntingViolets]

_Scrooged_ is the only version of this you've seen? Oh, you should watch the 1951 version; it's great.

[@slytheringingerwitch]

This a brilliant and faithful adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Partly because Michael Caine played it straight and mostly the muppets don't muck about, they are mainly the supporting cast in this. Its fabulous for young and old alike, a great introduction to the novel by Charles Dickens. Oh lastly, Abby Cox did a video on how accurate the costumes were in this. (Oh and please sir I want some more, was Oliver Twist).

[@theatergeek82]

Richard Hunt was a muppeteer who died earlier that year. He played Scooter, Janice, Statler, and Beaker.

[@ninjagregshow9423]

The ghost of Christmas present is supposed look like Father Christmas (the British Santa Claus) who wears green robes and a crown of Holly

[@ARCtheCartoonMaster]

23:00 Fun fact: my main exposure to this movie growing up was through the trailer on the 1992 VHS of _The Jungle Book,_ and Fred's wife saying "It's Ebenezer Scrooge!" was shown completely out of context, so I thought she was excited to see Scrooge... for some goshdang reason.

[@jmurray2018]

Reason why you might get mixed up with Muppets and Sesame Street is due to The muppets are a major part of Sesame Street. They are one and the same, just different shows with each show having its own individual muppet stars, EG. Sesame street = Big Bird. The Muppets = Kermit. Both muppets and both by Jim Henson and so on

[@Jawa1604]

Wait 'til he works out that the ghost of Christmas past can now remember Christmas' of over 2000 years now! Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🎅🎅

[@AdamfromFWCI]

Well I'm not sleeping tonight

[@BabyHawke87]

I don't know about any awards for it, but I have seen a video from a fashion historian who absolutely raves about this movie's costuming, for both humans and muppets. The designers really studied their history, and made the costumes truly historically accurate (including for economic classes), and the muppets were all given full costumes - each layer of their clothing are full garments, not patched and glued together like they could have gotten away with, but full garments so that they all laid correctly as they would on humans. It was such amazing attention to detail.

[@flyingkatya]

I think the lyrics to Scrooge and It Feels Like Christmas are particularly good. 'Its the summer of the soul in December', 'The undisputed master of The underhanded deed' always gets me. Paul Williams is an amazing talent. Also the tied jaws of the Marley's are an old practical funeral custome, it kept the mouths of corpses closed before we had our modern methods.

[@Knightowl1980]

This has probably become my favorite Xmas movie. Michael Caine was only like 4 years removed from his Oscar win so the fact he did a muppet movie was kind of astonishing. He has a fondness for this movie and he’s really surprised that it’s only gotten more popular over the years. But he makes this movie -I think Disney needs to go back to this template of just taking classic stories and inserting the muppets. -I thought the muppets haunted mansion was fantastic . People talk about the muppets aren’t what they used to be but I still like everything they have come out with. They had an “the office” like series in 2015 that I really like but no one else did

[@jmurray2018]

I love how everyone is spooked and unsettled by seeing a ghost.. Jim Henson Workshop response “Job done”

[@littleflick]

I watched this again for first time in decades probably 5 years ago. I was surprised how many of the lines I remembered vividly when I saw it again.

[@kblixt]

The great Paul Williams did the lyrics

[@TazSilvercat]

one of my favorites though the 1999 version with Patrick Stewart is my all time favorite version. If you want Peak awesome Muppets, you want to watch Muppets Treasure Island with Tim Curry, and No the Labyrinth and Dark Crystal arent related but both are awesome..

[@ravensdark99]

By far the best version of X Mas carol. Michael Caine should have gotten an Oscar for this..and I am not kidding

[@Naylte]

07:00 Technically they did, but at the time Dickens wrote this a lot of people (especially businessmen) were swinging back to the Cromwellian view of Christmas. 10:00 It's not wanting the day off specifically that bothered Scrooge, it was being expected to pay wages when an employee's not working. 12:15 The ghostly aspects of this story are nothing compared to the material produced by a noted Cambridge professor in the early 20th century.

[@kateiannacone2698]

"Why did they have to say at the beginning she has 1900 years of memory?" She's the ghost of Christmas Past. The year is 1843, and the calendar starts at 1 with the first Christmas. She "can remember nearly 1900 years" because there have been nearly 1900 Christmases in the past. Similar to how the ghost of Christmas present said "over 1800 of my brothers have come before me." Because every year there's a new ghost of Christmas present who ceases to exist at midnight.

[@AndyMcH]

This is one of Michael Caine's best performances. He plays it completely straight, not for any laughs whatsoever. He plays the role as he would in any Scrooge film, and doesn't change it just cos he's surrounded by Muppets!

[@serendipity191]

My second favorite version of Christmas Carol ( the Alistair Sim one is the best) it is really well done, great sounds, lines directly lifted from the book . So much care and detail not not this and it shows. It’s also funny enough for children or people who want a lighter version. I do rewatch it every year, along with my favorite one.

[@jensrettberg7968]

Dark Crystal and Labyrinth are not the same continuity but both with puppetry and in this 80s weird dark fantasy section. Two recommendations for the weird characters and designs.

[@martinalloway6980]

This is amazingly accurate to the book. The UK lost Father Christmas after the Commonwealth of the 1650s when Christmas was banned. The Ghost of Christmas Present is based on the Green Man the pagan winter spirit who became the model for Father Christmas.

[@melissadahl7561]

I remember the Ghosts scene where Alison mentions this and I thought she said there were versions better than it and I almost got mad at her before I realized a. she's a character on a TV show and b. They actually said that it was the best version but I was so incensed that I missed it. Then I realized I love this version way too much maybe. Also, Statler and Waldorf are the best!

[@spookyislandradio]

This was a childhood film of mine and can confirm the Marley's and the ghost of Christmas yet to come was nightmare fuel for a 5 year old! ha

[@Rick-Rarick]

I love how they named the 2nd Marley, Robert Marley... aka Bob Marley. A joke most miss.

[@haleyschreiter9746]

The second Marley brother, Robert, was invented for the movie to accommodate Stattler and Waldorf. Robert Marley = Bob Marley. It took me twenty years to get that joke 😂

[@Melissa-wx4lu]

I feel like Dark Crystal is Peak Jim Henson. it was his magnum opus. He struggled to prove that puppets could be used for more than just children's shows. The Dark Crystal gave him that opportunity to prove it. I remember watching it as a kid and being confused by the Gelflings. They felt so real on screen. Were they people with makeup on? or puppets? They did a great job with editing, and it confused little kid me for quite some time. It's creepy, and mature but I loved it. Labyrinth was a movie I didn't discover until I was already a teenager. I was just a touch younger than the main character, Sarah. And I too, love fantasy and have that theater kid energy...so it quickly became one of my favorite movies, even now. (having David Bowie as the villain sure did help a whole lot) So yeah, I recommend both of these movies.

[@HuntingViolets]

Since in A.D., we count the years (theoretically) since the birth of Christ, the spirit of Christmas has existed since then. _A Christmas Carol_ was published in 1843, although the adaptations aren't always set then, we can think that the Ghost of Christmas Past is suggesting she has experienced something under 1900 Christmases by this point.

[@gilbertbpuk]

To be honest, not only the best Christmas movie, but really the only one I actively seek out each year. The original Christmas Carol novella was a big part of solidifying a lot of our ideas of a 'traditional' Christmas - snow, turkey, etc - so it almost feels as Christmassy as any story not because it reflects our idea of Christmas, but because it instated them! The story as it's shown here varies very little from the original - and a lot of the dialogue and narration is straight from the novella. Fred isn't Fred Scrooge because he's Ebenezer's late sister's son, so would have his father's name ;) In the original Scrooge sees his sister as a child when he is back at the school with the Ghost of Christmas Past - a rare significant difference in this generally very faithful adaptation. Another notable one is that there is only one Marley in the original (Jacob) - there is a very subtle gag in the naming of Robert Marley... The songs are all original to the film and I recommend watching the extended/full length version that includes a song for Belle on the Christmas Scrooge didn't want to see that makes his emotional breakdown a bit less sudden and works much better. Great, great film.

[@owenfautley]

If you want to check it out there is a cut song by Belle "when love is gone".

[@GedUK]

Caine only agree to do this if he could do it completely straight. He considered the muppets as 'proper' characters, he didn't play up to them, he did it properly. Oh, and in the book, it's just Jacob Marley. They added his brother Robert (aka Bob) to this film. 1) to get Statler and Waldorf in, and 2) just to do the Bob Marley joke.

[@ericlayton8888]

I recommend Screen Junkies’ RAW Commentary of this movie - it’s an oldie but a goldie

[@StoryMing]

You might try looking up the cut song- Belle’s song- ‘When Love is Gone’

[@bobothn]

If you ever want to listen to the original audible has a version of A Christmas Carol read by Tim Curry which is amazing. Also the 1900 years over 1800 brothers refers to the book being written in 1843 so ~1800 Christmases since the first.

[@TazSilvercat]

I just listened to that a couple days ago.

[@zoeadams2635]

Many lines of dialogue in this are ver batim from the book. Michael Caine said he was going to play this part as if it was the Royal Shakespeare Company and play it completely straight. And it is praised for being extremely historically accurate in terms of clothing. Mrs Cratchitt is even shown wearing clothes that are about 10 years out of date because she was poor and therefore did not have the latest fashion.

[@martinconnors5195]

I love Charles Dickens Christmas Carol.

[@MicahSps]

Muppets Tonight freakin OWNS! Also, as a Statler and Waldorf fan, are you a Mystery Science Theater 3000 fan? Riffing on movies is an art after all…

[@AdamfromFWCI]

Is that a statler and Waldorf segment? Because that sounds like perfect reaction content

[@MSchwellinger]

​@@AdamfromFWCI It was a long-running series here in the States that was basically centered around some poor schmo who was launched into space by his evil bosses and forced to watch bad (really, really, teeth-curlingly, amazingly bad) movies with robots he built out of spare spaceship parts. It would be hard to react to, but it's fun to watch. There are episodes on KZbin and they have a Twitch channel that does nothing but play old episodes too.

[@MicahSps]

@@MSchwellinger I say "Space Mutiny" would be OK to react to. Or they have best ofs for their best episodes on KZbin...

[@HuntingViolets]

There is a Sesame Street Christmas Carol too -- with Oscar the Grouch, appropriately.

[@myopicautisticmetal9035]

Dave and Steve are great in this movie, what a duo! We should all be so fortunate to have a giant Jerry Nelson show up at x-mas. It's so great that Frank Oz at least voiced Miss Piggy, the current performer has no personality.

[@lesliedaubert1411]

The best version of " The Christmas Carol ".

[@HuntingViolets]

Fred's last name isn't Scrooge. Presumably, he has his father's surname, whatever that may be.

[@Angelicwings1]

All the music was original and I love all of it

[@jameshumphreys9715]

You are thinking Oliver Twist

[@RachelXKnight666]

Wild. I stumbled onto the fellow Australian reaction side of KZbin lol

[@jameshumphreys9715]

The nahhh is the best line

[@kn8354]

Yeah the ghost of Christmas past freaks me out in this movie lol

[@krissmith800]

You should watch Team StarKids' VHS Christmas Carol that gives off 80s musical vibes. I think you might like it.

[@PandaGirl-p1u]

Have you ever seen the film Mouse Hunt it's really good highly recomend it. It stars Nathan Lane, Lee Evans, Maury Chaykin, and Christopher Walken.

[@davidmacey5422]

Great Christmas film, one of the best. (Don't forget to react to Bill (2015))

[@jameshumphreys9715]

The marley were to begin, it how the books begins

[@n0dr0gs49]

Look up "When Love is Gone", it really needs to be sern at least once to enjoy this movie.

[@Budster8770]

The muppet show

[@JauntyScarecrow]

If you're only going to watch one other Muppet movie, watch "The Muppet Movie".