Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

 

A wonderful adaption of Charles Dickens' immortal Christmas story. 

Despite having the Muppets play major roles in this film, this is not a parody of A Christmas Carol but rather a full-on adaptation. There are many splices of Muppet humor throughout the film, but the focus always remains on the actual focus. Plenty of people even believe this to be one of the most faithful film adaptions of the book. This was not always going to be the case. In fact instead of having original puppets to play the roles of the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come, it was originally planned to have the classic Muppet characters, Miss Piggy, Scooter and Gonzo to play the roles. Fans of this movie can be glad that this was changed, especially since Gonzo has his best movie role in this film. He not only is the story's narrator but he plays Charles Dickens narrating his own story to his good friend Rizzo the rat. This is a perfect role for the kindhearted, whimsical and hilarious Muppet.

As an adaption of A Christmas Carol, this is top notch. Though my favorite movie version of this story the 1951 Masterpiece, this is still in my top few film versions. This movie perfectly captures the heart of the story. Michael Caine is wonderful as Scrooge. He captures all the little nuances of the character and makes the character always sympathetic, while still perfectly conveying all the darker parts of the character. The romantic scenes with Belle are probably better done here than almost any other adaption and these scenes really have the ability to pull on your heartstrings. Scrooge's character arc always feels completely believable, and we can feel the change growing in the character. This is of course the most important aspect of any adaptation of this story. Because if this doesn't work then the whole story feels pointless. This movie also does not leave out the darker aspects of the story. While it is not scary in the way a horror movie is, there is an uneasy feeling to the scenes with The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Though this is lightened up by a truly funny exchange between Gonzo (sorry I mean Charles Dickens) and Rizzo about the creepiness, it is still very effective. There is also a decent jump scare with the first appearance of the Marleys (here played by Statler & Waldorf). The Muppets are also perfectly cast in roles that suit their personalities and do not distract from the drama of the story. Kermit is perfect as Bob Cratchit, exuding all the warmth we except from the character. Miss Piggy is hilarious as Mrs. Cratchit, while also handling the dramatic scenes very well. Fozzie is perfectly cast as Fezziwig (sorry Fozzie-wig (I love that pun)). However the standout here is Kermit's nephew Robin as Tiny Tim. Never has this little guy enjoyed a better movie role and this film reminds us why he is more than just a cute kid character. 

The typical Muppet elements also work wonderfully. The humor is really funny. The exchanges between Gonzo and Rizzo are hilarious and they truly steal the show. There are also some truly delightful slapstick gags here that always put a smile on my face. There is also a wonderful number of corny puns and plays on words, that are simply delightful in their silliness. The songs (written by Paul Williams (who also wrote the songs for The Muppet Movie (1979))), are also simply wonderful. Many of them are truly beautiful and they stay in your mind well after the film is over. As well as these truly beautiful songs there are also some silly fun songs that are simply a delight. Out of all the Muppet movies this one probably has the second-best songs (after The Muppet Movie). 

What makes this movie all the more impressive is that this is the first Muppet movie made after creator and voice of Kermit, Jim Henson passed away. The loss was greatly felt by everyone involved and Kermit's speech about coming and going can be viewed as a tribute to the wonderful man. Yet this tragedy does not show itself in the quality of the movie. Jim Henson's son, Brian Henson, directed this movie and simply did a wonderful job. He would follow this with another delightful movie adaption of a book featuring the Muppets with Muppet Treasure Island (1996), as well as some episodes of the TV series Muppets Tonight. Steve Whitmore took over as the voice of Kermit and would continue to play the character until 2016. Whitmore would admit to being incredibly nervous before recording the song numbers. However he didn't need to be as he sounds simply wonderful. 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: A Christmas Carol (1951)

 

One of the greatest movies ever made. 

This movie is a quite faithful adaption of Charles Dickens' classic novel. You all know the story, Scrooge (Alastair Sim) is a greedy covetous old man. He has grown cold hearted and has no sympathy for anyone else's misfortune. One night he is visited by the ghost of his former partner Jacob Marley (Michael Hordern), who warns him to change his ways before it is too late. He also tells Scrooge he will be visited by three more ghosts. These ghosts show Scrooge, Christmases of his past, present and future, so that Scrooge can see the error of his ways.

There have been more film adaptions of A Christmas Carol than I care to count. Some perfectly fine adaptions have fallen through the cracks simply because while being good movies, they don't stand out among the many adaptions. So, what makes this film so special that it stands as easily the best of these adaptions? This is not an easy question to answer, but for the most part it comes down to excellent filmmaking and an incredible performance by Alastair Sim.

For many movie fans, Alastair Sim is Scrooge. His performance embodies everything this character should be. Though many great actors have played Scrooge, none have captured the vulnerable and abundantly human side of Scrooge as well as Sim. He can make you feel deeply for the character even when he is at his most despicable. His performance is possibly the only performance of the character that can move me to near tears. You feel sadness when he feels sadness and joy when he feels joy. Yet all this is done without sacrificing the darker and unlikable parts of this famous character. As strange as it might seem today, there was in outcry against Sim playing the character when it was announced. He was a popular actor in Britian at this time but was known mainly for comic roles. Few thought he had the dramatic chops to portray such a character. In fact, George Minter, managing director of Renown Pictures (which made the movie), wrote an article in the magazine, Picturegoer to explain the choice to those who didn't understand. Yet many movie fans cannot read Charles Dickens' classic story without picturing  Alastair Sim in their heads. 

What this movie also does better than any other film adaption is to capture the balance of darkness and joy that are present in Dickens' classic story. This is a movie that can be equal parts sad, scary and joyous. Yet in no way does this ever feel forced. It goes from each of these emotions in a way that feels perfectly natural and real. Director Brian Desmond Hurst and writer Noel Langley, create the most emotional and powerful film version of this classic story. 

The look of this film is perfect as well, and it is hard to imagine this film without the work of Art Director, Ralph W. Brinton and Cinematographer, C.M. Pennington-Richards. Much of the art direction was heavily based off of John Leech's original illustration for the book. According to the audio commentary on the DVD version, one of Charles Dickens's Grand Daughters visited the set, and said it looked just the book installations to life (Another visitor mentioned was one of my favorite actresses, Bette Davis, who was a big fan of Alistair Sim).

This film has two titles, in Britain, where it was made, it was called Scrooge, however in the U.S. it was called A Christmas Carol. Its U.S. Premiere was meant to take place at New York's Radio City Music Hall at Christmas time; however, the theater management was not happy with the film as they felt it was too dark and grim, and therefore not good entertainment for a family audience. The much more lighthearted 1938 MGM version did premiere there by the way. The film's actual U.S. Premiere was at the Guild Theater on Halloween Night. It did not do very well in the U.S. but was a huge hit in its home country of Britain. Despite this it would still as the years went by grow into being considered a classic in the U.S. as well.

The editor for this film was Clive Donner, who would later direct the 1984 film version of A Christmas Carol, that starred George C. Scott. Two of the actors in this film, Alistair Sim and Michael Hordern would reprise their roles as Scrooge and Marley for the 1971 animated version, directed by Richard Williams (best remembered as the animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit).

Resources Used
http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/70899/A-Christmas-Carol/articles.html
DVD audio commentary by Marcus Hearn and George Cole
DVD introduction by Leonard Maltin
Christmas in the Movies by Jeremy Arnold 

Silent Film of the Month: A Christmas Carol (1910)

 

Studio: Edison. Runtime: 13 mins. Director: J. Searle Dawley. Based on the short story by Charles Dickens. Main Cast: Marc MacDermott, Charles Ogle, William Bechtel, Carey Lee, Viola Dana, Shirley Mason.

Probably no Christmas story is more familiar to movie fans than that of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This story has been made into countless films, from straight adaptions to parodies to versions with popular characters (Disney cartoon characters, The Muppets, Looney Tunes, The Flintstones, Mr. Magoo, etc.) and this doesn't look like a practice that is going to end anytime soon. This makes it fascinating to go back and look at an early film version of this story that dates back to 1910. This is especially true when that film version is still very entertaining to a modern audience. 

Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is a greedy and mean old man. He mistreats his employees and cares little about those who are less fortunate than him. However, around Christmas time, he receives ghostly visits where he sees memories from past Christmases that helped make him into who he is today, present Christmases where he sees how his actions affect others and a future Christmas the consequences of his actions now. After seeing these visions, he repents from his evil ways and receives the true Christmas spirit. This short film follows the story very closely, with one major exception. Rather than seeing multiple ghosts, Scrooge only sees one ghost.

The reason for this change is very understandable and that is the film's length. It was very common in the days before feature films became a major part of the moviegoing experience, to have films that told shorter abridged versions of classic literary stories. Many of these films would simply show highlights from the story, excepting movie audiences to already know the story (back then people where more read, so most probably did know the story). This film applies that type of storytelling, where we only catch brief glimpse of the Christmases from Scrooge's past, present and future. For this, having only one ghost was the simplicist way to frame these Christmas visions.   

Despite the short length this movie does a great job of capturing the spirit of Charles Dickens’ famous story. While understandably many today will prefer the later longer Christmas Carol films, this movie is still quite engaging and a lot of fun. Even in this short time, the themes of the story are wonderfully conveyed and we understand and relate to Scrooge’s character arc. The sets are wonderful and set up perfectly the atmosphere of the story. The special effects are not only really good for the time but hold up quite while today. 

This movie’s director was J. Searle Dawley. He was one of the finest directors the Edison studio had at this time. The same year he made this film, he made a similar short film version of Frankenstein. That film starred Charles Ogle (who plays Bob Cratchit here) as the monster.  His work after leaving Edison is also fantastic. Of special note are his movies with actress Marguerite Clarke, which would include Snow White (1916) and Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1918). Though he does not get as much attention as he should today, Dawley is a truly remarkable director, whose films are just as wonderful today as they were when originally made. 

For anyone interested, this film can be found on YouTube. 

Michael's Christmas Movie Guide: A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)

A Flintstones Christmas Carol is probably the best Flintstones feature length movie. It is full of charm, a good sense of humor and complete respect for both the TV show and the classic Charles Dickens story.

Possibly taking a note from Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol (1962), this made for TV movie has the characters put on a play based off A Christmas Carol. This allows the filmmakers to tell two different stories. One of them is of course the Dickens story and the other is a more typical Flintstones story. In the non-Dickens story, Fred is becoming too involved in rehearsing for the play and too taken in by his own ego to notice that he is not being the best father and husband he could be. He forgets to do Christmas shopping for Wilma and Pebbles and worse he forgets to pick up his own daughter at cave care. The two stories perfectly intertwine as Fred himself has to learn the same lesson that Scrooge does. This movie does what the show often did so well. That is to make Fred a very faulted character that needs to learn a lesson without ever making him too unlikable. Fred is never a malicious character, but rather one who is too caught up in his own concerns to worry about those of others. This is something all of us can relate to and understand.

The play portion of this film really surprised me the first time I watched it as an adult. Though there are naturally some cartoon gags thrown in there, it is never a parody of A Christmas Carol. The heart and spirit of the classic Christmas tale are fully on display here. In fact many of the lines from the original book are quoted exactly here. When watching this part of the movie we don't see Fred or Barney versions of Scrooge and Bob Cratchit. Instead we see the characters as talented actors who get completely lost in the roles of the characters. We are essentially watching a faithful play of A Christmas Carol only the actors are famous cartoon characters. Only towards the end of the movie do we see Fred get out of the Scrooge character while on stage. However this is perfectly set up and works extremely well.

This movie successeds so well because it gives us both what we love about The Flintstones and A Christmas Carol.

-Michael J. Ruhland

Michael's Christmas Movie Grade: Bah Humduck: A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)

Note: For Christmas in July I'm continuing Michael's Christmas Movie Guide for this month.


There have been so many movie versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol over the years it is hard to think of a movie doing anything new with this story. Yet somehow that is just what this direct to video movie featuring many of our favorite Looney Tunes characters does. Now this was not the first time the Looney Tunes characters found themselves in this classic Christmas story. In the first segment of the 1979 TV special Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales this was done under the direction of animation legend Friz Freleng. However this version is different enough from that earlier version that it does not feel like a repeat of what has been done before.

Daffy Duck here is cast in a Scrooge type role playing the manager of the Lucky Duck Superstore. He is consumed by pure greed and mistreats many of his employees (including Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote, Claude Cat, Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Gossamer, Pete Puma and more classic Looney Tunes characters), especially his assistant manager Porky Pig (in a  Bob Cratchit type role). Daffy hates Christmas as well of course. However he runs across Bugs Bunny who adores Christmas. Since Bugs is an expert on Christmas he informs Daffy that if Daffy keeps up this way he may be visited by three ghosts. He turns out Bugs was right as Daffy is at first visited by the ghost of C.E.O. Sylvester the Investor, Daffy’s idol, who warns the duck that three more ghosts (though it ends up being four more ghosts) would appear to help him change his ways. They do. First comes the ghosts of Christmas past (Granny and Tweety) than the ghost of Christmas present (Yosemite Sam) and lastly the ghost of Christmas yet to come (Taz).

The setting of a big department store while a very simple idea does make the story feel quite different. It of course gives the film a different look from most other adaptions of the classic book. Also Daffy having many more employees then Scrooge does and each one having a strong individual personality, gives this movie a different feel than many of the film versions where Scrooge mostly just mistreats Bob Cratchit. Though the focus is on how Daffy mistreats Porky, each of the other characters do bring something new to the story. Plus Marvin wanting to go back to Mars for Christmas is a nice touch. There are also some quite different story elements that work very well, such as Daffy’s upbringing in the Lucky Duck Orphanage, which while clichéd and short is actually kind of touching, and Porky’s daughter wanting a doll for Christmas but Daffy making the doll too expensive and paying Porky too little. There is also the fact that these things are strongly focused on, while much of the stuff seen in so many other adaptions are either skipped or glanced over.

As an adaption of a Charles Dickens there is a lot of sentimentality. While nothing done in this department is something that hasn’t been seen in other movies (though interestingly often not used in other Christmas Carol movies), it is effective and never feels forced. Of course though being a Looney Tunes movie there is a lot of humor in here as well. This includes some delightfully clever dialogue (“I'm not afraid of ghosts. In fact, I'm not afraid of anything. Except perhaps low quarterly profit projections and personal intimacy”) and some enjoyable slapstick. Add to this Gordon Goodwin’s fantastic jazz filled musical score and you just have a fun film. 

This may not be a masterpiece but it is a fun little movie and I highly recommend it.  
-Michael J. Ruhland