Sunday, August 7, 2022
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
flickfeast
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute
  • Submissions
    • Advertise on Flickfeast
    • Submit a Film
No Result
View All Result
FLICKFEAST
No Result
View All Result
Home Reviews Film Review

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Kevin Matthews by Kevin Matthews
December 7, 2011
in Film Review
14
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

How can you ever hope to improve upon the classic Christmas tale by Charles Dickens? Putting Michael Caine in the lead role is a good start. Some good comedy and decent songs can help. But, of course, adding muppets – now THAT’S the masterstroke. And that’s why this remains, despite how it may upset some traditionalists, one of the very best adaptations of A Christmas Carol for all the family.

Michael Caine is Ebenezer Scrooge, Kermit The Frog is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy is Emily Cratchit, Fozzie Bear is Fozziewig, a small and cute frog is Tiny Tim, The Great Gonzo plays Charles Dickens and Rizzo The Rat is . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rizzo The Rat. Never fear if you haven’t seen your favourite muppet named yet, there’s plenty of room amongst the music and the madness for Beaker, Ralph, Animal, Sam The Eagle, Statler and Waldorf, Swedish Chef and plenty of others. Steven Mackintosh is one of the other few human actors onscreen and does well as Fred, Scrooge’s nephew. Nobody needs to be told the story by now. You either know it off by heart or you should be enjoying it this Christmas. It’s a bona fide classic for good reason and a tale that should be read by everyone at least once in their lifetime, in my opinion.

You might also like

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review

Of course, this isn’t a literal translation of the material but it remains surprisingly faithful to the story despite the muppets being in the mix. The script by Jerry Juhl is everything that a fresh and reverential adaptation of classic work should be. The muppets are able to play characters in ways that don’t seem too jarring, the comedy is consistently enjoyable and there are only one or two weaker moments throughout (one being a rather bland song and the other being the ease with which Scrooge seems to see the error of his ways – the latter is a problem with adapting the material for the screen and happens in many film versions of the tale). The direction by Brian Henson gets everything just right. The balance of humour and spiritual growth is perfect, the effects are all in line with the style of the characters and the set design and shot composition are all pretty perfect when aligned to the nature of the material.

It may seem wrong to end this review by praising the cast (considering that most of the characters are played by the muppets and their puppeteers) but that’s exactly what I aim to do. First of all, everyone involved deserves credit for animating and voicing the characters in such a way that they become alive.  Secondly, in a film crammed full of such colour and character it’s a testament to the greatness of Michael Caine that when offered a role as great as Mr. Scrooge he gets into character and gives one of the best performances of his career. I don’t say that in a way to dismiss many wonderful Michael Caine performances, I say this to emphasise just how great he is in this movie, despite the fact that some will view it as JUST a muppet movie. Steven Mackintosh also does very well but this film belongs to a bunch of muppets and Michael Caine, with both deserving shared top billing.

DIRECTOR: BRIAN HENSON
WRITER: JERRY JUHL, BASED ON “A CHRISTMAS CAROL” BY CHARLES DICKENS
STARS: MICHAEL CAINE, KERMIT THE FROG, MISS PIGGY, THE GREAT GONZO, RIZZO THE RAT, FOZZIE BEAR, STEVEN MACKINTOSH
RUNTIME: 89 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: USA

Film Rating: ★★★★½

Tags: a christmas carolbrian hensoncharles dickensChristmasfozzie bearjerry juhlkermit the frogMagical MonthMichael Cainemiss piggyrizzo the ratsteven mackintoshthe great gonzothe muppet christmas carolthe muppets
Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews

Kevin Matthews lives in Edinburgh and has done for some time. He loves it there and he loves movies, especially horrors. No film is too awful to pass through his cinematic haze.

Related Posts

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
August 3, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review
Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

by Dallas King
July 22, 2022
Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Thor: Love and Thunder (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
July 16, 2022
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) – Film Review

by Katie Smith-Wong
June 29, 2022
Nitram - review
Film Review

Nitram (2022) — Film Review

by Johannes Black
June 27, 2022

Recommended

Leviathan (2012)

November 9, 2012

Lobos De Arga (2011)

April 20, 2012

Don't miss it

Alone Together (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Alone Together (2022) – Film Review

August 4, 2022
Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review
Film Review

Bullet Train (2022) – Film Review

August 3, 2022
Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Anything’s Possible (2022) – Film Review

July 31, 2022
Sofa Surfer (2022)
Reviews

Sofa Surfer (2021) – Short Film Review

August 5, 2022
Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review
Film Review

Where The Crawdads Sing – Film Review

July 22, 2022
Down with the King (2022) – Film Review
Reviews

Down with the King (2022) – Film Review

July 9, 2022
flickfeast

Whetting your appetite for cinema with the best film reviews and features since 2009

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Festivals
  • FrightFeast
  • Spotlight
  • Contribute

© Copyright - flickfeast. All Rights Reserved.

Posting....