I do not like Charles Dickens. This is well established in my circle of friends. We all know this to be true. And yet my favourite version of A Christmas Carol is the version that includes the most of his narration, the thing I generally don’t like Dickens for. Indeed, one of the things I like about it most is that it includes what I consider the best line in the novella. (Depending on edition, it’s a scanty sixty-odd pages.) The idea of giving it a narrator—Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself—was a stroke of genius, something only Sir Patrick Stewart in his one-man show doing the same, and that basically doesn’t count.

There’s no need to describe to you the plot. You know the plot. What this adds to it are songs and Muppets, mostly. Gonzo as the narrator, as established, with Rizzo as his ever-hungry assistant. Kermit and Robin as Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, with Miss Piggie of course as Mrs. Cratchit. Fozziewig. Statler and Waldorf of course as Jacob and Robert Marley. (One of the most inspired jokes in the movie, which is full of inspired jokes.) Sam the Eagle teaching young Scrooge about the importance of . . . business. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his loyal assistant, Beaker, collecting for charity. And even long-forgotten Bean Bunny as a street urchin.

This is, I think, the movie that solidified in a lot of people’s minds the idea that Muppet movies are “one human in a Muppet world.” Which isn’t fully true in either of the Muppet theatrical literary adaptations; Scrooge’s nephew Fred and his wife, and Scrooge’s lost beloved Belle are all humans, because otherwise that gets even weirder than a frog married to a pig. And in Muppet Treasure Island, both Jim and Long John Silver are humans. However, these are the only two theatrical release Muppet movies with that structure, and it’s clearly an idea of Brian’s. Sure, it works, but if you can’t find a Muppet who fits a role, it’s okay to cast a human.

Despite being a largely faithful adaptation of the work, it is also full of quotes that are pure Muppet joy. “It is the American way! [whispered conclave with Gonzo] It is the British way!” “Nah, it’s all right. This is culture!” “Leave comedy to the bears!” “Never eat singing food.” Piggy calling Scrooge badly dressed, and the girls’ reaction to it as the ultimate insult. “Light the lamp, not the rat!” “Our assets are frozen.” And of course the whole to-do with Rizzo’s jellybeans. It’s one of the great quotables, as is true of almost any Muppet movie.

In general, the rule of How To Make a Parody Funny is to not have the characters know that their world is funny. This isn’t strictly a parody, of course, but the rule holds true here. Gonzo is in earnest. Rizzo is confused. The people within the story itself are simply living their lives. And the jokes continue. The story puts in a lot of bits that aren’t in other adaptations simply because its premise gives you a better way of doing so—the end of the song “Marley and Marley” hints at ghosts all over London doing the work the Marleys are doing, and basically no one else mentions that. And, of course, there’s Gonzo, walking us through the whole thing. After all, he knows the story like the back of his hand.

Be as generous as Scrooge; contribute to my Patreon or Ko-fi!