Michael Caine Loves The Muppet Christmas Carol as Much as You Do
December 25, 2021 8:30 PM   Subscribe

Michael Caine Loves The Muppet Christmas Carol as Much as You Do [GQ Interview] "I had never made a movie that a 7-year-old can see. And so a man mentioned the Muppets and I said, “That’s it! I’ll do that!” And it’s A Christmas Carol, it’s a fabulous tale! You’ll be old Scrooge, it’ll be marvelous! And it was absolutely perfect at that time for what I wanted. I could make it, and my daughter could see it. That’s why I did it. And it was lovely."
posted by hippybear (18 comments total) 47 users marked this as a favorite
 


The Unsung Perfection of THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

I nearly made an FPP on this. Worth a watch.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:16 PM on December 25, 2021 [2 favorites]


In classical vaudeville, the straight man would generally get 70% of the take, because being the straight man was well known as the harder job. The funny man would deliver the lines. But without a good straight man, the lines would not land. In Muppet Christmas Carol, Michael Caine was the straight man. And the lines landed. Respect.
posted by notoriety public at 9:19 PM on December 25, 2021 [12 favorites]


Worth noting that Brian Henson was looking for the actor playing Scrooge to play it as serious as possible, so when Michael Caine proposed that he wanted to play it 'like a Royal Shakespeare Company production' Henson was thrilled.

It's also one of the most faithful adaptations to the original novel, despite starring Muppets - the choice to render the Ghosts of Christmas as Muppets meant they kept the uncanny nature of their descriptions in the book (the Ghost of Christmas Past is a particular sticking point); and Gonzo as Charles Dickens being constantly interrupted by Rizzo manages to translate the meandering nature of Dickens' prose into dialogue (and many of Gonzo's lines are direct lifts from the book).
posted by Merus at 9:34 PM on December 25, 2021 [31 favorites]


Down to the emphasis in "Tiny Tim, who did NOT die"!
posted by tavella at 10:02 PM on December 25, 2021 [15 favorites]


This year I watched all the way up until the end of the ghost sequences late on Christmas eve, and then watched starting with him waking up and realizing it's Christmas day on Christmas day.

I was hoping for a visitation by spirits, but alas. Highly recommended nevertheless.
posted by MrVisible at 10:41 PM on December 25, 2021 [10 favorites]


In classical vaudeville, the straight man would generally get 70% of the take, because being the straight man was well known as the harder job. The funny man would deliver the lines. But without a good straight man, the lines would not land. In Muppet Christmas Carol, Michael Caine was the straight man. And the lines landed. Respect.

Something that the later Muppet movies sadly forgot.
posted by fairmettle at 10:46 PM on December 25, 2021 [8 favorites]


I work on JWST, and yesterday in a fit of nervous anticipatory energy I made a mash up of this wonderful, delightful, annual tradition of a film and the feelings I had about this telescope.
posted by RubixsQube at 11:02 PM on December 25, 2021 [27 favorites]


I agree with him, Muppets Christmas Carol is one of the best.
posted by freethefeet at 11:08 PM on December 25, 2021 [1 favorite]


Nicely done, RubixQube. That sense of excited anticipation works perfectly in both contexts.
posted by Paul Slade at 12:15 AM on December 26, 2021


Michael Caine received a Muppet version of himself as Scrooge as a wrap gift
posted by chrisulonic at 5:15 AM on December 26, 2021 [18 favorites]


This might be my favorite Christmas movie. I mean, I love It’s A Wonderful Life, but the Muppet Christmas Carol is the most enjoyable to watch each year. My siblings and I watched it yesterday, and even as real grown ass adults we sang along with a lot of the songs and laughed a ton, too.

I’m glad the new versions cut the song “The Love Is Gone” during the ghost of Christmas past scenes. Such a sad song and really not necessary because it’s already clear Scrooge was a jerk and ended up alone despite a shot at love. It does mean the end song, “The Love We Found,” doesn’t have the same callback nature since it’s the same melody, but that isn’t a real game changer.

Michael Caine absolutely carries this movie on his shoulders, much as Kermit, er, Bob Cratchit, carries Tiny Tim. And the way Miss Piggy / Emily delivers the line, “And I’m going to lift you right off the pavement and out….! Pardon? Pardon?!” after Scrooge visits at the end gets belly laughs every time.

Love this movie.
posted by glaucon at 5:31 AM on December 26, 2021 [2 favorites]


The seriousness with which he player the role is something i enjoy reading about yearly, but someone on twitter really brought it home this year by noting how well he delivers specifically the line "that's old Fozziewig's rubber chicken factory" as though it were straight from the original text. <3
posted by ominous_paws at 7:04 AM on December 26, 2021 [15 favorites]


Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein performs The Muppet Christmas Carol in Six Minutes
posted by Sweetie Darling at 10:10 AM on December 26, 2021 [10 favorites]


Our Christmas tradition is to watch Muppets Christmas Carol in the local indie theater, but covid has messed that up for two Decembers. Michael Caine is amazing - just as committed to the role as any serious thea-tah performance could be. PS - Tim Curry in Muppets Treasure Island is also a treat.
posted by haptic_avenger at 10:26 AM on December 26, 2021 [5 favorites]


While I didn’t think much of his latest outing before retiring, my god, when he was on, he was really on! Muppets Christmas Carol showed how amazing he could be.

The wierd bit, for me, is that he was always Michael Caine acting, but it didn’t matter because he was just so damn good at it, if that makes any sense.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 12:34 PM on December 26, 2021


Ted Lasso's Brett Goldstein performs The Muppet Christmas Carol in Six Minutes

Truly the celebrity crush that keeps on giving.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:11 PM on December 26, 2021 [1 favorite]


A great film that I have enjoyed since childhood, though I maintain that the Marley and Marley song is the most terrifying thing in any Muppet picture: "You're doomed Scrooge! You're doomed for all time!"
posted by sindark at 2:21 PM on December 27, 2021 [1 favorite]


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