The Muppet Christmas Carol
Every year, my lovely and amazing girlfriend, Courtney, and I make an effort to watch at least one Christmas movie and a few Christmas specials (of the Peanut, Garfield, Grinch variety). I suppose I indulge in this tradition as a way of staving off the increasing jadedness that is trying to become routine with Christmas for me. It is, after all, just another day on the calendar. And, as I'm no longer much of a religious guy, it really shouldn't have too much of a deeper meaning for me. I find it hard to believe that Christmas day...December 25th... in and of itself has any inherent positive or magical qualities to it. It is what we make of it. If I woke up convinced that Christmas was going to be an absolute shitfest of a day, well... then... it probably will be. If the idea of Christmas magic isn't dead for me already, it's certainly on life support. Watching these movies and specials, however, tends to help perk the old ideal up... and maybe I can be more tolerable during this time of the year. In related news: when did I become such a raging asshole.
Maybe it isn't that bad, but if I'm not careful I'm going to end up- at least at Christmas- as a cynical, friendless mess. And if watching Christmas movies helps prevent that, well, I shouldn't fight it.
Anyway, we continued the tradition this year with a viewing of one of my old favorites: The Muppet Christmas Carol. Yep. A grown-ass man likes his Muppet movie. I have no problem with this. And yes, even though it had been a few years since I had last seen it, my opinion remained the same: it's a damn good Christmas flick.
In truth, I'm not a huge fan of Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Allow me to elaborate. I've never read the novella. But the story- as traditionally presented- just doesn't do much for me (but Muppets apparently do... ugh). To me, the story is overburdened with far too much overt moralizing. Yeah, I get it, old Scrooge needs to make himself a better person or he'll be facing an eternity of damnation and a lifetime of scorn. So, three ghosts learn him a lesson or two. A Christmas miracle occurs. He changes. Christmas is wonderful for everyone. And they all lived happily ever after...until they died of some horrendous and incurable disease of the late 19th century. But at least Scrooge won't face eternal damnation. I dunno. It all seems so heavy-handed. No subtlety. It's just too serious.
Of course, eventually Jim Henson's band of merrymakers come along to deliver a much more palatable translation of the time-honored tale. Thankfully. And so we have one of the best tongue-in-cheek Christmas movies out there, The Muppet Christmas Carol. Brian Henson, the film's director (and diseased Muppet grandmaster Jim Henson's son) does an excellent job balancing the heavy morality tale with the warm-hearted, zany anarchy that made the Muppets so much fun to watch- as an adult anyway. Henson never lets the movie take itself too seriously. The point is still driven home, though. But, as Mary Poppins was so fond of singing, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Henson lobs a sackful of sugar down our gullets to pretty much drown out the taste of medicine. The effect is the same though- the medicine is taken.
Really though, I think the movie won me over for a handful of relatively simple reasons:
1.) Casting Michael Caine as Scrooge. Caine is one of my all-time favorite actors. He's fantastic. And to see him bring that effortless professionalism to a role that required him to interact with glorified sock puppets is awesome. Caine set the tone for the film. Was it kid-safe zany? Sure, it's the Muppets, but Caine's superb performance elevated it from being merely a kids' movie to being a darn-good Christmas movie period. Love that guy.
2.) Having Gonzo play Charles Dickens... the narrator of the story. I don't know why, but I just find Gonzo compelling. And for reasons I've completely squared away, I find Charles Dickens to be the antithesis of compelling. Any movie that transforms Dickens into a mysterious blue furry alien is ok in my book. Teaming him with a mouthy rat makes it even better, but Gonzo more or less steals the show here.
3.) Waldorf and Statler. Love those wise-cracking Muppets. Featuring them in all their pun-hurling glory as Jacob and Robert (Bob?) Marley was a fantastic choice. First rate, horrible jokes. They're so bad you just have to laugh.
And that about sums it up. I can't deny that A Christmas Carol is a classic tale; that doesn't mean I have to like it. Thankfully, there is a version I enjoy. I don't mean to imply that it's a perfect movie. Far from it. It does tend to stray a little too far toward overly cutesy at times. And there are the plethora of annoyingly catchy songs. Typical kids' movie stuff. Kids apparently swallow their medicine better if delivered in song form. The songs aren't any worse than any other kids' movie, they just aren't better... but whether you like them or not, they tend to worm their way into your brain and take up stubborn residence there. Beyond that though? It's- to me- the perfect version of the tale, and a great movie to get me out of my encroaching holiday-related cynical funk. Thankfully. Definitely one of my favorite Christmas movies.
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