Villain Therapy: SCROOGE from The Muppet Christmas Carol
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ธ.ค. 2022
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How do your thoughts and actions impact yourself and others? What can you do to overcome guilt and heal past mistakes?
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright are celebrating the holidays by watching The Muppet Christmas Carol. They follow Scrooge’s journey of exploring his guilt, learning hard lessons, and getting ghost therapy. Jonathan diagnoses Scrooge with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and talks about how that, coupled with him being miserly and a jerk, is why he starts off as a villain. And Alan shares the magic of filming and acting with muppets and why he hopes to end up in muppet hell.
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Written by: Megan Seawright, Jonathan Decker, and Alan Seawright
Produced by: Jonathan Decker, Megan Seawright, Alan Seawright, and Corinne Demyanovich
Edited by: Jenna Schaelling
Director of Photography: Bradley Olsen
English Transcription by: Anna Preis
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According to filmmakers, Kermit's speech about meetings and parting was aimed at Jim's passing and it still brings me to immediate tears.
It's in the original book too, but I can definitely see it being extra meaningful to the people working on the movie.
@@sarahr8311 could be that while it is an already made quote, it had more meaning and heaviness for the crew because of Jim's passing. Especially since it was Kermit's new actor saying it
@@sarahr8311 You are very correct.
@@irkenpony17 It very well could be, my friend!
It wasn't AIMED at Jim's passing, but Jim had just passed, and it was all any of them could think about during that. It brought a lot of them to tears. As it would and should.
Sir Michael Caine has got to be my favourite version of Scrooge to date. He acted as though his costars were actual people, and not puppets, which really made his performance inviting.
Not gonna lie, I've always wondered if there were actors too... I guess hoity toity to work with the Muppets, even though they're iconic.
Apparently, there is a rule when working with The Muppets, treat them and act like they are real beings/people lol
@@nerdydivanikki He almost was. He refused to do any goofiness, like others who have been in movies or shows with Muppets. This is part of why he is the best Scrooge.
Same here, he played Scrooge so well! Michael Caine is a brilliant actor and is excellent at his craft!
I was going to say the same thing, and he is also legit scary as this character
A cool subtle thing that I think a lot of people miss is that in Christmas Past, Scrooge tells his fiancee 'business continues to be poor' and she says 'so you said last year'. Then in Christmas Present, Bob tells his wife that Scrooge said business is poor this year and his wife very rightly says 'not for him'. I think it so often gets missed but it feels like such a powerful reminder of Scrooge's obsession with wealth (maybe because he grew up somewhat poor?). As a young man starting out in humble beginnings he's already overly-obsessed with making money, but I think we understand it more because he's not as well off yet (though he has become partner in the firm when his fiancee leaves). But even in the story's present where Scrooge is so wealthy and powerful, he's still convinced that he's not doing well, that business hasn't grown 'as it should', that he's somehow falling short. I think it speaks in a really subtle but very powerful way to this deep-seated insecurity that he's carried with him so much through the years that no amount of time or wealth or any external factors changes his own perception that he hasn't met this imaginary mark where he'll have enough money and be secure. And it seems like he's spent his whole life in this hamster ball waiting to get to that imaginary 'and now I'm secure' point, like that's when his life can finally start. But because it's based on his own feelings and not reality, he can never get there, and his life never starts; he's just been on that hamster wheel this entire time.
Also unrelated but Disney just added the When Love Is Gone song back into the movie and that's some of my favorite Michael Cane acting of his entire career.
I don't think Scrooge grew up poor. His father was wealthy enough to send him off to boarding school and care for his invalid sister, as well as being established enough to get his son a job in the city with the best boss Scrooge ever had. You have to think what life was like in Victorian England to understand why at his first job, Scrooge and his fellow assistant slept in the warehouse. He was always upper middle class. When it came to Bell, he wanted to be far wealthier than his parents had been not because they'd been poor or he himself was poor, but because he wanted to give her jewlery and fine dresses so she wouldn't feel embarrassed around the rich woman in London. He worried how being less than super rich would look on him as a business man at dinners if he brought his wife in anything but the finest clothes. The fact that she was from a dowress family and didn't care about silks and laces was what drove them apart in the end.
I just checked on Disney+ and they still immediately cut to Rizzo sobbing on the bridge and Gonzo comforting him. Are you watching it elsewhere? Because I remember watching the movie on DVD and actually bawling my eyes out during that song at an elementary school Christmas party, and my two friends who were sitting by me were legitimately concerned. I wanna feel that pain again, man
That song has made me sob every single time since 1992. I never understood why it was cut! It's reprised in the end which makes it feel so necessary!
Dickens definitely grew up poor.
(Whether Scrooge did or not.)
And I believe that the original poster actually said, "somewhat poor".
To the original poster.
I think that you are completely spot on about the insecurity but that a really large part of it is probably actually emotional, not just financial.
Scrooge has an emotional insecurity about financial insecurity (or, possibly just, the lack of *total* or *almost absolute* financial security) but besides that, Scrooge seems to probably *also* have emotional insecurities about...well...practically everything. 🙄
Methinks that all of this is...really quite a big part of the problem. 🤔
Having Gonzo and Rizzo check out during the Ghost of Christmas Future scene under the guise of "being scared" was a great film making choice. Minimizing the silliness allows for the full emotional weight of the scene to be felt by the audience.
Yep, it was a good call.
I also like that this Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is more subdued than other adaptations.
Too often is the Ghost fire and brimstone when Scrooge realizes his doom, and the minimal movement of the Ghost and the lack of color is more haunting and foreboding. 😊
@@BlazingSteel Yeah, some adaptations miss what Scrooge is really afraid of. He's not just afraid of dying or being damned, he's also afraid that his life caused only misery, and his death will be cause for celebration. He's also afraid that his actions killed an innocent child.
If they didn’t, it would be like that scene in Eight Crazy Nights where the high-pitched Whitey narrates the backstory of the main character.
Also, it probably gave parents fair warning that this part was coming up… and they could distract their kids or remove them from the theater quickly if the ghost scared them.
You know out of all the adaptations of a Christmas Carol, I think the Muppets Christmas Carol is the only one that actually shows Ebeneezer gradually change throughout, starting as a stodgy old black hearted miser, but slowly softening as he starts to take in the lessons the spirits are teaching him, becoming more empathetic towards the suffering of others, remembering how it was due to the kindness of others that helped him to prosper, even becoming more playful when he watches Fred play the game at the party, and then understanding that he was really acting like a jackass when they called him one, and feeling bad about it.
Usually in adaptations he's just cold and heartless until ghost #3 scares the shit out of him and he changes heart
This is one of the biggest reasons I love this movie so much. Michael Caine was not only able to play Scrooge at his cruelest and most serious at the beginning, play Scrooge genuinely giddy and kind at the end, but also such a wide range of emotions as he goes through his journey. Everyone really put their all into telling the story with the weight it deserves and still have some of the silliness the Muppets are known for. My only gripe with some versions of the movie is that the 'Love is Gone' scene is removed but it needs to be in the movie. It's important to showing the pain Scrooge felt at losing Belle and is jarring to cut from "You did once" to Rizzo crying
@@gasquidxeno478 it’s my only gripe as well. I pause the movie and play the song on TH-cam because I can’t be without it. It’s such a pivot part of Scrooges growth. You see him crack under the weight of what he lost when he joins in with Belle singing, and he can barely get out the words. If you don’t see him get so vulnerable, it makes way less sense for him to be happy to see the ghost of Christmas present and get that warmth and connection. And the whole reprise at the end. I hope the movie is made whole someday.
If they were going to cut out a song, why couldn’t they cut out tiny Tim’s? That’s boring as heck!
See I argue Alastair Sim's version does an equally good job of that but en mass that is a problem with Christmas Carol adaptions
@@madeleine5561 I was gonna say... 1951 Alastair Sim is my favourite Scrooge, but overall Muppet's is my favourite version, and Michael Caine is a close second for Scrooge
I haven't seen the Alastair Sim version and it sounds like I need to fix that this year :D
As a therapist who got her undergrad degree in film, I swear that this channel was tailor-made for me. I’m so glad I discovered you guys this year. Happiest of holidays from Pennsylvania!
That's awesome! Happy holidays and thanks for watching! :)
Great! :D
There used to be someone like you (sort of) who taught an improv class when she was a student in Colorado. (She apparently first got a theater degree and then a psychology degree.) I did not know her but she was still being talked about at a place where I went for classes about a year or so later. Reminds me of you. (I wonder if she ever watches this channel. ^___^)
Wow! A real live cinema therapist! That’s amazing 😻
@@CinemaTherapyShow Ya know what I feel is even sadder about how Scrooge treats Fred? In some version, Scrooges sister Fanny was his only loving family who truly loved him as such. So when she was pregnant with Fred and died of child birth, he basically blames Fred for Fanny passing away despite the fact that she begged Scrooge to care for and protect him when she's gone. 😢😢 And when the ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge how much fun Fred and his loving wife Clara are having, Scrooge takes the time to notice for the first time just how much he resembles his mother, physically and emotionally. 😭😭😭
"Happiness is a choice made during hardship", the Cratchits are a perfect example of this; seeing them so happy despite poverty helped Scrooge realize that he had no excuse.
Gonna be my new favorite inspirational quote! 😃
It's not just felt...
It's heartfelt.
HOW DOES THIS NOT HAVE MORE LIKES???
Aight take your like and beat it bucko
Fozzie: Ah! I like you! I FELT that sense of humor!
Badum tss
@@kylemorello4787 you missed the "aaah WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA" at the end there ;)
It's really hilarious that Michael Caine's best performance is opposite a muppet.
Agreed, he was the one of the only human actors in the entire film, yet he played it very convincingly.
@@trinaq He’s far from the only human actor in this…but he is the best one ☺️
@@trinaq YOU have never seen the movie lmao
Brilliant save for that last song.
Not sure if it's his best, but he did tell Brian Henson, the director, that he was going to play the character as if it was for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and he knocked it out of the park.
Or to the farthest wicket.
... I don't know how cricket works.
Sir Michael Caine: probably the only actor I can think of who is fully surrounded by nothing but Muppets, but acts like he's watching something as serious as a car crash while performing in a Shakespearean play. It's hilarious how straight he plays this role, and I love it dearly. It's probably one of my favorite Christmas Carol versions.
*Dickensian
It’s the most accurate version.
Dickens had to cut the songs from the novella to get it into print in time.
He's so good in this role, but I have to point out there is one other actor: David Bowie in Labyrinth. He plays such a good and serious Goblin King surrounded by muppet goblins. The vibe they were going for was definitely very different. However it still worked, he could be charming and scary when wanted but he never seemed silly surrounded by all those muppets. Jim Henson really knew how to do casting.
Edit: I don't mean this to diminish Michael Cane's amazing performance, I just felt the need to remind everyone about the wonderful movie Labyrinth
@@coletteb.8889 OMG yes!! I love Bowie ❤️
@@coletteb.8889 I would also like to bring up another challenging role that was performed so well -- Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Imagine playing a large part of the movie with animated characters and animated props. Hoskins had to not only talk to them, he had to physically interact with them as well and be convincing. Hoskins was totally convincing, even when he wasn't seeing the character who would be added in later.
Something I like about this redemption arc written in Dickens' time, is that it focuses on Scrooge's future. Scrooge has made decades of mistakes, and despite literally have the chance to time travel and see his past, the cure is focused on his present and future. He can't fix the harm he's done to all of the people in the past, and unlike other stories that "visit the past via time travel and explore how good life could have been if you had made better choices" (which is a weird method of persuading someone - sorry, you're living in the worst timeline, see how other timelines are better than yours), A Christmas Carol doesn't try. The redemption arc is focused on repairing the present to improve the future. This isn't to say Scrooge moves on without apologizing - in fact, he starts right away by apologizing to those he harmed just the day before, and goes on to be the best, most compassionate and giving person he can be.
An interesting, and important note about his relationship with Fred, which as I recall is left out of this film, is that Fred's mother (Scrooge's sister) was the only member of his family that was actually kind to him, and who he really cared for and loved. She died giving birth to Fred. It colors a lot of their interactions.
That explains why Scrooge always refers to him as "my dear nefew" but treats him like he's a buzzing fly.
Yes, this is left out of the movie or anything else about Scrooge's sister.
“we only change if the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of changing” !!! this rings so true for me after i moved schools and changed from the bullied victim mentality to the i refuse to be a victim mentality
Precisely, that's a very inspiring message to take away from this movie. Keep on staying strong. 💪
This line perfectly describes my current struggle with my depression. I was heading to a very dark place before I had a much needed talk with my parents. Now I’m working on going back to school and starting a career in welding. It may not be a glamorous career, but it’s a necessary step forward for me.
@@zachscarbrough2727 Any step is still a step, just take it on one at a time. Remember not to beat yourself up too much, just enjoy learning. Don't care about what other people say as this is for you and not for them.
Bless you in your journey 👍depression sucks, been there
It was weird to me how I could see my mind shift from a certain state before and just one day got tired of it all and just clicked.
It was like flicking a switch and my mind was suddenly renewed to see life in a different light.
Bless you hotdog water lol
This. This is how I wanted to say what happened to me in Jan. 2021. I knew something had to change, because I was going downhill so fast, that the pain of staying on this path would be worse than the hard work I'd put into at least trying to change. That one line sums up that feeling perfectly. I'm going to use this to explain it from now on.
No matter how many times I've watched this movie, it still looks like Beaker is giving Scrooge the finger when he gets outside.
YES!!! I've thought that for years!
I choose to believe this too. 😁
I noticed that too!😅
sounds like he's cussing a blue streak too lol
And then when Scrooge redeems himself the next morning, Beaker gives him his 🧣.
Okay as someone who has OCD, can I just say THANK YOU for featuring OCPD and mentioning that it is often confused for OCD. Almost every time I see OCD on TV it's always OCPD. Thank you so much!
How many times I have had to explain to someone.
OCPD: "I need X done a certain way because I think that is the right way to do it."
OCD: "I don't want to do X in this way every time. It's exhausting. I hate this. I know it's irrational and pointless. But doing it is the only thing that makes my brain stop threatening me for 5 seconds."
I've had a few people tell me I might have "a little bit of OCD" because I like things organized and perfect and now I am realizing I probably do have OCPD, and I never knew it was called that!!!
I think the main difference is whether it's the obsession or the compulsion that leads. If it's the obsession then its OCPD if not then its OCD. I'm autistic and comorbid with slight OCPD cause I have a routine and HAVE to stick with it.
Thank you for covering this movie! I've read "A Christmas Carol" a *lot*, and studied it... It is NOT about money, it is about miserliness of *spirit*... it's brilliant psychologically... and I will happily argue that A Muppet Christmas Carol is seriously one of the best adaptations of the actual book. So many of the little touches you guys admire are straight out of the book... and this is one of the very, very, few adaptations that put what's in the book on the screen, and it does so beautifully.
Agreed that it does so beautifully but I'm not sure if there actually are only a very, very few.
I can think of at least three, immediately, and I'm sure that there are probably others that bring the *spirit* (ghost) of the book to life very, very well.
This one, and the musical one with Albert Finney, and the *really* old black and white one with Alistair Sims, and I think that there are probably at least a few more.
Several stage versions do a very decent job besides.
Including two different ones that were both done by the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for many years. (First one and then afterward the other one. Both very good in their own unique different ways.)
His miserliness of spirit (pun intended) apparently was a lot of what *led to* his miserliness with money, put it that way.
Or, it could be, perhaps they both sort of led to each other.
The book was actually originally written by Dickens as a deliberate message to help people remember to be good and kind and nice to others, especially at Christmastime, and presumably part of the author's idea was indeed to be generous with charitable contributions of food, clothing and money if you have it, but you're right that the book and its several film adaptations and stage adaptations are indeed not a story about money.
This is basically a story about the (for a time miserly) spirit of a man named Ebenezer Scrooge.
And the three spirits 👻👻👻
that he met one fateful Christmas Eve. 🎄🌲🎄
And how they forever changed his life.
It's a Christmas ghost story focusing primarily on the desperate need for kindness and love and caring and compassion and generosity.
And also, the terrible things that can happen because of the lack thereof.
(If you wanted to encapsulate the whole thing into a nutshell, that is. 😉🌰😉)
I think that in some ways this is sort of a "Pay it Forward" type of story.
Only different, because its main character saw what happened when he *didn't* remember to "pay it forward" enough.
His love for Belle *could* have been the light of his life, the treasure of his days, his companionship in his old age, etc., but then it wasn't, because he chased her away by not loving her enough.
Some people do that.
And it's sad. 😟😢😥
But maybe, just maybe, some of them could reform, if Scrooge could.
Interesting idea, anyway. 🤔
It's about 👻👻👻 and being too stingy with both 💰 *and* everything else, and how the 👻👻👻 can help reform you and help you reform and help you not be like that any more, at 🎄.
Happy end-of-December, everybody.
Have a great New Year. ☺️
The funniest part about that little rabbit character is the puppeteers hated how cute he was so they made him suffer in every scene he was in
I told my grandma this cus she feels so bad for the little guy. Im just lucky i had her favourite box of chocolates to comfort her lol
That’s hilarious, I was low key happy he was suffering too lol
Emily's retort of "And I'm about to raise you right off the pavement" remains one of my favorite lines of dialogue.
Yasss! Omg! The delivery, how she moves Kermit out of the way, and everything about it makes me laugh so hard every time!
My whole family will say “it does, doesn’t it?!” in Miss Piggy’s voice whenever something smells good in the kitchen
@@joesgirljeri Lol! I love that! Too fun!
@Jeri Huish YES! And the bit where the girls are so shocked at the "BADLY DRESSED" line... that always cracks me up
@@joesgirljeri omg that's awesome 😆
Since you did villain therapy for Michael as Scrooge in Muppet Christmas Carol, you should do a villain therapy of Tim Curry as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island.
What a wonderful suggestion for a wonderful movie!
As much as I'd love to see that it might be difficult as we don't see any of silver's life before the events of the movie and it's also hard to tell what if any of his stories are true or lies
But I do think it's interesting that he's a bad person but is still capable of caring for someone else
I saw somewhere that the two movies are so good because Michael Caine did a great job of pretending the Muppets were fellow actors while Tim Curry did a great job of pretending he was one of the Muppets.
Brilliant! That definitely needs to be done!
YESSSSSS!!!
MORE MUPPETS!!!!
I've been waiting for you guys to do a video on this! Amazing!
Fun fact: The Ghost of Christmas Present was directly written to resemble Father Christmas, the English mythological "Spirit of Christmas", who embodied the merriment and compassion of the festive season. Father Christmas was one of the several figures from pan-European folklore who ended up being amalgamated into the American character of Santa Claus during the late Victorian era.
This is why Santa doesn't feature in A Christmas Carol - the character didn't exist at the time of Dickens' writing, but Father Christmas had existed for centuries. However, I'm very glad the filmmakers leant into the Santa-esque persona (jolly, big-hearted, kind, exuberant) in order to represent the essence of Santa Claus in the movie while keeping it true to the period.
We still call Santa 'Father Christmas'. But the cookies and milk are often done over here as minced pies and some form of alcohol
@@TheGerkuman I know. I'm English. :)
@@Grymbaldknight yeah, that was for the benefit of other people who saw your comment and didn't know :)
@@TheGerkuman I see! Well, I'm all for education. Merry Christmas!
We in Austria (and I think Germany too) know Father Christmas too. For some people he is the giver during christmas time for most it is Baby Jesus himself with his angels. That disbute which of them is the "real" spirit of chrimstams has lasted for years now.
I was so mad when Disney took out Belle's "The Love is Gone" song for a little while in re-releases and on Disney+ because they felt it was too sad. The sadness was the point; I remember that song having a profound impact on me as a child because it was one of the first times a film moved me in such a way. So glad they're bringing back the song in the restored cut that comes out on the 11th!
That song made me cry as a kid in the 90s! I agree with you. We can't strip emotional depth from children's/family films.
Find an older physical copy if you can.
@@LadyElfTari Brian Henson announced in November that they’ll be releasing a restored cut with that song back in on Disney+ on Dec 11. 👍
I hadn't heard yet that they're bringing the song back. That's good news! I guess they've finally noticed the years of comments from the fans talking about how much the scene loses when the song is not there. Why keep a change when almost everybody dislikes it so much?
why on earth would someone make that decision
Alan's Swedish Chef impression was impressive and had me rolling.
But honestly this is one if my favourite versions of this story because Michael Cain did such an amazing job
I love that they gave us a trigger warning before starting it XD
@@roselover411 why did I not heed the trigger warning?! I nearly choked on my toast when I saw him.
Alan wasn't just impersonating the Swedish Chef. He *was* the Swedish Chef! That was about as accurate as you can get!
@@lucymay446 it was just perfect 😂
I love the fact that when he's been asked about how he managed to play it so completely straight he basically says "Look I thought it all felt very silly, but it was paying for my new kitchen, so I just sucked it up, did straight Dickens and pretended there weren''t any puppets"
i always thought that scrooge suddenly crying after the flashback with his fiancée felt misplaced, then i learned about the song that was cut from that scene!!! never understood why they’ve never re-released it because it explains why rizzo is crying as well
I've read many times this week that Disney has rereleased it with the song included.
@@LostWhitsI never understood all the “controversy” because I’ve always had the version with the song in it
Even without the song, I could believe him crying, after all his heart is revealed gradually with the visiting of the Spirits, showing the emotion that is there behind all the “humbug”
I remember watching the original when I was little and found the song part boring, but then I rewatched as an adult and it was the cut version and I was FURIOUS. I was like "wtf, they cut the song!!!"
And it also made no sense because they kept the reprise at the end of the movie, and it felt like it just got yeeted at you out of no where
“the love is gone” was such a fabulous ballad and they managed to recover it and keep it as a deleted scene on Disney+. It expands on that whole scene so greatly
Two things. Michael Caine sought out the roll because he wanted to do something his grandkids could see. He told them that he was going to play it straight, and they said YES! Do exactly that. Second Scrooge in the novel is an honest but harsh business man. He pays Bob the going rate for his job and no more. It was so cold in his office that Bob tried to warm himself with his candle. It's not just that he hated spending money, but he "walked the earth unseeing". He had to learn to see and care and be generous. I love this movie so much. But my favorite Scrooge is George C Scott.
My favorite is the musical version with Albert Finney although the George C. Scott runs a close second due to the quality of his acting and that of the other actors.
Caine is among a favorite Scrooge for me...but my favorite may be Jim Carrey...yes, I know that movie is somewhat controversial at worst and underappreciated at best. But that film is the most faithful to Dickens than had been seen in a long time. It's dark toned, moody, and Jim Carrey truly flexing his dramatic, gravitas acting muscles in a way that isn't normal for even him. He doesn't waste anything about it, and he imbues his natural playfulness into it when it makes sense to. It's masterful and no one seem to love that one as much as I do.
My parents raised me to be a George C Scott fan, so I feel like he has to be my favorite due to that and nostalgia. If I want a Jane-Eyre-esque movie, I'll watch him. If I want a joyful experience, then Muppets will always win.
In a DVD special documentary, the director said that at a start, Michael Cane was very nervous around the puppets and acted very rigid. Actually, the wreath tossing was improvised by him. As the filmation went on, he started to warm up to the muppets and had fun acting with them. So that's why he was so on character as Scrooge in the beginning of the movie.
The wreath toss was AMAZING!
"It's the Summer of the soul in December..." Oh, how I love that muppet and that lyric. Just perfection.
Well, down here it's also the summer of the year in December! 😄
Thank Paul Williams! I'm constantly amazed at how much he's composed, and how much of it I'm familiar with because of the Muppets.
Scrooge really is the first most detailed and layered character that I have witnessed. A Christmas Carol details what exactly makes a bad person become a bad person, and I love it.
This is my favorite Christmas movie. I think one note you missed, was how AMAZING the historical costuming was. Abby Cox has a whole long video about it on her channel. The ladies who put together those outfits were off the charts. There are many very serious historical films that put far less effort into historically accurate costumes than the Muppets did. Also, Alan's Swedish Chef? Best ad ever.
I think Nicole Rudolf constructed an entire copy of one of the outfits over several months for herself, researching every garment and she made a wonderful series of TH-cam videos last year.
@@k.s.k.7721 She did! She made one of Gonzo's outfits and it's amazingly deep on the history of each piece. So good. And so cute.
Nicole's videos covering that Gonzo costume and its recreation are wonderful! They really made me respect the original costume designers' attention to historical accuracy & interesting detail. Nicole is also brilliant at providing the sociopolitical context to historical dress, for example her coverage of the environmental & workplace safety impacts of producing beaver-fur top hats.
Yeeeeesss! That video by Abby Cox was just great and I loved it.
I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at an ad section. But Alan staying in character the entire time was beautiful.
When the meal bounced out of the microwave before he could close it is what got me
I had to watch it again!!
The hidden text about the editor is HILARIOUS as well. This whole crew 😂
We have the best crew! -Alan
This was possibly the best ad Jonathan and Alan have ever had
@@CinemaTherapyShow That you do! Love you guys 👍
I love how John has just dove head first into the Christmas spirit with that suit and hat. And I say that without irony or sarcasm, it's 100% sincere.
This is such a great movie, and it has the most underrated joke ever in it by naming a character Robert Marley.
I didn’t know OCPD was a thing, but this really helped me to understand a coworker better. I would love to have suggestions for how to deal with people like this. The general result has been a tendency to burn bridges everywhere they go and with every group event they attend.
Also, Gonzo and Rizzo should narrate every movie! “Light the lamp not the rat!”
Love your channel!❤️
lol. Thank you for reminding me of that.
He referred to an article in Psychology Today written by Alan A Cavaiola who wrote the book Impossible to Please: How to Deal with Perfectionist Coworkers, Controlling Spouses and Other Incredibly Critical People, (2012), that book might help
Alan being the Swedish Chef had me dying of laughter. Swedish Chef is literally my favorite Muppet character which made it funnier. 😂
It certainly hit my funny bone as well! My only critique was that he was too comprehensible 😂
Oh man, I'm guessing you saw the one with Danny Kaye as his uncle?
I was holding it together until he *tried* to throw it in the microwave and just stared as it hit the stove.
@@christianprice4049 The worst throw? Or the BEST throw?
That Factor commercial with Alan blorping smoothie all over his face, and throwing the meal into the nuke (and the meal bouncing out) was the best commercial I've seen in ages.
Alan sent me with the Swedish Chef impression. The moment he THREW the food in the microwave and it dropped out, I cackled so hard.
Not even planned, just perfect timing and sheer luck.
@@CinemaTherapyShow That's what we call skill 😆
@@CinemaTherapyShow your very own Boss Ross happy accident.
I laughed for the rest of the commercial! It was a favorite
It is absolutely the best take they could have gotten. And the fact that Alan had the mind to just stare at it for a beat, and then the timing on the editor's part with the hard cut... I'm literally tearing up, absolutely hysterical job. I don't normally watch ad reads, but with the effort that gets put into these, always worth it~ This is the only other channel I actually watch the ads for besides Critical Role.
Alan throwing the package in the microwave and it falling out was such great physical comedy... a thing, I didn't even know existed, before watching you guys! Also I almost died of laughter, it caught me offguard while eating. Cereal all over my keyboard. Love you guys
😂😂😂
17:41 When Jono said therapy isn't about feeling better immediately, I remembered something my best mentor in grad school said, "Therapy isn't to help you feel better. Therapy is to help you FUNCTION better." I'm an Occupational therapist now, but my training pre-OT was all in theater and literature. I love this channel! 🎉
I love how Jonathan mentioned that Scrooge has figured out that the grave is his before even wiping the snow off, finally somebody other than myself that’s noticed that!😃
Oh it’s a brilliant acting choice…Carrey does something similar but in a different scene. I LOVE that kind of complex choice.
I like the inevitability of it. He knows it's his grave. But by that point, he knows that there's nothing else he can do but face the painful truth.
And then he does... which is exactly how you know he's headed for redemption.
I thought it was obvious he knew? do people not really realize he knew?
@@silverstar1178 I thought so too
I love that moment. It always felt like Scrooge knew what he was seeing since he overheard the men talking about the person who died. He was just hoping that he was wrong.
“Hardships are the norm, that happiness is fleeting, but happiness is kind of a choice you make during hardship.”
That was DEEP! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Thank you Alan.💙💜❤️
In general my favorite parts of Muppet movies are when the only human in the scene acts as if it’s completely normal and everyone around them is a normal human. But nobody did or has done it better than Michael Caine. Caine is such a unique individual where he’s a completely masterful and serious actor, but also has the greatest sense of warmth and humor. He could’ve gone full Muppet and done it perfectly. But instead he gave us Royal Shakespeare and made it even better.
OMG, Alan’s Swedish Chef had me literally wheezing with laughter. Him going around on his knees and throwing the Factor boxes and getting the smoothie all over himself. Comedy gold!
Husband is on the tail end of covid and laughing makes him cough and found it so funny he nearly perished and had to leave the room loool
Poor dude! 😂 Hope at least the laugh made him feel better when he stopped passing out!!
The only thing that would have been better would be another person being Alan's arms, as the Swedish chef is puppeted to great comedic effect XD
I always felt there was impressive character in Belle. She has the strength of character to let go. To say to Scrooge, this is not the best for me. That is why I also love the song.
Even today at 23 years of age, Caine's delivery of "Oh, spirit, must there come a Christmas that brings this awful scene?" still makes me well up. Speaking as an actor, that's a difficult thing to achieve even without the Muppets involved.
One of the best things about one of the best movies ever is that since the source material only had Jacob Marley, they had to come up with a name for the other ghostly heckler. So, naturally they went with Robert. Scrooge is being haunted by Bob Marley.
@Amanda Ciccione - I hadn't noticed that before. Thank you.
XD
I applaud you 🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏
Just here to say that this channel is one of the reasons I opened up to my doctor about my depression! Every video Cinema Therapy has put out just radiates warmth and compassion for me (not to mention all the times I've cried when a topic hit particularly close to home). Thank you Alan, Jonathan, and the rest of the amazing team behind this channel!
Glad your doing better ❤ merry Christmas 🎄
Disney should really bring back retelling classic books with Muppets. Christmas Carol and Treasure Island are so, so great. Make them yearly events on Disney+ or something. I just think it would be embraced really well by audiences.
I totally agree, Gonzo should narrate every story.
Gonzo: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Rizzo: What does that even mean? Gonzo: Well, if you let me finish...
Gonzo: I'll admit, I didn't think too highly of Andy Dufresne when I first set eyes on him. Looked like a stiff breeze would knock him over.
Rizzo: You're one to talk...
@@eldorados_lost_searcher Now I want to see a movie, pretty much any movie, where Gonzo, Morgan Freeman, and Sir David Attenborough just talk over the audio track about whatever.
There needs to at least be an alternate opening to Lord of the Rings with him doing Cate Blanchett’s voiceover.
Periodic reminder that Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol to illustrate the point that it would take nothing short of divine intervention for the greediest among us to have empathy for those with less.
Given that, it's kind of horrifying, isn't it, that the greediest among us (according to Dickens) are the ones who push off responsibility for the poor onto taxpayer-funded government programs instead of taking personal responsibility to help those in his little circles of influence?
It was absolutely a political statement!
Sir Michael Caine's emotions during the times of Christmas Past impress me so much. Especially the song. 😭 My therapist told me once that therapy is like giving a sponge bath to a burn victim. It's going to hurt, but it's the path to healing.
You guys are awesome:) I’m in a stage production of A Christmas Carol tonight! You released this at the perfect time! Thank you guys for all that you do 😊
Break a leg! (Do stage actors actually say that?) 😅
How'd it go?
@@CinemaTherapyShowyes they do! At least I did.... 18 years ago! 😅
@@CinemaTherapyShow Absolutely.
@@CinemaTherapyShow Yes we do!
I remember in sixth grade, we read this book for school and voted on which version of Christmas Carol to watch when we were done. I was the only one who voted for this version and got laughed at. Ten years later, I feel validated. Thanks!
It's unironically gotta be the best telling of the story that there is. No other version captures the soul of the story and the heart of Christmas like The Muppet Christmas Carol 🎊
This and Mickey's Christmas Carol are my favorites. Sure, the Mickey one is much more condensed, but Scrooge McDuck is *delightful.*
You were totally right. So many other Christmas Carol adaptations try to be dark and serious and foreboding all the way through. The Muppets remember that Christmas is a time of laughter and joy and fun and charity, and it comes off as such a deeper and more meaningful story as a result.
Quite seriously one of the best adaptations. Almost all the rest focus on money or otherwise miss the *soul* of the story. This one, Muppets and all, does not, it captures what matters and what makes the story work!
What version did your school end up going with? I would've gone with either this or the Mickey Mouse version
Another amazing thing about this movie is that it has some of the best historical costumes of any movie I've seen. They made extremely accurate romantic era costumes that perfectly fit muppets and it is amazing.
Several historical clothing youtubers have stated the same thing, and have done a breakdown showing why.
I adore this movie! It's a tradition for me to watch it every year close to Christmas. As you said how Sir. Michael Caine plays Scrooge, juxtaposed with the silliness of the Muppets, it's just perfect. Also, thank you for reminding me that it takes time to combat negative thoughts and forge new ways of thinking. I'm going through a bit of a rough time so I needed that reminder as I continue to heal and grow. Happy Holidays from Boston!
Best wishes as you navigate this rough patch. You got this! Happy holidays!
@@CinemaTherapyShow Thank you, really appreciate the response and encouragement!
Therapy is like desinfecting a wound. It hurts at the begninning, but it will hurt more without it in the long run
As a fan of the book, I appreciate that they kept some of the language of the book dickens uses - it gives younger audiences an entrance to the literature that inspired the movie!
It's Gonzo saying, "If you liked this, you should read the book!" that started me on my annual journey of rereading the novel around twenty-five years ago!
The moments that always stood out to me, 1) during the song "When Love is Gone", when it hits Scrooge as he realizes what he lost with Belle, and 2) observing his nephew's party and starting to enjoy himself until he sees the joke of the guessing game is at his expense.
For me that song is the one in every musical nobody likes..... (Characters Welcome reference)
I will never forgive freaking Katzenberg for removing it from the theatrical version and thus the Disney+ version
“It’ll make kids too sad!”
The scene makes no sense without it though, Jeff
@@amberadams9310 At least it's been restored.
I edited my own version of the muppets Christmas carol to include when love is gone back in so that I could watch it every Christmas
@@amberadams9310 the reprise is even more confusing without it. that song is far more needed in this version of the story
When you guys were talking about how quickly actors adapt to speaking to the muppets rather than the puppeteers it reminded me of Mr. Rogers and his use of puppets like Daniel Tiger. It’s also a good therapy technique for children to help them open up as it can be easier in a way to talk to a puppet than to a grown up. So this made total sense to me.
The music of Paul Williams just added to the awesomeness of this movie. His talent is so overwhelming and it made this movie so special.
Also, when Statler's head appeared as the doorknob in that one scene (before the Marley's show up), and he yelled "SCROOOOOGE!" Yeah. That terrified me as a child.
Yes, that, the chains song, and the grim reaper in the graveyard were scary back then!!!!
I applaud you for seeking therapy as a therapist. It takes a lot of humility to seek help, especially the help you yourself provide. You should be proud of that.
Alan's "final form" was a laugh riot!🤣
And I'm glad that you pointed out that, even for Scrooge, not all of his problems are of his own creation. In pretty much every adaptation of "A Christmas Carol", his family life is awfully harsh. His mother is dead (in some versions, she died giving birth to Ebenezer), and his father ships him off to boarding school, and never lets him come home. The one ray of light in his home life is his sister, and her early death leaves him pretty much unmoored. Naturally, he doesn't do himself any favours with the choices he makes, but in a lot of ways Scrooge got dealt a lousy starting hand.
Yes! Only in the last few years did I really absorb that Ebenezer is likely dealing with some degree of trauma both from an isolated childhood lacking parental bonds and from later losing his sister, and doing so by emotionally closing off (even from the fiancée he did seem to care for) and exercising obsessive control over money. It's not that he's simply a misanthropic loner just because; he's been coping so hard and for so long like this that he's virtually dead inside but for the misanthropy. Given a different start in life he very well could have turned out pretty well-adjusted!
If I remember correctly, in one specific version ( I dont remember which ) his mother died in his childbirth, so his dad hates him, and his sister dies in fred?'s childbirth so Scrooge has issues with him, and thats part of his change
@@nedben1602 That's the magnificent 1950 "Scrooge" starring Alistair Sim. (The 1984 George C. Scott version swiped most of its best bits from that movie.)
Bearing that in mind makes it even more touching that the only (?) friend he ever had, Marley, comes back from the afterlife to set up this whole thing for Scrooge's benefit.
We have to suppose that Marley was no better than Scrooge, and that if Scrooge had died first, he might be the one doing this for Marley.
Two bitter, lonely, misanthropic men, each with just enough of a glimmer of goodness in him to light a way out of the darkness for the other.
It's the same message as The Wall. You're not responsible for what happens to you, but you *are* responsible for how you deal with it.
Out of all the versions of this story, the ghosts feel the most like teachers here. Like they're not just threatening Scrooge to be a better person, but enlightening him on why he should. Past, like you said, acts like a strict therapist. Present is at his most empathetic and kind here, showing Scrooge how wonderful the world could be if he just opened up to it. Even Yet to Come seems to be more focused on showing Scrooge the figurative and literal grave his digging for himself than scaring him. Even letting him sob on his cloak when he sees his grave.
Alan, I think you've missed your calling. Your over the top, physical comedy skills are superb. You had me dying, especially when you threw the food into the microwave and it bounced back out.
My favorite book is A Christmas Carol, and I am HERE for the acknowledgement of Michael Caine as the best Scrooge. His acting top tier and he absolutely carries all the emotional scenes. His reactions ring so true to everything that is happening, from his anger at the start, to his resistance to seeing his past, to his heartbreak at the future death of Tiny Tim, to him begging the last spirit to give him another chance. All this takes a lot of range and talent, to go from a villain at the start to a hero in the end. But unlike any other Scrooge actor, he has to do it all while interacting with muppets, and he does it so well that the audience BELIEVES it and gets just as invested in the story as he is. Michael Caine genuinely elevates this film for me. I watch it every year. And cry.
EDIT: Also if anyone doesn't know, there's a deleted song from the Belle and Scrooge breakup scene that is absolutely heart-breaking. You can find it online, titled "When Love Is Gone," and that scene also has some really good emotional acting from Michael Caine.
And Disney is FINALLY restoring this song back into the movie (on Disney+) apparently.
@@crystalrowan AT LAST! It's so good, it's hard not to cry every time
There was an article from someone who really loved the book, as well, that highlighted the fact that Dickens, himself, as the Narrator is a huge part of the book and frequently interacts with the audience and story, both, and this is the only version that keeps a version of the Narrator in the form of Gonzo and Rizzo.
my grandma actually has the VCR of before they removed when love is gone!! i watched that version constantly as a kid when at her house, was devestated when i found out it wasn’t known to most people because of this and they lost the original film so they didn’t put it in the remastered disney+ version
@@crystalrowan WAIT HOW i thought they lost the original film which is what they need to remaster it??
I didn't know Alan spoke Swedish, and so eloquently as well! Loved it as always.
Omg I read this comment before I watched the video and it made the reveal ten times funnier
@@runawayz28 SAME
Didn't hear any Swedish this episode help
@@noraurimalterud6712 r/wooosh, haha! they're referencing the swedish chef scene in the food advertisement
Hoppas han kan göra det fler gånger.
This version of Ghost of Christmas Present is still someone who I would hang out with! I loved his delivery, compassion, joy, and yet able to teach Scrooge.
You guys should do Home Alone! That would be interesting to hear your thoughts and how the family needs therapy tips.
They're so awful to Kevin, but he's sort of a brat himself!
This channel is one of the only times I don’t skip the sponsors, because they contain things like “WARNING: THIS FOOTAGE CONTAINS ALAN SEAWRIGHT’S FINAL FORM!” 😂
I normally skip the sponsors, but as soon as I saw Alan playing as the Swedish Chef, I watched the entire thing and I cracked up SO HARD !!!!
Legitimately had no idea that OCD was different from OCPD. I didn't know that OCPD was a thing. It's interesting and I am grateful that you explain it.
"I'm sure we shall never forget Tiny Tim or this first parting there was among us." The puppeteers must have been thinking of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt, both of who passed away not long before they filmed this movie. 🥺
This has always been my favorite adaptation of A Christmas Carol. It's close to the original, and they use many exact/similar words that Charles Dickens used. For example, the line "There's more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!" is an actual line from the original story. The Muppets don't dumb it down for the kids, either. They don't sugarcoat anything.
And when Michael Caine was working with the Muppets, he said, "I'm going to play this movie like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role, and there are no puppets around me."
I have also read the Jim Henson biography by Brian Jay Jones, and it's fantastic. Highly recommend! Jim really cared about his family and the people he worked with. He always saw their work as a collaborative effort.
This may be a little weird but on the assumption this is the only time you'll be talking about Ebenezer Scrooge on this channel I'd really like to give a little praise to my favorite version of this story. The Mickey Mouse one.
It's the only version of a Christmas Carol I've seen where the Ghost of Christmas Future speaks. He only has two lines, but he ends up making probably the most powerful statement in the story.
When they're at the graveyard Scrooge asks the ghost what poor soul's grave they're looking at that has no mourners. The ghost leans in and answers, "Why it's yours Ebenezer. The richest man in the cemetery." And it just does such a perfect job of putting Scrooge's life into perspective. Just that one sentence encapsulating so perfectly where it's all going to lead him, how little all of the money he's cared so much about will really matter in the end.
Muppets Christmas carol is the best version I will not have my mind changed. Plus the costumes are hilariously historically accurate
My favorite version of the story. And especially since this is now my 3rd Christmas free of a toxic, abusive, narcissistic family. Wherever you find love DOES feel like Christmas
What I learned about Scrooge and his encounter with the Christmas Yet To Come is not that if you don't change your ways, you'll die. If you don't, no one will care when you die. Ignoring someone is worse than being hated, after all. And also, Dickens didn't write this wonderful novel just so folks would feel good around the holidays, but to make them see that there's way more than just sprinkle joy and deck the halls. The charity spirit has to be present all year long.
Michael Caine's interpretation of Scrooge is also my favorite. I think it's actually two-fold. The first being what we've all agreed on: if he hadn't played it completely straight against the muppets, it would not have worked. Because he played this like he would if he were in Hamlet, it gave Scrooge's character genuine gravity. The second thing that we (my sis & I) think gets overlooked is the transition. Most Scrooge interpretations do the character transition at the gravesite with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. It's right at the end, out of this fear of death; not having enough time.
I love this version because you see the spirits' lessons take root and make changes throughout each phase. Christmas Past breaks the defense barrier into vulnerability & evokes the regret needed for phase 2. Christmas Present teaches compassion, joy, and humility. I think this is why Christmas Future doesn't have to speak. With remorse & humility already in place, all the spirit has to do is show Scrooge the end result if the pattern continues. The reason this Scrooge is the best: the emotion you see at the gravesite in this movie isn't fear, like the rest. Fear of death/trying to cheat death. It's shame. Shame for decisions made which lead to a life where he cheated himself of love and happiness and cheated others. This scene right here is what makes me believe that this Scrooge won't relapse into old patterns.
The muppets are not puppets, they are living breathing souls brought to life by brilliant performers. AND YOU CANT CHANGE MY MIND! ❤❤
Your guys' comments about the risk of Scrooge backsliding in March/April ect have me thinking about the final monologue of the story. It might be interesting to see future versions say something like "And he regularly conversed with his old friend, Marley, in thanks for what he rescued him from. And with Marley's help, Scrooge was able to stay on the right path instead of falling back to his old ways" to highlight the importance of having someone who's close to you, who knows what you're struggling to overcome, and who is supporting you and helping you "keep up".
I'd like to think that it was primarily his own clerk who served that purpose for him. Bob Cratchit was an everyday reminder, that Scrooge couldn't forget to visit or neglect speaking to, because they worked together. And every time he'd see Cratchit each morning, it would be a reminder to him that Tim would die if he backslid.
I think becoming "a second father" to Tiny Tim would be the frequent reminder of why the continued and continually difficult changes were worth maintaining.
@@Gothelittle Bob would be a great reminder, but IMO he simply isn't in a position to support Scrooge nearly as actively as Marley is. Because Marley has actually seen the world from Scrooge's perspective before, and knows what challenges he's trying to overcome within himself. Marley is also much closer to Scrooge than Bob is, at least for now. And when someone is attempting to maintain a change as drastic as Scrooge's, I personally think they would need not only a reminder, but also active support from someone who's close to them.
I feel like Tiny Tim would be an excellent reminder - imagine him visiting in the office, and Scrooge starts to get grumpy with someone who’s late on payment, and then he looks over at Tim watching with big eyes… who do you want to be in front of a child, especially a child you love?
@@bookcat123 Tim is a good reminder. But personally, I feel like maintaining a change as drastic as Scrooge's long-term requires more than reminders. It requires active support from someone who's close to you and understands you. And Marley fits that role better than any other character, imo.
"We only really change when the pain of staying the same is more than the pain of change." - Jonathan Decker
I'm happy to announce that this quote just made it into my personal quote book
I think it’s important to note that Scrooge grew up during a time of great suffering and want. His greed is greatly impacted by growing up in want. Much like those who’s formative years were during the Great Depression. Scrooge feels he has to care for himself and it makes him distrustful and afraid. He’s learning in the story to put himself out there. I think his history shades his story with important elements
This is the best adaptation of "A Christmas Carol". Michael Caine's performance is brilliant, the Muppets are a delgiht as always, and the music is classic. So glad you guys did this one.
Also, I would absolutely watch "Alan Goes to Muppet Hell". Make it!
It would be like Dante's "Inferno", but less preachy.
I love that Scrooge gets his words and deeds thrown back at him by two of the three spirits. “If he’s going to die, he’d better do it and decrease the surplus population,” and Scrooge is just human enough to recognize the heartlessness in those words now.
Same thing happens to Dr. Strange in his first MCU movie. “You’re just another momentary speck in an indifferent universe,” he says to Christine in the depths of his depression, only to have Caecillius repeat them back to him later on, and that’s when he sees how awful he was to her.
Sadly, such a thing doesn’t happen in real life. Usually, when you give a miser or a hateful person their words back, it further pushes them into their shell.
That's why we have therapy
@@runningbetweenspaces That IS why we have therapy. 👍❤️
Thank you so much for keeping the Miss Piggy line, "Oh, and I'm about to raise you right off the pavement!" Makes me laugh every time 😂
The Christmas carol I grew up watching, is absolutely the scariest and still haunts me, Jim Carey’s Christmas Carol
This is honestly the best version of A Christmas Carol out there.
I love the Jim carrey version as well I think it shows the darkness that dickens original was
I love the Patrick Stewart version with Richard Grant as Cratchet.
@@Mowmauf oh definitely! I show it to my English lit students and they are NOT happy about the ghost of Xmas future being so creepy, or Jacob Marleys original entrance
I won’t condone WHAT he does, but I will die on the hill of defending WHY he does them and why he’s the way he is. It’s honestly disturbing to me that my circle of fellow artists become pretty Judgey McJudgement about him for some reason. We artists are taught to radically empathize and not judge, lest we misunderstand character intent and perspective.
He’s not your typical ‘billionaire villain’ living in grandeur. He literally hoards his wealth out of fear and a life of trauma and pain. Even his nephew says point blank that he literally doesn’t do anything with his money. It’s just…sits there. He doesn’t do anything with it for himself, let alone someone else. Doesn’t make his actions any less deplorable, but Dickens made it SUPER clear that this is a man from an abusive and broken home, lived in nothing BUT poverty so of course he’d hoard any money out of fear, he loses the only person in his life who cares about him (his sister) so there’s one huge piece of the trauma puzzle, father was clearly abusive, loses sight of priorities with Belle so he in turn loses her as well…(albeit that leans more towards his own doing) all of what he does is out of fear and trauma. Sound familiar? Except Dickens did it better than Disney 🤣
That’s why I don’t get tired of this story year after year. It both condemns and empathizes the main character.
I think the reason people judge Scrooge so harshly is because very few adaptations really help convey that Scrooge is, at his core, a damaged and lonely soul. The sympathy for him doesn’t really start until the ghosts start haunting him, and even then, the audience’s sympathy is mostly directed at the fact that he lost his sister and his father was neglectful. But anything aside from that is portrayed in a negative light, not realizing his wealth is mostly hallow. Scrooge doesn’t live a lavish life. He has a big home, but it’s mostly bare, isn’t really filled with possessions, and his meals are basic and cheap. But very few movies rarely emphasize this and like to focus instead on the fact that he has money and that’s it. This film treats Scrooge in a more well-rounded way.
YES! I have said/thought this for ages!
It is however important to note that while a sad backstory earns you sympathy, it does not earn you an excuse to pay the pain forward. Ultimately his cold miserliness is still a problem that needs fixing, not something to be brushed aside by saying he's got trauma.
I definitely agree that he had a traumatic childhood and has improved his own social station greatly from that of his childhood (while not actually USING his wealth for anything beyond bare necessities)
But I wouldn’t say he grew up in poverty. He was probably poorer than other students at his boarding school… but his father could afford boarding school, he wasn’t in a factory working at 10 years old. Being lowerish middle class probably adds to his problem of sympathizing with the truly poor, because he pulled himself up by his bootstraps, why can’t they?
I appreciate the adaptations that show he had significant problems in his past that truly were not his fault, while holding him accountable for his misanthropic behavior throughout his adulthood.
Don't know why I'm not getting notified about all of your responses, but THANK YOU! But as much as I love Muppet Christmas Carol, it doesn't dive into the trauma aspect. It very surface level, but that ok, because this is the Muppets after all, and I love it for that reason! But there's other adaptations that delve deeper into his pained and jaded past, and those I tend to gravitate to.
This is my favorite Christmas Carol adaptation, plus Muppets! The music, the faithfulness to the source, the wonderful Micheal Caine, and the return of the Muppets for the first time since Jim Hensen's death for a project he always wanted to do.
Fun Fact: Micheal Caine told Brian that he was going to approach it as if he was going to so Shakespeare on stage, no silliness. Brian was struggling to fit Gonzo and Rizzo in, then thought of them to narrate the story.
There is so much good about this movie and it has been a tradition since it came out.
I worked as choreographer and/or a cast member of our local production of A Christmas Carol for 10 years and yet it took this movie to find the absolute humor in the line "there's more of gravy than the grave" spoken by Scrooge. Every year that line would roll around in our script and I'd just giggle incessantly backstage. Thanks Muppets!
I didn’t watch this movie until I was 26, and I am still deeply embarrassed about that fact a year later! Such a delight!
I didn't watch it until I was 34 😂 you're doing good, kid!😊
I didn't watch it until I was 12!
@@JosephDavies I quite literally had Kermit painted on my wall at that age, and I STILL waited 14 years…
@@jennaheiser625 Hah, good room décor!
Was it an active choice to not see the film, or just happenstance?
@@JosephDavies It was never really on my radar until I saw the CinemaSins video for it…and then I saw it was Michael Cain and was embarrassed all over again!
"It's easier to keep up, than catch up." Wise words, an easy way to remember to complete things regularly.
Oh my heck my favorite Christmas movie period! I'm sooooo happy that you guys love this movie too. I always feel stupid telling people that it's my favorite Christmas movie. But i just need to shake it off. I need to be a shameless fan of this movie and not care what people think about that.
Also I agree. Michael Caine=the BEST Scrooge ever. Very balanced amount of stern, calloused, and stingy, but at the end, kind, loving, compassionate. And yes he is amazing at acting with muppets as if nothing were different. Gosh i love this film!!!! ❤️
The odds are slim this will be seen, but I would love a Cinema Therapy take on: family and finding belonging in Lilo and Stitch, whether “Hakuna Matata” is viable life advice in The Lion King, and blooming in adversity in Mulan (the original animated film). Disney’s Hunchback of Notre Dame is also an amazing film because there’s so much to unravel with Quasi breaking free of his abusive relationship with Frollo and finding friendship with Esmeralda and even Phoebus
They need a suggestion box. And multiple awards because this channel is amazing ❤❤
I never comment on TH-cam videos because I watch them on my TV, but I genuinely have so much love in my heart for how dorky you guys are. I mean… the suit. Beautiful. The hats. Perfect. But the cherry? You already know. Alan as the Swedish freaking Chef. You guys usually always make my heart swell but today was the last straw 😤 too cute. And since I never comment I just wanna say I love crying with Alan. Thank you very much for this channel. 💕✨
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I'm so glad you guys covered the Muppet Christmas Carol! It was my first exposure to A Christmas Carol and my family watches it every Christmas Eve as a sort of tradition. Seeing you guys cover it was like an early Christmas present! :)
❤
My family watches it on Christmas Eve too!
Husband and I are a little upset you never mentioned the cut love song the fiance sings. When old scrooge sings along side her after his realization of the pain he put her through is cinematic gold and one of the most emotionally impactful moments in his character development.
I love this version of a christmas carol cause not only do you see his gradually change over the movie. You also see how his past experiences lead him to be a jerk cause of his constant feeling like he never had enough. They should have never cut out when love is gone cause that scene adds so much
I find it a shame that people are so scared of the Christmas Past Ghost. I do see why people are scared of her, but I find her absolutely beautiful.
Especially after learning that her entire role was filmed under water, to get that flowy effect of her clothes
BEST Christmas Past ghost I've ever seen on film. I literally cannot erase the imagery they put there.
It wasn’t filmed under water, because they found that didn’t het the right effect, they filmed it in a tank of oil! Really! Which is even more special.
@@prinsesjuds5761 An oil mermaid
I have a strong love-hate relationship with these guys. I love that they always make me feel better and laugh, while I hate how easily they speak to the depth of my soul, including the painful parts.
FRT, I love Alan and Jonathan. Happy holidays guys!
Thanks? Thanks! Happy holidays! 😄
My dad is a man's man and rarely shows any positive emotion... His favourite Christmas Carol is the Muppet version, and he loved Caine. When I was 22, I was visiting my family for Christmas in the UK, while I was studying in Finland. The night before I left, I couldn't sleep, and neither could dad and while I was stress-packing, he asked if I wanted to watch this film. It is one of my favourite memories. Dad is still alive, but I treasure the moments he is a little more squishy :) < Also, we watch gory horror films on Christmas day, but after everyone has gone to bed, dad and I stay up and watch an old Disney film while eating bubble and squeak sandwiches with extra pickles :)
Therapy makes you more resilient, in my opinion. It gives you a new way to cope with the bad things that happened, but they still happened. I am still sad about bad things that happened in my life, but I no longer dwell on them or let them affect my purpose in life.
WHAT?!?! ADDITIONAL SUBTITLE PRAISE!!! Today I noticed that the subtitles y'all so meticulously transcribed actually jumped up the screen, out of the way of the on-screen info pop thing around 6:20. I have NEVER seen this happen before! Amazing!!! I'm going to assume this is your doing, and yet again, express my extreme gratitude that y'all are lookin' out for us folks that use subtitles. This is such a thoughtful adaptation, and I'd just gotten used to pausing, removing subs, rolling back a few seconds, reading the popup, and turning subs back on. Obviously, this is a very silly series of moves to have to make to fully appreciate a video, which is why it's phenomenal you've ensured my watching experience is so smooth. Thank you, again, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for your kind comment. We were working to make that happen for a while now, as the viewers were mentioning that the subtitles are often getting in the way of the information in the video. Finally - we were able to make that happen and I'm so glad that it's helpful!
- Anna
Agreed! The captioning team for these videos is excellent, and I love how they're not afraid to add humor in them sometimes!
Yes thank you for the subtitles! I'm hard of hearing and so this really helps me make sure I get the right information. It can be frustrating when I can't hear something. Great job!
@@CinemaTherapyShow Keep making these thoughtful and intentional adaptations to benefit others, and I'll keep calling it out and making sure you know it has an impact, ensuring you feel the warmth of at least one person's gratitude. These efforts matter, and they really make an impact... even if it's only felt by a few, and even if those few never say anything at all... They truly are important. 🖤
Fun fact, John: Manah Manah isn't originally a Muppet song! It was written by an Italian composer, then the Muppets took it and made it memorable during The Muppet Show. But it is definitely one of the best two songs, and Statler and Waldorf's song is the other.
Fantastic work, you two! I'd love to see more Muppets, especially if it means we get more Swedish Chef Alan.
It was used in porn first lol
More politely, an adult film. But substantially correct.
Awesome factoid…thanks.
Also, muppets sang Manah Manah long before the Muppet Show. Even before Sesame Street, if I recall correctly. But yeah, the Muppets totally pwned that song, back then, and forever!
You absolutely nailed it! Sir Michael Caine played Scrooge so seriously, like he was on stage performing for the Monarch, and he's surrounded by all these silly puppets! That's what makes this movie so powerful!
I love that. "We only change when the pain of doing the same things becomes greater than the pain of change". What a great way to sum up motivation!