From IMDB trivia: "The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Sir Michael Caine actively pursued the role of Ebenezer Scrooge when he heard that it was going into production. He had missed out on a guest star role on the TV series The Muppet Show (1976) which was shot in the UK while he was living as a tax exile in the US at the time. However friends and colleagues he knew who had guested on it such as Sir Roger Moore, John Cleese, Peter Sellers and Sylvester Stallone had told him they had a massive amount of fun appearing in the show and that it had also given them extra kudos with children too. By the time this film was greenlighted in 1991, Caine had moved back to the UK and when he heard it was going to be filmed in a a London film studio he had his agent badger Jim Henson Productions until they agreed to meet with him. They then cast him shortly afterwards." He then insisted he would play the part absolutely seriously. Brian Henson said great. Michael considers this one of his most memorable role he had done.
I love that Michael Caine was largely the only human actor in the entire film, yet he treated the other performers as human beings, not puppets. He was the perfect choice for Scrooge.
For that era, absolutely. Patrick Stewart was pretty good. I always thought Anthony Hopkins could play a good Scrooge. Bill Murray was perfect for an 80s version, but because it's 80s, it's an acquired taste. The best by far for me and everyone I know is the Alastair Sim version from 1951. It's like a horror movie, which is how the book is written. It's a ghost story. It should be a horror movie. But all too often, everything has to be toned down. Nobody liked Return To Oz, even though it was the most faithful adaptation of the novels. They liked the Judy Garland version, which was nothing nothing like the books. Parents are a bunch of wimps. The things they do actually harm kids more than the things they're actually afraid of.
That's the trick to a great performance in a Muppet movie. They either treat them like people (Michael Caine, Charles Grodin) or they act like Muppets (Tim Curry)
That's why this movie and Muppet Treasure Island work so incredibly well. Michael Caine is an actor and treats the muppets as fellow actors. Tim Curry embodies being a Muppet and fits right in with the rest of them. Both geniuses.
Apparently that's surprisingly easy to do: Alice Cooper also reports immediately feeling as if the Muppets were real, to the point of addressing the puppet, rather than the performer, in rehearsal.
There is a song called "When Love is Lost" that is sung when Ebenezer and his girlfriend break up. It was deleted from the film against the director's wishes. It was only in the standard definition version as the original film copy, of the song was thought lost. The film was recently found and inserted in the HD and 4K versions of the film. It makes the final song, "When Love is Found" all the more meaningful.
I believe it is "When love is gone." rather than lost. When I was a kid we had a VHS recording of Muppets Christmas carol that we watched every year with the song in it, I was quite confused after moving out when seeing a version where it skips it.
Yeah its a pain, when i had this on vhs it had the song on it and every subsequent version they hacked it out. That scene makes hardly any sense without it lol
I saw the version of the film with "When Love is Gone" restored for the first time last Christmas, and it definitely made the film work so much better, Belle breaking up with Scrooge ends up having more impact, and it adds more significance to the last song
Too this day, the Muppets Christmas Carol had the best Scrooge from any version I’ve seen. There’s been countless but you can’t beat Michael Caine. Even when he’s talking to a frog.
It's important to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas: ghosts terrorizing rich people in the middle of the night until they agree to pay their employees more.
If ghosts actually existed, I wouldn't mind spending some time as a ghost in this way. I am not a big fan of Christmas, but I could make an exception to assist in this reason for the season. Dibs on Christmas Future!
One ghost, or two in this one for the Marleys, or countless for the other damned souls weighed down by their sins you see in the book. But the Ghosts of Christmas aren't ghosts despite the name, they're spirits
@@derekstein6193 that's fine, you can come as the spirit of Halloween's Past, or Thanksgiving Present, or Valentines' Day Yet to Come. Hell, maybe throw in some less commercialized holidays if that's your thing.
"and Tiny Tim... who did NOT die" is one of the most iconic line deliveries of all time haha! Loved this reaction you two, it really was joyous and heartwarming
Allison Brie's "Teeny Tim!", from the season 3 finale/Christmas episode of GLOW, is still one of my favorite deliveries. She plays a hilarious Scrooge.
I loved hearing from another channel -- I need to check for the channel name, but she mentioned that since Dickens' editors were so caught up with Tiny Tim's plight and noticed it wasn't clarified that he survived, in the original book, it is written exactly like that. "And to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he became a second father to..."
The funny thing is that is straight from Dickens who all caps the word NOT in the story, because he had forgotten and everyone asked him what about Tiny Tim
The level of joy in this reaction was off the charts. The synchronous singing was a bonus. The Jen Commandments #11 - "When with sister, thou shalt sing."
"God save my little broken body!" 🐀 Rizzo as the comedic punching bag accompanying Gonzo Dickens is my favorite part 😅 It absurdly offsets that Muppet Christmas Carol has more lines straight from Dickens than most adaptations. Muppet literary adaptations should have been a bigger thing, but sadly we only have this, Muppet Treasure Island (with Tim Curry!), and the hard to find Muppet Wizard of Oz.
May I recommend another Muppets classic: “Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas”. Also a musical, extremely heart-warming, all-Muppet cast. It’s got some great and memorable tunes and characters. Vintage 1977.
Steve Whitmore, who replaced Jim Henson, was nervous about taking up the torch. The night before he was to record his lines, he dreamed that Jim met him in a hotel lobby and told him everything would be alright.
If ever you thought Jen was just playing a character look no further than her hanging out with her sis… you can’t fake that 😆 this is the most wholesome thing I’ve seen in a while
You said, "It makes me want to read some Dickens." Exactly! 'A Christmas Carol' and 'Treasure Island' are two wonderful stories that can introduce children to classical literature, and Brian Henson did a wonderful job with both of them. I also love how carefully they chose the wording for Tiny Tim's death - while Bob Cratchit is lovingly helping his children understand, he is also speaking to the children in the audience.
Michael Caine has always been my favourite Scrooge, always appreciated Gonzo and Rizzo speaking directly to us. Cue about a week's worth of replaying the songs in my head 🎹🎻
For me this is my favorite version, both due to Caine’s performance and the songs. Respect to you that they only stay a week in your mind, I’m likely hear them for the rest of the year, and be perfectly happy about it.
I grew up with this movie as a child in the 90’s and as an adult it never fails to make me happy. Thank you for watching my favorite Christmas movie. Here’s to the songs getting stuck in your head throughout the year ;)
Following up on how much you loved Kermit's outfit, I've heard from the historical fashion nerds that out of countless productions of A Christmas Carol, this one in particular is hyper-accurate in all its period costuming, not just absolutely nailing the designs down to the year, even during the time skips in the Christmas past sequence, but also accounting for the fact that poorer characters would have fashion that's a few years out of date with respect to what year that particular scene of the story is set in, while the well-off characters have been able to afford the latest.
Michael Caine had always wanted to be on the Muppet Show, but had never got the call. He didn't have to change how he acted for the movie, saying in his memoir, The Elephant to Hollywood: "working with the Muppets was just like working with real people." A great Easter Egg near the end of the film. Here at 31:09 Scrooge passes the shop "Micklewhite's." Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite.
This is actually one of the most faithful adaptations of Charles Dickens’ novel put to film, despite the fact that it is performed largely by puppets. Gonzo appearing on-screen as Dickens really helps to preserve the whimsical narration style that Dickens employed in the original story.
Rizzo the Rat is my favorite character lol 15:37 the best line of the movie "hey, hey, hey, light the lamp, not the rat, light the lamp, not the rat!" Lol
It’s so nice to see you and your sister doing a reaction together again. I loved this movie when I was a kid, it’s on my list of Christmas movies that my family and I watch every year during the holidays.
The most accurate translation of "A Christmas Carol" that has ever been put to film. This is my autistic sons favorite movie. We have to watch this for about 4 months. If it snows, it's Christmas to them and we have to watch this the whole day.
This is one of my fave versions of this story & I can watch year round easily because I never get bored of it. One cute slight blink & you miss it thing at the end that's extra heartwarming is that Tiny Tim is sitting right near the reformed Mr Scrooge as they are about to enjoy their holiday feast. It showed the Crachit family accepted his reformation unquestionably & trusted him enough to know their youngest & smallest child would be safe near him 💖
Thanks so much for watching this one! I love you both! Another excellent telling of the Christmas Carol story is the 1970 film “Scrooge” starring Albert Finney.
Every actor I've ever heard from says that the difficulty working with Muppets was not acting with them. The Muppeteers tend to stay in performance mode between takes to keep themselves 'on' and there's loads of behind the scenes footage over the years that shows them larking around, complaining about meal penalties or the size of their trailers or whatever. I seem to remember an 'on set interview' with Miss Piggy when this movie happened where she does nothing but bitch about how small her part in the movie is. 🤣 There's some brilliant footage of Ricky Gervais with Elmo that will have you in stitches. Anyway, most actors have said that after a while they realized that they were only relating to the Muppets between takes and were totally ignoring the performers underneath - which made them feel bad but the performers were chill, and that was pretty much a 'mission accomplished' kind of thing for them. My favorite "Christmas Carol" was the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge that was made for TV about ten years before the Muppets' version. No song and no Muppets, alas, but George is unmatched as Scrooge for me - although it's not like anyone ever screwed up their performance in any version of this story that I've seen.
Such a good film, surprisingly its one of the most faithfully adapted versions of the original book too. Was great to see Tara again, I hope she's doing well.
Both Murray sisters was the best unexpected early Christmas present already, but discovering that they both do pitch-perfect Piggy impressions was just the icing on the cake!
There are two other Muppets Christmas specials. One has Characters from the Muppets, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock and the other is the Emmett Otter Christmas.
The extended cut has a song during the break-up scene. It's heart-wrenching, at least to me. The ending refrain -- "The love we found, we carry with us" -- is the song's mirror, as the missing song is "When Love is Gone".
I've been playing the soundtrack to this at Christmas since it came out. It was on playing on my phone in my truck today. This movie works because of Michael Caine. He said that he was going to act like he was with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He absolutely believes the Muppets are real. That makes him the best Scrooge of all.
A few years ago I watched this movie with my daughter and it changed our lives lol She got really into books in the public domain, the Muppets, storytelling tropes, and the idea of applying your art to someone else's to make a new unique thing. I can't wait to watch this on Friday with her 😍
This is most definitely heartwarming and one of my favourite childhood movies I ever seen. Muppet Christmas Carol was amazing to see Muppet and human beings mixed in film was genius for director Henson son. Thank you for great reaction ladies 😊
This is my favorite Christmas movie! I'm so glad you both saw it together, my sister and I would watch this when we were little. Always gets me nostalgic. 🙂🎩🎄🐸
A Christmas Carol is always a tear-jerker, this one especially. I think it's because with all the Muppet cuteness and everything, Michael Caine plays Scrooge absolutely straight, not recognizing at all that he's playing against puppets.
Imo it was a stroke of genius to have a muppet play the part of Charles Dickens as some of my favourite parts of the book are narration rather than dialogue.
Muppet Christmas Carol is a cute version. Michael Caine makes for a good Scrooge while Gonzo and Rizzo are a great duo! Fun to watch with you Jen, and your sister. 🎉🎄
Love to see Tara here with you Jen. Great sister energy. You should definitely try to do a few videos together a year if possible. I think we’d all enjoy that. Happy Christmas!!
I adore the original Muppet Movie, but if you measured which of their movies is my favorite by how many times I've rewatched it, this one would win by a mile. When Caine agreed to do this movie, he stipulated that he would play it seriously. No nod-and-wink "I'm working with muppets" moments. And that's part of why the movie is so good, that he plays it completely straight. For silliness we get Rizzo and Gonzo - sorry, I mean Mr. Dickens. There are some fun little jokes in the names of the stores during the finale. One of them is names Statler and Waldorf's, after the two old hecklers who in this one played Marley and Marley (in the book there was only one Marley, but they had two here so they could use the two old guys). Another is named Mickelwhite's, which is a reference to Michael Caine's actual last name. So glad you watched this one, and that you watched it together. It's good to see Tara again. Merry Christmas!
I used to watch Tara's channel, it's a shame she stopped but you guys are great together, you should definitely do more reactions with the both of you. Merry Christmas!
Poor man. In the book it describes that Scrooge was not Allowed to come home for Christmas when he was a boy. (heck he wasn’t allowed to come home at all until he got a job to support them all.) It wasn’t until he was almost an adult was he invited home. His baby sister was the one to come and bring him home. She was just as much a bundle a joy as her son. He doesn’t like his nephew because his baby sister died giving birth to him. But still tolerates. It’s why he’s able to get away with his shenanigans at the beginning of the movie. He met his girlfriend one Christmas Eve and she dumped him on Christmas Day years later. Basically almost everything bad that happened to him was during Christmas. You can see why he hates Christmas.
Sad Fact: The scene where Kermit talks about life being about greetings and partings was part of the Jim Henson company saying goodbye to Jim Henson himself as he passed away two years prior to the film's release. It was the first project done entirely without him.
Watched MCC many times, but only noticed during this reaction that the shop behind Scrooge is called Micklewhites, which is a nod to Michael Caine’s actual/original surname…
This movie is pretty accurate to the book and the time period. However, there is one big difference. They made Scrooge always a humbug. In the books, he actually liked Christmas. The book showed that, over time, all his love for Christmas and others, was instead soon directed towards money. Edit: In the VHS version of the movie, there is a song during the Ebenezer and Bell scene, that is cut out of the digital version. Which is a shame, because its a very emotional song.
Nothing makes me weep like the Muppets. When I hear those voices, my first friends I ever had, Jerry, Dave, Frank, Steve and Louise the remaining original performers, it's like family I haven't seen since I was 6 and I burst into tears. My mom has pictures of me sleeping with my Kermit the Frog doll and blanket, Emmet Otters Jug Band Christmas and John Denver and the Muppets a Christmas together are classics I grew up on!
Actually, the reason Rizzo cried was actually cause of a cut out song, now present in the Disney+ additional content, it serves as the first variant of the track, that ends the movie (making that a reprise).
The ghost of Christmas past always freaked me out. There's a condition (I forget the term) where the mind rejects a near human face. That muppet is near human.
This movie can't help but be good... 'cause Muppets! But, what makes this movie GREAT is that in a Muppet movie, playing to a bunch of puppets, Michael Caine played his role like he was with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing Richard III for Her Majesty... He played the entire movie no different than playing it with a human cast - and he was absolutely BRILLIANT!!! And - We miss you Tara!!! If you decide to dust off your channel, we have room in our hearts to watch Jen's AND your reactions!
You really should watch the The Muppet Show from the 70's/80's. It was a TV show and so many stars of the day came on the show to do skits and sing with them. It was so fun.
Easter eggs in the shop names: 30:57 "Statler and Waldorf" is obvious, but 31:10 "Micklewhite's" less so: Michael Caine's real name is Maurice Micklewhite.
Fun Muppet Show fact. Due to our different advertising rules the UK got about 3 extra minutes of content per episode than the US. Usually a song which is arguably the best part of the show.
IMO this is both the best screen version of The Christmas Carol, and also the best Muppet movie. Truly a beautiful work that will stand the test of time.
This movie has one of the smoothest transitions of Scrooge's character. Already at the end of Present's visit he's almost completely turned around and wants to change. I think him seeing his grave and being happy when he ends up back home feels the most authentic and deserved of a lot of the Scrooges.
What a shame that this version omits my all time favorite song. The song that made me cry as a child. The song that actually makes that scene emotionally impactful. “When Love is Gone”
18:02 if that transition feels weird, it's because that's where they took out the song that explained why the old man Scrooge is so cold-hearted. Its a real shame. If you can find the version with the he song, watch it.
My holiday season always starts and ends with Muppets. We watch Muppet Family Christmas when we put the tree up, and we watch Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. :)
Yes there is the Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets from Space, and several other Muppet movies.I really enjoyed you bringing your Sister along on this reaction. Merry Christmas!!
This is my favorite Christmas Carol adaptation. My favorite character is the Ghost of Christmas Present. Michael Caine played Scrooge as a dramatic role and treated all the Muppets as fellow actors, which makes a great contrast to all the comedy going around him and gave heart to the story.
Michael Caine was perfect as Scrooge. His one stipulation to taking this role is that he would play it as if he was working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He would never acknowledge that any character was a Muppet. This dedication made his portrayal amazing and helped make this a more of a traditional Christmas musical, instead of just another Muppet Show.
My Christmas wish has came to me early, Tara, so happy to see you again. Thank you Jen, for making my Christmas wish come true. Only one thing left for you two, To the Batpoles! Batman 66 awaits, those who have a love for camp. Camp basically funny content preformed straight. Welcome back, Tara, missed you a lot.
I had an absolute blast watching you 2 ladies together. I hope to see more with Tara in the future. Fantastic holidays to the 2 of you and anyone else reading this. Warm wishes and hugs all around.
Hey Jen! If you wanna see more Muppets, I HIGHLY recommend the original Muppet Movie from 1979. It's one that I watched constantly on repeat as a kid and now as a 38 year old guy, I still love it to this day! It has fantastic songs too!
I absolutely love the Muppets! This is a wonderful interpretation of the Dickens classic. I hope that you will watch more Muppet movies. I recommend going back to the original, The Muppet Movie (1979). If you are really interested, maybe you would enjoy watching some select episodes from The Muppet Show (1976-1981). There is hilarious Star Wars special.
This sure was a lot of fun and even though i dont wear jumpers as im allergic to wool i can appreciate them and you both look fantastic in them 🎉 im definitely looking forward to the fun again
I won’t be able to stay for the premiere but I’m glad to see you and your sister together again for this reaction, looking forward to watching it later.
30:41 you’ll likely end up forgetting that they’re puppets. Many of the guest stars of the Muppet Show forgot they were puppets because the puppeteers are just so good at what they do.
Love the synchronized looking down and sighing at 12:18. You're both correct, parts of this movie were very scary as a kid. The screaming door knocker really got me
I know it's coming every time, and every time when the future bits at the Cratchit house show up, I lose it. It really must also be that it's Muppets, and there's something about Kermit grieving but trying to stay strong that really amplifies the sadness.
what a great reaction jenn..it was fun seeing you and your sister have such a fun time together and such a great movie to start the holiday season off with
Did this cut contain Belle singing "The Love is Gone" during the break-up scene?? It's hard to tell from the yt reaction if it was just edited out or was the standard commercial cut, but it looks you didn't see it. It was removed after the theatrical release for the longest time, but I believe it was announced that it was getting put back in for the streaming version. It's such a good song and really sells the moment of heartbreak fro Scrooge (and explains why Rizzo was so upset when Belle walks away). I highly recommend watching it on youtube if you haven't seen it.
CHRISTMAS REACTIONS: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dr_-y1rBcRf8JdB98JlfbdR.html
SISTER REACTIONS: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dokNuhait52gMY7461cVNdG.html
Check out Tara's Channel: www.youtube.com/@TaraTunesIn
Awesome choice! Happy Holidays!
Tara, you are surely missed ❤ I'm still subscribed, and waiting patiently for your return!
@@e.d.2096 Me too, Eric, well said. 😊
From IMDB trivia: "The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Sir Michael Caine actively pursued the role of Ebenezer Scrooge when he heard that it was going into production. He had missed out on a guest star role on the TV series The Muppet Show (1976) which was shot in the UK while he was living as a tax exile in the US at the time. However friends and colleagues he knew who had guested on it such as Sir Roger Moore, John Cleese, Peter Sellers and Sylvester Stallone had told him they had a massive amount of fun appearing in the show and that it had also given them extra kudos with children too. By the time this film was greenlighted in 1991, Caine had moved back to the UK and when he heard it was going to be filmed in a a London film studio he had his agent badger Jim Henson Productions until they agreed to meet with him. They then cast him shortly afterwards."
He then insisted he would play the part absolutely seriously. Brian Henson said great. Michael considers this one of his most memorable role he had done.
Awesome to see Tara again!
I love that Michael Caine was largely the only human actor in the entire film, yet he treated the other performers as human beings, not puppets. He was the perfect choice for Scrooge.
He and Tim Curry are the best human actors in Muppets movies!
That's what's so great about the Muppets. They work best when you stop thinking about them as puppets.
@@Flamebeard0815 I would argue that Bren Browder and Claudia Black are pretty good too.
For that era, absolutely. Patrick Stewart was pretty good. I always thought Anthony Hopkins could play a good Scrooge. Bill Murray was perfect for an 80s version, but because it's 80s, it's an acquired taste. The best by far for me and everyone I know is the Alastair Sim version from 1951. It's like a horror movie, which is how the book is written. It's a ghost story. It should be a horror movie. But all too often, everything has to be toned down. Nobody liked Return To Oz, even though it was the most faithful adaptation of the novels. They liked the Judy Garland version, which was nothing nothing like the books. Parents are a bunch of wimps. The things they do actually harm kids more than the things they're actually afraid of.
That's the trick to a great performance in a Muppet movie. They either treat them like people (Michael Caine, Charles Grodin) or they act like Muppets (Tim Curry)
Michael Caine treated the Muppets as fellow theater actors and not like puppets. I think that's why this is such a wonderful adaptation.
That's why this movie and Muppet Treasure Island work so incredibly well.
Michael Caine is an actor and treats the muppets as fellow actors.
Tim Curry embodies being a Muppet and fits right in with the rest of them.
Both geniuses.
@@Ozai75 I was trying to think of this quote
I totally agree.
Apparently that's surprisingly easy to do: Alice Cooper also reports immediately feeling as if the Muppets were real, to the point of addressing the puppet, rather than the performer, in rehearsal.
There is a song called "When Love is Lost" that is sung when Ebenezer and his girlfriend break up. It was deleted from the film against the director's wishes. It was only in the standard definition version as the original film copy, of the song was thought lost. The film was recently found and inserted in the HD and 4K versions of the film. It makes the final song, "When Love is Found" all the more meaningful.
It is now also available on Disney+, in the Extras section of the film.
I hate that they took it out -- it really helps explain Scrooge.
I believe it is "When love is gone." rather than lost.
When I was a kid we had a VHS recording of Muppets Christmas carol that we watched every year with the song in it, I was quite confused after moving out when seeing a version where it skips it.
Yeah its a pain, when i had this on vhs it had the song on it and every subsequent version they hacked it out. That scene makes hardly any sense without it lol
I saw the version of the film with "When Love is Gone" restored for the first time last Christmas, and it definitely made the film work so much better, Belle breaking up with Scrooge ends up having more impact, and it adds more significance to the last song
Too this day, the Muppets Christmas Carol had the best Scrooge from any version I’ve seen. There’s been countless but you can’t beat Michael Caine. Even when he’s talking to a frog.
*ESPECIALLY when he's talking to a frog.
@@jmsmys13ify haha I think he’d do okay talking to a person but you know what? I stand corrected.
"Light the lamp, not the rat! LIGHT THE LAMP, NOT THE RAT!!!" 🤣🤣🤣
It's important to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas: ghosts terrorizing rich people in the middle of the night until they agree to pay their employees more.
If ghosts actually existed, I wouldn't mind spending some time as a ghost in this way. I am not a big fan of Christmas, but I could make an exception to assist in this reason for the season.
Dibs on Christmas Future!
One ghost, or two in this one for the Marleys, or countless for the other damned souls weighed down by their sins you see in the book. But the Ghosts of Christmas aren't ghosts despite the name, they're spirits
@@derekstein6193 that's fine, you can come as the spirit of Halloween's Past, or Thanksgiving Present, or Valentines' Day Yet to Come. Hell, maybe throw in some less commercialized holidays if that's your thing.
"and Tiny Tim... who did NOT die" is one of the most iconic line deliveries of all time haha!
Loved this reaction you two, it really was joyous and heartwarming
Allison Brie's "Teeny Tim!", from the season 3 finale/Christmas episode of GLOW, is still one of my favorite deliveries. She plays a hilarious Scrooge.
The effect of money on healthcare...
I loved hearing from another channel -- I need to check for the channel name, but she mentioned that since Dickens' editors were so caught up with Tiny Tim's plight and noticed it wasn't clarified that he survived, in the original book, it is written exactly like that. "And to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he became a second father to..."
The funny thing is that is straight from Dickens who all caps the word NOT in the story, because he had forgotten and everyone asked him what about Tiny Tim
The level of joy in this reaction was off the charts. The synchronous singing was a bonus. The Jen Commandments #11 - "When with sister, thou shalt sing."
YES !
This is by far the best adaptation of a Christmas Carol ^^
"God save my little broken body!" 🐀
Rizzo as the comedic punching bag accompanying Gonzo Dickens is my favorite part 😅 It absurdly offsets that Muppet Christmas Carol has more lines straight from Dickens than most adaptations.
Muppet literary adaptations should have been a bigger thing, but sadly we only have this, Muppet Treasure Island (with Tim Curry!), and the hard to find Muppet Wizard of Oz.
"You could fit through those bars?" "Yeah why?" "You're an idiot" "LIGHT THE LAMP NOT THE RAT, LIGHT THE LAMP NOT THE RAT" 😂😂
Wonderful seeing the sisters together again. I have missed Tara.
Same here
Ditto...
Agreed!
I love that the film acknowledged Gonzo’s chicken fetish.
May I recommend another Muppets classic: “Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas”. Also a musical, extremely heart-warming, all-Muppet cast. It’s got some great and memorable tunes and characters. Vintage 1977.
Steve Whitmore, who replaced Jim Henson, was nervous about taking up the torch. The night before he was to record his lines, he dreamed that Jim met him in a hotel lobby and told him everything would be alright.
If ever you thought Jen was just playing a character look no further than her hanging out with her sis… you can’t fake that 😆 this is the most wholesome thing I’ve seen in a while
Lol I appreciate that! Love my sis and she brings out the best in me :)
@@jenmurrayxoyou guys should do more together :)
You know doing reactions should really be used as an acting exercise. You're given your character and you have to react in character.
You said, "It makes me want to read some Dickens." Exactly! 'A Christmas Carol' and 'Treasure Island' are two wonderful stories that can introduce children to classical literature, and Brian Henson did a wonderful job with both of them. I also love how carefully they chose the wording for Tiny Tim's death - while Bob Cratchit is lovingly helping his children understand, he is also speaking to the children in the audience.
Michael Caine has always been my favourite Scrooge, always appreciated Gonzo and Rizzo speaking directly to us. Cue about a week's worth of replaying the songs in my head 🎹🎻
Second for me after Alistair Sim but very good and convincing while playing against puppets
He is a very close second to Patrick Stewart for me.
For me this is my favorite version, both due to Caine’s performance and the songs. Respect to you that they only stay a week in your mind, I’m likely hear them for the rest of the year, and be perfectly happy about it.
I grew up with this movie as a child in the 90’s and as an adult it never fails to make me happy. Thank you for watching my favorite Christmas movie. Here’s to the songs getting stuck in your head throughout the year ;)
Following up on how much you loved Kermit's outfit, I've heard from the historical fashion nerds that out of countless productions of A Christmas Carol, this one in particular is hyper-accurate in all its period costuming, not just absolutely nailing the designs down to the year, even during the time skips in the Christmas past sequence, but also accounting for the fact that poorer characters would have fashion that's a few years out of date with respect to what year that particular scene of the story is set in, while the well-off characters have been able to afford the latest.
Michael Caine had always wanted to be on the Muppet Show, but had never got the call. He didn't have to change how he acted for the movie, saying in his memoir, The Elephant to Hollywood: "working with the Muppets was just like working with real people."
A great Easter Egg near the end of the film. Here at 31:09 Scrooge passes the shop "Micklewhite's." Caine was born Maurice Micklewhite.
This is actually one of the most faithful adaptations of Charles Dickens’ novel put to film, despite the fact that it is performed largely by puppets. Gonzo appearing on-screen as Dickens really helps to preserve the whimsical narration style that Dickens employed in the original story.
The costume design in this went so much harder than it needed to and I'm here for it.
IKR
Rizzo the Rat is my favorite character lol
15:37 the best line of the movie "hey, hey, hey, light the lamp, not the rat, light the lamp, not the rat!" Lol
It’s so nice to see you and your sister doing a reaction together again. I loved this movie when I was a kid, it’s on my list of Christmas movies that my family and I watch every year during the holidays.
Yes I Agree 👍💯😊
The most accurate translation of "A Christmas Carol" that has ever been put to film.
This is my autistic sons favorite movie. We have to watch this for about 4 months. If it snows, it's Christmas to them and we have to watch this the whole day.
This is one of my fave versions of this story & I can watch year round easily because I never get bored of it. One cute slight blink & you miss it thing at the end that's extra heartwarming is that Tiny Tim is sitting right near the reformed Mr Scrooge as they are about to enjoy their holiday feast. It showed the Crachit family accepted his reformation unquestionably & trusted him enough to know their youngest & smallest child would be safe near him 💖
Thanks so much for watching this one! I love you both! Another excellent telling of the Christmas Carol story is the 1970 film “Scrooge” starring Albert Finney.
Every actor I've ever heard from says that the difficulty working with Muppets was not acting with them. The Muppeteers tend to stay in performance mode between takes to keep themselves 'on' and there's loads of behind the scenes footage over the years that shows them larking around, complaining about meal penalties or the size of their trailers or whatever. I seem to remember an 'on set interview' with Miss Piggy when this movie happened where she does nothing but bitch about how small her part in the movie is. 🤣 There's some brilliant footage of Ricky Gervais with Elmo that will have you in stitches. Anyway, most actors have said that after a while they realized that they were only relating to the Muppets between takes and were totally ignoring the performers underneath - which made them feel bad but the performers were chill, and that was pretty much a 'mission accomplished' kind of thing for them.
My favorite "Christmas Carol" was the one with George C. Scott as Scrooge that was made for TV about ten years before the Muppets' version. No song and no Muppets, alas, but George is unmatched as Scrooge for me - although it's not like anyone ever screwed up their performance in any version of this story that I've seen.
Such a good film, surprisingly its one of the most faithfully adapted versions of the original book too. Was great to see Tara again, I hope she's doing well.
Both Murray sisters was the best unexpected early Christmas present already, but discovering that they both do pitch-perfect Piggy impressions was just the icing on the cake!
There are two other Muppets Christmas specials. One has Characters from the Muppets, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock and the other is the Emmett Otter Christmas.
The extended cut has a song during the break-up scene. It's heart-wrenching, at least to me. The ending refrain -- "The love we found, we carry with us" -- is the song's mirror, as the missing song is "When Love is Gone".
I've been playing the soundtrack to this at Christmas since it came out. It was on playing on my phone in my truck today.
This movie works because of Michael Caine. He said that he was going to act like he was with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He absolutely believes the Muppets are real. That makes him the best Scrooge of all.
A few years ago I watched this movie with my daughter and it changed our lives lol
She got really into books in the public domain, the Muppets, storytelling tropes, and the idea of applying your art to someone else's to make a new unique thing.
I can't wait to watch this on Friday with her 😍
Nice to see Tara again 😊
“What could happen now?”
You & Me : “this”
This is most definitely heartwarming and one of my favourite childhood movies I ever seen. Muppet Christmas Carol was amazing to see Muppet and human beings mixed in film was genius for director Henson son. Thank you for great reaction ladies 😊
It’s Tara! I just posted on one of her videos that’s she’s missed. Stoked to see you both in this reaction!
By far my favorite Christmas movie. Glad you both enjoyed it so much and thank you for reacting to it!
That was awesome! And it's great to see Tara again, please do all Muppet movies together!
This is my favorite Christmas movie! I'm so glad you both saw it together, my sister and I would watch this when we were little. Always gets me nostalgic. 🙂🎩🎄🐸
A Christmas Carol is always a tear-jerker, this one especially. I think it's because with all the Muppet cuteness and everything, Michael Caine plays Scrooge absolutely straight, not recognizing at all that he's playing against puppets.
Michael Caine is one of those actors that can just do absolutely anything. A true master of the craft.
Imo it was a stroke of genius to have a muppet play the part of Charles Dickens as some of my favourite parts of the book are narration rather than dialogue.
Bahaha 'we're Murray and Murray' is hilarious
The two tartan hair bows and the sweaters are adorable.
Muppet Christmas Carol is a cute version. Michael Caine makes for a good Scrooge while Gonzo and Rizzo are a great duo! Fun to watch with you Jen, and your sister. 🎉🎄
THANKS TO MICHAEL CAINE RETIRING AT 90. SO MANY GREAT ROLES. 🎉
Love to see Tara here with you Jen. Great sister energy. You should definitely try to do a few videos together a year if possible. I think we’d all enjoy that. Happy Christmas!!
Yes I Agree 💯
After a long grueling day at work, this was the Christmas movie reaction I needed. Thanks Jen and Tara!!
A lot of the phrases that Gonza says throughout the film are from the book, if you ladies are still wondering.
I adore the original Muppet Movie, but if you measured which of their movies is my favorite by how many times I've rewatched it, this one would win by a mile.
When Caine agreed to do this movie, he stipulated that he would play it seriously. No nod-and-wink "I'm working with muppets" moments. And that's part of why the movie is so good, that he plays it completely straight. For silliness we get Rizzo and Gonzo - sorry, I mean Mr. Dickens.
There are some fun little jokes in the names of the stores during the finale. One of them is names Statler and Waldorf's, after the two old hecklers who in this one played Marley and Marley (in the book there was only one Marley, but they had two here so they could use the two old guys). Another is named Mickelwhite's, which is a reference to Michael Caine's actual last name.
So glad you watched this one, and that you watched it together. It's good to see Tara again. Merry Christmas!
The Jim Carrey version is 100% animated, and it’s probably the scariest version of A Christmas Carol because of the “uncanny valley,” lol.
A Christmas Carol was also the first story to include time travel 🤯
I used to watch Tara's channel, it's a shame she stopped but you guys are great together, you should definitely do more reactions with the both of you. Merry Christmas!
Poor man. In the book it describes that Scrooge was not Allowed to come home for Christmas when he was a boy. (heck he wasn’t allowed to come home at all until he got a job to support them all.) It wasn’t until he was almost an adult was he invited home. His baby sister was the one to come and bring him home. She was just as much a bundle a joy as her son.
He doesn’t like his nephew because his baby sister died giving birth to him. But still tolerates. It’s why he’s able to get away with his shenanigans at the beginning of the movie.
He met his girlfriend one Christmas Eve and she dumped him on Christmas Day years later.
Basically almost everything bad that happened to him was during Christmas.
You can see why he hates Christmas.
Sad Fact: The scene where Kermit talks about life being about greetings and partings was part of the Jim Henson company saying goodbye to Jim Henson himself as he passed away two years prior to the film's release. It was the first project done entirely without him.
When the Muppets had a weekly show, actors and singers used being asked on the show as proof they had made it.
this movie has become a thing to watch every year om Christmas...i doubt that will ever change for me
LOVE THIS MOVIE!
One of the funniest Muppet films ever made!
Watched MCC many times, but only noticed during this reaction that the shop behind Scrooge is called Micklewhites, which is a nod to Michael Caine’s actual/original surname…
I love this movie. I always see this movie every year during the Christmas season.
This movie is pretty accurate to the book and the time period. However, there is one big difference. They made Scrooge always a humbug. In the books, he actually liked Christmas. The book showed that, over time, all his love for Christmas and others, was instead soon directed towards money.
Edit: In the VHS version of the movie, there is a song during the Ebenezer and Bell scene, that is cut out of the digital version. Which is a shame, because its a very emotional song.
Nothing makes me weep like the Muppets. When I hear those voices, my first friends I ever had, Jerry, Dave, Frank, Steve and Louise the remaining original performers, it's like family I haven't seen since I was 6 and I burst into tears. My mom has pictures of me sleeping with my Kermit the Frog doll and blanket, Emmet Otters Jug Band Christmas and John Denver and the Muppets a Christmas together are classics I grew up on!
Actually, the reason Rizzo cried was actually cause of a cut out song, now present in the Disney+ additional content, it serves as the first variant of the track, that ends the movie (making that a reprise).
The ghost of Christmas past always freaked me out.
There's a condition (I forget the term) where the mind rejects a near human face. That muppet is near human.
The phrase you are thinking of is The Uncanny Valley.
Great reaction Jen! So nice to see Tara join you for this special movie!
This movie can't help but be good... 'cause Muppets! But, what makes this movie GREAT is that in a Muppet movie, playing to a bunch of puppets, Michael Caine played his role like he was with the Royal Shakespeare Company, performing Richard III for Her Majesty... He played the entire movie no different than playing it with a human cast - and he was absolutely BRILLIANT!!!
And - We miss you Tara!!! If you decide to dust off your channel, we have room in our hearts to watch Jen's AND your reactions!
You really should watch the The Muppet Show from the 70's/80's. It was a TV show and so many stars of the day came on the show to do skits and sing with them. It was so fun.
Easter eggs in the shop names: 30:57 "Statler and Waldorf" is obvious, but 31:10 "Micklewhite's" less so: Michael Caine's real name is Maurice Micklewhite.
Fun Muppet Show fact.
Due to our different advertising rules the UK got about 3 extra minutes of content per episode than the US.
Usually a song which is arguably the best part of the show.
IMO this is both the best screen version of The Christmas Carol, and also the best Muppet movie. Truly a beautiful work that will stand the test of time.
Hey! That's your sister? No way! I'm subscribed to her too! I had no idea!
This movie has one of the smoothest transitions of Scrooge's character. Already at the end of Present's visit he's almost completely turned around and wants to change. I think him seeing his grave and being happy when he ends up back home feels the most authentic and deserved of a lot of the Scrooges.
Murray and Murray 🎶🎵 Tara has the best impressions out-of nowhere 😂
All I wanted for Christmas was to see My 2 Favorite Sisters back-together again💝and Y'all have Granted My Wish!!✌
What a shame that this version omits my all time favorite song. The song that made me cry as a child. The song that actually makes that scene emotionally impactful. “When Love is Gone”
My favourite Christmas movie of all time aswell as my favourite Muppet movie🎄!
18:02 if that transition feels weird, it's because that's where they took out the song that explained why the old man Scrooge is so cold-hearted. Its a real shame. If you can find the version with the he song, watch it.
My holiday season always starts and ends with Muppets.
We watch Muppet Family Christmas when we put the tree up, and we watch Muppet Christmas Carol on Christmas Eve. :)
Yes there is the Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets from Space, and several other Muppet movies.I really enjoyed you bringing your Sister along on this reaction. Merry Christmas!!
This is my favorite Christmas Carol adaptation. My favorite character is the Ghost of Christmas Present.
Michael Caine played Scrooge as a dramatic role and treated all the Muppets as fellow actors, which makes a great contrast to all the comedy going around him and gave heart to the story.
Michael Caine was perfect as Scrooge. His one stipulation to taking this role is that he would play it as if he was working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He would never acknowledge that any character was a Muppet. This dedication made his portrayal amazing and helped make this a more of a traditional Christmas musical, instead of just another Muppet Show.
My Christmas wish has came to me early, Tara, so happy to see you again.
Thank you Jen, for making my Christmas wish come true. Only one thing left for you two, To the Batpoles!
Batman 66 awaits, those who have a love for camp.
Camp basically funny content preformed straight.
Welcome back, Tara, missed you a lot.
Such a fun holiday movie. I luv a Muppet!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed ☺️🎄
I had an absolute blast watching you 2 ladies together. I hope to see more with Tara in the future. Fantastic holidays to the 2 of you and anyone else reading this. Warm wishes and hugs all around.
Happy holidays!
Hey Jen! If you wanna see more Muppets, I HIGHLY recommend the original Muppet Movie from 1979. It's one that I watched constantly on repeat as a kid and now as a 38 year old guy, I still love it to this day! It has fantastic songs too!
I absolutely love the Muppets! This is a wonderful interpretation of the Dickens classic. I hope that you will watch more Muppet movies. I recommend going back to the original, The Muppet Movie (1979). If you are really interested, maybe you would enjoy watching some select episodes from The Muppet Show (1976-1981). There is hilarious Star Wars special.
Jen would adore The Muppet Show! Fantastic hosts, musical numbers, and general Muppet variety show shenanigans.
A Jen & Tara Team-Up? Awesome-sauce! I'll be here with bells on.
Full Disclosure: There will be no bells, but I'll definitely be here. 👍☮❤🤓🤓
gotta be honest, i was kinda looking forward to the bells.
@@seerofallthatisobvious1316🤣
This sure was a lot of fun and even though i dont wear jumpers as im allergic to wool i can appreciate them and you both look fantastic in them 🎉 im definitely looking forward to the fun again
I won’t be able to stay for the premiere but I’m glad to see you and your sister together again for this reaction, looking forward to watching it later.
This reaction is so cute 😊 was smiling the entire movie
30:41 you’ll likely end up forgetting that they’re puppets. Many of the guest stars of the Muppet Show forgot they were puppets because the puppeteers are just so good at what they do.
Love the synchronized looking down and sighing at 12:18. You're both correct, parts of this movie were very scary as a kid. The screaming door knocker really got me
I know it's coming every time, and every time when the future bits at the Cratchit house show up, I lose it. It really must also be that it's Muppets, and there's something about Kermit grieving but trying to stay strong that really amplifies the sadness.
what a great reaction jenn..it was fun seeing you and your sister have such a fun time together and such a great movie to start the holiday season off with
Michael Caines performance here is one of the greatest I have ever seen. This is top 5 Christmas movies hands down.
Did this cut contain Belle singing "The Love is Gone" during the break-up scene?? It's hard to tell from the yt reaction if it was just edited out or was the standard commercial cut, but it looks you didn't see it. It was removed after the theatrical release for the longest time, but I believe it was announced that it was getting put back in for the streaming version.
It's such a good song and really sells the moment of heartbreak fro Scrooge (and explains why Rizzo was so upset when Belle walks away). I highly recommend watching it on youtube if you haven't seen it.
A wonderful classic. Just seeing the title made me so nostalgic.