Mom, Dad, isn’t this cool, now everybody in the world is going to see what I wrote down. This means that someone in India will read this stuff.

Behold, the “Muppet” version of the classic Dickens’ holiday horror story. The macabre premise of ghosts and things that go *bump* in the night is softened by the whimsical critters made popular by Jim Henson, bless his heart.
It’s no small wonder that Scrooge (played by Kermit) begins to experience nightmares, after a long bout with severe social anxiety and antisocial personality disorder. I imagine anyone would have such psychological problems if they were being stalked by a large singing pig wearing a blond wig. I know I would. Why, I’d be afraid to open up to anyone, too!
The situation is made worse by the hallucinations Kermit starts having at night. He seems much more at ease with the spectres that haunt his dreams than he does with other talking frogs, however- a curiousity that is never quite explained in this film.
Scrooge/Kermit takes us on a journey into his own psyche, where his fears take form and he sees his life as it is, and will be if he doesn’t do something about his stalker.
Rather than call the police about her and get an order of protection or telling his frog family to bugger off, he enters a state of denial, fantisizing that everything will be good in his life if he just gives in to the demands of others.
Gleefully, the other characters commence spending his fortune on themselves. One can only imagine that they are too selfish and impatient to wait for their inheritance, and we hope that Kermit/Scrooge does not truly die alone, as his nightmarish premonition suggested.

Three and a half stars.

Jim Henson (the creator of the Muppets) had been dead, dead as a door-nail, for two years when this Muppet movie was made. His son, Brian Henson, manned the helm for this entertainment venture, and the results are pretty good.

Oh, the cleverness and imagination that marked “The Muppet Show” and “The Muppet Movie” are not in full force here, but they are here, and those of us who loved those earlier Muppet capers will get a satisfying portion of the … entertainment ingenuity that Jim Henson was famous for.

This puppeted version of “A Chrsitmas Carol” is surprisingly faithful to the original story (as it was written by Charles Dickens).

Michael Caine plays Scrooge, and I think it is among his best efforts as an actor. He clearly took the role seriously, and his performance bumps the movie up a grade (as quality entertainment). Most of the other characters are, of course, played by Muppets. Well known roles are filled by well known Muppets … which is fun. The few other parts that are played by people are played by very good acting people (I felt) … not name actors, but good ones none-the-less. However, Muppets abound!

The original songs for “A Muppet Christmas Carol” were written by Paul Williams, which would incline us to expect some pretty good stuff, but he (Williams) does not come through for us here. They’re not terrible songs, however, just not memorable ones.

But this movie is a nice frolic through the pages of a friendly old classic … fun for even the youngest of viewers.