The Muppet Christmas Carol
Short description
The Muppet Christmas Carol retells Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol with the Muppets taking on nearly every role. Ebenezer Scrooge, a miser who begrudges his clerk even a bit of coal and dismisses the holiday with a scornful word, is visited on Christmas Eve by supernatural guides who show him his past, his present and what lies ahead. Frightened by what he sees, Scrooge begins to reconsider the life he has led. Michael Caine plays Scrooge straight, while Gonzo narrates as Dickens and Kermit the Frog appears as the put-upon clerk Bob Cratchit.
Brian Henson directed the film, his first feature, from a screenplay by Jerry Juhl; Henson also produced with Martin G. Baker. It is a British-American production from Walt Disney Pictures and Jim Henson Productions, running 86 minutes. The puppeteer cast includes Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz and David Rudman, with 67 credited performers in all.
Made for about 12 million dollars, the film took roughly 35 million at the worldwide box office. Audiences rate it 7.8 out of 10 on IMDb and 7.5 out of 10 on TMDB, while critics give it 7.5 out of 10, so critical and audience assessments sit close together. Henson went on to direct three further features, beginning with Muppet Treasure Island in 1996.
What's left behind the scenes
- This was the first major project with the Muppets after the death of their creator, Jim Henson (1926-1990). Kermit was played by Steve Whitmire, who admitted that playing such a famous character was not easy. According to Whitmire, the night before recording Kermit’s songs, he dreamed of Henson. In the dream, Whitmire met Henson in the hotel lobby and confessed how worried he was, to which Henson replied that there was no need to worry and that everything would be alright. Waking up the next morning, Whitmire felt great and was completely confident.
- Initially, producers wanted Jack Lemmon (1925-2001) to play Scrooge, but he insisted on being cast as Kermit. The producers said that Lemmon "must be crazy" and gave the role of Scrooge to Michael Caine.
- Upon learning about the upcoming project, Michael Caine actively sought the role of Scrooge. He was unable to appear as a guest star on "The Muppet Show" (1976-1981) because the series was filmed in the UK, while he was living in the US at the time. Friends and colleagues – such as Roger Moore (1927-2017), John Cleese, Peter Sellers, and Sylvester Stallone – who did appear as guest stars on the show, told Caine how much fun they had and how their participation in the filming boosted their popularity with the children's audience. By the time the "The Muppet Christmas Carol" project was approved (in 1991), Caine had already returned to the UK. Learning that the film would be shot in London, Caine instructed his agent to pressure representatives of Jim Henson Productions until they agreed to meet with him. When such a meeting finally took place, he soon after received the role of Scrooge.
- A special doll was created for the filming, which was used in the pool and whose image was then inserted into the film to make it appear as if it was swimming or floating.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
