THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992) **1/2 See, see, it is possible to make good films about great literature, you just need a bunch of puppets! Charles Dickens' plot is so simply brilliant that ten generations of grade school productions haven't been able to botch it, so the Muppets give it their shot. In so doing they recruit Michael Caine into their number. Michael entirely ignores the fact that he's surrounded by fuzzy entities, and delivers an impressive and chilling Scrooge. Well, it would be chilling if it wasn't for those puppets coming in and letting the cold air out all the time by their silly asides, but...it's not that the asides are the best part, just that they're funny enough to be forgiven, and Michael should have known that it wasn't going to be a straight production when he saw the cast list. Some of the special effects are tremendous (going into the future with the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come-do try this effect in your school play next year!), and Miles Goodman's music is special enough to give the Muppets more deflation targets. Yeah, yeah, sure, some people are going to think that Dickens in the hands of Miss Piggy is somewhat banal, and it's a position not entirely without merit, but those people will never fully understand the glories involved in casting The Great Gonzo as the genius himself.
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