“Happy Christmas in July! As Im huddled up next to the fan, trying to keep my overheating laptop as far from my skin as possible, Im thinking of snow covered muppets.
I grew up with everything Muppet. I watched Muppet Babies, the Muppet Show, all the movies. There’s lots of franchises worth of characters I claim to know, but none so well as these loveable fluff balls. The ultimate friendship test for me, and I’m dead serious about this, if you say “”phenomenon””, I will instinctively respond with do do doo dodo. If you look at me weird, or dont get the reference, we CANNOT be friends. Okay, not getting the reference may be forgiveable in some situations, but if you look down on me in any way, it’s over. The Muppets are important to me, and I still get warm fuzzies thinking about them, and Im actually really excited for their upcoming film. I think Jason Segel’s hands are capable ones to have entrusted these special little creatures. But we’re not here to talk about that today. Today is about Muppet Christmas Carol.
I realize that The Christmas Carol is one of the most overdone stories in the book. Just see how many actors you can think of who have played Scrooge over the years on stage and screen. But my question to you is when this version exists, why would you ever bother creating another? You couldnt get any more perfect. Michael Caine. Muppets. Magic!
Walk down memory lane time. First time I saw this was at the old (now long closed) movie theater downtown. My parents took me on a Saturday afternoon. We were pretty much the only ones in the auditorium. They let me sit by myself waaaaay up in front with them at a more comfortable midway back. It’s the little things like that that excite a 7 year old.
My favorite part of the movie is the friendship and banter between Gonzo and Rizzo. This was the first time they were paired together, and as a result Rizzo is my favorite Muppet. No question. Their pairing was pure genius.
For a history class in high school we had to write and illustrate a children’s book that was a biography of a famous historical figure. Luck of the draw gave me Charles Dickens. I scoured the internet for pictures of Gonzo. There was a Muppet Babies one for the childhood page, and other similarly fitting ones. I was quite proud of it, and got an A. Someone else tried something similar. Their person was French, so they illustrated with Pepe Le Pew. They got points taken off for doing that. Go me!
You know what else makes this Christmas Carol superior to all other Christmas Carols? The music. One More Sleep Til Christmas is prolly my fave Christmas song. They’re cute without being overly juvenile. More wonderful Muppet magic.”