The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

All Critics (36) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (11) | DVD (10)

The fit between sentiment and satire is not always a comfortable one and the more dedicated fans of either the story or the Muppets may leave theaters dissatisfied.

November 27, 2007

Henry Sheehan

Hollywood Reporter

Top Critic

Nothing can really diminish the late Jim Henson's irresistibly appealing characters.

November 27, 2007 Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

This is the dullest and least successful adaptation of the Christmas chestnut I've ever seen.

November 27, 2007 Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Good fun.

June 24, 2006 Full Review

Derek Adams

Time Out

Top Critic

There's no great show of wit or tunefulness here, and the ingenious cross-generational touches are fairly rare. But there is a lively kiddie version of the Dickens tale, one that very young viewers ought to understand.

August 30, 2004 Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

Like all the Muppet movies, this one is a musical, with original songs by Paul Williams (my favorite is the early chain-rattling duet by the Marley brothers). It could have done with a few more songs than it has.

January 1, 2000 Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

There's lots to love here, particularly Michael Caine's deadly straight take on Scrooge.

November 22, 2012 Full Review

Henry Barnes

Guardian [UK]

The late Jim Henson would have been proud of the job that his son did directing this production. It's a solid Muppets feature. Call it "The Muppets Take Dickensian London."

November 22, 2012 Full Review

James Plath

Movie Metropolis

Director Brian Henson should have left brand expectations out of it and simply carried on in the vein of his father's excursions into fantasy.

November 19, 2012 Full Review

Bill Chambers

Film Freak Central

There are plenty of laughs and a host of memorable songs crooned by everyone from Miss Piggy to Statler and Waldorf.

November 19, 2012 Full Review

Neil Smith

Total Film

A gentle, fuzzy version of the Dickens classic.

December 18, 2010 Full Review

Heather Boerner

Common Sense Media

Not, maybe, the most rigorous of Christmas Carol adaptations, although it is a lot more faithful than one would perhaps have expected... at any rate a great Muppet film.

December 22, 2009 Full Review

Tim Brayton

Antagony & Ecstasy

A mixed bag of mixed moods.

November 27, 2007 Full Review

TV Guide's Movie Guide

...an above-average Muppet movie...

January 7, 2006 Full Review | Comment (1)

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Incredibly faithful to the original text.

December 15, 2005 Full Review

Tony Whitt

Now Playing Magazine

Strikes just the right balance of irony and sincerity...genuinely heartwarming, from its opening dedication to Henson and Hunt to its joy-to-the-world finale. [Blu-ray]

December 6, 2005 Full Review

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews

...there is magic to spare in the Muppets' congenial and moving version with Michael Caine. (Anniversary Edition)

November 30, 2005 Full Review

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

It's hard not to smile at this one and be moved by it at the same time. (Anniversary Edition)

November 30, 2005 Full Review

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

With so many good versions of this story on film, it's a little difficult to recommend this telling

November 20, 2005 Full Review

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

• 1. Fozzie Bear: My speech! Here's my Christmas speech. Ahem. 'Thank you all, and Merry Christmas.'
  2. Jacob Marley: That was the speech?
  3. Robert Marley: It was dumb!
  4. Jacob Marley: It was obvious!
  5. Robert Marley: It was pointless!
  6. Jacob Marley: It was... short! [turns to Robert]
  7. Jacob Marley: I loved it! [simultaneously]
  8. Robert Marley: I loved it! [simultaneously]
  – Submitted by Nick S (5 months ago)
• 1. Rizzo the Rat: I fell down the chimney and landed on a flaming hot goose!
  2. Great Gonzo: You have all the fun!
  – Submitted by MarieBella C (9 months ago)
• 1. Great Gonzo: He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scr...[notices the smudged window of Scrooge's office] Boy, this really *is* a dirty city!
  2. Rizzo the Rat: Heh you're telling me!
  3. Rizzo the Rat: [Gonzo grabs Rizzo and uses him to wipe off the window pane] Thank you for makin' me a part of this!
  4. Great Gonzo: [dropping Rizzo] He was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge: a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, clutching, covetous old sinner!
  – Submitted by MarieBella C (9 months ago)
• 1. Kermit the Frog: If you please Mr. Scrooge, it's gotten colder, and the bookkeeping staff would like an extra shovel full of coal for the fire?
  2. Additional Muppet Performer: We can't do the bookkeeping, all our pens have turned to inkcicles!
  3. Additional Muppet Performer: Our assets are frozen!
  4. Ebenezer Scrooge: How would the bookkeeping staff like to be suddenly... UNEMPLOYED?
  5. Additional Muppet Performer: [singing] HEAT WAVE. This is my island in the sun.
  – Submitted by MarieBella C (9 months ago)
• 1. Rizzo the Rat: Oh, Gonzo, speak to me! I mean, Mr. Dickens. Charlie! Are ya hurt?
  2. Great Gonzo: [sits up] To say that Scrooge became startled would be untrue. Still the moment had passed, and the world was as it should be.
  3. Rizzo the Rat: He ain't hurt, didn't even break his concentration.
  4. Great Gonzo: Huh?
  5. Rizzo the Rat: Nothing!
  – Submitted by MarieBella C (9 months ago)
• 1. Rizzo the Rat: How do you know what Scrooge is doin'? We're down here and he's up there!
  2. Great Gonzo: I told you, storytellers are omniscient; I know everything!
  3. Rizzo the Rat: Hoity-toity, Mr. Godlike Smarty-Pants!
  4. Great Gonzo: To conduct a proper search, Scrooge was forced to light the lamps. [the lamps come on]
  5. Rizzo the Rat: How DOES he do that?
  – Submitted by MarieBella C (9 months ago)

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