15 Feltastic Behind-the-Scenes Facts About ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol'
From the Broadway stage to the cheapest television network to some surprisingly decent adult productions (“Dickens” is right there), there's no shortage of A Christmas Carol adaptations, but The Muppet Christmas Carol might be one of the best. Combine those beloved monster puppets with an unflinching Michael Caine and a big dose of heart, and you've got a holiday hit. But bringing it to life was no stroll down Sesame Street.
Brian Had to Say Yes
The Muppets Christmas Carol was the first Muppets movie since Jim Hensen's death in 1990 and his son Brian's first directorial feature ever. When his agent pitched the idea to him, Brian Hensen was hesitant about the whole idea, but “while I was thinking about it, he called me back and said, ‘’ve sold it to the ABC TV channel.’” His hands were kind of tied at that point.
The Original Ghosts Were Different
When the film was initially developed as a straight-up comedy, the Ghost of Christmas Past was going to be played by Scooter or Robin the Frog, the Ghost of Christmas Future was going to be Animal or Gonzo, and Miss Piggy would have played a “bacchanalian” Ghost of Christmas Present, but they soon decided they “wanted to do something a little bit more sophisticated.” You know, like a giant with cognitive dysfunction and a creepy baby.
Gonzo Was the Least Likely Dickens
In fact, what took Gonzo out of the running for Ghost of Christmas Future was the decision to cast him as Charles Dickens. Hensen said this was because he was the “least likely choice” to play the author, which is just untrue. What about Pepe the King Prawn? The Count? Give us a Swedish Chef Charles Dickens, you cowards.
The Search For Scrooge
Speaking of what could have been, when the movie was still a comedy, Hensen wanted a funny Scrooge like Tim Curry or even George Carlin. As the direction of the film changed, they started looking at more serious actors like David Hemmings, Ron Moody, and David Warner before scoring the Caine.
Michael Caine Took His Job Very Seriously
Upon being cast, Caine told Hensen, “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.” It’s hard to say he failed.
The Opening Scene Was Done With Tiny Buildings
The movie’s opening scene appears to take the viewer soaring over Muppet London, but it was actually achieved with an incredibly slow-moving cameraman -- “maybe one or two frames a second,” according to Hensen -- walking backwards through a set of models “only about three tall.” In fact, in order to get the shot, around 30 people had to stand by to push the buildings into place at the last second so the cameraman wouldn’t just trample them.
You Can See the Tiny Buildings in the Background
The crew also used scale models as a forced perspective trick to make the streets of Muppet London appear longer, but at the end of the “It Feels Like Christmas” musical number, these buildings can be seen in the background, looking like a Muppet London for ants. Hensen caught the error but figured no one would notice or care because he overestimated his nerd audience.
Caine Had to Walk the Plank
To accommodate the Muppeteers piloting the creatures from below, the floor of the set was a criss-cross of wooden planks for the human actors to navigate. That means Michael Caine was never more than one wrong step from a nasty fall into a pile of puppets.
You’d Better Appreciate Those Frog Legs
Hensen said his dad “always wanted to do something new with Kermit” in each movie, and Hensen decided “I wanted to see him walking and dancing,” but that took a lot of clever tricks. First, Muppeteers dressed in blue against a blue screen (“because Kermit’s green”) walked him over a “cobblestone textured barrel,” then the crew filmed a tracking shot of the street so it would look like he was moving forward, then spliced the two shots together.
They Drowned the Creepy Baby
Well, sort of. To get the hair and dress of the Ghost of Christmas Past to float just right, the puppet was filmed underwater. The crew first submerged the puppet in a vat of -- what else? -- baby oil, but “it actually costs an enormous amount of money to get that much baby oil” and “it still moves beautifully in the water.”
The Shooting Star Was a Tribute to Jim Hensen
Hensen decided to film Kermit watching a shooting star as a tribute to his dad, who included a similar shot in 1979’s The Muppet Movie. It’s since become a Muppet movie tradition to include a scene with a character, usually Kermit, looking up to see a shooting star.
One Building is a Tribute to Caine
During the movie’s finale, a shop named Micklewhite’s can be seen in the background. It’s named after Michael Caine, whose birth name was Maurice Micklewhite to ensure that he was as English as possible. What do you think they sell? Settees? Lorries? Loos?
Songs Were Recorded That Were Cut
If you’ve ever seen the Muppet Christmas Carol soundtrack and noticed a few songs you don’t recognize, it’s because they were recorded for the movie but ultimately left on the cutting room floor. One sung by Sam the Eagle to a young Scrooge, “Chairman of the Board,” was filmed before Hensen decided it “disrupt the flow” of the movie, while “Room in Your Heart,” sung by Bunsen and Beaker, was scrapped before it was even filmed.
One Cut Song Was Restored
Meanwhile, a song performed by Scrooge’s lost love interest in a flashback, “When Love is Gone,” was included in early test screenings but removed after children got bored with the grownup love song. Hensen always had a soft spot for it, however, and it was restored to all future releases in 2020.
It Helped the Company Grieve
For a while, the crew was unsure whether they even wanted to continue their work without Jim Hensen, so The Muppet Christmas Carol was symbolic of their decision to move forward. “It was such a soulful piece, and a chance to carry on the heart of Jim’s work: the idea that people were basically good, and there was enough in the world for everyone,” performer Dave Goelz said. “It was cathartic.”