33 Years Ago Today, One of the Best Christmas Movies Ever Arrived (And You May Have Never Seen the Real Version)

The holiday season is in full swing and with it, all of the holiday movies one could wish for covering just about every genre one can imagine. There are action films, comedies, dramas, and more Hallmark Christmas romances than you can imagine. But of all of the holiday offerings each year, this is one Christmas movie that stands out as perhaps one of the best ever made. It’s a film that first graced the screen 33 years ago today — and believe it or not, you may not have ever seen the real version of this beloved classic.

Premiering on December 11, 1992, The Muppet Christmas Carol is without question one of the best Christmas movies of all time. The film, the first in the Muppet franchise following the death of Jim Henson in 1990, was directed by his son Brian Henson and in addition to featuring the beloved cast of Muppets also starred the legendary Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. While it was just a modest box office hit, it’s become a holiday classic — and it inhabits a special place in movie history.

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The Muppet Christmas Carol Is Disney’s First Muppet Film (Before They Actually Owned The Muppets)

There are a handful of things that make The Muppet Christmas Carol a unique and interesting film. For starters, while the film leans into the overall Muppet aesthetic (how else would one actually make a Muppet movie if not by leaning into the Muppet of it all?) it also manages to be incredibly faithful to its source material. The Muppet Christmas Carol is an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic 1843 novella A Christmas Carol and the film sticks very closely to the original story. This makes for an especially charming and fascinating viewing experience given the somewhat serious tone of the story when balanced by the often-humorous elements of the Muppets — which is also reflected in another element of the film.

You see, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the first Muppet film to feature a human as the main protagonist — in this case, Caine’s Ebenezer Scrooge. And Caine plays it perfectly, with his Scrooge being every bit as serious as you’d expect him to be. It makes for some truly memorable scenes when he’s juxtaposed with Kermit the Frog’s Bob Cratchit. The Muppet Christmas Carol is also unique outside of its actual content because of where it falls in Muppet history. the film is the first Muppets film produced by Disney. This bit is interesting because, just 12 years later, Disney would acquire the rights to the Muppets characters and assets. Kind of makes you wonder if the Ghost of Christmas Future saw that coming.

You’ve Probably Never Seen The Real Version of The Muppet Christmas Carol

There’s also something very interesting about The Muppet Christmas Carol that even some of its biggest fans may not be aware of. The film, as is the case with most Muppets movies, features a number of songs throughout but in the case of The Muppets Christmas Carol there is one song that was cut from the theatrical version — and was cut against the wishes of the director. the song “When Love Is Gone” is sung by the character Belle (played by Meredith Braun), the woman that young Scrooge falls in love with. In the song, she laments that his love of money has surpassed his love for her and she leaves him. It’s sad and moving. In the movie as it was shown in theaters — and as most audiences have seen it — the scene where Belle leaves Scrooge is brief, but he breaks down after having to relive it. The song adds some context to that heartbreak.

So, why was it cut? Apparently, then-chairman of Walt Disney Studios thought the song wouldn’t appeal to young viewers so the song was moved to the end credits instead. It’s a decision that didn’t really make that much sense as the song in the movie’s finale is “When Love Is Found”, which is an answer to that song. Some home release versions of the movie included the song in various formats, but not all of them, further complicating the issue for fans wanting to see the movie as it was originally made. However, in 2022 things changed in 2022. The Muppet Christmas Carol was released on the streaming platform with the full-length version available to viewers as an option at least — you just have to find it in the film’s extra’s section where it can be selected as “The Muppet Christmas Carol (Full Length Version)”.

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