#9 - Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Continuing on the 1990s Christmas movie binge, here's another one. This one is sometimes overlooked in the Muppet movie canon. It was the first Muppet film made after Jim Henson's sudden death in May of 1990, his son directing this one. It was not the big hit Disney had hoped for when it was released for the 1992 Christmas season either, going up against Home Alone 2. (Disney had bought Jim Henson Studios in 1989, and the Muppet characters with it.) The film did okay critically, but I think that the Muppets were on the wane at the time, what with Henson's death a few years earlier and them having been off the television for years. Still, it's a film worth seeing even if it isn't the crown jewel of the Muppet film crown.
What we have here is yet another retelling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This time there are the human characters, which are the main characters of the film aside from Bob Cratchit, who is played by Kermit the Frog. Ebenezer Scrooge is the great Michael Caine, Steven Mackintosh is his nephew Fred, Robin Weaver is Fred's wife, and Meredith Braun is Belle. Besides a few town kids, the rest of the characters are played by muppets. Miss Piggy is Mrs. Cratchit, Gonzo narrates as Charles Dickens, Statler and Waldorf are the Marley brothers, Fozzie is Fezziwig (here called Fozziwig of course), and Sam the Eagle is the schoolmaster from Scrooge's past. This is the first time that humans were main protagonists alongside the muppets in a muppet film. This way of doing the films has continued on in two of the three Muppet films made since this one. As far as A Christmas Carol adaptations go, this one is pretty good. It doesn't cut out as much as some adaptations, and the way they work in the songs is pretty great. There was one song cut from the theatrical version of the film (and the latest blu-ray version) that they released when it was put on VHS. Most people consider it an important part in the story, as it shows why Scrooge hates Christmas and why he's so mean. And I agree. It's also a pretty depressing song, showing how Scrooge and his betrothed break up over money. How dare they cut out a song written by the great Paul Williams?!
I don't really have much to say about this one, as I've already spoken of two other adaptations of A Christmas Carol. It's a great family film and should be home in any Muppet-lover's collection. I'll leave you with my favorite song in the film, sung by my favorite muppet characters, Statler and Waldorf.
#8 - Twilight Zone: Night of the Meek (1960)
Yeah, yeah. I'm cheating a bit here. This isn't a Christmas special or a Christmas film. It's simply the one Christmas episode that was broadcast in the 5 season run of The Twilight Zone. But it sure is a memorable, heartfelt episode. Everyone should see this one at least once. This story has Art Carney playing Henry Corwin, a drunkard who has a job playing Santa at a department store. He's fired when he gets there an hour late. He lives in the poor part of town where kids go hungry and everyone dresses in shabby clothes. He yells out at his former manager that he wishes that if he had one wish he'd "like to see the meek inherit the earth!" Despondent, he walks the streets and after being refused entry into a bar finds a large sack which produces anything anyone wants. He spends the evening handing out gifts, for once happy that he's able to do some good for those that need it. Sadly, those in power believe he's stolen the gifts from his old job and try to get him thrown in jail. Don't worry folks. It's a Christmas story. Even in the Twilight Zone, those have happy endings.
This is one of the most beloved Twilight Zone episodes, and for good reason. It has the show's main plot point of ordinary people being put in extraordinary circumstances, getting their wish. It has that supernatural aspect to it as well. Most of all, it's good a lot of pathos to it. It's a tearjerker of a story, yet empowering. I guess in a way it's like It's A Wonderful Life, which itself could have been a Twilight Zone episode if you think about it. The episode was written by show creator Rod Serling, who besides having a great speaking voice and a great business mind, also was a profound humanist and writer. He wrote about a third of the show's stories and when you see this one, you'll realize why he's so highly regarded.
Since this show aired, a lot of films have taken the show's plot and morphed it a bit. There's shades of The Santa Clause and Ernest Saves Christmas in this story too, even though this is definitely not a comedy. You can view this episode for free on Amazon through streaming and I suggest you do so. It'll only take 30 minutes. You can find it in season 2. Here's an early scene from the episode (the video quality isn't great because it's one of 6 Twilight Zone episodes to be filmed on video instead of film), which shows why this episode is so great. I mean, he's fired by Piglet!
#7 - Home Alone/Home Alone 2 (1990/1992)
Who doesn't love Home Alone that grew up in the 1990s? Just as those that grew up in the 1980s had A Christmas Story (not a favorite of mine), and those that did so in the 2000s had Elf, we had the Home Alone films. Heck, I even liked the third one! (Not included here because I never found it Christmasy enough, and let's face it, it pales in comparison to the first two.) This is the film that catapulted Macauley Culkin to stardom... for about five years. Who could resist a movie about a cute mischievous little boy who's accidentally left alone at home while his family goes to France for Christmas? Oh, and he's got to deal with burglars and a man who may be a killer lives on his street too. It's pretty evident that John Hughes wrote this, isn't it? What, that story's not enough? How about two years later little Kevin gets on the wrong flight and ends up in New York while his family is in Florida? (Man, this kid's got the worst parents in the world! They should be up for child neglect charges!)
Let's talk about the first film. It was an instant Christmas classic from the time it was released. It conveyed the message that family is important around Christmas, even if you don't get along most of the time. Sure, the traps Kevin sets for the Wet Bandits are way above a typical 10 year old's cognitive abilities, but they're funny to watch. Who cares in that case? It's implausable, but then again most films are. If they were all truthful, they'd be boring as hell most of the time. We see Kevin grow up a bit as he's left to fend for himself as the film goes on, and we see his mother try anything she possibly can to get back home to her son, because she feels (rightly) that it's all her fault. It's rather heartwarming. It helps that Catherine O'Hara is a wonderful comic actress who can do heartbreaking well too. Even Culkin is a pretty good actor. (Okay, so he didn't really have to emote. So what?) I mean, a young kid carries basically the whole movie on his own, with just a bit of help from the ever annoying Joe Pesci and the ever in pain Daniel Stern later in the film. Those guys do slapstick so well it's a wonder Joe Pesci doesn't do it more. (Stern is better at it, though.) By the end of the film the family gets back together and everyone now knows the meaning of togetherness at Christmas. Awww....
Now two years later, part 2 came out. It's basically the same film as the first one was, with all the major cast from the first film returning as well. However, this time Kevin is lost in New York City alone... with his dad's credit card. (How very convenient, yes?) Of course, the stakes are higher here as the Wet Bandits escaped jail and are also coincidentally in New York, and the consierge at the four star hotel that Kevin is staying at is a big snoop as well, knowing something odd is going on. (It's the fantastic Tim Curry in that role, and it's one of my favorite of his. He's great at comedy and should do more of it.) There's a lot of repeated jokes and lines from the first film, which kids like but film fans tend to groan at. I must admit in this film, I like them. The frail old man that Kevin is afraid of in the first film is replaced by a bird lady in this film who fills the same role-type here. The film is still totally implausable, but it still works. In fact, I like the second film more than the first one. The film even has the same third act as the first one with Kevin setting traps for Marv and Harry. This time, they tend to be even more painful though. It got bad enough that Roger Ebert took offense at the violence. "Cartoon violence
is only funny in cartoons. Most of the live-action attempts to
duplicate animation have failed, because when flesh-and-blood figures
hit the pavement, we can almost hear the bones crunch, and it isn't
funny." He wasn't the only one that thought so either. The film was attacked by concerned parents groups, as many films were in the early 90s.
Here's one of my favorite parts from the second film. It's one of those scenes which harkens back to the first film and the Angel With Dirty Souls scene with the tommy gun noises.
It's a series of films that people of my generation should definitely show their kids. Hell, watch it every Christmas with them. They're great family films, great Christmas films, heck just great films period!
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