'' THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL -1992 '' : FILM

 

Does a Christmas movie have to be about Christmas? If it merely takes place around Christmas, how prominently does the holiday have to feature for it to qualify?

And really, must it be a merry christmas? The Grinches and Scrooges of the world have streaming subscriptions, too.

STREAM it on Disney+ and Hulu. Rent it on Amazon, Apple TV, Google Play, Vudu and YouTube.

He may be surrounded by singing, dancing, mischief-making Muppets, but Michael Caine gives the role Ebenzer Scrooge, the heartless miser of Charles Dickens's '' A Christmas Carol, '' every bit the gravity of screen antecedents like Alastair Sim, Basil Rathbone and Albert Finney.

This allows '' The Muppet Christmas Carol '' to position him as the ideal straight man, a grouchy counterpoint to the silliness of Kermit the Frog's earnest Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as a typical brassy Emily Cratchit and the three offbeat ghosts who show Scrooge the path to redemption.

The film proves it's possible to honour Dickens while paying a visit to Fozzie Bear's rubber chicken factory.

The World Students Society thanks The New York Times.