imagitory reblogged
*slowly reaches for the popcorn*
The Muppet Christmas Carol, Die Hard, While You Were Sleeping, Little Women (1994), Miracle on 34th Street (Maureen O’Hara Natalie Wood), A Charlie Brown Christmas
imagitory reblogged
🎄 25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS → DAY SEVENTEEN 🎄 THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992), dir. Brian Henson "Mother always taught me: Never eat singing food."
imagitory reblogged
#...yes#yes he did XDDD#(yes I did just finish watching this movie and it was very charming!)#(it does make me wonder why the muppets have never tried tackling charlie and the chocolate factory as a property though!)#(is it the copyright thing? must be the copyright thing)#(because seriously gonzo as willy wonka and robin the frog as charlie would be adorable)#wonka (2023)#willy wonka#the great gonzo#gonzo the great#the muppet christmas carol#the muppets
So my mum and I were revisiting one of our all-time favorite Christmas movies, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and I think maybe -- just maybe -- there's some really fun symbolism we've all been missing out on. And it all has to do with our main character Scrooge and the color red.
Okay, so at the beginning of the film, Scrooge is in all black, from head to toe. It makes him this wonderful dark shadow over the rest of the cast, and also makes him immediately stand out when he's in public, since everyone else is much more colorfully dressed.
Contrast this especially to the people who are closest to him, Bob Crachit and his nephew Fred.
Well, well, isn't this interesting...both of them have red in their costumes. Even later on, at Fred's Christmas party, we see his wife also wearing red.
The Ghost of Christmas Present -- the ghost who in this film arguably influences Scrooge the most out of all of them -- has a bright red beard...
Oh yes, and we mustn't forget that our favorite narrator "Charles Dickens" is also wearing a bright red coat. (Even his friend Rizzo has some red in his scarf.)
Red as a color can mean lots of different things symbolically -- violence, passion, anger, courage, danger...but I think the one most relevant to this reading is love and warmth. Why? Because even when we see Scrooge as a young man prior to the "all black" treatment, his definitive color is a dark blue.
Notice how much cooler young Scrooge's overall color palette is compared to the much flashier, rosier Fozziwig. (And yes, I think that rosy palette is on purpose -- in the film, Scrooge even describes Fozziwig as being "as hard and as ruthless as a rose petal.") It also makes it so that when Scrooge meets Belle (at this point dressed in pale green with pink rose details), their palettes compliment each other a little bit more, even if Belle's look is still softer, lighter, and warmer in tone to Scrooge's cool, serious ensemble.
But when Belle and Scrooge part ways, we see them wearing colors that contrast much more. Scrooge is still in cool, detached blue, but Belle is in...
Red. Specifically, like Bob and Fred, she has red right around her neck, in the form of her bonnet's ribbon. And it's presumed that over time, after losing Belle and withdrawing more into himself and his own greedy self interest, that Scrooge lost the remaining color of his life and became the cold, black-hearted moneylender we see in the film.
Then of course Scrooge goes through this radical transformation thanks to the Ghosts of Christmas, as we all know...and the very first Christmas present he receives, as a thank you for his charity, is from one of the charity workers, played by Beaker. What is it?
A red scarf.
It's a gift given in the spur of the moment, and yet from Scrooge's reaction, we can tell it's something foreign to him. It's likely it's been ages since he's received such a modest, and yet heartfelt gift from anyone. Scrooge feels the warmth of the gesture, not just because a scarf keeps one's neck warm, but because it was given out of such sincere gratitude and kindness. And as startled as he is by it, he responds with such sincere joy, and wears it happily for the rest of the day. He wears that warmth as easily as Fred and Bob wore it earlier in the film -- as if it's become a part of him. And in a strange way, it has.
For the first time, arguably in his whole life, Scrooge has a true understanding of selfless, loving warmth. The warmth that he should and does feel for the people most central to his life and identity -- his nephew and niece-in-law, his loyal subordinate, his first employer, his first love...even the Spirits who taught him the true "meaning of the season." A kind, generous warmth that permeates the entire story of A Christmas Carol because it's what Charles Dickens loved so much about the holiday season and so wished to spark in his audience.
imagitory reblogged
Charles Dickens and Rizzo
I drew this last year for a Muppet Christmas zine that never happened.
imagitory reblogged
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), dir. Brian Henson
imagitory reblogged
OK THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL EVERYONE FUCKING REPEAT AFTER ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU WATCH MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS YEAR:
You will navigate to the page on disney plus (and it has to be here. Unless someone has actually uploaded the REAL movie anywhere else you cannot get it elsewhere)
BUT YOU WILL NOT HIT PLAY. You won’t do it. Because it’s NOT THE REAL VERSION OF THE FILM AND DISNEY IS FUCKING LYING TO YOU AS IT ALWAYS DOES
You will scroll down HERE. To EXTRAS instead. You MUST GO HERE. This is non -negotiable
THEN YOU WILL SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EXTRAS AND YOU WILL THEN HIT PLAY ON THIS BAD BOY: THE FULL LENGTH VERSION
And you will watch it. And you will thank me for having been so blind and led astray by that stupid fucking mouse. You’re welcome.
ok children gather 'round because all of these kindof have the same answer and I am way too passionate about this subject and the history behind it that I physically cannot remain silent about it
So if you were a 90's kid like me, you grew up with this film on VHS. if you were also like me, then you probably remember it very differently from how it was released recently both in blu-ray and on streamer formats and probably were freaking out thinking this was some kind of mandela effect for years: and THIS IS BECAUSE. THERE IS A CRUCIAL SCENE MISSING. AND LITERALLY I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. THE TWO MINUTES CUT KINDOF CHANGE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE WHOLE MOVIE??? and allow me to explain why.
That video above it the Deleted Song "When Love is Gone" was ONLY EVER featured on the VHS release of The Muppet Christmas Carol that came out through the 90's. Why? because initially, some uppity disney executive market tested it and went "kids are gonna get antsy with that and not like it" so they cut it then for the theatrical release, but then Brian Henson (director, son of JIM) somehow managed to get it into the VHS cut of the film. Kinda went rogue about it if memory serves. Now, as a child, this was kindof... a huge part of the movie for me? like I remember listening to it and crying a bit as a kid because this one song is just... so emotional? like seriously. other than the fact that it's being sung by Meredith Braun (who at one point played Eponine in Les Mis, and you gotta have some SERIOUS pipes to do that) AND Michael Cain, and it's a love song in a way, like it's very clear that she still cares for Ebenezer but she recognizes that her love for him is different than his love for her and she has to leave him, meanwhile THE MAN IS BEHIND HER CRYING AND SHE DOESN'T EVEN SEE HIM AND CLEARLY IT'S THE BIGGEST REGRET HE HAS And honestly? That's a HUGE part of what made it stand out for me as a child. Like. The muppets themselves were all fun and good but then you have this song for a second... and it really feels true to the dickensian spirit guiding the whole film, and it's what's made it to me the most true to form adaptation of his yet. It's phenomenal. And this dumbass disney exec said "it's too adult emotional for the kids" (an argument that always has and will always continue to be completely fucking stupid).
So then what happened? why didn't they put it in the DVD and Blu Ray releases that have come out throughout the years? Well, literally DISNEY LOST THE FOOTAGE. APPARENTLY. so when they went to restore it and reformat it for those releases AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY for the streamer release, it was literally missing. and Brian Henson has been asking them to look for YEARS. FINALLY they found it back in 2020, and then only last year did they upload the fully restored version that you see me ranting and raving about.
"But Egg", you ask, "why does this matter? What does this small 2 minute sequence change about this movie SO MUCH that it merits a huge ass post about it that is making people confused?"
Because let me tell you friends. Belle does not seem very significant and kindof pointless to flashback to without that song. It's like ok. she's there. She tells Ebenezer she's breaking up with him. and then... THE MUPPETS CRY ABOUT IT??? and that's it. That's all you get. you don't get any of the sense of how deeply this affected this guy- the LITERAL PROTAGONIST THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT. And it's all because, again, say it with me folks: the dipshit disney executive said "It's Too Emotional For Children".
Not ONLY that. But THIS SONG IS LITERALLY THE REPRISE THEY SING AT THE END OF THE FILM. WHICH. LET ME TELL YOU. IT'S FUCKING WEIRD FOR THAT TO LITERALLY COME OUT OF NOWHERE COMPLETELY LEFT FIELD AS A NEW SONG AT THE END. Like it makes no sense. ok sappy sentimental "the love we found" all right. BUT REMEMBER. THE ORIGINAL LYRIC IS "LOVE IS GONE". IT'S SYMMETRY. IT'S POETRY. IT'S FUCKING VITAL. An the movie is good as it is but literally trust me this makes it infinitely better when you see it as a whole. Please. Just trust me on this. Thank you and goodnight. oh yeah and here's a decent article that talks about it and that shall serve as my source for a lot of this
you're welcome
The Mouse... lost something that would make It money? WTF. (eyeroll)
(Disclosure: I have taken the Mouse's money and in return for it did good work that I'm still pleased with, in a universe I'd loved since childhood; so, as we say around here, "sorry, Not Sorry." Yet all the people I was working with at Disney in the late 80s were well aware of the Rodent's more greedy-and-grasping qualities. "They didn't get so rich by overpaying their writers," was one theme that made the rounds a lot.)
Anyway; I can't imagine this movie without that song. The pain is necessary for the full joy later. Seek out the full version if you can.
ETA for European viewers (and maybe others, who knows): On Disney+, the "Extras" page for "The Muppet Christmas Carol" now explicitly offers both the excised song (as a standalone) and the version with the excised song.
imagitory reblogged
imagitory reblogged
It’s that time of year again when I make this hill and die on it.
imagitory reblogged
I HAVE WAITED ALL YEAR TO POST THIS
date of origin: December 24th, 2015
imagitory reblogged
THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (1992) - Directed by Brian Henson
imagitory reblogged
The Muppet Christmas Carol + love
imagitory reblogged
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) dir. Brian Henson