While discussing the many film versions of Dickens’s marvellous A Christmas Carol, my film course students hinted at the possibility that not only is The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) the best of these films, it may be the best Christmas film ever made. The thing is, though, that it’s quite likely that none of my students has actually ever seen The Muppet Christmas Carol. The way it was MEANT to be seen, that is. Decades ago (before DVDs and before most of my students were born), my favourite scene (and arguably the most important scene) in The Muppet Christmas Carol was left out of the theatrical and video releases of the film and then lost. I was so upset by this loss that to this day I own a working VCR just so I can watch my old VHS tape of The Muppet Christmas Carol, which still contains that most critical scene (the one where Belle sings to Ebenezer). 

But now a Christmas miracle has occurred! The scene has been recovered and restored in wonderful HD glory and anyone who has Disneyplus can watch it (it’s worth a trial-rental just for this, and no, I am not being paid for this ad). Click on the film, then click on ‘Extras’ and then click on ‘Full-length version’ and there it is (why this wouldn’t be the default version is beyond my understanding, though rumour has it that the scene was originally deleted because it was too depressing for the kids – a travesty). So if you’re still looking for that perfect Christmas film for the whole family to watch this Christmas, here it is, looking and sounding better than ever before. And the more often I watch The Muppet Christmas Carol (I have watched it between 20 and 25 times), the more I am inclined to agree with my students: it doesn’t get much better than this. You’ve got the wonderful songs of Paul Williams, the brilliant performance of Michael Caine as Scrooge (whose vulnerability in this version’s ghost scenes is quite unique), The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens, and of course Kermit and Miss Piggy as Bob and Emily Cratchit (with Robin the Frog as Tiny Tim). “It’s true: Wherever you find love, it feels like Christmas”.