THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	None	Mild	Mild	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	None	Moderate	None	None

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
None	None	Minor	Minor	Minor

QUICK TAKE:: Childrens: The Muppets present the Charles Dickens classic about a wealthy, but mean businessman who gets a second chance at life.

PLOT:: Narrators Charles Dickens (GONZO) and Rizzo the rat (as himself) tell the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge (MICHAEL CAINE), a wealthy but miserly businessman who is disliked by nearly everyone is his town. It's Christmas Eve and while serving eviction notices, Scrooge threatens to fire his employees, including Bob Cratchit (KERMIT), when they ask for a pay raise or more coal to keep the office warm. That night, alone at home, Scrooge gets an unexpected visit from the ghosts of his former partners, the Marleys. They tell him that he'll be visited that night by the three ghosts of Christmas "past," "present," and "yet to come." When those ghosts arrive, they take him on a journey where he visits his life as a child, the present where he sees how others talk about him, and the future where he sees his own demise. Realizing that his and a Cratchit family member's future are in jeopardy, he changes his ways, hoping that he'll be able to change his future.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G: For not containing any material to warrant a higher rating.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: All but the Scrooge character, played by MICHAEL CAINE are good role models, and even he comes around by the end of the film.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 7 out of 10: This in an enjoyable version of the classic Dickens tale. Several musical numbers add to the story, giving it that Disney/Broadway feel, and the usual Hensen production quality is as outstanding as ever. While there isn't as much humor aimed toward parents as in some of the other Muppet films, adults won't be too bored and kids will thoroughly enjoy it. Caine does a fine take as Scrooge and the Muppets -- well, they do just fine playing Muppets. If you're interested in a holiday film for the whole family, you won't go wrong with this one. We give it a 7 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: There's very little to object to here. Those with younger kids should be aware that several scenes involving ghosts and scary music might be frightening to them, but older kids shouldn't be affected. Violence is limited to harmless "cartoon-like" acts where characters are knocked over or fall to the ground such as they always did in the old Muppet TV show. Other than Scrooge's bad attitude for half of the movie, there's nearly nothing else to object to. There are a few restless moments for kids, such as in the musical numbers where no Muppets are present, but there aren't that many and most kids should enjoy watching this film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A Muppet character sitting on a window ledge has a jug in his hand, but doesn't drink from it.
Scrooge's nephew and family drink wine with Christmas dinner.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Scrooge has both as he's a miserly, miserable person who only cares for himself. He won't give to charity and won't spend enough money to keep his office employees warm. He serves eviction notices on Christmas eve and the only thing he has to say about Christmas is "bah humbug." About those who are sick, he says that "they should go ahead and die and decrease the surplus population." He does come around once he's had his Christmas tour with the three ghosts.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Dickens tells us that Scrooge's former partners are now "dead and decaying in their graves."
The knocker on Scrooge's door turns into the head of one of the Marley brothers and it lets out a ghostly wail. Scrooge then slowly makes his way through his dark and shadowy house looking for any other out of the ordinary things.
A bell starts ringing on its own and the fireplace goes out in Scrooge's house. The ghosts of the Marley's then appear and may be scary looking to younger kids, but they the two "grumpy old men" from the Muppet show looking pale white and ghostly transparent.
The ghost of Christmas yet to come arrives with ominous music, a thunderstorm clap and a cloud bank engulfing Scrooge. It might scare some kids as it's a large character with a hood concealing its face in a cloak of blackness. They also spend some time in a graveyard with thunderstorm sounds where Scrooge sees his own headstone.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a moderate amount of scary sounding music in the scenes when two out of the three Christmas ghosts appear. While not long in duration, there's enough there to possibly scare younger kids.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: There is a brief scene from the future where Scrooge sees Cratchit and his family distraught over the death of Tiny Tim.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Ghosts.
Leading one's life to the fullest and helping others who are in need.

VIOLENCE: (All of the incidents listed below are cartoonish in nature and no one appears to be hurt from any of this)
One character in a puppet show bonks another character on the head.
Scrooge picks up a man asking for an extension on his mortgage and literally throws him out the door.
Scrooge throws a Christmas wreath at someone on the street.
Dickens tries to catch Rizzo as he jumps down from a gate, but misses and Rizzo hits the ground hard.
Dickens and Rizzo are pulled through a forest of trees as they catch a ride from a rope attached to the flying Scrooge and the ghost of Christmas past.
A cat that was chasing Rizzo smacks into a closed door and falls to the ground.
Dickens and Rizzo slide down a wall shelf and fall to the floor.
Rizzo's tail is accidentally set on fire as a street lamp is being lit. Dickens knocks him from the lamp and into a bucket of freezing water. Later he takes the ice encased Rizzo and smashes him against a table to free him from the ice.
Dickens and Rizzo are twice knocked to the street below when windows are opened, pushing them from the window sills they were sitting on.
A band member is accidentally hit in the face by another, overzealous member who swings his arms backwards.

Reviewed December 7, 1996

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