The Muppet Christmas Carol – Picture Disc

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All of a sudden I was waking up in the morning with no cravings. I'd found my tribe. I was comfortable and grateful in this world in a way I'd never experienced before," declares Williams. "That's when I was asked to write a score about Scrooge, who is experiencing a spiritual awakening and a changed outlook. It was a perfect fit." Henson believed that Frank Oz, the voice of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal, as well as the director of The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, should have been overseeing The Muppet Christmas Carol instead of him. Michael was the first actor we approached," says Henson. "I knew I wanted a British actor, and he had to have a certain standing. That limited the field in a healthy way."

If you are already a fan of hers then enjoy this Christmas offering, if you haven’t yet been bought in to her beautiful crazy world, then you are welcome and enjoy! The Muppet Christmas Carol's popularity is so immense that it has become a focal point of the festive season for many friends and families, who insist that Christmas hasn't really begun until they've belted out, "There goes Mr Humbug, There goes Mr Grim," in unison at full volume.

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JT: I have loved this routine ever since I first saw it. I just watched it again and I was giggling away like an idiot. He is a glorious character and the writing appears so simple, which is what makes it such a triumph.

It isn’t easy acting drunk and it is even harder to make it this funny. It also helps that Dan and I have met a few Jeremy Lions in our almost 20 years of touring family-friendly theatre… You can see why it never made it to air, but still the laughter is so infectious that it has you crying with them! It only feels right that the United Kingdom gets to see The Muppet Christmas Carol in its correct form, as Henson credits the British audience with building its legacy. "The following year after its release, when it was sold on videotape, so many people watched it in the UK. It broke all sorts of records. It was a small-screen hit," remarks Henson. "It was the British that really forced the reintroduction of the film to the American market. Now, every year audiences just gets bigger and bigger, too." We knew that, if we were going to do it, we just had to do it respectfully, because the story and the book demanded that," says Henson. "That was good, because it stopped us talking about Miss Piggy as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Gonzo as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. We threw all that out."

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Hiring Williams to work on the songs for The Muppet Christmas Carol proved to be a masterstroke, as he used his own recent spiritual awakening as a parallel for Scrooge's journey. The writer of The Carpenters' We've Only Just Begun and Barbra Streisand's Evergreen, Williams had worked on The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie, earning an Oscar nomination for the latter's song Rainbow Connection. Which is all the more remarkable, since Williams struggled with alcohol and drug addiction through his life, up until 15 March, 1990. There was one awkward moment between Caine and a member of The Muppet Christmas Carol's creative team, though. Unfortunately, when he introduced himself, Williams' decade-long amnesia made him forget that he'd actually already met the legendary actor.

Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world.In the days before YouTube, I remember it being like the holy grail if your friend somehow had a bootlegged VHS of the show and you’d all gather round and watch in awe at this often rough round the edges crazy LIVE comedy show. So here is Jonnie Common and Bec Hill with Yippie Ki-Yay Father Christmas –in my ongoing quest that this could one day be our Christmas number one!