The Muppet Christmas Carol (Like You’ve Never Heard It)
Fans from Liverpool to Nottingham can enjoy The Muppets’ beloved holiday tale accompanied by an orchestra!
Fans in the UK are in for a treat this coming holiday season. Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol — accompanied by an orchestra — will tour the United Kingdom.
Hey, in this English major’s opinion The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of the best adaptations of the Charles Dickens’ classic.
DigitalSpy.com’s Justin Harp posted:
What better way to celebrate the holidays than with the best-ever adaptation of Charles Dickens’ festive story? (We’ll stand by that opinion until we’re all tied up in chains like Jacob Marley!)
The world is hopefully going to return to some semblance of normality in the next several months, so Disney is celebrating by giving Disney’s The Muppet Christmas Carol a live concert tour across the UK.
The six-date tour will take place this winter, featuring conductor David Mahoney and The Novello Orchestra performing both Miles Goodman’s score and Paul Williams’s timeless songs along with the movie.
For the rest of us, Disney+ has the film on tap.
And, of course, my favorite reviewer, the late Roger Ebert, gave us the lowdown:
The movie, directed by Brian Henson, son of the late Muppet creator Jim Henson, follows the original fairly faithfully. Like the earlier three Muppet movies, it manages to incorporate the Muppets convincingly into the action; we may know they’re puppets, but usually we’re not much reminded of their limited fields of movement. Ever since Kermit rode a bicycle across the screen in “The Muppet Movie” in 1979, the Muppeteers have managed to bypass what you’d think would be the obvious limitations of the form. This time, they even seem to belong in Victorian London, created in atmospheric sets that combine realism and expressionism.
Mr. Ebert also pointed out that including The Muppets lightened up “a tale of Gothic gloom relieved only at the end by the warmth of holiday cheer.”
However, add a live orchestra alongside Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and the gang. Then, drop all of that in the world of Dickens — and you have a bonified holiday happening in the UK.
But here’s hoping that Disney+ drops some coverage of the spectacle on Christmas Eve.
As Tiny Tim said, “God bless us, every one!”