20 Best Muppet Christmas Carol Moments

Promo image for The Muppet Christmas Carol (Image via Walt Disney Pictures/Jim Henson Productions)

4. Gonzo as Dickens is Genius

I think most of us think of Charles Dickens as some sort of august genius. He was a Victorian,after all, which carries a certain stodgy stereotype today. That’s not entirely earned, at least for Dickens. Look into his personal life if you don’t believe me.

Or, maybe people are intimidated by the sheer weight of his literary reputation. This is the man who wrote classics you may have been subjected to when you were an unwilling high school English student. Great Expectations. A Tale of Two Cities. Bleak House. Oliver Twist. They are legitimately great novels, but there’s a heavy weight of history and importance laying on top of the whole matter. Just thinking about it makes me want to lie down and watch some trashy TV.

So, it’s pretty brilliant to cast Gonzo as Charles Dickens. Gonzo, the Muppet so absolutely strange that no one quite knows what he is. Gonzo, who fires himself out of cannons and maybe has a chicken for a girlfriend. Even Rizzo the rat, Gonzo’s sidekick for the movie, seems to be a little confused by the idea.

It’s a smart way to bring kids (and adults) into the of the movie without whacking them over the head with Important Literature. Good move.