20 Best Muppet Christmas Carol Moments

(Image via Walt Disney Pictures/Jim Henson Productions)

7. Marley and Marley

Speaking of ghosts… The first to make an appearance are the specters of Jacob and Robert Marley, Scrooge’s recently deceased business partners. In the original story, it’s a single individual, Jacob Marley, who appears. He warns Scrooge to abandon his selfish, miserly ways, and announces the arrival of three more ghosts in the night. Marley also appears in a really metal sort of get-up, namely with chains that are “long, and wound about him like a tail; it was made… of cash-boxes, keys, padlocks, ledgers, deeds, and heavy purses wrought in steel.” Marley tells Scrooge that he unknowingly forged these chains during life, thanks to his greed and coldness towards his fellows.

Two Marleys might seem egregious, until you realize they’re played by Statler and Waldorf. Surely you remember them. They’re the two old man Muppets who typically appear in a balcony. Their modus operandi is heckling and producing hearty chortles at their own jokes. If you’ve got your priorities straight, you probably want to be like them once you’re old, too.

They’ve also got a surprisingly catchy tune – “Marley and Marley”, naturally – that will work its way deep into your brain. I know it’s been stuck in mine for at least a week now. The pair is also accompanied by singing Muppet locks and boxes, both nice creative touches.