The Wasteland Reviewer

Outside the Wasteland: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

Film can mean so much more than just entertainment on a screen, right? Outside the Wasteland is my new avenue to express my thoughts on films that have truly made an impact on my life. This is not about how great the films are or even how much I love them. This is an expression of how these films have made a direct impact on my life including my love of film, my personality, my world view, and just an overall lasting impression that deeply affected me.  This is a doorway into The Wasteland Reviewer through the films that have shaped me.

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

What does the Christmas season mean to you? Growing up a Roman Catholic, going to church and celebrating the birth of Jesus was such a present fixture of the season. You would go to a late-night mass on Christmas Eve and wake up the next morning and open the gift. Nativity was always an important piece to the holiday. Driving around during the month of December, you would see all types of versions of the significant gathering around the newborn Christ. But I have not been close with my religion for a long time so that has become less of a part of my holiday traditions. Being Roman Catholic was a big part of my Italian American upbringing…but so was the food. The Seven Fishes every Christmas Eve for as long as I can remember has been a significant fixture of the holiday for me. Luckily that is still a tradition I get to share with my mom. The party used to be much larger but the love of food and the tradition still lives on (we are just creative with what seafood we eat…I honestly would not eat most of the traditional dishes). Even the opening of gifts changes as you get old. Let things open and it is not a huge event (but that will change once I have kids). But for now, as a 33-year-old…not really a huge part of the holiday season for me anymore.

Outside a meal full of seafood, what has become the main representation of my Christmas traditions? Movies. What else? Growing up, the Rankin/Bass holiday specials were something I would always watch.Rudolph, Frosty, Santa, the Winter Warlock, the Cold & Heat Meiser…they became part of my life and what the holiday season meant to me. Those stop motion animated films are classics and iconic. A Christmas Story was naturally on all the time on Christmas Day since they would play it on loop for the holiday. There are plenty of other films like Jingle All the Way, Home Alone, The Grinch, and Die Hard which have become fixtures of my Christmas experience. But there is only one film that has legitimately become a real tradition for my Christmas season. If I don’t watch The Muppet Christmas Carol with my mom, it just does not feel like Christmas. And that movie would know…and “It Feels Like Christmas” is an all-time classic song for the season. Every year I can remember (except for 2020), I have watched this perfect Muppet adaptation with my mom. We even had a special opportunity this year to see it in a theater for the Princeton Garden Theatre’s Saturday Matinee (which was a wonderful experience). Christmas just doesn’t feel like Christmas without The Muppet Christmas Carol.

What makes the Muppets so special for me? They were a big part of my childhood. We had both The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island A LOT when I was a kid. These were my gateway into becoming a Muppets fan. I even used to watch the Muppet Babies show a lot when I was a kid as well. For as long as I can remember, I loved the Muppets. I have almost the whole set of Funko Pop figures for The Muppet Christmas Carol. Those Marley and Marley ones are by far my favorite. I even have a set of Muppet button-up shirts (that I will hopefully fit into a little better soon). The Muppets are so charming, clever, and just all around a bunch of fun. They are all-time great characters from top to bottom. I had the wonderful experience of seeing The Muppet Movie in theaters this year as well back in the summer. I love them so much that I even started a segment on my talk show (“Wasteland Talks”) called “Muppet That Movie!” which has quickly become one of my favorite segments.

What is an unexpected result of The Muppet Christmas Carol? Along with Disney animated films from my childhood, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music, my love for musicals really started with The Muppet Christmas Carol. You can ask my mom; I know all the lyrics to every song in The Muppet Christmas Carol (but I did control myself well enough to not bother everyone else at the Garden Theatre this year). I have become a big fan of musicals as I have grown older and some of the songs from The Muppet Christmas Carol are still some of my favorites. “Scrooge”, “It Feels Like Christmas”, and “Marley and Marley” are songs I regularly listen to (even outside of the holiday season). They are even all on my musical playlist on Spotify called “Why Are They Singing?”. A passion must start somewhere, and this is one of the jumping off points for me with my love for musicals.

Sometimes a love for a movie transcends that film, right? The Muppet Christmas Carol carries so much meaning for me that is attached to Christmas. I am in a transitional period in my life where a lot of my traditions from when I was younger are gone but this is one of the few that I have been able to continue and share. The Muppets are timeless, and I know they will be loved by generations to come. My hope is to share my love for The Muppets with my kids someday and start the Christmas tradition of watching The Muppet Christmas Carol with them and their Nonna (as my mom would like to be referred to).