The Extended Version of The Muppet Christmas Carol Is the Only Way to Watch the Holiday Classic
Today happens to be a good day to watch Brian Henson’s The Muppet Christmas Carol as the family holiday classic celebrates its theatrical release anniversary. The 1992 adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol—starring Michael Caine as Scrooge, one of the only humans alongside an ensemble of Muppets (in Henson Company tradition)—remains an all-timer retelling of the tale.
For those ready to start their holiday film curations for the month, The Muppet Christmas Carol is currently streaming on Disney+. However, film nerds and hardcore Muppets fans know the only way to watch the film is in its original form, with the formerly cut song “When Love is Gone,” written by frequent Henson collaborator Paul Williams, reinstated into the film’s cut. This complete version comes thanks to the reel that featured the song having been recently unearthed and utilized to prepare a 4K remaster of the classic film.
The scene is an important one: the song marks a poignant moment in the film where Scrooge makes a choice between love and work, resulting in a beautifully bittersweet memory of when he became a cold, heartless man.
Watching the complete, extended version of the film isn’t as easy as accessing the edited version, which is what will play if you search for The Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+. Instead, once you get to the main menu for the film you’ll need to scroll down and click “Extras” to find the 89-minute “full-length version.”
It’s worth the effort, though (fair warning) there’s no way to resume the film if you exit it at any point; only pause seems to work which is fairly inconvenient. It really needs its own Disney+ page (similar to the alternate sing-along version pages for Moana and Encanto) to optimize access to the Henson film as it was intended to be experienced.
Throughout, of course, it’s filled with fun tunes sung by Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the merry Muppets gang in their version of Dickens’ festive classic. Having Williams’ underrated romantic ballad appear earlier in the film helps make the film’s last song—”When Love Is Found/It Feels Like Christmas”—bring even more emotional impact to the finale.
Find The Muppet Christmas Carol on Disney+.
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