A Muppet Christmas Carol

This is the best movie version ever made of A Christmas Carol.

Okay, so having said that... there are a lot of versions of A Christmas Carol, and I like an awful lot of them. This is the only version that I watch every year, though, and it has my wholehearted endorsement. Although, I suppose if you don't like the Muppets, you won't like this version. (Are... are there people who don't like the Muppets???)

My one quibble here is with the DVD version released in 2005. It features both the complete full screen version, and a widescreen theatrical release with a scene cut. (The scene where, in the past, Scrooge's fiancée bids him farewell for the final time.) The movie makes sense without it, but the scene loses almost all of its impact (yes I'm talking about a Muppet movie) without the farewell song.

So you can watch the movie with that scene in full screen, or without that scene in widescreen. I hope they'll do better and include it on a bluray release in the near future. In the meantime, if you want this and you haven't bought it, it might be worth waiting to see if another release is around the corner. (Or you might not have the same little quibble that I do!)

(Also, I will never get tired of Michael Caine saying, "It's Fozziewig's old Rubber Chicken factory!" with a straight face.)

Wizard of Oz Week: The Muppet's Wizard of Oz

I rented The Muppet's Wizard of Oz, and I liked most of the music, although some of it was a little too much the kind of pop sound that mostly doesn't appeal to me. For some reason, this just struck me as strange:

Maybe because it was right at the beginning (the song, not the music video) and I hadn't really had a chance to get used to the way things were going. I did like most of the other music, although I didn't really feel like Ashanti was one of those singers who should try to branch out into acting.

I did like most of the casting, both the humans and the Muppets. Really, I can't think of any way they could have arranged the Muppets to be better matches. And I will say, overall, they stuck to the book better than the Judy Garland movie, aside from modernizing Dorothy's home and the non-Oz stuff. I really liked that it was never implied that she just bumped her head and had a crazy dream, which both the Judy Garland version and the Return to Oz movie do.

I think I might have missed out on something from not being younger or from expecting something, but in the end, Quentin Tarantino's cameo was my favorite part of the whole show.

Jim Henson's Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story

I just happened upon this DVD being returned to the library, and decided to snag it before anyone else could check it out. What a delightful surprise--this retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk from the Jim Henson Creature Shop was made for TV in 2001. The special effects are right up to par and the acting and story blend in this twisted take on an old tale. It gives some balanced perspective, which is certainly a trend lately, with telling the other side of the story, as well as continuing so that we get to know what happens after the ending of the original tale.

From Amazon.com:

Here's a snippet from the end of the show so you can get an idea of some of the special effects, etc:

Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story -- worth checking out for all fairy tale fans!