Michael Caine approached his Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol as if he was working with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Michael Caine would seem like an unlikely Ebenezer Scrooge, but the man nailed it in The Muppet Christmas Carol, delivering what many consider the best version of the character ever, up there with Alastair Sim and George C. Scott. And to channel the most miserly of misers against the most Muppety of Muppets, Caine did the unexpected: he went Shakespearan and Hannibal Lecter.
Michael Caine can be terribly funny, but to play Scrooge, he knew he had to go a different route to not only match the character but to play against some off of the Muppets. As recounted in The Guardian, Caine said, “I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.”
According to Dave Goelz – who voiced everybody from Gonzo to Zoot – Michael Caine was joyful enough in the role but took another approach that can only be construed as menacing. “I was so taken with the way Michael was performing and the fact that he never blinks in a shot. That’s one part of his technique. You’ll never see Michael Caine blink. Just watching his craft was stunning and of course, for that character, he had to resist our antics – and in between shots, we always play around. He was extremely professional but he wasn’t a stick in the mud at all.”
But blink or no blink, Michael Caine was by every account one of the best actors to ever nail Ebenezer Scrooge – that he had to do it as straight as possible alongside some of the silliest creatures to ever hit the screen is a true testament to his talents. No doubt it will be in Caine’s retirement highlight reel.
If you don’t own a copy of The Muppet Christmas Carol, you can stream it on Disney+ – just make sure you watch the right version, because the extended cut with discarded song “When Love Is Gone” is listed as an extra. Either way, don’t wait until there’s only one more sleep ’til Christmas.
Do you think Michael Caine’s version of Scrooge is the best? Where do you think it ranks in his list of greatest performances?
