Director: Brian Henson
Cast: Tim Curry, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson
Have I Seen It Before: I come to unavoidable conclusion that I have not. It’s probably just the right mix of it coming out at that specific time in life where I would have wanted to avoid any film “for kids” and the fact that the film just doesn’t enjoy the same kind of ubiquitous cultural permeation as The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)* that I just managed to skip it.
Did I Like It: I hesitate to compare this with Carol too much, but there are some useful contrasts on display. It’s entirely possible that Dickens is just a bit more dynamic of a writer than Stevenson, and any adaptation of their works one might feel compelled to compare is going to favor Dickens over Stevenson.
While the Muppets inject their usual brand of humor into the proceedings, the fusion between nineteenth century literature and early nineties is less smooth here. There are moments where this is a comedy, and there are moments where it is an adaptation of the works of Robert Louis Stevenson. There aren’t a lot of moments that reach for both, even if to do so risks embracing cinematic paradox.
There’s a also a problem with the central performance. Tim Curry as Long John Silver here is as charming and incorrigible as he is at any other point in his career, but there’s a seduction*, for lack of a better term that feels like a mistake. Caine played Scrooge straight, as if he were appearing in any other production of Carol, where Curry almost views himself as—or desperately wants to be—one of the Muppets himself. It renders him, sadly, as one of the less intriguing Muppets, where he could have given a performance that stands the test of time.
It’s okay. He was much better in other films.
*That is the kind of thing that happens to Christmas movies, after all.
**Curry himself once described Miss Piggy as the one who got away, which in and of itself almost negates the criticism I’m reaching for here.