The Muppet Christmas Carol Beat Sheet Analysis
Why We Chose to Do a Save a Cat! Beat Sheet Analysis of The Muppet Christmas Carol
It’s the ultimate story about transformation. First published in 1843, Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol has gone through numerous adaptations from dramatic to comedic. Each time, the story resonates for the very reason that all good stories do: it’s about change.
The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of the most beloved adaptations, and for good reason. Its dialogue is true to the original novel, and the song lyrics help to shape the beats. One song, “When Love Is Gone,” was left out of the theatrical version but restored in the VHS release, as director Brian Henson insisted that it is integral to Scrooge’s journey. This beat sheet will incorporate that scene—which can be found in the “Extras” section for the film on Disney+—as Henson originally intended.
Screenplay by: Jerry Juhl based on the novel by Charles Dickens
Directed By: Brian Henson
Genre: Out of the Bottle
In these wish-fulfillment tales, an ordinary hero’s life is changed by magic that either bestows a wish or a power or inflicts them with a curse. Whichever way, this magic changes the hero’s life and makes things difficult. The magic is resolved in the end, but the lesson—the moral of the tale—resonates with the hero… and the audience… forever.
The 3 elements of an OUT OF THE BOTTLE story are:
1) A wish asked for by the hero or another, and the clearly seen need to be delivered from the ordinary.
2) A spell, which we must make logical by upholding “The Rules.”
3) A lesson: Be careful what you wish for! It’s the running theme in all OOTB’s. Life is good as it is.
Cousins: It’s A Wonderful Life, Aladdin, Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, What Women Want
Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Analysis for The Muppet Christmas Carol
Opening Image
A sprawling Victorian town opens before us, panning through the streets and alleyways. Effectively establishing the setting, the time period, and the type of story to come, the snowy story world of Charles Dickens’s imagination has come to life.
Set-Up
After a brief introduction by Dickens himself (The Great Gonzo/Dave Goelz), we meet our story protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine). As he pushes through the masses in the streets, they sing about him, giving us a glimpse of the things that need fixing in his life:
When a cold wind blows it chills you
Chills you to the bone
But there’s nothing in nature that
Freezes your heart
Like years of being alone
It paints you with indifference
Like a lady paints with rouge
And the worst of the worst
The most hated and cursed
Is the one that we call Scrooge
Along with the names they call him behind his back and describing what makes him so despicable, they reveal what he needs most in life, uncovering his shard of glass:
He must be so lonely
He must be so sad
He goes to extremes
To convince us he’s bad
He’s really a victim of fear and of pride
Look close and there must be
A sweet man inside–Naaaah!
As Scrooge enters his office, he is greeted by his employees, headed by Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog/Steve Whitmire). Cratchit musters up the courage to ask Scrooge for extra coal so that the bookkeepers can stay warm, but Scrooge refuses.
Theme Stated
When Scrooge’s nephew Fred arrives to wish him a Merry Christmas, Scrooge gives his opinion on the holiday: “Merry Christmas, you say? What right have you to be merry? You’re poor enough.” Fred counters, “And you to be dismal? You’re rich enough.”
Fred then alludes to the thematic premise that will ultimately be debated throughout Scrooge’s journey: “Christmas is a loving, honest, and charitable time. And though it’s never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe Christmas has done me good and will do me good, and I say, God bless it.”
Set-Up (cont’d)
When two men arrive to ask for donations to help the poor and the homeless, Scrooge reveals the hardness in his heart even further, telling the men, “If they’d [the homeless] rather die, then they’d better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” In Scrooge’s thesis world, only one thing matters: money.
Interestingly, Scrooge doesn’t have a “Save the Cat! Moment” where he does something nice to endear the audience to him. In contrast, it’s his despicable state of stasis=death that causes the audience to wish for something better to happen to him. We don’t want to see him remain in this state of existence; we know what life holds in store for those whose hearts are so cold to those around them.
Cratchit finally asks for Christmas day off work for himself and the bookkeepers, but Scrooge refuses, dismissing Christmas as just an excuse to pick his pocket. Cratchit finally convinces Scrooge by playing to his miserly love of money: if other businesses are off, it would waste valuable coal to heat their office.
Reluctantly, Scrooge agrees to give them the holiday off. Cratchit and the bookkeepers close up for the night. As they walk home, their joyful song is the antithesis of Scrooge’s view on Christmas:
There’s magic in the air this evening
Magic in the air
The world is at her best, you know
When people love and care
The promise of excitement is one the night will keep
After all, there’s only one more sleep ‘til Christmas
Catalyst
As Scrooge arrives home, the knocker on his door suddenly transforms into a face, the visage of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley. It’s the wish part of this Out of the Bottle story, which for Scrooge is a curse.
Debate
Unsure of what he just witnessed, Scrooge enters his home, searching for anything out of place while wandering through the dark. As Dickens reminds us, “Darkness was cheap, and Scrooge liked it.”
As Scrooge eats his paltry dinner alone in front of the fireplace, the spirits of his business partners Jacob and Robert Marley appear (Statler and Waldorf/Dave Goelz and Jerry Nelson). At first, Scrooge believes there must be another explanation for their appearance, but as they begin to sing, weighed down by chains, they point out Scrooge’s shard of glass and need to change:
Doomed, Scrooge!
You’re doomed for all time
Your future is a horror story
Written by your crime
Your chains are forged
By what you say and do
So, have your fun
When life is done
A nightmare waits for you
The Marley brothers deliver their ultimatum: Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits; without these visits, he will not be able to avoid their fate. The first spirit will arrive when the bell tolls one.
Break into Two
As Scrooge falls asleep, he hears the bell toll; he’s awakened by a bright light and a glowing childlike spirit. It’s time for the spell to begin.
B Story
There is not a B Story in the traditional sense. However, it is through these relationships with the ghosts of past, present, and future, that Scrooge will ultimately find change.
Fun and Games
The promise of the premise begins as Scrooge meets the first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past. The spirit helps Scrooge fly into the past, where he sees himself as a child at school. Recognizing childhood friends from his youth, Scrooge reminisces on those times.
The ghost takes him to see other events in his life that shaped who he is today. It’s an upside-down antithesis world as Scrooge watches a time in his life when he was happier and more connected with others.
In one memory, he attends a Christmas party of his employer, Fozziwig (Fozzie Bear/Frank Oz). While young Scrooge is fixated on the financial expenditures of the party, Fozziwig extols him to enjoy the happiness Christmas brings. Soon, Scrooge is introduced to Belle (Meredith Braun).
When the Ghost of Christmas Past offers to take Scrooge to another Christmas memory, Scrooge implores the ghost not to, but he is soon confronted by a time when his and Belle’s relationship fell apart. Scrooge watches as his younger self continually puts off their engagement to earn more money, and Belle begins to tell him how it has impacted her:
There was a time when I was sure
That you and I were truly one
That our future was forever
And would never come undone
And we came so close to being close
And though you cared for me
There’s distance in your eyes tonight
So we’re not meant to be
The love is gone, the love is gone
The sweetest dream that you have ever known
The love is gone, the love is gone
I wish you well, but I must leave you now alone
The moment ends with the elderly Scrooge singing the words side-by-side with Belle:
It was almost love
It was almost always
It was like a fairy tale
Would live out you and I
And yes, some dreams come true
And yes, some dreams fall through
And yes, the time has come for us to say goodbye
Crushed by the weight of the memory, Scrooge returns home. His night is not over, though. He’s greeted by the next spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Present. The spirit takes Scrooge on a tour of the town on Christmas day, showing him the sights and sounds of happy people everywhere.
The Ghost sings:
It’s in the singing of the street corner choir
It’s going home and getting warm by the fire
It’s true wherever you find love it feels like Christmas
A cup of kindness that we share with another
A sweet reunion with a friend or a brother
In all the places you find love, it feels like Christmas
It is the season of the heart
A special time of caring
The ways of love made clear
And it is the season of the spirit
The message if we’ll hear it
Is make it last all year
Midpoint
As the song ends, the joy has begun to break through Scrooge’s miserly facade, and he dances along in the street. “Spirit,” Scrooge says, “I had no idea. I wish to see friends, kin. Show me family.” The stakes are raised, as Scrooge is finally beginning to change.
But will this change hold? The time clocks tick as the night moves on. He has until morning to change his fate and avoid the nightmare that the Marleys endure.
Bad Guys Close In
Unfortunately, seeing family doesn’t bring the same joy as the singing in the street did. Going to his nephew Fred’s home, Scrooge watches as they play a guessing game, only to learn that he is the “thing” they are describing. Their jokes and jabs point out his flaws.
He is next taken to the house of his employee, Bob Cratchit. As Scrooge and the spirit arrive, Bob Cratchit and his son Tiny Tim (Robin the Frog/Jerry Nelson) walk home from church, singing a reprise of “One More Sleep ‘til Christmas.”
The family is indeed warm and loving, and when Bob toasts Scrooge as “the founder of the feast,” Emily Cratchit (Miss Piggy/Frank Oz) denounces Scrooge for his heartlessness and the hardships he causes for the family. Tiny Tim stops the argument, toasting Scrooge himself, then singing about the joy of the season and the happiness of life’s blessings.
As the family comes together in song, Scrooge is moved. Tiny Tim succumbs to a fit of coughing, and Scrooge asks, “Spirit, tell me if Tiny Tim will live.” The spirit answers, “That is the future. My realm is the present. However, I see a vacant seat by the chimney corner. And a crutch without an owner. If these shadows remain unaltered, I believe the child will die.”
The spirit then uses Scrooge’s own words against him: “But then, if he’s going to die, he’d better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” As the Cratchit family fades from view, Scrooge is left with the pain of his past words.
The Ghost of Christmas Present leaves, and Scrooge is greeted by another spirit: the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.
The haunting specter takes Scrooge through dark and dreary streets. Someone has died, and people speak of the death this individual like it is nothing, as if the world is better with their passing. Criminals steal items from the one who died. As Scrooge soaks all of this in, he wishes to see a place of warmth: the Cratchit home.
Upon arriving, Scrooge notices that it’s quiet. When Scrooge asks, “Why is it so quiet, spirit?” the ghost simply points to the home, where it is revealed that Tiny Tim has passed away. A tender family moment between the Cratchits impacts Scrooge.
Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come leads Scrooge to one final location: the cemetery.
All Is Lost
As Scrooge sees the gravestones, he says, “Spirit, I know what I must ask. I fear to, but I must. Who was the wretched man whose death brought so much glee and happiness to others?” The spirit merely points, and the whiff of death is present as Scrooge nears the gravestone.
He asks, “Are these the shadows of things that will be? Or are they the shadows of things that may be, only?” Again, the spirit only points. Scrooge now knows what he will discover etched in stone. “These events can be changed,” he implores. “A life can be made right.”
Brushing away the snow, Scrooge reads the inscription: EBENEZER SCROOGE.
Dark Night of the Soul
In tears, Scrooge tells the spirit, “Hear me, I’m not the man I was. Why would you show me this if I was past all hope? I will honor Christmas, and try to keep it all the year. I will live my life in the past, the present, and the future. I will not shut out the lessons the spirits have taught me. Tell me that I may sponge out the writing on this stone.”
As he collapses to his knees, grasping the spirit’s cloak, he suddenly wakes up in his own bed.
Break into Three
Overjoyed, Scrooge paces around his home. Rather than dismiss his journey as simply a dream, he realizes what he must do in his synthesis world: he must show that he has changed, that he is a new man.
Finale
Scrooge calls out to a child below his window, tossing him money to buy the prize turkey from the poultry shop. As he steps outside, he breaks out in song, publicly showing that he has learned his lesson from his experience.
With a thankful heart
With an endless joy
With a growing family
Every girl and boy
Will be nephew and niece to me
Will bring love, hope, and peace to me
Yes and every night will end
And every day will start
With a grateful prayer
And a thankful heart
He continues on his way, a crowd gathering around him to witness his transformation.
With an open smile
And with open doors
I will bid you welcome
What is mine is yours
With a glass raised to toast your health
And a promise to share the wealth
I will sail a friendly course
File a friendly chart
On a sea of love
And a thankful heart
Finally, he arrives at Bob Cratchit’s house, summoning his employee to the door. Feigning anger, he confronts Bob about being at home on Christmas day. When Bob’s wife Emily jumps to her husband’s defense, Scrooge shows that he has changed by offering Bob a raise and paying their mortgage. He presents them with the Christmas turkey, telling Bob, “Merry Christmas.”
Final Image
As Dickens tells us that Scrooge became a second father to Tiny Tim, who did not die, Scrooge feasts with the Cratchits and his newfound friends. He has finally found love, peace, and happiness, a complete reversal from the stingy, lonely man he once was.
With his new friends, he sings:
The love we found
The love we found
We carry with us
So we’re never quite alone
