Remakes have been around for as long as humans have walked the Earth, and I like to imagine that even prior to the arrival of humankind, amoebas and other life passed around the same stories as well. Storytelling is in our DNA, whether you are more interested in telling them or listening to them or equally enjoy both. When you encounter Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and hear the fantastic transformative tale of the most curmudgeonly curmudgeon that ever curmudgeoned turning into the brightest light in the community, you cannot help but be moved. Honestly, who wouldn’t want to retell that story in some form or other? It holds so much power. It’s a story that makes the blackest heart remember that they once were a good person and that they still have a chance at redemption if they want it.
Scrooged approaches Dickens’ tale with an edgy 1980’s flair, placing our modern-day Scrooge, Frank Cross (Bill Murray, one of my child heroes), as the head of a major television station based in New York City. I can’t state enough how much the update to the story impacted my appreciation for the tale and deepened the emotional effect the story had on me. A Christmas Carol is set in a time long before I was born, and in a time that I don’t fully identify with, so the power of Scrooge’s transformation was lost on me for the most part. After being subjected to so many repeated retellings, the story was reduced to the equivalent of white noise. Injecting Bill Murray’s singular jaded, quick, streetwise humor into Scrooge’s story brought it into focus for me. I love how Frank Cross ruthlessly and relentlessly pokes holes in everything that the ghosts show him, much like a petulant child tearing down a story that they are tired of hearing over and over again. Having such resistance in a modern setting really resonated with me and being able to relate to the Scrooge character so much more than usual, I was fully available for the beautiful character change. I bought Frank Cross’s 180 in Scrooged and it made me want to be a better person even as a child. I tried to think about the things that I could do right in my life early on so that I would not be faced with such a cataclysmic experience as our unwilling protagonist. Even now that I am older I still first think of Scrooged whenever I think of the Dickens tale. Scrooged imprinted on me and coincidentally I discovered later that the film reinvigorated Bill Murray’s career!
I know that I have told you that the more traditional telling of A Christmas Carol is boring and rote to me, but when you put Muppets in the mix, my interest is once again piqued. I loved the Muppets when I was a kid and watched The Muppet Show religiously, but as I grew older, I found myself wanting to move away from “childish things.” (Side note: I am now 45 and I still get excited at new toys in the store, so thankfully I moved past this grumpy period in my life. Maybe Scrooged and The Muppet Christmas Carol helped me with this!) Michael Caine nails the Scrooge character and blasts the Muppets with an icy intensity like they have never seen. Though I have seen and enjoyed many Muppets adventures, I swear that in this particular film, they emote more than many humans I have seen playing the same roles in other productions - case in point, Miss Piggy’s depression over her loss straight brought me to tears. This film also DOES manage to transport me back to days gone by, and I feel like I am living in that time period, fully accepting the mix of humans and Muppets as commonplace. When the film ends, I want to break out into song and look around for my buddy Gonzo to give me a laugh. The twist on the original idea here once again reinvigorates the proceedings, and it is another film that I think of often.
One could argue that all of our stories come from Shakespeare and the Bible in some form or other. But then I would say that Shakespeare also took old stories and adapted them to his time, and the Bible is a product of oral tradition much like the telephone game. Stories have the capability to transport us anywhere in time, space, and beyond, and the truly exceptional yarns stay with us long after we close the book or leave the theatre. Stories come in so many forms - epic battles, good versus evil, sacrifice, boundless love, impossible redemption – you name it and when you think about the fact that every single one of those stories has been recycled in one way or another, you realize that we live in an endless string of remakes. Writers are constantly told that all stories have been written before, so the idea of being original is an absolutely foolish pursuit. I can’t say that I agree with that for reasons I can’t fully articulate – maybe it’s just my quixotic belief that there is always something new to be discovered and some area that has not been traversed. Even if new stories are simply old stories given a fresh new twist, that is enough for me to separate them from the rest of the pack. And since every generation has a different voice, I believe that bringing these brilliant tales into a language and setting that people can readily absorb is essential. Long live the remake!
Comfort Films Episode 11: Scrooged & Muppets Christmas Carol (Released December 17, 2021)
