Here's a look at all the ways 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' avoided failure to become the greatest 'Christmas Carol' ever. Brian Henson did his father proud.

'The Muppet Christmas Carol' nearly failed to materialize due to production uncertainties and risky casting choices following the death of Jim Henson. Brian Henson, taking over as director for his first major project, made unconventional decisions such as casting Gonzo as Charles Dickens and assigning Muppets to roles in unexpected ways, which ultimately refreshed the adaptation.

Despite initial skepticism and a disappointing box office performance, the film gradually gained a large following and is now widely regarded as one of the best adaptations of 'A Christmas Carol.' Its unique blend of faithfulness to Dickens' prose and the whimsical Muppet style has made it a perennial holiday favorite for new generations.

All the ways 'The Muppet Christmas Carol' avoided failure

You might not know this, but The Muppet Christmas Carol, one of the most beloved Muppet movies, almost didn't happen at all. Or that the Henson Company was this close to multiple casting choices that could have ruined this film. There are multiple ways A Muppet Christmas Carol almost lost its magic, and we're here to fill you in on all that Muppety Christmas tea, as well as why The Muppet Christmas Carol was able to avoid all those missteps and become the greatest version of a Christmas Carol ever made. The Muppet Christmas Carol is the first Muppet project made after Jim Henson, the father of the Muppets, died, and people didn't know what the fate of the Muppets would be. Would the Muppets just go away? That's when his son, Brian Henson, picked up where his father left off. But people had doubts. Brian had obviously shadowed his father his whole life, and Zilly had a strong sense of what it could take to make a great Muppet project. And everyone around him in the Muppet world, the writers, the performers, the puppet builders, the costumers, were all on board for, we're going to do this for Jim, to make sure that the Muppets aren't just going to go away because our founder isn't here anymore. The other thing being that Brian was young, and this was his first real directorial project. Some of the literal obstacles was, what do we do with my dad's characters? So one of the biggest obstacles was, I knew I couldn't hang the movie on Kermit. I didn't trust that Kermit could lead the movie. Because, you know, if you had decided, oh, we're going to make Charles Dickens a character in the movie, he'll be the narrator, your brain would go straight to Kermit the Frog should play Charles Dickens. Of course he should. And Kermit, that would be absolutely perfect casting. That we didn't consider for a moment. My name is Charles Dickens. Not only was casting Gonzo an unlikely casting, but it was also genius. It was groundbreaking in that it told the story in a way no other film adaptation had ever done. As far as I know, this is the only adaptation that has Charles Dickens in the story. Having Charles Dickens in the story allows for the movie to use some of the prose that Charles Dickens wrote that's not just part of the dialogue. Dickens' original book was told in the first person. It was funny and magical and self-referential, but it was darker than what audience were used to from The Muppets. I think that's what makes them fresh and compelling, that we can tell Dickens in a very, very faithful way. And yet by laying this overlay, this contrasting overlay of The Muppets, it sort of freshens and makes it all more exciting and more engaging. Hey, wait a second, you're not Charles Dickens. I am too! No, a blue furry Charles Dickens who hangs out with a rat. This film perfectly toes that line between poignancy and whimsy. That one thing you must remember, or nothing that follows will seem wondrous. Um, why are you whispering? It's for dramatic emphasis. Casting can make or break a film. The wrong actor in the wrong role can take you out of the world immediately. Thankfully, Bryan Henson perfectly cast each Muppet into Dickens' characters in a way that were not obvious in the way that we were used to seeing them, but perfect for a Christmas carol. Like the ethical and moral Kermit as Bob Cratchit, the adorable Robin as Tiny Tim, Fozzie the Bear as Scrooge's old boss. There he is, old Fuzzywick himself. Okay, that one was a layup. I mean, it's right there in the name. And Miss Piggy might be my favorite casting choice as Miss Cratchit. She is the least typecast and plays a character truly different from how we see her in literally every other Muppet project. And you can see it in Frank's performance. He was using the audience expectation that Piggy wants to play the queen, princess maybe. But she got stuck playing Bob Cratchit's wife. So both as a performer, she's a little pissed off about the role. We can't talk about casting in this film without Sir Michael King. He, right from the beginning, said, I'm going to play this as if I'm doing a Christmas carol with the Royal Shakespeare Company. How would the bookkeepers like to be suddenly? I'll explore it! So you'd think a movie this genius would have crushed at the box office, right? The movie was a bit of a bomb when it came out. Jim Henson wasn't around anymore. So I think a lot of people assumed that, well, with Jim not there, and some other guys doing Kermit and his kid is in charge now, I think the assumption was it was not going to be good. So it wasn't until a few years later that the movie really started to find a cult following. Not even a cult following. It found a mass following. And that following keeps growing. Every holiday season, more people keep finding this film. More kids are being introduced to the magic of the Muppet Christmas carol. It holds up as a great Muppet movie, a great Christmas movie, and the best Christmas carol adaptation of anything out there. What's your favorite adaptation of a Christmas carol? Let us know in the comments.

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