Muppet Christmas Carol: The Scribbling Cut, The

Updated
Muppet Christmas Carol: The Scribbling Cut, The
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie Title:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1992
Original Running Time:
85
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
81
Time Cut:
4
Brief Synopsis:
This is a very light edit of one of my favourite Christmas films. I’m a big Muppets fan and I tend to watch this nearly every year (as well as reading the Dickens novella). However, watching it on a yearly basis, the same things always bothered me: The odd cliché line, overly kiddish element, and more than anything, "The Penguin's Christmas Skating Party"; a corny scene that dragged and generally felt like it was only there for the sake of placing penguins in a Christmas movie.

Outtakes were also added to the end credits (just for fun).
Intention:
To improve some of the comic timing and reduce cliche elements, but generally keep the bulk of the movie intact.
Other Sources:
Outtakes featurette, from the 20th Anniversary Special Edition DVD.
Special Thanks:
- to Sinbad, ThrownGPR and Captain Kahijt for technical assistance
- to my sister, for doing a quick poster design, despite her busy schedule
- to good beer and King Kong (1933), for providing much needed brain relief
Release Information:
Digital
Editing Details:
- Trimmed Gonzo and Rizzo antics
- Improved comic timing (IMO)
- Reduced cringeworthy/cliche elements
- Added outtakes to credits (just for fun)
Cuts and Additions:
- Added fanedit.org templates
- Added Scribbling Man branding
- Added new title
- Cut Gonzo and Rizzo commenting during Scrooge and nephew convo
- Heavily trimmed “The Penguins Christmas Skating Party”
- Cut “there are only two things I hate in life…”
- Cut “you are such an idiot” – “What?” etc.
- Trimmed Gonzo catching Rizzo
- Cut “Hello world, goodbye lunch”
- Cut “Spirit” “Yes?” “Nothing”
- Cut post-dragged-through-the-woods chicken introduction
- Cut “Nice Kitty”
- Cut Gonzo’s “What?” after “You have all the fun”
- Removed cheesy song from credits and replaced with a gag reel (taken from 50th Anniversery Edition special features)
- Re-synced outtakes (for whatever reason, the source featurette is slightly out of sync)

User reviews

2 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.9
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0(2)
Audio Editing
 
10.0(2)
Visual Editing
 
10.0(2)
Narrative
 
9.5(2)
Enjoyment
 
10.0(2)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
As the creator himself states, this is not heavily edited, but neither does it need to be. The length and content of the film were already good for the most part. The main benefit of this edit, to my thinking, is that is cuts down some of Rizzo's jokes and antics. I don't hate Rizzo overall and he can even be amusing in the proper dosage. This edit doesn't eliminate him. In fact, it probably takes out less than half his lines, But the original creators seemed to think they needed a dose of comic relief every couple minutes. They didn't. Dickens' tale is interesting enough and Michael Caine's Scrooge and the other characters are interesting enough that coming back to Rizzo constantly simply isn't necessary and ultimately hurts the flow of the otherwise engaging story.

The removal of the skating party is something I could take or leave. I didn't hate it, and it does match events of the book, more or less, but I don't miss it greatly either (and although it was sort of in the book, it seemed to me like it maybe shouldn't be--like it was out of character for Bob Cratchit to dawdle on his way home rather than rushing home to spend time with his family).

From a technical standpoint, someone who hasn't watched the film for a while could watch this edit without even realizing it was edited, because any place where content was removed has been put back together seamlessly. Really well done.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply December 03, 2023

Thank you for taking the time to review this one! I appreciate it :)

N
1 reviews
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
When I first heard about this edit on the forums, I confessed to the editor (The Scribbling Man) that I was a little apprehensive about someone doing an edit of this movie, as I thought it was pretty much perfect as it was. Scribbling Man agreed with me, though, and sure enough, this is a light edit with seamless cuts that make it very enjoyable.

I knew I was in for a good time when I saw "The Scribbling Cut" added to the bottom of the title like it had always been there. I've tried to add titles to movies myself, and I know how difficult it can be, so the level of professionalism just on that impressed me right away!

I didn't find myself missing any material that had been cut, and the cuts were so smooth that I wouldn't have noticed anything was cut if I didn't remember a few things. And I'm sure there's stuff that I didn't even catch because it was so seamless!

The only thing I miss is the song "When Love is Gone," which is not a cut that Scribbling Man made, it's a cut that Brian Henson made in the theatrical version of the movie. He restored it for VHS, but unfortunately cut it again for the DVD. I never got to see the movie until it was on home video, so to me, it's always had that song. Plus, it's arguably my favorite song in the whole film. I think the scene runs choppy without it, and the two reprises -- one with the whole cast in the finale, the other playing over the end credits -- make no sense without the context of the earlier scene.

So I'm not really dinging Scribbling Man, I'm dinging Brian Henson. Scribbling Man says he may do another edition next year with "When Love is Gone" included, so I'm giving myself just that little bit of wiggle room to bump up my review next year if he adds it!

Incidentally, since I'm so used to seeing the movie with the song, I braced myself for the end credits with the song -- and instead found that Scribbling Man had added a bunch of outtakes over that part! What a brilliant way to cover up the song and make things more consistent! So big kudos to him for making that work.

If you want to see a great slightly alternate version of an already terrific movie, then this is a good choice for you. And here's hoping we get some more Muppet movie fan edits in the future!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply January 23, 2018

Thank you for taking the time to review. Much appreciated :)

I hope to meet your expectations next year! And I'm sure there'll be more muppet edits to come...

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