History YMMV / TheMuppetChristmasCarol

* BrokenBase: "When Love Is Gone". The opinions about this song and whether or not is should be in the movie at all vary wildly. Some fans love the song for its TearJerker quality and as a tragic sum-up of how Scrooge's life has essentially lost all semblance of happiness and humanity at this point, while others think the movie is better off for not including it, at least partly because Belle is such an underdeveloped character and her relationship with Scrooge has been entirely off-screen and so it feels a little like overkill to dedicating a four minute song to lamenting it end. The website Tough Pigs summed it up thusly when [[https://toughpigs.com/xmascarol-1/ they talked about the movie]]:

* BrokenBase: "When Love Is Gone". You will find fans who feel the movie plays fine without the sequence and some who feel the addition added to the film's quality.

** The first film to ever use a ''green'' screen (instead of a blue screen), which allowed a tremendously beautiful blue nighttime flight scene.

** "Oh sweet, they're going to do a version of Christmas Carol with Muppets. Fun! Wait, with ''Sir Michael Caine''?!" It worked, however, and Caine is one of the most memorable actors in the role; he's completely serious and crochety. Caine went on record as saying he had a ball with the production, adding that the best way to interact with the Muppets is to treat them all as though they're members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: "Scrooge". "One More Sleep 'til Christmas". "Marley and Marley". "It Feels like Christmas". "Bless Us All". "With a Thankful Heart".
** Honestly, the entire score in general

* {{Adorkable}}: Scrooge of all people during the song "It Feels Like Christmas," showing that he is becoming a DefrostingIceKing. After facing the tragedy of his past, he starts to smile and laugh with the Christmas Present, who shows him the joys of the holiday. Then he tries to imitate Christmas Present's swinging dance, but he is so stiff that it looks silly, and misses that Christmas Present stops.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Disney originally objected to the inclusion of "When Love is Gone" in the film, claiming that the younger audience would be unable to handle such an emotionally intense scene. Director Brian Henson objected but removed it from the original Theatrical Cut when given the ultimatum of his team doing the edit or leaving it to Disney Executives to edit the film instead. The initial VHS release of the film and some early DVD releases of the film included the scene, but when Disney re-released it once DVD was more widespread and Blu-Ray came in, they only had the Theatrical Cut as a source for remastering. In 2020 Disney finally found a way to properly remaster the scene and reinstated it for the Disney+ version of the film.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Disney originally objected to the inclusion of "When Love is Gone" in the film, claiming that the younger audience would be unable to handle such an emotionally intense scene. Director Brian Henson objected but removed it from the original Theatrical Cut when given the ultimatum of his team doing the edit or leaving it to Disney Executives to edit the film instead. The initial VHS release of the film and some early DVD releases of the film included the scene, but when Disney re-released it once DVD was more widespread and Blu-Ray came in, they only had the Theatrical Cut as a source for remastering. In 2020 Disney finally found a way to properly remaster the scene and reinstated it for the Disney+ version of the film.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: More accurately, they changed it now it's better. Without "When Love is Gone" the scene of Scrooge and Belle's breakup is incredibly short and lacks emotional weight when Scrooges pleading with the Spirit of Christmas Past suggests it's massively painful moment in his life and makes the crying at the end feel a bit overdone. With the scene - Belle sings passionately about how much she believed in their love, but now sees he has chosen a path she can't follow but genuinely wishes him well. Young Scrooge tries a half-hearted effort to stop her, before choosing to walk away. Belle briefly turns to see he is gone as she expected, and Present Day Scrooge joins in song at first with her, then gradually breaks into silent tears as he recalls she is a shadow of the past and nothing he can do will stop her walking away again.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: The choir of elderly lady Muppets saying that Scrooge must be lonely and sad, then changing their minds when he ignores them, is PlayedForLaughs. Then we discover his backstory, showing they were right.

* JerkassWoobie: Scrooge was a very unpleasant person, but deep down he is a person with great sadness and loneliness.

** According to the Behind the Voice Actors voice compare section, Jerry Nelson IS The Ghost of Christmas Present, hands down!

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: Outside of the Muppet fanbase, Charles Dickens fans are some of the biggest supporters of the film because, Muppets antics aside, the film is very faithful to the story and uses much of Dickens' original prose, both in dialogue and narration.

* CantUnhearIt: Creator/MichaelCaine's performance in this film is widely considered to be one of the most iconic cinematic portrayals of Scrooge.

* WinBackTheCrowd: People were very skeptical about how well Muppet projects could work without Creator/JimHenson to guide them. This film proved there was still plenty of life in the franchise.

* NewerThanTheyThink: A lot of people assume that Statler and Waldorf always said "dohohohoho" when laughing. However that specific laugh started with this film after Dave Goelz and Jerry Nelson took over the characters. Prior to that on The Muppet Show their laugh was closer to "ehehehehe"
* NightmareRetardant: When the doorknob turns into Jacob Marley and yells Scrooge's name, Rizzo and Gonzo fall off their carriage screaming when their horse gets spooked by it. The transformation itself is also rather silly.

* CantUnhearIt: Creator/MichaelCaine gives one of the best portrayals of Scrooge.

** Although he already had a prolific career as an actor, try finding anyone who believes there to be a better Ebenezer Scrooge than Michael Caine's; Today, his is considered one of the most iconic actors to play the part, especially among children who grew up in that era.

* UncannyValley: The Ghost of Christmas Past. The effect of a human-like puppet operated in a water tank and added in via green-screen is eerie.

* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The first film to ever use a ''green'' screen (instead of a blue screen), which allowed a tremendously beautiful blue nighttime flight scene.

** "Oh sweet, they're going to do a version of Christmas Carol with Muppets. Fun! Wait, with ''Sir Michael Caine''?!" Caine went on record as saying he had a ball with the production, adding that the best way to interact with the Muppets is to treat them all as though they're members of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

* HarsherInHindsight: [[BadFuture Tiny Tim's death]] became even more heartbreaking after his puppeteer, Jerry Nelson, passed away in 2012 due to complications from multiple illnesses. Even better, they both had an IncurableCoughOfDeath. Likewise, the eerily sad fading of the Ghost of Christmas Present, also performed by Nelson.

* SpecialEffectFailure: While the green-screen compositing is otherwise done excellently throughout, there's a shot in "Marley and Marley" [[note]]Specifically, during the lines ''"Doomed, Scrooge, you're doomed for all time!/Your future is a horror story written by your crime..."''[[/note]] where it's a little too obvious that Statler and Waldorf have been superimposed ''over'' the footage of Michael Caine, rather than actually existing in the same space as him. Unfortunate and noticeable, because the "ghost" effect is otherwise flawless throughout.
** The Ghost of Christmas Past is otherwise well-portrayed with eerie effects that still hold up years later, but the close-up shot of Scrooge grasping her hand make it very obvious that he's grabbing onto a piece of plastic.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: This is ''the'' Christmas movie in the United Kingdom. During its original release it topped the box office for two weeks in a row, Channel 4 (Until 2019, when it was bought out by cable network Sky) airs the film every Christmas,[[note]]Traditionally on Christmas Eve, although occasionally on the day itself in the morning or early afternoon[[/note]] and ever since 2012, the uncut version of the film is released into theaters every Christmas in a select number of theaters alongside ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' beginning in 2014.
* HarsherInHindsight: [[BadFuture Tiny Tim's death]] is even more heartbreaking now that his puppeteer, Jerry Nelson, has passed away due to complications from multiple illnesses. Even better, they both had an IncurableCoughOfDeath. Likewise, the eerily sad fading of the Ghost of Christmas Present, also performed by Nelson.

** Jacob and Robert Marley reminiscing about the time they shut down an orphanage, joyfully recalling the poor children and their frostbitten teddy bears.