DIRECTOR EXCLUSIVE
When Love Returns
The restored version of The Muppet Christmas Caroldebuts on Disney+
WHENEVER THERE’S A ranking of Britain’s most beloved Crimbo movies, The Muppet Christmas Carol consistently places in the top five. But even the most ardent fans of Michael Caine’s Ebenezer Scrooge and Kermit the Frog’s Bob Cratchit may not know that they’ve never seen the complete movie that director Brian Henson intended audiences to enjoy.
What was released to cinemas in 1992 was missing the Paul Williams-penned song “When Love Is Gone”, which was sung to young Scrooge by his neglected love Belle (Meredith Braun). It was a true three-hanky moment which signified Scrooge closing his heart to love and embracing his miserly ways. But in celebration of The Muppet Christmas Carol’s 30th anniversary, Henson and some determined archivists have achieved a Christmas miracle by restoring the song to a new cut of the film, available this month on Disney+.