Important thread: One of the reasons Michael Caine is the best Scrooge. [1/10]

Michael Caine's performance of Scrooge in the Muppet Christmas Carol is unparalleled. Under the direction of Brian Henson, Caine gives us a Scrooge who, over the course of his ghostly encounters, moves from truly unpleasant to truly kind in a subtle and believable way. [2/10]

His speech and actions on either side of his transformation are never caricatured, and his epiphanies in between are never forced. The screenplay and direction treat his character with a tenderness that's rare among Christmas Carol adaptations. [3/10]

But there is one scene that has always stood out to me as particularly well done, and it's actually one that diverts a bit from the source material. It happens at his nephew Fred's Christmas party during the Ghost of Christmas Present's visit. Let's break it down. [4/10]

Scrooge, aware for the first time of the joys of Christmas gatherings, is very interested in the game of "Yes and No" at his nephew's party. Unaccustomed to games, it takes him a few seconds to get up to speed with how it works. Look at the gears spinning. [5/10]

Eventually he steps towards the middle of the room, increasingly invested in figuring out what Fred is thinking of. [6/10]

When Clara guesses a cat right after he (invisibly to them) makes the same guess, he asserts that it was his guess first with a tinge of competitiveness. [7/10]

But when it's revealed that the unpleasant, unwanted mystery creature is, in fact, Scrooge, the film moves in a different direction than any other adaptation I'm aware of. Scrooge does not happily go along with it as in the book or lash out in anger as in some adaptations. [8/10]

Instead, his feelings are simply hurt, and he responds with heartbreaking silence. The camera moves back and he's once again on the outside looking in. [9/10]

It's a simple yet beautiful and powerful scene that shows Scrooge's growing humanity, and it's one of the reasons I stand convinced that Michael Caine is the best Scrooge in perhaps the best film adaptation of A Christmas Carol. [10/10]