Film Gauge

The Muppets perform the classic Dickens holiday tale, with Kermit  the Frog playing Bob Cratchit, the put-upon clerk of stingy Ebenezer  Scrooge (Michael Caine). Other Muppets -- Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear  and Sam the Eagle -- weave in and out of the story, while Scrooge  receives visits from spirits of three Christmases  -- past, present and future. They show him the error of his self-serving  ways, but the miserable old man seems to be past any hope of redemption  and happiness.

In this Christmas classic, an old man going by the name of Kris  Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) fills in for an intoxicated Santa in Macy's  annual Thanksgiving Day parade. Kringle proves to be such a hit that he  is soon appearing regularly at the chain's main store in midtown  Manhattan. When Kringle surprises customers and  employees alike by claiming that he really is Santa Claus, it leads to a  court case to determine his mental health and, more importantly, his  authenticity.

George Bailey has so many problems he is thinking about ending it  all - and it's Christmas! As the angels discuss George, we see his life  in flashback. As George is about to jump from a bridge, he ends up  rescuing his guardian angel, Clarence - who then shows George what his  town would have looked like if it hadn't been for all his good deeds over the years.

The film follows the misadventures of Jack Skellington,  Halloweentown's beloved pumpkin king, who has become bored with the same  annual routine of frightening people in the "real world." When Jack  accidentally stumbles on Christmastown, all bright colors and warm  spirits, he gets a new lease on life -- he plots to  bring Christmas under his control by kidnapping Santa Claus and taking  over the role. But Jack soon discovers even the best-laid plans of mice  and skeleton men can go seriously awry.