"Actor: Robert Tygner"

• The Muppet Christmas Carol | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £5.77   |  Saving you £12.22 (211.79%)   |  RRP £17.99

  For a unique twist on a holiday favorite don't miss The Muppet Christmas Carol. Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge - alongside all your Muppet favorites - in this version of the classic Dickens' tale about a stingy old man who learns to change his ways one lonely Christmas Eve. Kermit the Frog plays lowly Scrooge employee Bob Cratchit while Miss Piggy plays Bob's feisty wife Emily. Tune in for Christmas cheer only the Muppets can bring!

• The Muppet Christmas Carol | DVD | (18/11/2002) from £19.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Brian Henson directs his late father's creations in the Charles Dickens classic, the best known (and most oft-filmed) Christmas story of all time. Michael Caine plays the old miser Scrooge with Kermit as his long-suffering but ever-hopeful employee Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Cratchit's wife, and a host of Muppets (including the Great Gonzo as an unlikely Charles Dickens) taking other primary roles in this bright, playful adaptation of the sombre tale. Or at least it starts brightly enough--the anarchic humour soon settles into mirthful memories and a sense of melancholy as the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future take Scrooge on a journey of his lonely, wasted life. Michael Caine makes a wonderful Scrooge, delightfully rediscovering the meaning of life as fantastic creations from Henson's Creature Shop (developed specially for this film) take the reins as the three ghosts. While the odd mix of offbeat humour and sombre drama undercuts the power of Dickens's drama, this kid-friendly retelling makes an excellent family drama that adults and children alike can enjoy. --Sean Axmaker

• Buddy | DVD | (11/03/2002) from £11.38   |  Saving you £-2.40 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Based on the life of Gertrude Lintz, a Long Island socialite who kept an amazing menagerie of animals on her estate, this very able film by Caroline Thompson (Black Beauty) concentrates on Lintz's relationship with a gorilla named Buddy, whom she raised from infancy on. The film is geared toward kids but in the very best sense as Thompson orchestrates some very entertaining sequences without cutting corners on logic, the way most forms of children's entertainment do today. Rene Russo is very good as the eccentric woman, and Robbie Coltrane is uncharacteristically warm and fuzzy as her patient husband. Nice support work from Alan Cumming and the rest of the cast. Thompson is aiming for something akin to the live-action glory days of Disney, and she comes close to achieving it. --Tom Keogh