The Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack · PDF fileThe Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack See, think, make. ... Flick book 10 ... The ﬁlm opens with a broad cross-section of Muppet

The Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack

See, think, make. Imagine

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See, think, make. Imagine

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Our downloadable resources are designed to be used in conjunction with selected film titles, which are available free for clubs at www.filmclub.org

The Muppet Christmas Carol

The Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack

Nothing gets everyone more in the mood for Christmas than Charles Dickens’ timeless tale, A Christmas Carol with Ebenezer Scrooge, and when you add Muppets into the mix this heartwarming tale gets an extra sprinkling of fun.

This special Into Film Christmas resource focuses on The Muppet Christmas Carol and contains fun film and Christmas activities plus games.

To complete these activities you will need a copy of The Muppet Christmas Carol DVD.

This pack also features ideas for Christmas games and activities and an Into Film Christmas Quiz to hold with your group.

Contents

The Muppet Christmas Carol 3

Activities:

Subtitle singalong! 6

Act the grump! 7

Warm up games 9

Flick book 10

Practical animation 12

Storyboarding 13

Christmas pitch 15

Christmas quiz - answers 16

Christmas quiz 17

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The Muppet Christmas CarolActivity pack

The Muppet Christmas Carol

Building the mood

The film opens with a broad cross-section of Muppet life in Victorian England, but what kind of Victorian England is this?

Watch the clip ‘Opening setting’ {time code 00:02:26 - 00:03:40}

Ask students to think, pair and share five adjectives they would use to describe the setting. Ask the group to give an example of something that they saw or heard in the clip to justify their choice of adjective.

The Three Ghosts

One of the most well known elements of the Dickens story is the appearance of the three ghosts. In The Muppet Christmas Carol they are all introduced in very different ways to build different moods:

Watch the following

‘The Ghost of Christmas Past’ {00:29:50 - 00:31:20}

‘The Ghost of Christmas Present’ {00:44:03 - 00:45:56}

‘The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’ {00:59:45 - 01:01:24}

Divide the class into three groups assigning each one the ghost of Christmas Past, Present, or Yet to Come.

Ask each group to draw an outline of their ghost and divide the drawing into three sections:

Ask each group to feedback and discuss how the use of colour, camera, setting and sound affects the way that a viewer sees each character.

Empathy with Ebenezer

Throughout the story, Ebenezer Scrooge is presented as the archetypal grumpy old man and we see Scrooge as a child at school to understand where his negative feelings and bitterness came from.

Watch the clip ‘Ebenezer sees himself at school’ {00:33:00 - 00:36:02}

Ask the group to work in pairs or threes to prepare a 60 second persuasive speech starting with the sentence ‘Ebenezer Scrooge was an unhappy old man because of his childhood experiences...’ Groups can choose to persuade the audience that Scrooge’s behavior in later life is right or wrong.

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Listen to the groups’ speeches and discuss whether the group has sympathy for Scrooge, and whether his experiences as a child justify his actions and attitude in later life.

Empathy with Ebenezer as an old man

Watch the clip ‘You there, boy!’ {01:09:55 - 01:12:15}

Ebenezer receives his first ever Christmas present at the end of this scene.

You could include this in the above activity and ask the group to think, pair and share why they think Ebenezer is so grateful to receive the gift. How might this influence the rest of his life?

The Yes and No game

This game has many names, and everyone loves it.

Watch the clip ‘the yes and no game’ {00:48:49 - 00:50:31}

Ask each member of the group to think of something connected to Christmas and write it down on a slip of paper to see if the rest of the class can guess what it is by asking one question at a time. Remember, you can only answer with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Each person in the group is allowed to ask one question, and they have to try to guess the answer in 20 questions or less.

Narration game!

The Muppet Christmas Carol features two narrators.

Ask the group to think, pair and share why films have a narrator, and why this film has two narrators.

Ask members of the group to play the roles of Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Rizzo the rat. Give the volunteers a hat or prop to indicate who is in which role and speaking. For each clip a new pair can take on the roles.

Play each of the following clips with the sound turned off, and ask the people in the roles to narrate the scene.If you have not watched the whole film recently, you may like to start by playing the film with sound and then carry out the narration task, to see what people have remembered.

Give each pair about 30 seconds, from these suggested starting places for each pair:

‘Scrooge arrives at work’ 00:08:21

‘Bob Cratchit has questions for Ebenezer’ 00:09:42

‘Scrooge is asked to donate to charity’ 00:11:45

‘Bob Cratchit has more questions for Ebenezer’ 00:14:46

‘Scrooge receives a visit from Jacob and Robert Marley’ 00:23:27

‘Christmas at the Cratchit home’ 00:51:59

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Subtitle singalong!

Nothing is as festive as a singalong, and this is one of the most heart-warming songs in the film.

Play the clip Thankful Heart {01:12:13 – 01:15:03} with the DVD subtitles, or print out the lyrics on page 6.

Act the grump!

Watch the clip ‘Merry Christmas’ {01:15:06 – 01:16:13}

Ask for 3 volunteers to re-enact the scene.

Divide your group into groups of 3. Ask each group to write three ‘acting notes’ for each volunteer. These should be three points that the ‘actor’ has in mind when they are re-enacting the scene, for example Scrooge never smiles, Bob Cratchit is always slouching, etc.

Ask the volunteers to re-enact the scene by using the script, and demonstrating their understanding of the characters and the story.



With a thankful heart, with an endless joy,With a growing family, every girl and boy,

Will be nephew and niece to me.(Nephew and niece to me)

Will bring love, hope and peace to me. (Love, hope and peace to me)Yes, and every night will end,

And every day will start, With a grateful prayer, and a thankful heart.

With an open smile, and with open doors, I will bid you welcome, what is mine is yours.

With a glass raised to toast your health.(With a glass raised to toast your health)

And a promise to share the wealth. (A promise to share the wealth)

I will sail a friendly course, File a friendly chart,

On a sea of love and a thankful heart.

Life is like a journey, Who knows when it ends?

Yes, and if you need to knowThe measure of a man

You simply count his friends. Stop and look around you.

The glory that you seeIs born again each day,

Don’t let it slip away How precious life can be.

With a thankful heart that is wide awake,I do make this promise every breath I take,

Will be used now to sing your praise.(Used now to sing your praise)

And to beg you to share my days. (Beg you to share my days)

With a loving guarantee,That even if we part,

I will hold you close in a thankful heart.

SUBTITLE SINGALONG!

Thankful Heart: Music and lyrics by Paul Williams

6

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Ext. Victorian Street - Day

Ebenezer Scrooge knocks on Bob Cratchit’s door.

SCROOGE

Bob Cratchit!

Bob opens the door slowly.

SCROOGE (CONT’D)

So here you are!

BOB CRATCHIT Mr Scrooge...

SCROOGE

You sir, were not at work this morning as we had discussed.

BOB CRATCHIT

But, Mr Scrooge sir, we did discuss it. It’s Christmas Day sir. YoX�JDYH�PH�WKH�GD\�RҬ�

SCROOGE

I? I, Ebenezer Scrooge? Would I do a thing like that?

BOB CRATCHIT

No. I mean yes, but you did.

SCROOGE

� %RE�&UDWFKLW��,±YH�KDG�P\�ºOO�RI�WKLV��

Emily Cratchit comes bursting out.

EMILY CRATCHIT

� $QG�,�KDYH�KDG�P\�ºOO�RI�\RX��0U�6FURRJH�

ACT THE GRUMP!

Script

8

BOB CRATCHIT

Emily, Emily...

BOB CRATCHIT

No. I mean yes, but you did.

SCROOGE

And therHIRUH��%RE�&UDWFKLW��

EMILY CRATCHIT

And thereIRUH��\RX�FDQ�OHDYH�WKLV�KRXVH�DW�RQFH�

SCROOGE

� $QG�WKHUHIRUH��,�DP�DERXW�WR�UDLVH�\RXU�VDODU\�

EMILY CRATCHIT

AnG�,�DP�DERXW�WR�UDLVH�\RX�ULJKW�RҬ�WKH�� pavement... pardon?

BOB CRATCHIT

Pardon?

SCROOGE

Yes BRE��5DLVH�\RXU�VDODU\��$QG�SD\�RҬ�\RXU� mortgage on this house.

Emily Cratchit laughs nervously.

BOB CRATCHIT

Please, sir. Come inside. Yes, yes.

SCROOGE

Bob�&UDWFKLW��ZRXOG�\RX�DQG�\RXU�IDPLO\�FDUH�WR�MRLQ�� XV�IRU�D�OLWWOH�WXUNH\�GLQQHU�RQ�WKLV�ºQH�&KULVWPDV�'Dy?

Emily and Bob Cratchit both gasp.

SCROOGE (CONT’D)

Merry Christmas.

ACT THE GRUMP!

Script

8

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Warm-up Games

This is a quick and fun game to play with your group. Ask your students to write the title of their favourite Christmas film and a movie that they wish they had starred in (explaining their reasons why) on a piece of paper. Students then have 5 seconds to throw their ‘snowballs’ (not at each other!). Ask students to stop and pick up a random snowball, unravel it, read it aloud, and try to guess who it belongs to.

Equipment: Pens, scrap paper

Write as many film titles as students in the group onto sticky notes or stickers. Stick a film title from our Comedy Christmas topic to each student’s back. They must walk around the room and show their title to other students, who will mime their film title back to them. If a student guesses their title correctly they must sit down. This can also work with characters for a more simple guessing game.

Suggested film titles: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992, U), The Snowman (1986, U), Home Alone (1990, PG), Miracle on 34th Street (1947, U)

Suggested film characters: Father Christmas, Ebenezer Scrooge, Kevin (Home Alone), Doris Walker

Equipment: Stickers or sticky notes

Christmas Primary favourites: http://bit.ly/1y8DTaW

Split the group into two teams; one person from the first team will come to the front whilst a slide with a Christmas themed word is shown behind them. They can’t see the slide. Their team needs to shout out clues (without saying any of the words on the slide) in order for the person at the front to guess what’s on the screen. Give each team a minute and count the points scored before swapping to the next team. This game can be a nice vocabulary exercise and a fun way to link to the day’s theme.

Downloads: Search ‘Christmas Activity Days’ on the www.filmclub.org website to find the download link to the Christmas Articulate slides.

Ask the students to get into teams and give them two minutes to write as many words or phrases on the board/flipchart paper on a given topic, e.g. Christmas films, best ever presents, etc. They must write up their words relay-style and the team with the most words on the board at the end of the time wins. Different themes can form different rounds for a longer game.

Equipment: Whiteboard pens, white board / flip chart



Snowball fight (Suitable for 7+)

Miming (Suitable for 9+)

Christmas Articulate This (Suitable for 7+)

Christmas Board Race (Suitable for 7+)

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Activities: Flick Book

Suitable for: 7+

Estimated time: 60 minutes

This activity will work with: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965, U) 5+

Activity Description:

1. Plan out the simple storyline for your flick book on scrap paper (15 mins)2. Give out the prepared blank flick books (instructions below)3. Ask students to choose a character they would like to animate4. Ask them to draw it in the bottom right hand corner of the flick book. Then they can add a background and develop pictures. 5. Refer back to the previous page while drawing the next one to check that the flick book does not jump dramatically from one picture to the next6. Keep drawing and colouring in while sticking to your plan (Steps 2-6 will take about 30 mins)7. Check that your book works by flicking through it8. Have a gallery of flick books and allow students to view each other’s flick books (15 mins)

What you will need:

Downloads: None

Top Tips:

How to make a flick book:

Try flicking through backwards to tell your story in reverse!

We have also included a handy flick book template that you can use too.

More from Into Film: You can order and review A Charlie Brown Christmas on the website from www.filmclub.org



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The Muppet Christmas CarolFlick book template

Instructions

Plan out the storyline for your flick book, making sure to keep most of the action in the bottom right hand corner. Keep your story simple and make sure you tell the story entirely though your drawing. Something quick and easy always works well, like a bouncing ball or jumping frog.

Once you have drawn your story, cut around each box and stick the boxes together (you may want to number each box to make sure you keep them in the right order).

Top Tips: You can also make an easy flick book by using a pack of sticky notes or drawing in the corner of a notepad

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Activities: Practical Animation

Suitable for: 11+ Estimated time: 90 minutes

This activity will work with: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, PG) 7+

Activity Description:

1. In small groups students storyboard an idea for a simple stop-motion animated film with a Christmas theme (15 mins)2. Students design their sets (5 mins) 3. Create their characters by adding googly eyes to objects in the classroom (they can be as simple as a pencil running away from a pencil sharpener) (5 mins)4. Take multiple shots using an iPad/tablet, moving the characters one bit in every photo (20 mins)5. Import the pictures into the timeline in iMotion or iStop Motion (or a similar piece of animation software) on the iPad/tablet and edit the film using iMovie, or a similar piece of software (30 mins)6. Add music and voices and, if there is time, titles and credits7. Play all the films

What you will need:

Downloads: Storyboard template (Search ‘Christmas Activity Days’ on the website to find the download link)

Top Tips:

More from Into Film: Search ‘stop-motion’ on the website www.filmclub.org to read an in-depth article on stop-motion animation



Into Film now offer teachers free CPD sesions on stop-motion animation.

For more details you can get in touch with us at [email protected]

Activities: Storyboarding

Suitable for: All ages Estimated time: 30 minutes

This activity will work with: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1993, U) 5+

Activity description:

1. After viewing The Muppet Christmas Carol create a storyboard of a Christmas past, present, and future for yourself. In order to do the storyboards well students should make drawings of what we would see in each scene and write down stage directions, props, costumes, etc2. If there’s time, they can present their storyboards for the rest of the group to look at

What you will need:

Top Tips:

place them on the two best pieces of work (not including their own!). The one with the most stickers is the winner

More from Into Film: You can order and review The Muppet Christmas Carol on the website www.filmclub.orgThere are also Interviews with two Storyboard Artists on the Into Film website: Batman Begins (2005, 12) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2010, 12) Jim Cornish: http://bit.ly/1EJCcDXThe Bourne Ultimatum (2007, 12) Dan Maslen: http://bit.ly/1xnAyqT



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Activities: Christmas Pitch

Suitable for age 7-14. Estimated time: 90 minutes

Activity description:

1. Ask students to think of ideas for a new Christmas film in small groups (15 mins)2. Create their narrative on a storyboard worksheet making sure that there is dialogue and pictures while using the Top Tips for reference (30 mins)3. Prepare a pitch to give in front of the rest of the class on their film idea (15 mins)4. Listen to the pitches (20 mins)5. The leader should act as an investor and choose which film they would like to produce (10 mins)

What you will need:

Downloads: Storyboard worksheet (Search ‘Christmas Activity Days’ on the website to find the download link)

Top Tips:

Leaders

Ages 7-11

Ages 11+

The pitch:

The basic story of the film



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Christmas Quiz - Answers

Round 1: Muppet Christmas Carol

1. b

2. a

3. c

4. b

5. c

6. a

7. c

8. b

9. a

10. b

11. c

12. a

Round 2: General Knowledge

1. He was a fully grown man

2. To a party with lots of other snowmen

3. Tim Burton

4. He has to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars

5. His heart

6. He is the real Santa Claus

7. He is going to be turned in to chocolate

8. He is his son

9. A train

10. He has to take on the role of Santa Claus himself

11. A BB gun

12. Mr Poppy

13. Blooming

14. The true meaning of Christmas



CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Round 1: Muppet Christmas Carol

1/ What is the part that The Great Gonzo

plays in the film?

a. Charles Dance

b. Charles Dickens

c. Darles Chickens

2/ Who accompanies Gonzo and helps

narrate the film?

a. Rizzo the Rat

b. Rat Stevens

c. Rat Deeley

3/ What is Scrooge’s first name?

a. Ezekiel

b. Eddie

c. Ebenezer

4/ Which actor plays the part of Scrooge?

a. Michael J. Fox

b. Michael Caine

c. Princess Michael of Kent

5/ What is the name of the song that

Kermit sings?

a. One More Month ‘til Christmas

b. Christmas is Still Ages Away

c. One More Sleep ‘til Christmas

6/ What are the names of the

Marley brothers?

a. Jacob and Robert

b. Bob and Ziggy

c. Martin and Marvin

7/ Which ghost visits Scrooge first?

a. The ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

b. The ghost of Christmas Present

c. The ghost of Christmas Past

8/ What does Fozziwig’s factory make?

a. Mince pies

b. Rubber chickens

c. Weapons grade Christmas crackers

9/ What does the Ghost of Christmas Present

say will happen to Tiny Tim?

a. He won’t survive until next Christmas

b. He will live to be 101 years old

c. He is going to go on the X Factor and have

number one Christmas single

10/ What is it that finally causes Scrooge to

change his ways?

a. He realises that he secretly loves Christmas

b. He is shown his own funeral with only some

businessmen attending for a free lunch

c. He realises there’s more profit to be made

by embracing Christmas

11/ What year did The Muppet Christmas Carol

get released?

a. 1892

b. 1982

c. 1992

12/ When and where is the film set?

a. Victorian London

b. 1920s New York

c. The Sahara desert

1/ In the film Elf what was unusual about

Buddy the Elf?

2/ Where does the Snowman take the boy

in the animated film The Snowman?

3/ Who wrote the film A Nightmare

Before Christmas?

4/ What does Kevin have to do when he

finds himself left behind in the film

Home Alone?

5/ Which part of the Grinch is described as

being ‘two sizes too small’?

6/ What does Kris Kringle prove to the

court in Miracle on 34th Street?

7/ What do the children have to save Santa

from in the film When Santa Fell to Earth?

8/ How is Arthur Christmas related to

Father Christmas?

9/ What kind of vehicle is The Polar

Express?

10/ What does the dad Scott have to do in

the film The Santa Clause?

11/ What Christmas present is Ralphie

desperate to get in A Christmas Story?

12/ What is the name of the silly Teacher’s

Assistant in Nativity?

13/ In Father Christmas what word does

Father Christmas say when he’s grumpy?

14/ What is Charlie Brown searching for in

A Charlie Brown Christmas?

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Round 2: General Knowledge

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Cut up the table below so that you have:Ten locations

Ten props Ten characters

Divide your film club into groups of three and give them one card from each section.

Ask the students to come up with a story and festive film pitch, which involves all elements that they have been given. Each group can pitch their film ideas to the rest of the group:

E.G “My film is about a group of mischievous elves who decide they want the latest most popular toy in the world. So they sneak onto Santa’s sleigh to go to town, but end up having to take part in a

Primary school nativity play.”

A giant Christmas pudding A hard-working woman who never gets any thanks from anyone

Locations

The North Pole

The toy department of a busy department store

A big house in the countryside with a huge log fire

Victorian London

A busy family home on Christmas Eve

A primary school Nativity play

The worst snow blizzard in years

A dark coniferous forest with a small log cabin in the middle of it

A star that mysteriously moves across the desert sky at Christmas

The studio where they’re filming the Christmas episode of X Factor

Props

The tallest Christmas tree in the world

A stocking

100,000 mince pies

A Christmas present addressed to the character that does not say who it is from

The latest, most popular toy in the world

A knitted Christmas jumper that’s been passed down through the generations

A roll of magic holographic 3D wrapping paper

A map of treasure buried deep beneath the snow in Lapland

A sprig of mistletoe

Characters

Father Christmas

A sleigh and 12 flying reindeer

A mean Scrooge-like character

A young girl in an orphanage who loves Christmas more than anything

A bunch of mischievous elves

A very successful pop star with a Christmas number one song

A carpenter who makes wooden toys

An alien who lands on Earth on Christmas Day

Two competitive brothers who always try to outdo each other

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

Round 3: Festive Film Pitches

Documents

The Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack · PDF fileThe Muppet Christmas Carol Activity Pack See, think, make. ... Flick book 10 ... The ﬁlm opens with a broad cross-section of Muppet