The Muppets are having a moment in 2026. The Muppet Christmas Carol, once viewed as a cult classic, has risen to holiday staple status and is powering a major marketing campaign that taps into millennial nostalgia and humor. And through it all, Disney still isn’t quite sure what to do with this suddenly “it” intellectual property.
The latest news is that Walmart’s marquee marketing campaign for the holiday season is “A Who Knew Carol,” inspired by the classic 1992 holiday film, “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” The campaign brings together an iconic ensemble of Muppets, including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo (as Charles Dickens), Rizzo the Rat, Fozzy, Swedish Chef, and more.
The Muppets are joined by Walton Goggins as Ebenezer Scrooge, who steps into Michael Caine’s role from the movie. Stephanie Beatriz also joins the ensemble as Scrooge’s niece, and will lead the Spanish-language spots for “A Who Knew Carol.” Together, the characters bring a fresh twist to the holiday classic, showing that even the biggest humbug can be delightfully surprised by Walmart’s exciting gifts, favorite brands and incredible value (according to Walmart).
The first video features physical sets that evoke the look of the film, while the self-aware script takes issue with the timeline, as Rizzo the Rat complains that Walmart didn’t exist during the Victorian era. (Hard as it might be for the uninitiated to believe, the Muppet Christmas Carol is one of the most faithful movie adaptations of the Dickens story.)
Rizzo also points out that Beatriz wasn’t in the movie, a complaint Pepe the King Prawn (also not present in the original) dismisses by saying the short is “giving people what they want.” Here’s the full launch video for “A Who Knew Carol,” which we highly recommend giving a watch; it feels like a love letter to the film more than an ad for Walmart (even if it is actually both):
“‘A Who Knew Carol’ brings Walmart’s holiday campaign to life in a way that’s playful, memorable and full of unexpected surprises all season long,” said William White, Chief Marketing Officer of Walmart. “By pairing the enduring charm of The Muppets with Walton Goggins’ humor, we’re showing that Walmart can surprise customers with the brands, gifts, deals and convenience they need to make the season even more joyful.”
The campaign kicks off with “A Who Knew Carol” followed by a series of videos and social media content throughout the holiday season aimed at “educating” audiences about Walmart. The full campaign also encompasses podcasts, creators, and even Walmart’s NFL integrations, with on-air personalities referencing the campaign. (You hear that, Sarah? Looks like I have to watch the NFL for research! Never know when the Muppets might be mentioned.)
The first video in “A Who Knew Carol” sets up the premise, which is that Goggins’ Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits, who have changed from the original Muppet Christmas Carol for legal reasons. (Another amusing self-aware joke that reminds me of the delightful World of Color – Happiness pre-show.)
According to Marketing Dive, the trio of specters haunting Scrooge in future ads will be themed around key seasonal beats for Walmart: a ghost who showcases gift ideas, one who underscores savings available during Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and another who promotes last-minute gifting, including Walmart Express Delivery. Over the course of the campaign, Goggins’ Scrooge shifts from a humbug attitude to appreciation for Walmart, a journey that reflects the larger “Who Knew?” concept.
This is literally the goal of the “Who Knew?” campaign, which Walmart launched last year. It was developed to dispel misperceptions about the brand and position it as more style and trend-forward, as Walmart attempts to win over higher-income shoppers.
This is going to sound silly, and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m biased, but one of the first things I thought when watching “A Who Knew Carol” was: maybe Walmart is cool? Take that for whatever it’s worth given both my Muppet bias and the fact that I am not, in fact, cool.
Nevertheless, I can’t think of a past Walmart ad campaign that was anything other than straightforward. It’s not a brand that has really attempted to position itself as anything other than cheap. Even though this launch video had nothing to do with Walmart pricing, products, or promos, it made me more inclined to shop there. Perhaps I’m an easy mark for the Muppets, though.
In fairness, this is precisely why Walmart chose to use “The Muppet Christmas Carol.” The goal is to leverage an iconic piece of pop culture, and offer a unified marketing push with multigenerational appeal, to bolster its holiday marketing and a “Who Knew?” brand platform starring Walton Goggins. Walmart and the ad agencies with which it worked determined “The Muppet Christmas Carol” was the right movie for tapping into this.
“We love ‘A Christmas Carol’ as a story because it’s a reappraisal story, and the ‘Who Knew?’ campaign is a reappraisal story for us as well,” said White. Walmart’s Chief Marketing Officer views the Muppets as carrying broad consumer appeal and fresh relevance following a TV special featuring Sabrina Carpenter and their cameo at the World Cup final halftime show.
They’re right, again. We let our daughter watch “A Who Knew Carol,” and sent the video to our parents. It’s going to appear alongside NFL broadcasts and I’d wager that we’ll likewise see it paired with “Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True” on the Hallmark channel. Talk about range!
All of this is admittedly uncritical commentary. I suppose I could throw in a line about the irony of Walmart using “A Christmas Carol” as the foundation for an advertisement given the novella’s themes about social injustice, greed, etc. Or similarly using the Muppets for crass commercialism, or Disney renting out a classic movie for a cheap cash grab.
I’ll leave those critiques to someone else, because I don’t share those perspectives at all. While I will be concerned if Rizzo the Rat appears alongside Gronk in a FanDuel ad, this obviously isn’t that. “The Muppet Christmas Carol” is being lovingly adapted for a big-budget and respectful ad campaign.
It’ll draw awareness to the film and the franchise, which is badly needed. From my perspective as a Muppets fan, this is a net positive. If this were Anna and Elsa being used for Walmart marketing, it’d also be a different story, as the Frozen franchise also doesn’t benefit from exposure. But they’re not, so it isn’t. Even though the Muppets are the “it” property right now, they still need all the help they can get to actually capitalize on their renewed interest and cultivate the next generation of fans.
It’s wild to me that everyone seems to “get” the power of the Muppets…except Disney.
I don’t want to be too harsh or strong with the criticism here. For years, Disney gave the Muppets chance after chance, despite nothing working. Part of the problem was that Disney didn’t get the Muppets’ trademark humor quite right, or didn’t give concepts enough time to gain traction. Even so, they did try to do a lot with the Muppets over the last decade, and nothing really stuck the landing or developed an audience.
But now it feels like Disney is the dog that caught the car. “The Muppet Show” is the best thing Disney has done with the Muppets in decades. The most remarkable thing about the 2026 revival of “The Muppet Show” is that it could just as easily be an episode from 1976 through 1981, during the original series’ run. Save for the songs and celebrities, there are no identifiers in the show that it’s a circa 2026 production. Disney absolutely nailed “The Muppet Show.”
From creative and critical perspectives, “The Muppet Show” has been a triumph. The Disney+ special snagged six 2026 Emmy Award nominations and won four of them. It earned the most trophies of any program across the Disney portfolio, accounting for a quarter of the company’s overall haul.
Despite this, “The Muppet Show” revival, which was to serve as a backdoor pilot, has not been picked up for a full series order. According to Deadline, there have been difficulties “cracking a premise” for an ongoing Muppet Show series that Disney, The Muppets Studio and Point Grey will all be on board for.
Are you kidding me?! “The Muppet Show” is the premise. They’ve already cracked the code…and won four awards with it! There is nothing else to figure out, and the fact that the Muppet programming we’re getting for Christmas 2026 is a series of slicky-produced Walmart ads is baffling.
“The Muppet Christmas Carol” grows in popularity every year; not tapping into that with a real special just feels like a massive missed opportunity. It would be something we’d introduce our daughter to, and could enjoy with our parents.
There’s a lot of content these days that is nostalgia-bait for millennials, aimed at appealing to us so we’ll introduce it to our kids. The Muppets are one of the few IPs that resonate with my daughter’s generation through my parents’ generation. And they’re hot right now!
Clearly Walmart gets that. Why Disney doesn’t is beyond me. Even from the outside, it just seems so obvious. (I’ll tell you what: if Bob Chapek were still around, he would’ve already parlayed their popularity into like a half-dozen direct-to-video movies!)
“A Who Knew Carol” launched with Walmart also announcing its three major holiday shopping events from November 12 through December 2, 2026:
- Early Black Friday Deals: November 12–15, 2026
- Black Friday Deals: November 23–29, 2026
- Cyber Monday: November 30–December 2, 2026
They also announced that customers can now get both Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus together for just $120 a year, which offers perks such as 2% Sam’s Cash back to free delivery to free streaming and more. During the Black Friday sale events, select online-only deals will be reserved exclusively for Walmart+ members for the first 24 hours, while supplies last, giving members an early opportunity to score early savings.
This is something we covered recently in Up to $120 Off Disney Gift Cards During Early Black Friday Sale, Made Easier with Walmart’s Plus Promo.
Finally, circling back to how “The Muppet Christmas Carol” grows in popularity with each passing year, new merchandise collections have arrived at the Disney Store and elsewhere. (We’re checking a lot of boxes with this one post!)
This week’s new releases are the Muppet Christmas Carol Fleece Crew and The Muppet Christmas Carol Sweater for Adults by Spirit Jersey. And with this, I will be buying my very first Spirit Jersey, as that sweater is a gem! (The Spirit Jersey Sweater is now available as of October 27, 2026, but I don’t see the fleece crew. Both items were originally supposed to launch yesterday.)
Prior to this, exclusive merchandise was released on October 19th via Disney Store Private Access. Those items, such as the Muppet Christmas Carol Loungefly, are now available to purchase.
In addition to this, there’s a bunch of Muppet Christmas Carol merchandise at other retailers.
In case you missed it, there are pajamas at Old Navy and a t-shirt. Here’s a link to the search results for Muppet Christmas Carol at Old Navy.
These are currently 50% off and it looks like sizes that were previously sold out have been restocked, so if you missed it before, you’re in luck!
There are also a ton of t-shirts and sweatshirts at Target, Kohl’s, Her Universe, Box Lunch, and Hot Topic, many of which appear to be part of the same collection.
Those are also “on sale,” although that term might be meaningless given how the final four retailers on that list all offer me bonus sales for spinning some wheel. I’m not very good at shopping for clothing; there might be more merchandise elsewhere.
The most unique item is the sweater sold at Box Lunch. I don’t particularly care for the design, but am tempted to buy it anyway just so I have a Muppet Christmas Carol sweater. But I feel like a better one is an inevitability at this point, and I already own too many shirts that I’ve bought for collectible purposes, but do not wear.
My personal favorite existing merchandise is The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Holiday Classic.
We’d love this by default simply because it’s Muppet Christmas Carol. But it’s actually a beautiful book, and one of our favorites to read to our daughter during the holidays. She really loves it, aided by truly exceptional (not really) voiceover narration for each character by me. It’s currently 48% off on Amazon, so we highly recommend grabbing one if you don’t already own it. No children necessary.
Amazon also sells several of the same shirts and sweatshirts as Kohl’s, Target, and the other retailers.
Ultimately, it’s great to see “The Muppet Christmas Carol” getting so much love, and finding a large fanbase. I still remember a time when it was difficult to find the movie via home release (speaking of which, it’s time to finally re-release “A Muppet Family Christmas”). Now, not only is it widely available, but it’s regularly shown during the holiday season and we got “When Love is Gone” back (something I thought would never happen).
Given how well “The Muppet Christmas Carol” merchandise has sold, I hope we’re on the precipice of getting a lot more of it. Not just that, but that Disney will also re-learn that these characters have the perfect blend of humor, sentimentality and charm for Christmas, and we start getting new holiday specials again.
Between “A Who Knew Carol” and all of the merchandise, not to mention the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring the Muppets: Obligatory Holiday Overlay, it really does feel like “The Muppet Christmas Carol” is having a moment. Here’s hoping Disney leverages that into something bigger, and we don’t have to wait two more decades for an announcement like we did with Figment.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
What do you think about Walmart’s “A Who Knew Carol”? Like seeing “The Muppet Christmas Carol” receive more love and mainstream exposure, or would you prefer it not be cheapened by an ad campaign? Thoughts on the new Muppet Christmas Carol merchandise? Agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!