The Muppet Christmas Carol voted the best Christmas film of all time

Brian Henson's irreverent take on Charles Dickens's classic Yuletide yarn – which famously starred Michael Caine as notorious miser Ebenezer Scrooge alongside a cast of Muppets – had previously finished runner-up, but now tops the poll one year after it celebrated its 30th anniversary.

As it was crowned, Henson spoke exclusively to RadioTimes.com about topping the list – describing the result as "wonderful" news.

"I'm very proud of the movie and I'm thrilled that people appreciate it so much," he said. "It was a very special piece, it took a lot of people working really hard and we really put our hearts into it. And I'm thrilled that it's so popular and it seems to be even building the popularity, which is great."

It's a fitting year for the film to have won the poll given Caine recently announced that he was retiring from acting, and Henson paid tribute to the star and his "incredible body of work", calling him the "quintessential working actor."

He added: "It was really fun doing Christmas Carol with him because he so appreciated all of the humour around him. But he played his part very, very seriously. He said to me, 'I'm going to act as if I'm working in the Royal Shakespeare Company and that's only going to make the Muppets even funnier and more delightful.'

"And he was absolutely right. But it was wonderful because he'd do a take where he's so severe and dark, and then I'd call cut, and then he just start laughing at everything that was going on around him. So he was really just a delight to work with."

Read more:

• Brian Henson on 30 years of The Muppet Christmas Carol: "It’s quite possibly the best thing I ever did"
• The Muppet Christmas Carol is rewatched by 2/3 of fans every single year

Meanwhile, Henson also urged fans to watch one version of his film in particular – specifically the longer cut containing the previously lost song When Love Is Gone, which was added to Disney Plus for UK viewers a few years ago.

"When [the song] is in the movie, the structure of the movie is much, much better," he said. "And the emotional arc for Scrooge and Michael's performance is much, much better. He tuned his entire performance going into that moment and coming out of it and then to sort of cut the meat of it was a real shame, so it's great to have it back in!"

In total, there were 27 films on our shortlist – from classic Hollywood fare such as White Christmas all the way up to last year's Spirited.

The third place position went to 1990's Home Alone, which gained 8 per cent of the vote, while Love Actually came in fourth – also with 8 per cent, but marginally fewer votes – and Die Hard rounded out the top five with 7 per cent of the vote.

Interestingly, Elf, which has regularly been a fixture in the top five and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, dropped down to eighth position, with Miracle on 34th Street and animated gem The Snowman both coming ahead of the Will Ferrell classic in the final results.

You can find the full results of the poll below:

1. The Muppet Christmas Carol (20 per cent)
2. It's A Wonderful Life (16 per cent)
3. Home Alone (8 per cent)
4. Love Actually (8 per cent)
5. Die Hard (7 per cent)
6. Miracle on 34th Street (6 per cent)
7. The Snowman (6 per cent)
8. Elf (5 per cent)
9. White Christmas (5 per cent)
10. Scrooge (4 per cent)
11. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (3 per cent)
12. The Holiday (2 per cent)
13. The Polar Express (2 per cent)
14. Nativity! (2 per cent)
15. Scrooged (1 per cent)
16. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1 per cent)
17. Last Christmas (1 per cent)
18. Gremlins (1 per cent)
19. The Santa Clause (1 per cent)
20. Klaus (0 per cent)
21. Jingle All the Way (0 per cent)
22. Batman Returns (0 per cent)
23. The Christmas Chronicles (0 per cent)
24. Christmas with the Kranks (0 per cent)
25. Spirited (0 per cent)
26. Carol (0 per cent)
27. Happiest Season (0 per cent)

The Muppet Christmas Carol is currently streaming on Disney Plus. If you're looking for more to watch, check out our TV Guide or visit our Film hub for all the latest news.

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