I know Halloween is still a few days away, and there's plenty to keep us busy on the 2026 TV premiere schedule, but apparently the Muppets have decided it's Christmas already. After seeing Walton Goggins step into Ebenezer Scrooge's shoes for a new Walmart ad inspired by The Muppet Christmas Carol, I'm surprisingly OK with it. Watching one of my favorite holiday movies get this much love makes even an October Christmas commercial feel like a treat.Walmart unveiled A Who Knew Carol on Monday, Oct. 26, teaming up with Disney and The Muppets Studio to revisit one of the best Christmas movies of all time. Goggins takes over the role Michael Caine made famous, while Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rizzo the Rat, and other familiar faces return to the snowy streets. Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Stephanie Beatriz also appears as Scrooge's niece. As you can see below, the whole thing looks considerably more elaborate than your average retail ad.A post shared by Walmart (@walmart)A photo posted by The first video recreates the original film's opening musical number, "Scrooge," with the London residents singing about their notoriously unpleasant neighbor. The Hateful Eight star looks right at home playing the town's resident grouch, and Rizzo even points out that Walmart didn't exist in the story's time period. That's exactly the sort of fourth-wall-breaking humor I want from these characters.Longtime fans will recognize some other familiar faces, too. Statler and Waldorf reprise their roles as the Marley brothers, chains and all, while Gonzo and Rizzo are together again. Considering how much fun the Muppets' recent Disney+ special turned out to be, it's nice seeing the gang back together for another unexpected reunionAs a longtime fan of The Muppet Christmas Carol, I appreciate how much of the original film's personality made it into this. Michael Caine famously played Scrooge, so he could finally make a movie his young daughter could watch. He also played the character completely straight, which somehow made sharing scenes with talking frogs and rats even funnier. Goggins brings his own wonderfully unpredictable energy to the role. Given his performances in Fallout and The White Lotus, I can't think of many actors I'd rather watch get harassed by a room full of Muppets.The ad campaign will go beyond recreating that first song. Reports say Goggins' Scrooge will encounter three newly imagined spirits: the Ghost of Christmas Presents, the Ghost of Deals to Come, and the Ghost of Christmas Fast. You can probably figure out how those names connect to Walmart's holiday shopping promotions. Still, I have to give the creative team credit for committing to the bit.There's another funny connection here. The Righteous Gemstones alum played the Grinch in Walmart's holiday campaign last year, so he's somehow building a side career portraying Christmas's grumpiest characters. Going from green fur to Victorian nightwear while keeping that same holiday-hating attitude is a pretty impressive seasonal pivot.Of course, this isn't an announcement of a feature-length sequel or remake. Walmart says more videos and social posts will continue throughout the holiday season, so more of this particular Christmas Carol is still to come. Personally, I'd gladly watch Goggins spend an entire movie opposite Kermit and company. Until somebody makes that happen, I'll settle for revisiting the extended version of the original with my Disney+ subscription and enjoy these unexpected little reunions as they come.