When Paul Williams got the call to write the songs for The Muppet Christmas Carol,he felt like Scrooge on Christmas morning.

Newly sober after a 10-year spiral into addiction, the "Rainbow Connection" hitmaker felt that Scrooge's tale of redemption spoke directly to his own experiences. "When I got the call from [director] Brian Henson to come and talk about doing The Muppet Christmas Carol, I was about a year sober," Williams tells EW. "I'm a recovering alcoholic and addict and a retired amateur chemist, I like to say, and had that reputation. So here I am with a new life, this feeling of community, and experiencing, basically, a spiritual awakening."