A Muppet Family Christmas

Last updated

A Muppet Family Christmas
A Muppet Family Christmas.jpg
Based on The Muppets
by Jim Henson
Written by Jerry Juhl
Directed byPeter Harris
Starring
Composer Eric Robertson
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerJim Henson
Producers
  • Martin G. Baker
  • Diana Birkenfield
EditorGordon Stoddard
Running time52 minutes
Production company Jim Henson Productions
Original release
Network ABC
ReleaseDecember 16, 1987 (1987-12-16)

A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas musical television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States. Its teleplay was conceived by longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl, and directed by Peter Harris and Eric Till (the latter of whom was uncredited). This television special was filmed at 9 Channel Nine Court in Toronto, Ontario. The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show , Sesame Street , Fraggle Rock , and Muppet Babies . [1] It also stars Gerry Parkes as Doc from the North American wraparound segments of Fraggle Rock, and Henson as himself in a cameo appearance at the end. In the plot, the Muppets surprise Fozzie Bear's mother with a Christmas visit to her farmhouse, unaware of her planned getaway to Malibu.

Contents

Due to licensing issues with songs featured in A Muppet Family Christmas, some scenes have been cut from subsequent home media releases. [2]

Plot

Fozzie Bear invites himself and the rest of the Muppets to his mother Emily's farm for Christmas, unaware that she has already planned a trip to Malibu and rented out her farmhouse to Doc and Sprocket. The Muppets' arrival cancels her trip and disrupts Doc and Sprocket's plans. Miss Piggy calls Kermit to let him know she will be delayed, leaving Kermit worried that they won't all be able to spend Christmas together. The Swedish Chef invites a turkey to the farmhouse to serve as the Christmas turkey; the turkey tries to avoid him and flirts with Camilla, earning Gonzo's ire. Fozzie builds a snowman that comes to life and performs a music and comedy act with him. The Sesame Street gang arrives singing carols, and perform a Christmas pageant of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas for the others. The Muppets watch some home videos of when they were babies. A sudden snowstorm hits, further delaying Miss Piggy's arrival and leaving Kermit worried for her safety.

The turkey convinces the Chef to try to make a meal out of Big Bird instead; Big Bird, unaware of the Chef's intentions, gives him a gift and cheers him up by singing "The Christmas Song" with him, convincing the Chef to make something else. Fozzie and the Snowman attempt to perform their new comedy act for the other Muppets, but quit after being heckled by Statler and Waldorf, who are friends with Emily. Seeing Kermit worried about Miss Piggy, Doc kindly offers to go out into the storm to look for her. Robin discovers a passage to Fraggle Rock in the basement; he and Kermit venture inside and meet the Fraggles, who share their own holiday traditions.

As the storm lifts, Miss Piggy finally makes her grand entrance on a dogsled with Doc. The Muppets, the Sesame Street gang, and Doc and Sprocket all gather in the living room and sing a medley of carols (except Oscar the Grouch); the Fraggles, hearing the music from below, also join the Muppet family. The Muppets all swap presents, and Doc dresses up as Santa Claus to hand out presents as everyone sings "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Jim Henson and Sprocket watch from the kitchen while washing dishes. Kermit and Piggy share a kiss under the mistletoe and wish the audience a Merry Christmas along with the rest of the Muppets. [1]

Songs

  1. "We Need a Little Christmas" - The Muppets
  2. "Jingle Bells" - Kermit and Robin
  3. "Jingle Bell Rock" - Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem
  4. "Sleigh Ride" - Fozzie and the Snowman
  5. "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" - The Muppet Babies
  6. "Here We Come A-Caroling" - The cast of Sesame Street
  7. "Deck the Halls" - The cast of Sesame Street
  8. "The Christmas Song" - Big Bird and the Swedish Chef
  9. "Pass It On" from Fraggle Rock - The Fraggles
  10. "Home for the Holidays" - Miss Piggy, Kermit, and the cast
  11. Carol Sing Medley
  12. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - Cast

Cast

Muppet performers

Production

This is one of the very few Muppet productions to feature Muppets associated with all four of the major Muppet franchises as a crossover: The Muppet Show , Sesame Street , Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies (who are seen as actual puppets here instead of animated counterparts). [1] This special also features an onscreen guest cameo by Jim Henson; he can be seen in the kitchen doing dishes with Sprocket towards the end of the special. Additionally, the United Kingdom broadcast which aired on BBC One on 26 December 1989, [3] [4] marked the first appearance of Doc on British television, as the UK version of Fraggle Rock featured new "Outer Space" segments, in which Sprocket's owner was a lighthouse keeper.

Scenes omitted in North American DVD and VHS release

A Muppet Family Christmas has never been released in its entirety on either VHS or DVD in North America. Several songs were licensed specially to only air on TV, and thus had to be cut from home video versions. [2]

Reception

A Muppet Family Christmas ranked 24th out of 69 shows in the Nielsen ratings the week it aired, with a 16.1 rating and a 25 share, and was watched by around 19.3 million viewers. [6] [7]

TV Guide ranked the special at number six on its '10 Best Family Holiday Specials' list. [8] In his coverage of the special for The A.V. Club , Myles McNutt stated that A Muppet Family Christmas is "a love letter to the Muppets as a wide-ranging, meaningful part of viewers’ childhoods." He further praised the special's emphasis on family and the Muppet characters over "cheap celebrity cameos." [9] Sean Edgar of Paste described the special as "a grand culmination of the altruism that stands at the foundation of Henson’s oeuvre." [2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Alter, Ethan (December 16, 2016). "Our 12 Favorite Moments from 'A Muppet Family Christmas'". Yahoo TV!. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Edgar, Sean (December 19, 2017). "A Muppet Family Christmas: Why You Haven't Seen the Most Important Holiday Special Ever Made". pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
  3. ↑ The Times Tuesday, December 26, 1989, Issue 63586, P17
  4. ↑ https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yjlAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YVkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4232%2C1676736 Archived 2020-12-05 at the Wayback Machine Glasgow Herald - Dec 23, 1989 Weekender section P8 Boxing day
  5. ↑ "Muppet Central Help - Frequently Asked Questions - Collectibles". muppetcentral.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  6. ↑ "Toledo Blade". Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2021– via Google Books.
  7. ↑ "Nielsen Ratings: Week Ending December 20, 1987". Ratings Ryan. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  8. ↑ TV Guide Guide to TV . Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp.  574. ISBN   0-7607-5634-1.
  9. ↑ McNutt, Myles (December 5, 2011). "A Muppet Family Christmas". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 5, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.