093: SoraRabbit Does a Christmas Special: Muppet Edition
Its hard to believe it’s been another year and it’s already time for my big Christmas post! These posts have been a tradition ever since I started this blog and they just keep getting bigger. Here are the two I’ve already put out for the 2025 season:
SoraRabbit Short Hop 036: A Very Fraggle Christmas
092: SoraRabbit Does a Christmas Special: Slasher Edition Sequel Double Feature
For the main SoraRabbit Christmas Special I decided to finally get around to watching some Muppets holiday specials. I’ve had this planned for years and decided now was the time to finally cover them. A lot of extra work went into this post because the versions I first found of each special were really lo-def and blurry, so the screenshots were terrible. Late in the work on the post I found better versions so I had to redo all the screenshots. I think it was worth the work, though.
Kermit enjoying some coffee and a show. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
I have loved Jim Henson’s Muppets for as long as I can remember. I mean that literally… some of my earliest memories are of sitting with my parents and little brother, watching the Muppet Show. Two of my favorite shows when I was little were the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock. I also loved Sesame Street and have fond memories of watching that both myself and with my little brothers as they were growing up. One of the first movies I saw in the theater was The Great Muppet Caper. I fell off from following the Muppets after Henson tragically died, so I haven’t seen much of the last few decades of Muppet content. (I did watch the two reboot movies from 2011 and 2014 and enjoyed them.)
After getting together with my wife, Cocoashade, we watched my DVD collections of the Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock, reliving our childhood. Prior to that, when we were first starting to date, she shared with me one of her favorite Christmas specials of all time, which is where this post is going to start.
Title card. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas was released in 1977 and directed by Jim Henson. It was adapted from a children’s book of the same name by Russell and Lillian Hoban. It takes inspiration from the Gift of the Magi and features a rustic river setting populated by animal Muppets.
Kermit takes a ride. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The special starts with Kermit the Frog riding a bike. The scenes of Kermit were taken out of the DVD release of this special but were restored for later releases. Also note that this scene of Kermit riding a bike predates the famous scenes in The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper.
The River Bottom Gang. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
After crashing his bike, Kermit is hassled by a car full of rough animals called the Riverbottom Gang. These are the antagonists of the special.
The Otters run errands. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Emmet and his mom Alice are rowing their boat down the river to run errands in Waterville. They sing together as they go. Ever since Emmet’s dad passed away, the family has had to sell most of their possessions (including Alice’s piano) and do odd jobs to make ends meet.
Alice is having trouble getting money together, so she tries to tamper her son’s expectations for Christmas. She knows they won’t have money for presents. Emmet is still excited for Christmas because it holds special memories for him. Emmet and Alice are shown to have a very positive and supportive relationship.
Emmet is voiced and performed by Jerry Nelson, who provided the voice and puppetry for Gobo Fraggle and many others. Hearing a familiar voice is always nice and instantly gave me some affinity for the special.
Walking through the town. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
In town, Emmet eyes a guitar in a store window. It costs $40 though.
The outtakes for this scene are great. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The Riverbottom Gang is also in town and have been harassing the townsfolk, especially the clerk at the music store. The gang consists of a bear (the leader), a snake, a lizard, a weasel, and a catfish. (The fish is always in either a bucket or the water-filled trunk of the car.)
Heading back home. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
On the way back home, they talk more about Christmas and their memories. Although they don’t have much left, they still have Emmet’s dad’s toolbox and Alice’s washtub, both of which they use for their odd jobs. Staying positive, Emmet points out that at least there’s no hole in the washtub. They sing a song about this too.
Emmet and Wendell. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The next day while Emmet is chopping wood, his friend Wendell the porcupine comes up and asks for help mending a fence. He also mentions a big talent contest at town hall on Christmas Eve. The first prize is $50. Alice’s friend Hettie tells her about it too and suggests she sing at the contest.
Emmet and Wendell run into their friends Charlie and Harvey, who’ve gotten the idea to form a jug band. They want Emmet to play washtub bass because he’s the only one with a washtub. He refuses because in order to do that he’d have to drill a hole in the washtub and they just got through singing an entire song about that.
Christmas branch. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Emmet brings back a Christmas branch, which was a tradition his father started. He never had the heart to cut down an entire tree. The two of them play on the slide Dad Otter built while he was still alive. (This scene was really cute, seeing them forget their problems for a bit while they played and laughed together.) They remember how he used to say that a person’s got to take some chances or life won’t come to nothin’.
Remembering his father’s words makes Emmet decide to drill the hole in the washtub and join the band. Alice decides to hock Emmet’s toolbox to buy fabric for a new dress so she can sing. They’re tough decisions, but they decide it’s the only way to give each other a good Christmas. Of course, they keep their plans secret from each other.
The jug band practices. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
They leave notes for each other (which neither notices) and leave to prepare. The band practices their song, "Bar-B-Que".
Alice sews her dress. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
While Emmet’s band practices, Alice sews a dress for the contest.
Hilarious. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The Riverbottom Gang drives up on snowmobiles and make fun of the boys.
The talent contest begins. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The night of the contest comes and we see everyone gathering. Some of the acts are musk rats in a horse costume, dancing rabbits, tumbling squirrels, and a woodchuck that just happens to be singing the same song Emmet’s band planned on playing. They rush to the alley to figure out a new song to perform.
Alice sings her song. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Alice sings her song “Our World“ and everyone loves it.
The jug band performs. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Then it’s time for Emmet’s band, which they named the Frogtown Hollow Jubilee Jug-Band. They play their new song, “Brothers”, which goes over well with the crowd. It looks like either they or Alice will win, but then comes a late entry to the contest.
The River Bottom Nightmare Band. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The Riverbottom Gang have made a rock group called the Nightmare. They’re surprisingly put together, with real instruments, costumes, and even a light show.
The crowd goes wild. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
The crowd loves their song and they end up winning.
Sad. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Emmet, Alice, and the boys all sit on the back stoop of the townhall, lamenting their loss. Alice admits that she hocked the toolbox and Emmet admits to putting a hole in the washtub. Doc Bullfrog— one of the judges and the owner of the big restaurant on the river— comes out to tell them that their acts were great, they just needed something extra.
An impromptu jam session. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
They all walk home on the frozen-over river. Alice tells Emmet that if she won, she was going to get the toolbox back and get him the guitar he’d been eyeing. Emmet tells her that he was going to buy her a piano to replace the one they’d had to sell. Even though it didn’t work out, they’re touched by the gestures.
Alice realizes that their two songs— “Our World” and “Brothers” would work well together as one song. They stop on the ice and try it out, really getting into it.
A crowd gathers. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
They didn’t realize they were right outside Doc Bullfrog’s restaurant and as they perform, Doc and his customers come out to listen. The customers applaud and Doc hires them on the spot for a job performing in his restaurant. They’ll get regular pay and free meals. They accept happily.
The band gets a regular gig. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
We see them performing for a happy crowd. Kermit is in the audience too. After their first night’s work, they all walk home and sing one last song as the special ends.
Up on stage. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
Thoughts: As I mentioned, Cocoa loves this special and is the one who first shared it with me. I had never seen it before, or even heard of it! As soon as I decided to cover Muppet specials, I knew this one had to be the first one I talked about.
This special is amazing in a technical sense. Just thinking about how much work had to go into the setting and the action of the puppets. Even something that seems small like Kermit riding a bicycle takes a lot of behind the scenes work to pull off. The animals ride around in vehicles, fish off a pier, row a boat, play instruments, use tools, walk, and dance. These are the sorts of things that wouldn’t have registered with me as a kid, but thinking about the work that goes into puppetry it really is mind-blowing.
The scenery is incredible— it feels like they’re actually in the countryside rather than on a set. The whole thing has a quaint country feel to it. There are a lot of nice little details and wildlife in the background of scenes. There are even little duck puppets in the river. The Muppets are more animal-like in this than in many Muppet productions. The special is filled with catchy folksy music.
There is a lot of sweetness is this story but also a tinge of sadness. The memories of Emmet’s dad, the rough time the Otters are having making ends meet, the hard choices they have to make to give each other a good Christmas. All their hard work for the talent contest doesn’t give them a win, but it all works out anyway because they have each other. Even with the bittersweet tone, they keep it as light as possible with little jokes, cute family moments, and a lot of personality.
Cocoa’s Thoughts: Emmet Otter was always my favorite. I watched it so much growing up. I love the characters, the music, everything about it.
Title card. (Credit: Henson Associates)
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together came out in 1979 and was a collaboration between Jim Henson and John Denver. While it was never released for home video, it did air in reruns and had a soundtrack album. Denver had previously appeared on The Muppet Show, where he and Henson became friends.
They singin’. (Credit: Henson Associates)
The special starts with John Denver and various Muppets singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas”. I found this the most amusing scene of the entire special. Fozzie keeps messing up his part and Piggy gets more and more extravagant with her line as the song goes on. Unfortunately, the rest of the special isn’t as entertaining.
Planning the special during the special. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Next is a skit where they all sit around a table discussing what they’ll be doing on the special. You’d think they’d have the special all planned out before it started, but whatever. Everyone argues that the line in the script shouldn’t be “Good will towards men”, it should be more inclusive, covering women, chickens, and Dizzy Gillespie. This is the first of many references to the Bible in this special.
In a funny line, Miss Piggy says that the Bible has all sorts of references to that one begatting the other one and so on, so with all the begatting that was going on, clearly there was a great deal of good will towards women. This joke surprised a laugh out of me, more for the unexpectedness of it than anything.
John sings a song about togetherness until the door blows open.
They’re amazed at the magic of John Denver. (Credit: Henson Associates)
He steps outside into a blank white space that slowly fills with buildings and festive passersby. He continues his bland song, but the Muppets pop in here and there, so that helps.
Festive. (Credit: Henson Associates)
The scene builds in scope until there are multiple people singing and dancing all around and Piggy is drawn in on a sleigh. It’s quite the spectacle.
Cute. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Piggy and John are surrounded by a festive border as the big number ends.
Piggy makes it all about herself. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Next up we see Piggy in her dressing room on the phone with her agent, complaining that the script calls for her to be an elf. John comes in and she immediately starts flirting with him, trying to pressure him into giving her a better role. He promises he will.
Hehe. (Credit: Henson Associates)
In the course of this, Piggy asks him to take off his glasses so she can see what he looks like without them. She then grimaces and tells him to put them back on. This got an actual laugh out of me, like the opening number.
Sadly, after this John wanders off into a woodland area and tells a seriously dull story about a Christmas tree that wanted to stay in the woods. He jumps right into a slow, sleepy song that goes on way too long. The camera zooms in on him as the song ends.
AUGH!!! (Credit: Henson Associates)
TOO CLOSE! TOOOOO CLOSE!!!
A froggy duet. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Once his song is finally over, he runs into a morose Kermit, who’s missing his old pond. (I thought he was a swamp frog in the Muppet Movie, but I could be remembering wrong.) This is a pretty sad part, talking about seasonal depression and being unable to be home for the holidays, but there are a couple of funny lines and the two of them really play off each other well. They sing a pretty decent duet here.
Quick note, during this segment, there are some woodland Muppets along with a real, live deer. I found that a bit disorienting. How do they decide what’s going to be real and what’s going to be a puppet? I guess they had a deer lying around and decided to use it?
More Piggy stuff. (Credit: Henson Associates)
This is followed by yet another Miss Piggy scene, but at least this one is silly. She starts dancing and singing a jaunty song in the makeup room and more and more Muppets come out of literally nowhere to join in and then all vanish when the song is over. After this John has another drowsy song.
A doggy duet. (Credit: Henson Associates)
The drowsy song is followed by a duet with John and Rowlf. They sing a rousing rendition of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
When pigs attack. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Piggy rushes in complaining that someone named “Fifi” took her role. John explains that she is playing the part of Fifi for her big scene. She happily assaults John, which he gets a big kick out of.
The special’s almost over and they’re still figuring it out. (Credit: Henson Associates)
The script opens up and we get the big number they’ve been teasing for the entire special. It involves John as a toy soldier trying to get in step with other toy soldiers.
Piggy’s big number. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Miss Piggy comes in as Fifi, a doll who (I guess?) is in love with the Denver soldier. It’s unclear.
Oh great. Now she has an army. (Credit: Henson Associates)
At least the first song is pretty upbeat. Fifi’s song is not. This whole number is pretty slow and dull. It eats up a lot of time, too. Not much else to say about it.
Time for a singalong. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Denver and all the Muppets gather in a cozy living room to sing songs. It’s all fun and games until John decides to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.
*extended scream of terror*(Credit: Henson Associates)
Yeah, I’m not kidding. There are human-like Muppets of Mary and Joseph (and their donkey) as they look for lodging on Christmas Eve. The human Muppets are seriously creepy and there are several of them. This includes the three wise men and a translucent angel. And also the biggest shock of all… baby Jesus! I was stunned by this revelation. Did you know there was a Muppet Jesus? Well, now you do.
Still singing. (Credit: Henson Associates)
They then sing “Silent Night” in the original German and it’s pretty cool. Until he interrupts to tell the origin story of the song.
Wait, that living room was just a set? (Credit: Henson Associates)
As they go back to singing, they’re on the English translation now. The camera pulls back to show the set and the audience, mostly filled with bored-looking (or raptured?) children. They all sing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” as the credits roll.
They look like they’re having fun. (Credit: Henson Associates)
Thoughts: Watching this was an interesting experience. If I’d ever seen it before, I was too young to remember it. I can’t imagine it keeping my attention, even with the help of the Muppets. It’s not as kid-friendly as other Muppet content and seems to be more geared towards adults— likely fans of John Denver. I’ll be honest, I’m not very familiar with Denver’s work. I know I’ve heard some of his music, but I couldn’t tell you the names of any songs offhand. Some of his songs featured in this special were not great, in my opinion. They slowed the whole thing down. Nothing against him… he’s clearly talented. Just not my thing. I honestly don’t think I would have liked this special as a kid, even though I adored the Muppets.
It was also strangely Piggy-centric. I mean, her whole thing is making everything about her, but she got away with it way more in this than I’m used to. (I guess because Kermit wasn’t trying to reign her in?) She inserted herself into several scenes and got more screen time than anyone aside from John. All in all, it felt more like an extended episode of the Muppet Show than anything else, only more focused with one theme and story.
While most of this special was slow and bland, there were parts that amused me. The first song, Piggy talking about the “begatting” in the Bible, when she made him take his glasses off, the duets with Kermit and Rowlf. John honestly looked like he was having a blast in this, so that made it pretty fun. Some of the songs were really good. The opening song was impressive, especially considering there were 11 Muppets in one cramped space, all performing at the same time.
Unlike the other specials I’m covering, this one is very Christian. There are all sorts of references to God and the Bible throughout to the point that there is even a Muppet nativity scene. So, as would be expected from the 70s, this special is not inclusive to other faiths and beliefs. As mentioned, the human Muppets here were creepy, but I will never, as long as I live, forget the Baby Jesus Muppet.
Cocoa’s Thoughts: This one wasn’t as good to me. It never grabbed me like the others. Nothing against John Denver, but he always seemed plain to me. And if it’s a Muppet special, there should be more Muppets, you know? It feels weird to say it, but there wasn’t enough Muppets… more just this plain guy singing his songs.
Title card. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
A Muppet Family Christmas first aired on network television in 1987. This special is a huge crossover between all the Muppet properties of the time: The Muppets, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies. Two versions of the special exist, as some songs were only licensed for television and had to be cut for home video.
Heading to mom’s house. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The special starts out with a bouncy song as Fozzie Bear drives everyone for a surprise visit to his mom’s house for Christmas. He’s expecting her to be sitting around, having a sad, quiet holiday.
Fozzie’s got a mom! (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
But his mom— Emily Bear— is actually all set for a vacation in Malibu.
Hey, I know these guys! (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The first surprise happens when her doorbell rings and it’s Doc and Sprocket from Fraggle Rock! They’ve arranged to stay at her house for a nice, quiet holiday.
Doc is getting annoyed. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Fozzie arrives and it starts a running joke where people keep slipping on the icy patch right in front of the door. Emily is a little annoyed that she’ll miss her vacation, but goes with the flow. Not as easy-going is Doc, who can see his quiet Christmas going out the window as the house fills up with rowdy Muppets.
Kermit meets Emily Bear. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Kermit is worried that they’re imposing, but Emily insists that it’s fine, there’s enough room.
Miss Piggy vogues. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Miss Piggy calls and tells Kermit that she’ll be late because she’s at a photo session she just set up.
The special guest arrives. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The Swedish Chef arrives to start cooking and shortly after that a giant turkey shows up, saying he was invited by a nice Swedish guy. Gonzo warns him that he needs to stay out of sight or he’ll get cooked, but the turkey isn’t concerned. He thinks he’s on vacation.
Too many chickens and rats. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
They move all the chickens and rats out of the kitchen because they were bothering the Chef. Kermit and Robin sing a weirdly sad rendition of Jingle Bells, but it gets interrupted.
This party is starting to rock. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Their song is interrupted by the Electric Mayhem playing the upbeat Jingle Bell Rock in the living room to a crowd of very excited rats. Sprocket enjoys the song, but Doc is still grumpy.
My favorite scene. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Outside, Fozzie builds a snowman as some animals cut down a Christmas tree for them. Rowlf shows up and meets Sprocket. This is my favorite part of the special. Sprocket starts barking at him and Rowlf replies with “Woof woof. Yeah, bark bark!”
After this, Miss Piggy calls again, this time out doing her Christmas shopping. Then the Swedish Chef tries to cook Sprocket because the turkey tricked him into thinking the dog was a bird.
So cute. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
They play home movies of the Muppet Babies (as puppets, not animated) but Animal rips through the screen.
This is a good place for a side note. I found out some disappointing information in my research for this post. Some of the songs on this special were only licensed for television airing, and I first watched a restoration from the 1985 VHS. Several songs and scenes have been cut from that version. I was able to track down a full version to watch later, so I got to see the missing scenes before writing this post. The scenes include: Rowlf playing the song “Sleigh Ride”, the snowman coming to life and doing a comedy act with Fozzie, the Muppet Babies singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, three more songs later in the special, and a couple of brief scenes.
So in the home video version, Animal interrupts right away, causing a weird plot hole where Doc says it was a fun movie even though he only seemed to see two seconds of it. Regardless, Doc is starting to warm up to the Muppets.
Love triangle? (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The turkey flirts with Camilla the chicken, making Gonzo mad. Kermit breaks up the fight, telling everyone he hears carolers.
Carolers! (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The entire Sesame Street gang shows up to sing "Here We Come A-Caroling" and “Deck the Halls.” After they’re done singing, they all invite themselves over.
Measuring the bird. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The Chef has finally gotten the turkey to admit who he is, but before he can be cooked, he shows the Chef Big Bird. This causes S.C. to lose all interest in the turkey.
The news says a big blizzard is rolling in and Kermit is getting more worried about Piggy. The Count starts counting snowflakes and Emily tries to figure out where everyone will sleep. A rat decides to bunk with Oscar and Cookie Monster eats all the Christmas cookies.
Grover as a mouse. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Ernie puts on a pageant where they recite '‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. Grover is the mouse that isn’t stirring and the Two-Headed Monster is Santa. Elmo was a reindeer. (Despite being in this special, Elmo did not have any lines.)
The snowman joins the party. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Piggy calls again and even though Kermit tries to get her to stay put, she says she’s going to get a taxi. Seeing how worried he is, Fozzie decides to cheer him up by showing him his new snowman comedy act. The snowman bursts into the house, saying it’s too cold outside for him. (This is another plot hole in the cut version, as we never saw the snowman come to life and start an act with Fozzie. But they left in an earlier reference where Fozzie tried to tell a distracted Kermit about the act.)
Can you name them all? (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
They start to do their routine, but get heckled by Statler and Waldorf, who Fozzie didn’t even realize were there. Turns out they’re friends with Emily and visit her every Christmas.
Big Bird has no idea how close he came to being eaten. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Big Bird gives the Swedish Chef a present and the Chef decides not to cook him. Doc finds out Piggy is out there and feels bad for Kermit. He volunteers to brave the blizzard to go find her. He says he considers them all friends now.
Kermit and Robin visit the Rock. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Robin tells Kermit that he found a Fraggle Hole in the basement. They go down and visit the Fraggles. The gang sings an upbeat song about giving and gift Robin a pebble. (This is a special pebble that they keep regifting to each other.)
House full of weirdos. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
After this brief visit to Fraggle Rock, Doc and Piggy arrive on a sled drawn by a Muppet dog team. They all gather in the living room and Fozzie assures his mom that everyone is finally here.
So many Muppets. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
They all sing a medley of Christmas songs, each flowing into the next.
The Sesame crew. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
There is truly an epic number of Muppets in play for this scene. (In two shots that they alternate between.) It’s honestly impressive.
The Fraggles join in! (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
The Fraggles hear the music and come up to sing along. (If you’re familiar with the show, Doc can’t see them at this point, but Sprocket can.) After they’re done singing, Kermit gives Piggy a mink— a live one who compliments her. Robin gives Grover the Fraggle pebble. Doc comes in dressed as Santa Claus and hands out presents. Jim Henson stands in the kitchen doorway, commenting about how he likes when they have a good time. Then him and Sprocket go to wash the dishes. Piggy kisses Kermit under the mistletoe and the credits roll.
They’re both Santa. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
Thoughts: This special was so much fun. It was upbeat and jubilant… a celebration of everything that makes the Muppets great. It’s also a celebration of Christmas, of family, of music. The sheer number of Muppets gathered together in the final medley was mind-boggling. The best part about this special is that it’s a massive crossover. Just seeing Kermit and the Fraggles together was unexpected and wonderful.
I love that the Sesame Street gang comes by to sing and then never leaves. The Fraggle’s song is in their usual style of music and would fit perfectly on their show. There were a lot of cute and funny moments in this special that I left out.
Compared to the John Denver special, there were a lot more of the old standards included in this special. All the popular Christmas songs you would expect to hear are in this one. (At least on the original airing… as mentioned, some songs were cut for licensing.) Oh, and this is a small but notable detail— they credited the author for ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. I’m pretty confident that no one else would have, but the Muppets have respect for creators.
For years now every Christmas I’ve been watching Opus & Bill: A Wish For Wings that Work and The Star Wars Holiday Special. I think those specials may well be joined by this one next year.
Cocoa’s Thoughts: It has Jim Henson’s heart and it tugs at my heart to see everyone I grew up with together. It was a good premise, but it felt a little commercial. But it’s well balanced and has a good story.
The sun sets. (Credit: Jim Henson, Henson Associates)
And so that was the three specials I watched this year! I watched through them twice and had fun both times. Seeing these characters always brings me back to my childhood.
I enjoyed all of them for different reasons. Emmet for the characterization, the story, and the coziness of the setting and songs. John Denver for the novelty of having an old-timey variety show with Muppets instead of celebrity guests. And Muppet Family Christmas for the nostalgia and seeing all the different Muppet families coming together in one place.
I still can’t get over this. (Credit: Henson Associates)
The specials all had different content and pacing. The pacing in the John Denver special was especially up and down. It really didn’t flow. There were several places where everything screeched to a halt for Denver’s sleepy stories and sleepier songs.
While slower and more sedate, the John Denver special did come across as a spectacle. Parts of it were overblown and bombastic, but then it reigned itself in, becoming more contemplative and soft. In contrast, the Muppet Family Christmas had absolutely no downtime. It sped along from beginning to end, filling every minute with music, jokes, and Muppet goodness. Emmet Otter had a nice balance, being more story-driven than the other two. It moved at a leisurely pace, but it felt right for that one. It was a cozy country story, after all. The songs were more folksy, the humor more reserved and character-driven.
Emmet Otter was also a bit more timeless. The John Denver special was very much a creature of the 70s, while Muppet Family Christmas felt 80s, through and through.
Santa Doc. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
When covering holiday specials, I like to touch on how each special encapsulate the feeling and spirit of Christmas. This time around, we had Christmas vibes in each one to varying degrees.
Emmet Otter was all about togetherness and love. The drive to give even when you can’t do so as you would like. The influence of The Gift of the Magi was very clear with this story. While there weren’t any actual Christmas decorations (aside from the Christmas branch) the spirit of the holiday shone through.
John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together was more a traditional Christmas with a Christian slant to it. There were decorations, presents, toys, a tree… all the trappings you would expect. There were some more traditional Christmas songs, but also some songs that didn’t seem entirely Christmas-related. This one felt like it was more about the spectacle than the holiday.
A Muppet Family Christmas, however, was all Christmas all the time. Every song was Christmas-related, the entire story hinged on everyone gathering in one place to celebrate the holiday together. There was a Christmas pageant, decorations, a snowman, cutting down the Christmas tree, carolers, and two Santas— three if you count the Two-headed Monster’s heads individually. There was a big feast, presents exchanged, the whole works. While all three reflected Christmas well, I think this one did the most thorough job of it.
Still singing. (Credit: Henson Associates)
All of these specials were filled with some nice nostalgia for me, especially seeing the Sesame Street gang. I may not remember all their names, but I remember them… all the Muppets, really, were key parts of my childhood. I grew up on their lessons and adventures. It feels nice to check in on them, all these years later, and find that I still have common ground with the characters that helped form the basis for my childhood.
Our schedules worked out right this year so that I was able to watch all three of these specials with my wife and son. That just added to the experience. Holiday specials are meant to be shared with loved ones, after all. While these three specials varied in production value and quality, they were all fun, sweet, and amusing. It’s sad that they weren’t more widely-watched, and were less popular than some of the specials I have covered in previous years.
All three specials had heart, a message of togetherness and peace, and they all made my Christmas a little brighter. I can be grateful that they exist and that I was able to make the time to revisit them, spending my holiday with some old friends from my childhood.
And now we know the true meaning of Christmas. Muppet Jesus.
Muppet Jesus! (Credit: Henson Associates)
Thank you all for reading this post and my musings about the Muppets and Christmas. I really do love doing these holiday posts and I hope you join me next year as I find some more heart-warming yuletide fare to explore. From the Rabbit Family to yours, I hope you have a Merry Christmas or holiday of your choice, and a Happy New Year!
Aww. (Credit: Jim Henson Productions)
