In Memory of:
Jim Henson
September 24th, 1936 – May 16th, 1990
I just got done watching all the various Jim Henson Christmas specials including A Muppet Family Christmas, It’s a Very Muppet Christmas Movie, A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy, and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. I already did a review of the other Henson Christmas movie, A Muppet Christmas Carol.
I love the Muppets, the only reason I gave A Muppet Christmas Carol a bad review was because it did not really work as a good Christmas Carol variation in my opinion.
I’ll start with the Muppet specials (thought they all are muppets) with the oldest one first.
A Muppet Family Christmas
I am in love with this special. Like most Muppet films, this one is a musical. The music is of course Christmas music. However, there is also a plot. Fozzie decided to take the gang to his mother’s farmhouse for Christmas. His mother was planning to take off for CA and she rented out her house to Doc and Sprocket from Fraggle Rock. However, her plans change when the gang shows and her house is full of muppets along with Doc and Sprocket who decided to stay. Kermit is worried about Miss Piggy because she is running late and there is a terrible blizzard heading their way. This special is has all the muppet characters in it—I mean practically all of them except for Yoda. The Sesame Street gang come for carols and stays the night and there is a visit from the fraggles. If you grew up with Henson, you will love this special. It has all of your childhood characters and even makes jokes about their nature. With the Sesame Street group for the 1-6 year olds, the fraggles, for the 7-10 year olds, and the Muppets for the 11+ group. It is wonderful. In addition, there is something else that may make you cry, an appearance from Jim Henson himself.
5 out of 5 stars.
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
Unlike A Muppet Family Christmas, this is a full-length movie. The movie came out in 2002, which is the last time we see the muppets at their studio. This means since The Muppets came out in 2011 which is about them coming out of retirement, they have only been retired for nine years.
I am surprised that Fox did not call the Muppets communists when this movie came out, or at least call NBC communists, seeing how they produced this movie. Like in the Muppet Movie and The Muppets, the villain is an evil capitalist. This time however, it is not a fast-food restaurant chain owner or an oil-baron, but a bank manager\real-estate agent played by Joan Cusack.
The movie is pretty fun and heartfelt, keeping with classic Muppets traditions such as adult jokes the kids won’t get, zany ‘shenantics’, cameos, and breaking the fourth wall (breaking the fourth wall is a term in film used to describe scenes where the characters suggest that they are in a film). In addition, all the Muppets are true to their characters.
The film opens up with a talking snowman voiced by Mel Brooks who also played the evil Nazi scientist in The Muppet Movie. However, he is kicked off set and thus makes fun of the Rankin\Bass Christmas films.
Like always, the Muppets are behind on their rent but this time, because of the evil capitalist, they may lose their theatre for real.
The plot of the movie is modeled on It’s a Wonderful Life and Kermit has the experience of seeing a world in which he has never been born. This world is a bit funny but mostly scary and sad. It also refers to The Muppet Movie, thus adding a great deal of continuity. I said that in A Muppet Family Christmas, the only well-known Muppet not to appear was Yoda, however, he makes up for this by having a brief cameo in this movie.
God is played by Whoopi Goldberg who also has a cameo as a taxi-driver in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa.
The film also makes fun of The Grinch with very scary looking Whos.
The movie is fun, entertaining, great for grown up first and second-generation fans, and true to the Muppets.
4.25 out of 5 stars.
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
There is not much to say about this one. The plot is lacking and it is very straightforward. The film starts out with a few of the main muppets waiting in line outside the post office for it to open. It is the day before Christmas and they are delivering their last minute Christmas cards and a letter to Santa from a girl in their apartment building. However, due to some crazy stuff, three letters to Santa end up in Gonzo’s backpack and since it is too late to mail them they have to go to the North Pole to hand deliver them to Santa.
It has some really funny and clever moments in it. It is fun and entertaining—well, of course it is, it is the Muppets.
4 out of 5 stars.
Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy
I absolutely loved this and by the end, I was literally crying! I remember watching this when I was a kid and I must have watched it all the time because I remember it like it was a regular series or show or something. It certainly inspired Toy Story as Pixar clearly ripped off most of their ideas from Henson. I am okay with this though since Henson and the person who created Pixar were good friends and in fact, if anyone reading remembers this, Henson gave Pixar its start on Sesame Street with the whole desk lamp and rubber ball skits.
The Christmas Toy is a special about how toys come to life when people leave the room. However, if a toy is ever caught by a living person (or cat), they will essentially be dead, frozen forever, never able to come to life again. Rugby, the stuffed tiger does not fully understand what Christmas is and does not know that it is every year. He was the special Christmas gift from last Christmas. The toy from the Christmas before is Apple, the doll. Rugby thinks that he is meant to be wrapped in the box downstairs and does not understand that there is a new toy waiting to unwrapped, a space toy to be precise, Meteora, queen of the asteroids, an action figure.
The special is so heartwarming and brilliant. It is a must-see. 5 out of 5 stars.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
This is another short Christmas special from the wonderful Jim Henson. Originally, a children’s storybook by Russell Hoban, Henson adapted it for television six years later. It is sort of part new twist of the Gift of the Magi part fun, and part life lessons.
The Otters are a poor family, just mom and Emmet, Emmet’s father died a few years back. They both want the other to have a great Christmas this year even though they have no money. Fortunately there is a talent show going on in which the winner receives $50.00. I am not sure when this is taking place, it is at least the 70’s but it looks like it could be much earlier. In addition, I do not know how animal currency works but it appears that $50.00 is a whole lot of money.
The ending is great and though there is not much to the story, it is still good. 3.9 out of 5 stars.
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