A Muppet Family Christmas

Yep, because I've promised I would on my Christmas Eve on Sesame Street review. I would review my mom's favorite Christmas special, A Muppet Family Christmas, which also stars the Sesame Street Muppets from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street were also featured. Now, I won't exactly spoil the special for you, so I'll just tell you the plot and premise.

The plot centers around Kermit the Frog and his friends, Gonzo, Camilla, Animal, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and Kermit's nephew Robin going with Fozzie to spend Christmas vacation at his mom, Emily's farmhouse. It was the best idea they've had in years, according to Fozzie. But something was missing. And that's not just something, but a somebody! Miss Piggy has gone through a photo session and some last minute Christmas shopping, when all of a sudden, The worst blizzard in 50 years approached the countryside! Which causes Miss Piggy to be in great danger, and Kermit started to worry.

But, it's not just The Muppet Show Muppets who came to spend Christmas vacation either, but also, Doc from Fraggle Rock and his dog, Sprocket. He at first didn't like the idea of having the Muppets ruin his chances for a nice quiet Christmas, but then, he quickly changed his mind when Rowlf the Dog shows up and meets Sprocket. Heck, he decided that this was a much better Christmas than he expected. He is a real close friend to Kermit, and heck, he even helps Kermit solve his problems by rescuing Miss Piggy from the snowstorm. Gerry Parkes did a great job as Doc in this special, even more so like he did on Fraggle Rock. I don't know much about the guy, but all I can say is, rest in peace, Gerry Parkes. Sprocket will miss you so.

But it's not just Doc who joins the parade, but also the Sesame Street Muppets, even the ones who appeared on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, which were Grover, Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Oscar, and The Count, as well as a whole bunch of background Sesame Street Muppets, Kathleen the Cow, the Honkers, and not to mention, The Two-Headed Monster! Now, you were probably thinking, since this was a Muppet Show related special, the Sesame Street Muppets wouldn't have much to do in that special. Well, that's where you're wrong. Most of the Sesame Street characters get some screen time, like for example, Big Bird, unaware that the Swedish Chef is trying to cook him as Christmas Turkey, gives the chef a bag of birdseed and understands that the Swedish Chef is in fact from Sweden, despite the fact that he speaks mock-Swedish, he also sings a pleasant song that he would sing whenever he's home on Sesame Street, "The Christmas Song," made famous by the legendary, Mel Torme.

The last of the Muppet celebrities for this special are none other than the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock. You see, Robin found a Fraggle hole down in the basement, Kermit enter it, and they admire the caves, and Kermit remarks that if he were a Fraggle, this is the kind of place he'd hang out, which is ironic, considering Jim Henson hung out on the set on occasions performing characters like Convincing John and Cantus. When they do meet the Fraggles, they teach the Fraggles that the name of their holiday is Christmas, and that's what they were celebrating on the exact same day. You see, what they do is they trade each other one yellow pebble, year after year, it's been a gift 37 times. This leads them into the song they sang in "The Perfect Blue Rollie," "Pass it On." Which was written by Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee. Before the two frogs left, Boober gave Robin the yellow pebble as a gift, later at the end, Robin gives the pebble to Grover as a gift, how sweet. Okay, onto the review.

What I admire about this special is the fact that they got the most popular Muppet characters from all three of those popular Muppet shows, and mashed them all together into one giant thing, that I think Jim Henson had this idea in the back of his mind for a while. Everybody was there, everybody and their dog, literally. I mean, there was Scooter, Prairie Dawn, Bobby Benson, Bunsen, Beaker, Nigel, Big Jeffy, Janice, Zoot, Lips, Floyd Pepper, Sam the Eagle, Marvin Suggs, Beauregard, Herry Monster, Guy Smiley, and many more! The list just goes on! This special was probably the most difficult that Jim Henson had ever pulled off. My favorite parts of the special are the Christmas pageant, Big Bird and The Swedish Chef, the icy patch, and the Christmas Carol, ending with "Together at Christmas" written by Jeff Moss.

If I were to guess what were the problems with this special, I'll say a few things. First of all, when this special was first released in 1995 on VHS, due to musical rights, some songs were cut out, like "Sleigh Ride," "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," "Home for the Holidays," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." What was up with those people at the time. So, apparently, having this special use Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is not okay, but Christmas Eve on Sesame Street using it is. There's also one thing that baffles me. Much like most of Jim Henson's TV specials at the time, it was taped in Canada, as opposed to New York where they taped Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, why? Was Jim Henson really that much into taping his projects up in Canada? But to his credit, at least he got Carroll Spinney to fly from New York to do Big Bird and Oscar for this special. The only Sesame Street-related Muppet Performer that WAS featured in this special was David Rudman, and in that special he voiced Miss Piggy's photographer, and he also did some assistant puppetry for the live hand Muppets as well. Whenever I see this on Video and DVD, I'd rather stay away from the cut down version due to musical rights, to just watching it on YouTube.

All that aside, although I don't like this special as much as Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, I can say that I like it, I thought it was great. It was one of Jim Henson's most ambitious projects ever, this almost looks like something that Jon Stone, the writer and director of Christmas Eve on Sesame Street would've done. Heck, even Jim Henson gets a cameo at the very end, look.

There he is, admiring the good times out there with all of his spirits, that in my opinion is pretty heartwarming.

I don't love this special, but I like it, I thought it was good, I just don't have any reason to like this more than Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

I still recommend you watch this special, it doesn't cost much, and is worth every penny.