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A scene from the movie "A Muppet Family Christmas" in 1987. This Muppet special brings Jim Henson's three beloved series The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and ...
- 3 min
- 729K
- Mowinter Wilson
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Edits
- Goofs
- Cast
- Muppet Cast
- Credits
- Songs
is a TV special that premiered on December 16, 1987 on ABC. The special was recorded at CFTO (also known as 9 Channel Nine Court), a studio in Agincourt near Toronto, Canada.
In this one-hour Christmas special, Fozzie Bear surprises his mother Emily on Christmas Eve by bringing the entire Muppet gang to her farm to celebrate the holidays. Doc and his dog Sprocket, who had planned a quiet Christmas, end up joining the Muppets in their holiday activities and preparations.
The Sesame Street regulars, including Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and others, join the festivities, but to Kermit's dismay, the only one missing is Miss Piggy, who has been caught in a snowstorm.
ABC re-broadcast the special the following year on December 2, 1988. It was then re-edited and aired on NBC as an episode of The Magical World of Disney on December 24, 1989.
Fozzie, Kermit, and most of the Muppet Show gang (with the pointed exception of Miss Piggy) drive through a blizzard in a pickup truck, singing "We Need a Little Christmas." They have decided to spend Christmas at the old farm where Fozzie Bear's mother, Emily Bear, lives. And since his mother loves surprises, they have not called to tell her they are coming. Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Bear is planning to spend Christmas in Malibu, and to make sure her farmhouse stays in one piece while she's gone, she has rented it to Doc and his dog Sprocket. Doc is looking forward to having "a nice, quiet Christmas" in the countryside.
Immediately following Doc and Sprocket's arrival, though, the Muppets themselves show up, all the while slipping on an icy patch at the door (which is a running gag), and Emily is pleasantly surprised with the appearance of her cub and "his weirdo friends," despite the fact that she now has to cancel her trip to Malibu, and willingly allows them to stay. Doc, on the other hand, is taken aback that he now has so many funny-looking unexpected visitors and asks Sprocket if they're "anything like these Fraggles you keep telling me about." Then the telephone rings, and Animal answers. It's Miss Piggy, who informs Kermit that her arrival will be delayed (due to a photo session).
The Swedish Chef shows up at the farmhouse, telling Fozzie he's here to cook the Christmas turkey. Gonzo greets the arriving (and still living) turkey, who was apparently convinced by the Swedish Chef to come for a nice vacation. Gonzo tries to warn the fowl of the culinary danger, but the latter stubbornly remains self-assured. Kermit and nephew Robin then begin the special's second song sequence. Their pleasant singing of "Jingle Bells" is quickly interrupted by the Electric Mayhem performing "Jingle Bell Rock."
Later, Fozzie is outside building a snowman while some woodland critters chop down a Christmas tree, when Rowlf shows up (and slips on the icy patch). He engages in a friendly conversation with Sprocket and sits down to Emily's out-of-tune piano and starts playing "Sleigh Ride." Fozzie starts singing along, during which the Snowman comes to life and starts up a comedy act with the bear. When they get a positive reaction from the animals watching their act, Fozzie runs inside to try to tell Kermit about his new act with the Snowman, slipping on the icy patch on the way in, but Kermit is called away by another Miss Piggy telephone message. This time, she's doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. Elsewhere in the house, the Swedish Chef has been tricked by the Christmas Turkey into believing that Sprocket is an even bigger turkey. Doc corrects the Chef's species confusion, and then the Turkey begins hitting on Camilla.
Scooter stumbles upon an old home movie of the first Christmas the Muppets ever spent together, so the Muppets sit down to watch it. The old footage shows the Muppet Babies singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," while the fully-grown characters give commentary. At the end, when the baby Animal rips through a gift box in the film, the fully-grown Animal tears through the screen.
Gonzo catches sight of the Christmas Turkey flirting with Camilla and picks a fight with him. But then Kermit points to the arrival of the Sesame Street Muppets, who sing a medley of "Here We Come A-Caroling" and "Deck the Halls" (with the exception of Oscar the Grouch, who naturally refuses to sing along). They all come inside, slipping on the icy patch as they do so. During this, the Swedish Chef manages to nab the Turkey, who tries to get out of being cooked by claiming he's a different animal altogether, but the Chef isn't fooled and proceeds with the fitting. The Turkey manages to save himself by pointing out Big Bird, to the astonished Chef's delight. A TV weather report from the Newsman announces an impending blizzard, causing Kermit to worry about Piggy.
has been released on home video several times. However, every commercially available version in the United States and Canada has scenes edited out due to music rights problems. When this special originally debuted on television, the full rights to the songs were only secured for television. Because the US song rights are different than for other countries, the PAL video release available in Europe does not contain the music edits the NTSC videos suffer. All video releases derive from the 1989 edit, which contains less incidental music and puts dissolves between scenes that originally faded to and from black for commercial breaks. (NBC added its own fades when airing the special.) The 2001 DVD is a shorter cut of the 1989 edit.
•The red "A Muppet Family Christmas" logo seen in the first shot of the film was added for the 1989 airing. In the original cut of the special, the logo is seen over Ma Bear's farmhouse at the end of the song "We Need a Little Christmas." This brief musical interlude was edited from the master and the logo was reinserted separately. Because this new master was of higher quality, it has been used for all subsequent TV airings and home video releases.
•The snowman musical and comedy number with Fozzie is completely gone on home video in the United States (though present on home video in Europe). In the original version the song "Sleigh Ride" is sung. Rowlf begins playing the song on Emily Bear's out-of-tune piano. Rowlf says he "loves out-of-tune pianos" while Sprocket watches him play. Fozzie, the Snowman, and penguins sing outside. This cut is due to rights with the song.
•The Muppet Babies singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is removed (though it remains on European home video). Included in the broadcast version of the special are the baby versions of Piggy, Kermit, Fozzie, Rowlf, Scooter, Animal and Gonzo. In the edited versions, they begin the home movie and Animal immediately bursts through the screen – the entire song is cut, again due to music rights.
•Miss Piggy and the Muppets singing "Home for the Holidays" is not shown in the edited version (though, again remains on European home video). After Miss Piggy arrives and Kermit mentions that she always likes to make an entrance, the edited release cuts immediately to the beginning of the Carol Sing Medley. The entire song, along with Miss Piggy falling on the icy patch is removed. This is due to music rights.
•A brief segment (5 seconds) where Fozzie and Elmo light the Christmas tree only appears in the original 1987 version. The scene is cut on European home video as well.
•At the beginning, in wide shots of Fozzie's truck, Rizzo can be seen sitting next to Lips near the side of the truck, but in one shot he is with the other rats in a different part of the truck.
•During the scene where the Muppets enter the house, a puppeteer's full face is exposed on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
•When the Turkey directs The Swedish Chef to Big Bird ("If you think I'm a nice fat bird... LOOK AT THIS!"), Jim Henson's head briefly pops up.
•Biff and Sully change locations throughout the song "Deck the Halls."
•Louis Kazagger can be seen sitting near the tree during Emily Bear's announcement, but during the caroling medley, as the screen scrolls past that area, he is no longer there.
•Beaker does not appear during the first half of the caroling medley. He then suddenly appears when he and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew sing a verse, and he is missing again in the last shot of the medley.
Muppet Performers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen, Karen Prell, David Rudman (Uncredited: Terry Angus, Debra Spinney, Fred Stinson, Bob Stutt, Karen Valleau)
with Caroll Spinney
•Executive Producer: Jim Henson
•Producers: Diana Birkenfield and Martin G. Baker
•Director: Peter Harris
•Writer: Jerry Juhl
•Production Designer: Val Strazovec
•Muppet Design Group: Ed Christie, Joanne Green, Larry Jameson, Rollie Krewson, Tom Newby, Richard Termine
We Need a Little Christmas
Jingle Bells
Jingle Bell Rock
Sleigh Ride
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
Here We Come A-Caroling
A Muppet Family Christmas: Directed by Peter Harris, Eric Till. With Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Kathryn Mullen. Fozzie Bear surprises his mother on Christmas Eve by bringing the entire Muppet gang to her farm to celebrate the holidays.
- (4.7K)
- Comedy, Family, Musical
- Peter Harris, Eric Till
- 1987-12-16
Jan 1, 2002 · A warm Yuletide special, A Muppet Family Christmas pairs the Muppet gang with the perennial favorite Sesame Street cast for a holiday celebration. With a blizzard brewing outside, Fozzie's childhood farmhouse on Christmas Eve becomes the backdrop for a medley of holiday tunes--eight in all--ranging from the Muppet band's rousing "Jingle Bell ...
- (529)
- Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- $49.98
- Muppet Family Christmas
Jan 7, 2022 · What do The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies all have in common? Jim Henson, of course! And before his passing, "A Muppet Family...
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- Sam's Disney Diary
American Broadcasting Company. Release. December 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 ...
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