Wikia


Directed by:	Peter Harris Eric Till
Written by:	Jerry Juhl
Release date:	December 16, 1987
Running time:	48 minutes (uncut) 42 minutes (edited)
Available on:	VHS DVD

A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas television special starring the Muppets, first aired on ABC in 1987. It is notably the only Christmas special that features characters from Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, and Fraggle Rock. It won an award from the Writers' Guild of America in 1989, and was also nominated for the 1988 Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program.

Synopsis

The special kicks off with a majority of the cast of The Muppet Show driving 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, Mrs. Emily Bear, lives. And since his mother loves surprises, they have not called to tell her they were 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 from Fraggle Rock. Considering how much Sprocket keeps trying to alert him of something on their show, Doc is looking forward to having "a nice, quiet Christmas" in the countryside.

Immediately following Doc and Sprocket's arrival, the Muppets themselves show up, all the while slipping on an icy patch at the door (which is a running gag in this special), 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 a bit peeved that the house he rented has just gotten 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, wanting to speak to Kermit. She is calling to tell him she has a photo session underway and needs to get it done before she can join them.

The Swedish Chef shows up at the farmhouse, telling Fozzie he's here to cook the Christmas turkey. Immediately following that, Gonzo greets a real live Muppet turkey, who was apparently convinced by the Swedish Chef to come, claiming it to be a nice vacation. Gonzo tries to tell the Christmas Turkey that this is a dangerous place for him to be, but the Turkey is assured that he will not end up in the oven. Meanwhile, after Kermit helps clear the kitchen so the Chef can work in there, he and his nephew Robin start up the second song sequence of the special. 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 of the other Muppets chop down a tree to bring inside when Rowlf the Dog shows up (and slips on the icy patch). He engages in a friendly conversation with Sprocket, and then, sticking to his tradition of playing piano in everything he's in, sits down to Emily's out-of-tune piano and starts playing "Sleigh Ride". Fozzie starts singing along, during which the snowman he's building comes to life and starts up a comedy act with the bear. When they get a positive reaction from some woodland creatures 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 doesn't get a chance to see the act, for he then puts up with another phone call from Piggy. 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 on which animal is which, and then the Turkey begins hitting on Gonzo's girlfriend, Camilla the Chicken.

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 shown, based on Muppet Babies, shows the baby versions of Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and Gonzo singing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", all the 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.

Right after the film ends, Gonzo catches sight of the Christmas Turkey flirting with Camilla and picks a fight with him. But then Kermit barges in on the argument and brings them outside. There, they see that the entire Muppet cast from Sesame Street coming up, performing a short medley consisting of "Here We Come Wassailing" and "Deck the Halls" (with the exception of Oscar the Grouch, who naturally refuses to sing along). Once they're finished singing, 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. But the Turkey manages to save himself by pointing out Big Bird, whom the Chef decides would make an even better Christmas dinner. At that moment, the Muppet Newscaster appears on TV to report about a terrible blizzard forming outside, saying that barometers will be falling sharply; he then literally gets attacked by falling barometers. Scooter looks outside and sees that the Newscaster is right, and Count Von Count starts trying to count as many snowflakes as he can while Kermit becomes more worried about Miss Piggy.

Later, Fozzie and his mom are figuring out the sleeping arrangements for all the guests, while Oscar decides to let Rizzo the Rat spend the night in his trash can. Then Janice brings out some Christmas cookies she just baked, only for Cookie Monster to gobble them all down. The Sesame Street characters then perform their Christmas pageant of The Night Before Christmas, in which Ernie provides the narration while Bert is forced to play the mother mentioned in the story. After Grover pops in as the mouse who is not stirring (literally, he is holding a mixing bowl and his hand is not touching the spoon), Ernie signals for the sleigh. The curtain behind opens to show the sleigh being pulled by the reindeer, all played by monster Muppets (such as Herry Monster and Elmo), and the Two-Headed Monster appears as St. Nick (to which Sam the Eagle replies, "Is nothing sacred?").

Miss Piggy calls Kermit one more time to tell him that her limousine is stuck in the snowbank, and that she's going to take a taxi cab to the farmhouse. Then, while Piggy gets caught in the wind, Fozzie tries to cheer Kermit up by introducing him to the Snowman. In a piece of irony, the Snowman comes inside to warm up 'cause it's so cold outside. Fozzie brings the Snowman in for the rest of the gang to see, but then he takes notice of Statler and Waldorf, who it turns out are friends of Fozzie's mom who come to visit her every Christmas. Fozzie and the Snowman try their best at their routine, but they keep getting interrupted by Statler and Waldorf's heckling, until finally the Snowman, realizing he's starting to melt, heads back outside.

The Swedish Chef calls Big Bird into the kitchen and starts shaking salt all over him. Big Bird, completely unaware of the Chef's intention to cook him, gives him a handful of homemade chocolate-covered birdseed. The Chef is touched by this gift, and he becomes even more touched when Big Bird begins singing "The Christmas Song", which moves him to tears so much, that instead opts to serve shredded wheat and cranberry sauce, which happens to be Big Bird's favorite. Meanwhile, Doc, having taken notice of how worried Kermit is about Miss Piggy, offers to go find her and help her get to the farmhouse, telling the frog that he's warmed up to the Muppet and now finds this better than the lonely vacation he and Sprocket would've had if they didn't show up.

After Doc leaves to find Miss Piggy, Kermit heads down to the cellar to find that his nephew, Robin, has found a hole leading to Fraggle Rock. Robin has always wanted to meet the Fraggles, so Kermit goes in with him. In the cave, the frogs soon stumble upon the main characters of Fraggle Rock and wish them a Merry Christmas, and also explain the holiday to them because the Fraggles don't really know what it is. What the Fraggles do have, though, is a time when they give each other pebbles and pass them on to other Fraggles. They explain their ritual in a number called "Pass It On" (which comes from the Fraggle Rock series episode "The Perfect Blue Rollie"). Before the frogs head back upstairs, Boober gives Robin the Fraggle pebble used in their demonstration.

When Kermit and Robin return, they're just in time to witness Miss Piggy's arrival. They see her arriving with Doc, wearing a Mountie uniform, bringing Miss Piggy up on a sled and dog team. Piggy then begins to sing "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" as Kermit brings her in with the other Muppets singing along. Right as she finishes, though, she slips on the icy patch, taking Kermit down with her, and everybody else says, "Careful of the icy patch!"

With the entire Muppet menagerie all there, they proceed to sing a medley of Christmas songs, where everybody (except of course for Oscar) gets a chance to sing at least one line, including the Snowman and the forest critters outside. Over the course of the medley, the overhearing Fraggles come up to watch. Once they finish singing, Fozzie's mom puts his stocking up on the mantle; Fozzie tells her that he's a grown bear and doesn't need to have his stocking hung, but allows her to put it up anyway. Kermit then presents Miss Piggy with his gift for her - a mink, though not what Piggy expects. She is at first surprised when she sees that Kermit has gotten her a live mink (named Maureen), but quickly warms up when the mink says she's her biggest fan. Then Robin gives the Fraggle pebble to Grover. Then Doc gives out presents dressed as Santa Claus while they all sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", during which Jim Henson himself appears, watching this from the kitchen. The special ends with Kermit reluctantly returning Miss Piggy's affection under the mistletoe before saying "Merry Christmas" to the viewers.

Songs

"We Need a Little Christmas" and the "Jingle Bells"/"Jingle Bell Rock" medley are notably featured on the album Nick at Nite: A Classic Cartoon Christmas.

Broadcast history and availability

A Muppet Family Christmas first aired on ABC on December 16, 1987. It was re-run the following year, again on ABC, 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.

Home video releases

US releases

International releases

Edits

When the special originally aired, the full rights to the songs were only secured for television. As a result, commercial video releases of the special in the US cut out several scenes. These scenes, however, are retained on the PAL video releases, as the US song rights are different than for other countries. 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 their own fades when airing the special.) Among the scenes that were cut from the video releases:

Fozzie and the Snowman rehearsing their comedy act while singing "Sleigh Ride".
The Muppets watching the home movies of their first Christmas together. In the edited version, Animal seems to rip through the screen immediately after they start watching.
Miss Piggy's performance of "Home for the Holidays". This, unfortunately, meant cutting out the topper to the icy patch running gag.
The original 1987 airing of the special had a brief 5-second shot of Fozzie and Elmo turning on the Christmas lights; this was cut in all subsequent broadcasts as well as the PAL DVD.
In the caroling medley at the end, the problem with the music rights cuts out Kermit and Miss Piggy singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and Statler and Waldorf singing "I Heard the Bells on Christmas".
The scene with Fozzie and his mom hanging stockings was removed from later TV broadcasts. Henson remastered the special in the 1990s for television reruns, and had to cut this scene to make room for commercials.

Other edits that have been made to the special outside of the NTSC video releases include:

The red A Muppet Family Christmas logo seen at the beginning was added for the home video releases of the special. 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." However, it was slightly reworked for future television airings. This brief musical interlude was edited from the master and the logo was reinserted separately.
The original 1987 airing featured a bumper in between 1980s holiday commercials with Kermit in front of a Christmas tree, saying "A Muppet Family Christmas will return in a moment," as Fozzie is seen behind Kermit playing with two little stuffed animal bears as if they were puppets.
The ABC airing has sponsor bumpers for Playskool and Toys R Us, plus a silent title bumper.
The ABC, NBC, and DVD versions all have different end credits. The ABC version has the copyright information right below Jim Henson's name on the last credit. The NBC version has a completely different font, and has Henson and Disney logos after it. The DVD version is similar to the ABC one, but does not have the original copyright title, and cuts to a Henson logo.
When this special aired on Nickelodeon, the following edits occurred:
- The title was seen in the first shot, instead of after the "We Need a Little Christmas" number ended.
- The music that played before Rowlf arrives at the farmhouse is cut.
- The Turkey meeting Camilla is cut (the scene fades to black after the turkey says, "This is starting to be fun").
- When Fozzie and his mom check off a list of who is sleeping where, a shot of a fireplace is shown over their beginning dialogue (originally, they were seen the whole time they were checking off sleeping arrangements).
- A shot of the tree is shown over dialogue of Fozzie getting ready to tell everybody that his mother has an announcement, as opposed to him being seen (this followed Fozzie and Elmo turning on the Christmas lights in the original version).

Cast

Actor / Muppeteer	Character
Jim Henson	Kermit the Frog Rowlf the Dog The Swedish Chef Ernie Guy Smiley Waldorf The Newsman Himself
Frank Oz	Fozzie Bear Animal Miss Piggy Bert Grover Cookie Monster Sam the Eagle
Dave Goelz	Gonzo Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Boober Fraggle Zoot Beauregard
Richard Hunt	Scooter Statler Beaker Gladys the Cow The Snowman Janice Two-Headed Monster
Steve Whitmire	Rizzo the Rat Sprocket The Christmas Turkey Wembley Fraggle Lips
Caroll Spinney	Big Bird Oscar the Grouch
Jerry Nelson	Robin the Frog Emily "Ma" Bear Camilla the Chicken Count Von Count Sgt. Floyd Pepper Herry Monster Gobo Fraggle Crazy Harry Lew Zealand Two-Headed Monster
Karen Prell	Red Fraggle Maureen the Mink
Gerry Parkes	Doc
David Rudman	Miss Piggy's Cameraman

External links

Muppet Wiki: A Muppet Family Christmas
A Muppet Family Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
The special's TV Tropes page

Jim Henson Productions
Sesame Street	Christmas Eve on Sesame Street • A Special Sesame Street Christmas • Elmo Saves Christmas • Elmo's World: Happy Holidays! • A Sesame Street Christmas Carol • Elmo's Christmas Countdown
The Muppets	John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together • A Muppet Family Christmas • The Muppet Christmas Carol • It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie • A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
Other shows and specials	The Great Santa Claus Switch • Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas • "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" • The Christmas Toy • "Refrigerator Day" • Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree • "A Berry Bear Christmas"
Albums	Merry Christmas from Sesame Street • John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together • A Sesame Street Christmas • Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites • A Green and Red Christmas • Bob! from Sesame Street: Christmas Sing Along