12 Blogs of Christmas Day Six: The Muppet Christmas Carol

Another favorite holiday movie is The Muppet Christmas Carol. If memory serves, this was the first Muppet movie to be released since Jim Henson’s passing, and the first major role for Steve Whitmire as Henson’s replacement as Kermit the Frog. As a lifelong Muppet fan, I was excited, but also probably a little concerned that it wouldn’t live up to Muppet films of the past. 

(Oh, who am I kidding? I love the Muppets, and I love A Christmas Carol. I probably didn’t have any anxiety about this at all.)

12 Blogs of Christmas Day Two: The Christmas Toy

While Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is our favorite Jim Henson Muppet Christmas special, The Christmas Toy is a close second. This is produced by Jim Henson, but not directed by him, since, when it was produced in 1986, the Muppets were much bigger business, and presumably Henson was busy with other things. It’s still a great TV special. I remember loving it on its original broadcast, and that love hasn’t faded a bit in the intervening years.

(Spoilers after the jump. Although, again, this special is 21 years old, long past the spoiler statute of limitations.)

12 Blogs of Christmas Day One: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the first of my 12 Blogs of Christmas, running every day from Christmas Day to the Epiphany (that’s the way it works; look it up). Every day, I will be talking about something that particularly means Christmas to me.

One of our annual Christmas traditions is watching the early Jim Henson special, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Produced 40 years ago, based on the book by Lillian and Russell Hoban, this hour-long special oozes charm. It tells the story of Emmet Otter and his mother, together since Pa Otter passed away, scraping by on the income from Ma taking in laundry and Emmet doing odd jobs using his father’s tool set. 

(Spoilers after the jump. But seriously, it’s 40 years old. I think the spoiler statute of limitations has expired.)