A Muppet Family Christmas

A Muppet Family Christmas title card.

A Muppet Family Christmas first aired on CBS in December of 1987. It was re-run the following year 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.

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 is missing is Miss Piggy, who has been caught in a snowstorm.

Highlights include the following:

• Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem play a jazz version of Jingle Bell Rock.
• Fozzie and a Snowman sing Sleigh Ride.
• The Muppets watch a home movie of their first Christmas together as the Muppet Babies.
• Bert and Ernie rehearse for the Sesame Street Pageant.
• The Swedish Chef, who has been waiting for the perfect bird to serve for Christmas dinner, meets Big Bird in the kitchen, and the two sing The Christmas Song.
• Kermit and his nephew Robin visit the Fraggles, who sing a song, Pass It On, about their tradition of giving.
• When Miss Piggy finally arrives, she and Kermit lead the Muppets in a medley of Christmas songs.
• Jim Henson makes a cameo appearance at the end of the program.

Original broadcast title card.

Edits

A Muppet Family Christmas has been released on video in both 1994 and 1998 and on DVD in 2001. However, every commercially available version in the United States and Canada has scenes edited out due to music rights to all the songs performed when this special originally debuted on television on ABC in December 1987, only the full rights to the songs were secured for television. Because the US song rights are different 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 their 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 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, when reworking the special for future television airings it was slightly reworked. 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 all video releases.
• The snowman musical and comedy number with Fozzie is completely gone. 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 is due to rights with the song.
• The Muppet Babies song "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" is removed. Included in the broadcast version of the film are the baby versions of Piggy, Kermit, Fozzie, Rowlf, Scooter, Animal and Gonzo. In the edited versions of the film, they begin the home movie and Animal immediately bursts through the screen – the whole home movie and song is cut. This is due to music rights.
• Miss Piggy and the Muppets singing "Home for the Holidays" is not shown in the edited version. 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 on the original 1987 version.
• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" are both removed from the Carol Sing Medley on the R1 DVD. This is due to the music rights for the songs.
• The scene with Fozzie and Ma hanging stocking is removed. In the scene Emily Bear (Ma) hangs Fozzie's stocking underneath the fire. Fozzie mentions that he's a grown bear alluding to the fact he doesn't need it anymore. When Emily reaches to take it down, Fozzie decides it's ok to leave it up. This lost scene is due to the master used to create the releases. Henson remastered the special in the late 1980's for television reruns. The scene with Fozzie and Ma was cut from the master. Because the new master was of higher quality it's been used for subsequent TV airings and video releases.
• The original ABC 1987 airing featured a Muppet Family Christmas bumper in between classic 80's holiday commercials (McDonalds, Double Mint Gum, Osh Gosh, M&M's, Milk: Does a body good, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch) with Kermit the Frog in front of a Christmas tree saying "A Muppet Family Christmas with return in a moment" as Fozzie Bear 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.

Cast

Muppet Performers: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, Steve Whitmire, Kathryn Mullen, Karen Prell, David Rudman

with Caroll Spinney

and Gerry Parkes as Doc

Muppet Cast

• Muppet Show Characters

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, Ma Bear, Robin the Frog, the Swedish Chef, the Turkey, the Snowman, Rowlf, Animal, Camilla the Chicken, Floyd Pepper, Janice, Zoot, Scooter, Statler, Waldorf, Sam the Eagle, Rizzo the Rat, the Newsman, Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Beauregard, Dr. Teeth, Lips, Maureen the Mink

• Muppet Show Background Characters

Lew Zealand, Foo-Foo, Link Hogthrob, Marvin Suggs, Lewis Kazagger, Pops, Crazy Harry, Bobby Benson, Penguins, Chickens, Rats

• Sesame Street Characters

Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, The Count, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, Gladys the Cow, Herry Monster, Guy Smiley, Two-Headed Monster, Honkers

• Sesame Street Background Characters

Sherlock Hemlock, Biff, Sully, Forgetful Jones, Prairie Dawn, Simon Soundman, Fred the Wonder Horse, Cathleen the Cow, Oswaldo the Grouch, Elmo

• Fraggle Rock Characters

Doc, Sprocket, Gobo Fraggle, Wembley Fraggle, Red Fraggle, Mokey Fraggle, Boober Fraggle, Uncle Traveling Matt, Large Marvin

• Muppet Babies

Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie, Baby Gonzo, Baby Rowlf, Baby Scooter, Baby Animal

• Cameo

Jim Henson

Credits

• Executive Producer: Jim Henson

• Producers: Diana Birkenfield and Martin G. Baker

• Director: Peter Harris

• Writer: Jerry Juhl

Songs

We Need a Little Christmas

Jingle Bells

Jingle Bell Rock

Sleigh Ride

Santa Clause is Comming to Town

Here We Come A'Carolling

Deck the Halls

The Christmas Song

Pass It On

There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

Christmas Carol Sing

Happy Holidays

Ding Dong Caroling The Sky

I Saw the Ships Come Sailing In

Good King Wenches

The Holly and The Ivy

I'll Be Home For Christmas

Happy Holidays (again)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas Bells Are Ringing

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

It's in Every One of Us

Old Friends, New Friends

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

External Links

• Tough Pigs: My Week with More Christmas