A Muppet Family Christmas

A Muppet Family Christmas is a 1987 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets.

The plot involves Doc (from Fraggle Rock) escaping life on the seashore to spend the holidays in the forest. The country house he chooses to stay at happens to be owned and operated by Fozzie Bear's mother, who is renting the house to Doc because she is going to Malibu for Christmas. When Fozzie comes home for the holidays—bringing all his Muppet friends with him—everyone gets snowed in and chaos, hilarity and sentiment normally associated with The Muppet Show ensues.

This is one of the very few Muppet productions to feature Muppets associated with all four of the major Muppet franchises—The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies (who are seen as actual puppets here instead of cartoon counterparts). This special also features an onscreen guest cameo by Jim Henson; he can be seen in the kitchen doing dishes towards the end of the movie. In addition the United Kingdom broadcast marked the first appearance of Doc on British television, as the UK version of Fraggle Rock featured new "Outer Space" segments, in which Sprockett's owner was a lighthouse keeper.

Because of the music rights being secured only for television, recent video releases of the movie (at least on NTSC releases in the United States and Canada) leave out two musical numbers and at least four other scenes (see the alternate versions section of the Internet Movie Database link below for details). The exclusions have little effect on the plot, but many fans miss the material, and several of the edits are noticeably abrupt. However, PAL releases in countries like the United Kingdom and Germany keep every scene and musical number intact, mostly due to the fact that US copyright laws do not apply in those countries. Also, a source in Canada is selling a two disc DVD that has both the 2001 broadcast of the special and the original 1987 special. It is available for importing to the United States.

Scenes omitted in North American DVD and VHS release

• The snowman and Fozzie joke and sing the song "Sleigh Ride" when hearing Rowlf inside playing the piano.
• The home movie featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and Scooter as babies singing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" with baby Rowlf playing a toy piano.
• The Muppets sing "Home for the Holidays," after Miss Piggy's grand belated arrival, then later "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" during the final medley.
• Fozzie tells his mother, Emily Bear, that he is too old to have a stocking hung for him, then changes his mind.^[1]

References

External links

• A Muppet Family Christmas at the Internet Movie Database
• A Muppet Family Christmas on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki