A Very Henson Christmas - A Muppet Family Christmas

Everyone loves a good crossover. Given that this year’s biggest blockbuster was essentially the cinematic equivalent of the annual “big punch up” crossover that the comics companies put out, it’s safe to say that this statement is true. So what does that have to with today’s Muppet-themed festive entry? Well, if you replace “big punch up” with Christmas carols and “massively powerful superheroes” with cute puppets then you have today’s subject of discussion (sort of - look, just go with me on this one).

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
In A Nutshell:- The casts of the Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock (with a hint of Muppet Babies) gather at Fozzie’s mum’s house for Christmas.

The Background:- It’s a one-off TV special aired by ABC in the States (and also shown in the UK). It is, however, rarely repeated due to the complex rights mess of a lot of the songs used throughout, most of which were only licenced for its original US transmission. It’s a simple story - the Muppet crew (minus Miss Piggy who spends the special trying to get there) make their to spend Christmas with Fozzie’s mum… who is planning to go on holiday and has rented her house to Doc and Sprocket from Fraggle Rock*. Throughout the course of the special, more and more Muppets arrive filling the house…

Muppetrivia:- It’s unusual in that, other than Doc (who is a character from one of the shows), it doesn’t feature any human celebrity guests, just a parade of familiar Muppety faces.
The show is only available commercially in an edited form due to the thorny issue of song rights relating to the various Christmas-themed tunes scattered throughout the ep. Some enterprising fans have managed to piece together a near enough replication of the broadcast version using a combination of off-air and commercial sources (if you know where to look for those sort of things, that is…)
There are a few odd continuity moments in the show - the main one being that Fozzie introduces Kermit to his mum… who then later on appears to have an old film of them in her house all together as babies. 
The special ends with Jim Henson watching them all from kitchen, saying how much he enjoys seeing them all have fun and heading off to do the washing up...

Is It Any Good? If you’re a fan of the Muppets then this is the heart-warming Christmas megamix of Muppety goodness that you’re looking for. Where else are you going to see the Swedish Chef eyeing up Big Bird as a replacement for a Christmas turkey or Kermit and his nephew Robin singing with the Fraggles? If that doesn’t bring a little Christmas cheer into your heart then you might be too far gone…

Next Time:- Robert Downey Jr, Leslie Nielsen, mice and a Christmas tree


*”Doc?” say UK Fraggle Rock viewers. “Wasn’t the human in Fraggle Rock a lighthouse owner called The Captain played by Fulton Mackay?” Yes, he was in the UK. Fraggle Rock is unusual in that, while it followed the Sesame Street model of refilming framing sequences with local actors, the UK was included in that and had UK specific sequences for both the lighthouse and Uncle Travelling Matt. So now you know.