Melodic Memories: A Muppet Family Christmas

The Muppets gather together this Christmas for singing, icy patches, and a plot of murder...wait, WHAT?!

Greetings everyone, and welcome back to our Christmas Celebration here at Rave Up Music! I am your music reviewer Barius, and for this last Christmas review of the year, we are introducing a new segment called Melodic Memories. The purpose of Melodic Memories is to take some of my favorite music-based movies and television specials that I loved as a child and look back on them as an adult to determine if they have held up over the years. For this first edition of Melodic Memories, I am looking back at a group characters that have endured for nearly 60 years; the delightfully funny musical group of foam and fleece, the Muppets.

As far back as I can remember The Muppets have always been a big part of my life. The bright, colorful characters have helped to shape a good chunk of my humor, as well as my memories of my childhood. Their special brand humor and entertainment continues to entertain me to this day. Heck, my icon here on Rave Up Music is that of Zoot, the saxophonist for the The Muppet Show house band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.

My earliest influence to be a saxophonist, perhaps…?

From the mind of the late great Jim Henson, the Muppets have that right balance of entertaining for both children and adults. Whether it was Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, or Fraggle Rock, these lovable characters have a way to lift me up when I am feeling down, or enhance my already elated mood.

The 2011 film was the perfect Muppet movie for the 21^st Century…

As with many big franchises, The Muppets have released Christmas specials. In fact, there are over 30 different Christmas/Holiday Specials involving the Muppets, starting with The Great Santa Claus Switch in 1970, and include some of the best specials in television history, such as the 1977 special Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas.

I will get to this special someday…

In 1987, Jim Henson decided to bring his three (technically four) biggest productions together for an hour-long musical Christmas special. The characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock were gathered together for holiday cheer and singing, lots and lots of singing. This production became known as A Muppet Family Christmas.

Every Christmas Eve, my family and I would gather around the television set, eating are traditional Christmas Eve tacos, and watch dozens of Christmas specials, ranging from A Charlie Brown Christmas to Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, and A Muppet Family Christmas was always on the viewing schedule. I remember laughing and singing along to the music, watching some of my favorite characters interacts with each other. How amazing is it to seeing Cookie Monster interact with Janice, even if it is to eat all the Christmas cookies?

“Me swear me looking at cookie and not anything else…”

While I loved this special as a kid, even saying it was my favorite Christmas special, I have to ask myself: Does A Muppet Family Christmas hold up to today’s standards? Well, let us find out…

PLOT SUMMARY:

The plot is one of the most common formulas for a Christmas special: a whole bunch of famous people (or creatures in this case) gather together at a lodge (or farmhouse) to celebrate Christmas with singing, holiday activities like building a snowman, and general silliness. This works perfectly for the Muppets, as the gang gather in an old pick-up truck driven by Fozzie Bear and head to Fozzie’s mom house in the country to celebrate the holiday, while sing “We Need A Little Christmas.” However, Fozzie did not phone ahead to let his mom know the Muppet gang was coming to visit, stating that “bears like surprises.”

Someone is getting a scolding this Christmas…

Meanwhile, Fozzie’s mom, whose name is Emily, is preparing to leave for Malibu, and is renting out the farmhouse to Doc and his dog Sprocket from Fraggle Rock, who is looking to spend a nice quiet Christmas in the country. Of course, Doc’s wishes this holiday are denied when Fozzie and company arrive, much to the surprise of Emily, who now has to cancel her plans to Malibu, California. But honestly, as a resident of California, she is not missing much.

“I took three months of surfing lessons for zip.”

While the Muppet gang settles into the farmhouse, one very notable Muppet missing is the Fabulous Miss Piggy, who had a last-minute photo session. Okay, I do have to ask: who schedules a photo session on Christmas Eve? If I was Miss Piggy, I would fire my agent for making me miss spending time with Kermit on Christmas. But of course, this plot device is to make us feel bad for are favorite amphibian Kermit as he waits for his piggy love to make it the farmhouse. Miss Piggy continues to get delayed getting to the farmhouse, including shopping for Kermit’s present and get her limo stuck in a snow bank during a terrible snow storm. Still, Miss Piggy is determined to get there to be with her Kermie.

“Screw this storm! Kermit needs his green, froggy flipper slippers!”

Throughout the special, there are several plotlines introduced, and some of them do not really amount to much. There is one plot where the Great Gonzo fights with the turkey the Swedish Chef “invited” for Christmas dinner for flirting with Gonzo’s girlfriend Camilla the Chicken. It does not really amount to much, and by the end of the special, all three of them are standing around together like nothing happened.

“Leave her alone! She’s a Kentucky chicken!”

There is also a plot where Fozzie builds a snowman that comes to life and tells bad jokes with him. They decide to form a comedy act, but a deterred to do so by the criticism of Fozzie’s biggest hecklers, Statler and Woaldorf, who just happen to be friends with his mom.

Conflict of interest…?

Later on in the special, Kermit and his nephew Robin discover a Fraggle hole in the cellar, and enter it to meet with the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock. There, they exchange stories of their traditions of Christmas as well as the Fraggle holiday the Festivals of the Bells, which there is a whole Fraggle Rock episode dedicated to it, and I might get to that another Christmas time. What is cool about this Fraggle exchange is that it leads to the really catchy Fraggle song “Pass It On.”

This is worth it just to hear Wembley’s grunting sounds…

Besides the conflict of Piggy of trying to get to the farmhouse, there are two major plotlines introduce that really pushes the special. The first one is Doc trying to not let the Muppets ruin his vacation and his nice, quiet Christmas. While Sprocket gets along with the Muppets pretty quickly, Doc slowly warms ups to them. Maybe it is something about being the only human in this special. Eventually, the charm and silliness of the Muppets wins him over to the point he volunteers to go out in the storm to look for Miss Piggy and get her to the farmhouse.

“I am willing to give my life up in that storm for the almighty Henson and Oz.”

The other plotline that pushes at least the first half of the special occurs after Muppets from Sesame Street arrive caroling to the farmhouse. Wait…did they walked and caroled all the way from Sesame Street to the farmhouse?

Public Television cannot afford plane tickets or gas money…

Once the Sesame Street gang arrives, the turkey that Swedish Chef intends to serve for dinner tricks the chef into serving up the beloved Big Bird for Christmas dinner. Honestly, how is the Chef going to get away with it? All of Big Bird’s friends are there (minus Snuffleupagus, who was finally acknowledged as being real two years earlier), and I am sure they would notice an eight-foot yellow bird is missing and is now served on the dinner table. Also, does the chef even have an oven or pan big enough to put Big Bird in? Anyway, Swedish Chef’s desire to cook him up is quickly ended when Big Bird gives him a gift of chocolate-covered birdseeds to help Chef deal with not being in Sweden with his family, and he comforts him in one of the most feel-good version of “The Christmas Song” I have ever heard I my life.

Makes you forget that Swedish Chef was going to cook Bird up a few seconds ago…

Eventually, Miss Piggy makes it to the farmhouse after being discovered by Doc. She is ready though with a sled dog team, and gave are favorite Canadian a Mounted Police uniform. Why?

“If there is one thing Piggy knows it’s how to make an entrance.” – Kermit the Frog.

The special ends with a near seven-and-a-half–minute long Christmas sing along, and honestly, I absolutely love it. It is a great way to exhibit the great talent of the Muppet Performers, particularly the great Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and Richard Hunt. I will discuss more about the music in the next section.

Not as impressive as the finale shot in The Muppet Movie, but it is still a pretty cool shot…

MUSIC SELECTION:

While I could talk about the plot of A Muppet Family Christmas all day, this is a music review blog, not a television/film review blog. Let us take a look at the music selection of this holiday special.

“We Need a Little Christmas”

Right off the bat, this special sets its musical tone. The song has the gang getting prep to enjoy Christmas in the country. You can hear the excitement in their singing, and even though most of them are chilling (literally) in the back of the pick-up truck, they still manage find a way to add rat choreography to the song.

“Jingle Bells/Jingle Bell Rock”

After sending the Swedish Chef and the rats and chickens to their bedroom, Kermit and Robin begin singing a very slow take on “Jingle Bells” before being interrupted by an absolutely brilliant take on “Jingle Bell Rock” by the Electric Mayhem. This song really cooks, and I would say it is one of my earliest introductions to harder rock music. I love how each member of the Mayhem is highlighted in the song, including a rocking saxophone and trumpet solo from Zoot and Lips, respectively. This song has the perfect Muppet flair to it.

“Sleigh Ride”

In most commercial U.S. releases of A Muppet Family Christmas, several songs are removed due to music rights being secured only for the a few years of television broadcast. Sadly, this song gets cut, and it almost removes the plotline of Fozzie building his snowman comedy partner. Granted, the song is more about the comedy shtick between the comedic duo, but it has an almost slapstick feel to it, and fits perfectly for Fozzie and the Snowman.

“Santa Claus is Coming to Town”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb8tMJxGkgc

(Follow link for video)

At the time this special aired, Muppet Babies was a big hit on TV after they made their debut in the film The Muppets Take Manhattan. Granted, the notion of the Muppets knowing each other as babies ruins the continuity of The Muppet Movie, it made a lot of money for the Jim Henson Company. So, it is only natural for them to be featured in this special, being cute and singing an adorable take on “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” However, unless you can find this special uncut on YouTube, you will not find this song on any commercial release in the United States.

“Caroling, Caroling/Deck The Halls”

When the Sesame Street gang arrives at the farmhouse, they arrive in style, caroling in-step to “Caroling, Caroling,” before transitioning into “Deck the Halls.” This take on the carol does a great job highlighting some of the Sesame character singing their hearts out. My personal favorite is Oscar the Grouch, who, in true Oscar fashion, refuses to sing this song. Oscar has never been a fan of Christmas, even when singing the song “I Hate Christmas.” But, that is again a discussion for another time.

“The Christmas Song”

As I mentioned earlier, this duet with Big Bird and Swedish Chef is very sweet, and actually almost brings a tear to my eye. But again, I remember that only a few moments ago, the Chef was going to cook and eat the yellow bird. Still, even if you cannot understand what the Chef is singing, it is one of the nicer moments in the special.

“Pass it On”
This song is perfect for the Fraggles to sing. This original song is about sharing and that when you are shown kindness and love, you pass it on to your fellow man…or fraggle…or frog…The song again does a great job showing off the talent of their Muppet performers, particularly Karen Prell as Red and Kathryn Mullen as Mokey.

“Home for the Holidays”

This song is short, and meant to say that it is good to come home for the holidays. It also leads up to the final icy patch gag of the special (it had a running gag throughout the special).

“Christmas Carol Sing”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmzpc9CqK_E

(Again, follow the link)

The big finale of the special is a medley of Christmas carols that Kermit describes as the Muppets’ “Annual Carol Sing.” The songs featured in the medley are as followed:

• “Happy Holidays”
• “Ding Dong Merrily on High”
• “I Saw Three Ships”
• “Good King Wenceslas”
• “The Holly and the Ivy”
• “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”
• “Happy Holidays (Reprise)”
• “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
• “Caroling, Caroling”
• “I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day”
• “It’s In Every One of Us,” (Original Muppet Song)
• “Old Friends, New Friends,” from the Muppet Christmas special, The Christmas Toy.

In such a short amount of time, the Muppets bring the sense of joy and musical happiness. Many of the songs are arranged in a way to highlight some of their best characters and performers. “Ding Song Merrily on High” is a great solo feature for Scooter, performed by the near pitch perfect Richard Hunt. And is there no perfect song for the Count to sing than “I Saw Three Ships”?

The songs I enjoy the most in this medley are the ones that are duets. “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is sweet performance by Fozzie and Emily Bear. You can feel the family love between the two of them. Kermit and Piggy’s performance of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is great, and Henson and Oz’s voices blend very nicely together, as does Henson with Hunt as Statler and Waldorf singing “I Hear The Bells on Christmas Day.” The two old men give you the sense of nostalgia, reflecting back of all the good times of Christmas. All of these songs are performed with such as heart and sincerity that by the time we get to “Old Friends, New Friends,” I am just balling tears of joy.

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

What kind of musical Christmas special does not end with this classical song? This is simply a nice song to end the special on. Plus, we get see Jim Henson in a zebra-striped suit.

Jim always had good fashion sense…

FINAL REFLECTIONS:

In recent years, there have been a lot of reviews and retrospective on this special, including this one from ACartoon Christmas and most recently by Doug Ray on buzzfeed.com. While they still praise the awesomeness of the special, they also question the plot holes or lack of plot of the special. As a fan of the Muppets, I can acknowledge that there are moments in A Muppet Family Christmas that does not give it a coherent narrative. But that is also some of the appeal of the Muppets; there really is no continuity, so they can play with it a bit.

What truly makes A Muppet Family Christmas is how much heart it has to it. With such lovable characters like the Muppets, there is something endearing about them that even if the story does not make a lot of sense, you cannot help but love them. The songs choices are so great they are nearly perfect for each of the Muppets or group of Muppets to sing. When there are good jokes, they really hit it out of the park, and they do it in that trademark Muppet humor.

When it comes to this Christmas special, A Muppet Family Christmas is one of the sweetest, funniest, enjoyable ones out there. As a kid, I absolutely loved it. Now, as an adult, I still love it just as much, if not even a little bit more. And for me, A Muppet Family Christmas remains my favorite Christmas Special of all time. If you want to see the special in its entirety, check it out here. If you are looking for a commercial release of the special, that is another story. The U.S. release is out of print, and does not contain all of the songs. Many PAL versions are going for a high price, but at least it is uncut.

Well, this is not only the last Christmas post for Rave Up Music for this year, but the last post for 2013. The blog is taking a break next week. But, we will return the week of January 6th with new reviews, and a lot of fun stuff coming up. This month has been mostly good stuff, but I will warn you now; we will get back to the garbage very soon. Until then, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and here is to a great 2014. Until we meet again next year, I am Barius, and, as always, keep on rockin.’

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