A Muppet Family Christmas
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A Muppet Family Christmas is a 1987 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets.
The plot involves Doc (from Fraggle Rock) escaping city life to spend the holidays in the country. 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 California for Christmas. When Fozzie comes home for the holidays—bringing all his Muppet friends with him—everyone gets snowed in and chaos and hilarity ensue.
This is the only Muppet production 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). This film also features the second on-screen appearance of Jim Henson in a Muppet feature (cameoing in the background in The Great Muppet Caper, documentaries and retrospectives notwithstanding); 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 leave out two musical numbers and at least four other scenes (check out the alternate versions section of the IMDb 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.
[edit] Scenes omitted in US 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. <ref>http://www.muppetcentral.com/help/faq/collectibles.shtml Muppet Central Collectibles FAQ</ref>
[edit] External links
| Films and television specials by The Muppets |
|---|
| Feature films |
|
The Muppet Movie (1979) |
The Great Muppet Caper (1981) |
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) |
| Television specials |
|
A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) |
The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990) |
[edit] References
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