It's too late for 2018, obviously, but I wanna make a XMAS wish that @Disney put out A Muppet Family Christmas on blu-ray, unedited.
Music rights perhaps make this unlikely, but right now we live in a world where this classic is out-of-print, and it shouldn't be.
Music rights perhaps make this unlikely, but right now we live in a world where this classic is out-of-print, and it shouldn't be.
If you haven't seen A Muppet Family Christmas, it is one of the very best Muppet things that has ever been made. I think it is as significant/important as the original Muppet movie trilogy. It's also one of the last major Muppet things Jim Henson did.
Aside from anything else, it is notable for being the Muppet Cinematic Universe equivalent of Avengers: Infinity War (but with the holiday charm of A Charlie Brown Christmas).
It features characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street AND Fraggle Rock, all together at XMAS.
It features characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street AND Fraggle Rock, all together at XMAS.
It is also incredibly funny & as well-acted as the best vintage Muppet things always were
Just look at this scene, setting up perhaps the show's best runner, a plotline involving the Swedish Chef trying to cook any kind of bird for dinner
I will *NOT* spoil how this turns out:
Just look at this scene, setting up perhaps the show's best runner, a plotline involving the Swedish Chef trying to cook any kind of bird for dinner
I will *NOT* spoil how this turns out:
If you have not seen A Muppet Family Christmas before (hello @JohnFugelsang, this is the one I mentioned on-air the other day), I have just given you the 2018 gift of a brand new Jim Henson Muppet thing w/all your favorite characters. I can think of nothing better.
It is a delight seeing these worlds collide:
SO many edits in every home video version of this. I know a lot of it is music rights stuff-- everything was locked down for broadcast, not for the world of VHS/dvd/blu-ray/streaming.
But A Muppet Family Christmas is an important thing, and worth preserving, @disney.
But A Muppet Family Christmas is an important thing, and worth preserving, @disney.
I think this part is one of the things that gets cut from the home video versions, the Muppet Babies' 2nd and final non-animated appearance in puppet form, via archival Super8mm footage:
I don't wanna spoil too many of its finest moments but this nearly hour-long TV special is one of the most perfect Muppet things ever made. It is revisiting old friends but in new combinations, and it nails the special blend of funny & sweet that Henson was a master of.
This cameo alone would vault A Muppet Family Christmas above any and all other Muppet holiday specials or movies:
Rowlf The Dog's excitement at meeting another dog is great. I think this version of "Sleigh Ride" is another thing cut from the home video versions.
OK, I've put this thought out there into the universe. If you're a Muppet fan who has somehow never seen A Muppet Family Christmas, you know what to do. Muppet fans who've seen it already know. And @Disney, I hope someone there is already ON THIS.
