Fan Poll: Favorite Muppet Christmas Production

What is your favorite Muppet Christmas production?

  • A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)

    Votes: 76 62.8%
  • A Muppets Christmas - Letters to Santa (2008)

    Votes: 1 0.8%
  • It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)

    Votes: 10 8.3%
  • John Denver and The Muppets - A Christmas Together (1979)

    Votes: 8 6.6%
  • The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

    Votes: 26 21.5%

  • Total voters
    121

minor muppetz

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I always thought John Denver and the Muppets- A Christmas Together was an album, not a tv special. I'll have to watch the tv special, I thought Denver did a great job of hosting TMS.
It was both an album and a special. They both came out the same year but apparently the album came first, with the special being a tie-in to the album (I wonder if that's the case for Rocky Mountain Holiday).

Oh, and John Denver didn't host The Muppet Show, Kermit did. Denver was just a guest star. :smile:
 

sesame123

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Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Muppet Family Christmas all the way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

sesamekid75

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With the Christmas holiday now in full force, we thought it would be fun to discuss and debate your favorite Muppet Christmas productions.

Today we are discussing the specials featuring the Classic Muppet Show characters. Vote in the poll above and then list your ranking of the Classic Muppet holiday favorites. (We'll have other threads for Sesame Street and Henson Family productions later this week.)

Let us know your thoughts and feedback on the Classic Muppet holiday productions.
I think I'm a little late on this one ... but happy New Year 2012! My favorite has to be "Muppets Family Christmas". Though I did not grow up watching many Christmas productions, including those of Sesame Street, I recently happened on the one I mentioned above. I think the many wonderful moments including how the Sesame Street characters get together with the rest of the gang make this film a heart-warming piece of work. I also feel that we somehow need to get back the age-old Christmas traditions of apple cider, singing carols together around the fire, and watching old family videos... not just the presents and Santa Claus! These traditions may still exist but Christmas just seems rushed and traditions seem buried somehow. It's nice to see a movie that appreciates Christmas as it is!
 

Vincent L

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I just love the songs in The Muppet Christmas Carol. I listen to it all year.
 

Pinkflower7783

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Muppet Family Christmas all the way! Just wish they'd release an uncut version. Ugh once again I stress my dislike of copyrights sometimes. -_-
 

jvcarroll

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Gosh, it's so hard to decide, but here's mine...
  1. JDM - The John Denver special meant so much to me as a kid. It's Christmas to me.
  2. VMX - I personally like it as a grown-up companion to JDM
  3. EJC - Kermit was originally in the opening of Emmet Otter so I count this one!
  4. MFC - I adore this classic. It would come second if it had more of a substantive plot.
  5. MCC - Darker, but fun. First Muppets of my young adulthood.
  6. LTS - I love its heart, but it seems rushed and misses the mark of the other classics.
 

LouisTheOtter

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I can't believe I'm answering this over five months after Christmas, but that's Muppet fandom for you... :smile:

I agree with a couple of fellow MC members that Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas ought to be part of this poll. It's a Henson production (regardless of whether Kermit's in the edition you're watching) with nearly all of the regular Muppeteers, so it counts in my book.

So, with that in mind, here are my rankings:

1. John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together
2. Muppet Family Christmas
3. Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
4. It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
5. Letters To Santa
6. The Muppet Christmas Carol

Now, in saying this, I have to underline that it was a lot easier putting MCC at the bottom (with all due respect to all involved and to all the fans, this one has never really won me over) and putting A Christmas Together on top than figuring out how to rank the rest. These are quality productions from both a Muppet and holiday perspective and I consider all of them to be part of my Christmas traditions (and I'm delighted that this is now the case for me and my wife in addition to my previous 36 years of single life).

The John Denver effort stands out for me partly because I love his music, singing and the approach he took with the Muppets. There's so much heart and warmth to go along with the laughs, and the pacing of A Christmas Together is just right (as opposed to MFC, which occasionally seemed intent on cramming as many jokes and songs as possible into the timeframe). I'm also tickled by the great roles given to supporting Muppets (Robin on "When The River Meets The Sea," Scooter on "The Peace of Christmas Day," Rowlf on "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas"). One of my favourite Christmas specials, and albums, of all time.

That being said, I do indeed love the gang's-all-here approach to MFC, which I feel is the most successful meshing of the various Muppet universes (classic Muppets, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock, including Doc and Sprocket). I don't like the music as much as A Christmas Together's soundtrack but I still enjoy it, and the writing is just spectacular - I think I'd watch the whole thing just for Ernie and Bert's "Sesame Street small talk" joke. And, of course, Jim Henson doing the dishes at the end - "I like it when they have a good time."

I recently rediscovered Emmet Otter on DVD (my wife and I found it in a discount bin, of all places - SHAME!!!) and, having not seen the whole thing in over three decades, I was shocked at how well it holds up. The music is beautiful (especially "Our World" and "Where The River Meets The Sea"), the characters are engaging, and the storyline is so heartfelt it's hard not to fall in love with it all over again, Kermit or no Kermit.

At the risk of starting The Great VMX Debate all over again, I found it a well-written, snappy, and smartly-executed modern-day Muppet production that holds up well to repeated viewings. Apart from some genuine belly laughs (especially the "unwanted snowman narrator" and "I triple-frog dare ya!") and faithfully-produced Muppet moments in the "real" and "alternate" universes (the food-court Doc Hopper's gets me choked up every time), there are some wonderfully evocative moments, especially Gonzo and Kermit's duet on "Everyone Matters" and the lengths to which Fozzie goes to get the money to Rachel Bitterman, all because of his loyalty to Kermit. I know a lot of you have issues with VMX (to each their own) but I really like it.

Letters To Santa has its problems (particularly in pacing, a couple of "just off" character-moments, and one of the creepiest Santas I've ever seen) but I still enjoy it. Paul "The Cranky Elf" Williams wrote some wonderful music for this one, especially "I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus," one of my favourite modern Muppet melodies. And this was the first special to truly make use of Matt Vogel and David Rudman, and their work helps re-establish some of the classic characters and drive home the group-effort feeling I missed in many post-Jim projects. And what can I tell ya...Nathan Lane and Bobo ("Ding-ding-ding"), Uma Thurman as the Arctic Air lady, and Jane Krakowski as Claire's mom, not quite sure to make about the Muppets living across the hall...it just works for me.

Maybe I'll warm up to The Muppet Christmas Carol after I see it a couple more times. When I first watched it in theatres 20 years ago it seemed too dark and human-heavy, the music didn't really work for me, and having idolized Jim Henson and Richard Hunt through my childhood, I don't think I was quite ready to move on to new people voicing their characters. Perhaps time (and the knowledge that the Muppets are in good hands these days) will change that feeling for me the next time I watch it.

Final thought: Having finally picked up A Green and Red Christmas last holiday season, I really wish there had been a companion TV special for this album. The newer Muppeteers really cracked one out of the park with this effort and it deserves to rank among the top Muppet holiday offerings of all time IMHO. I know Mrs. Otter and I will treasure it for years to come.
 

Borples

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Maybe I'll warm up to The Muppet Christmas Carol after I see it a couple more times. When I first watched it in theatres 20 years ago it seemed too dark and human-heavy, the music didn't really work for me, and having idolized Jim Henson and Richard Hunt through my childhood, I don't think I was quite ready to move on to new people voicing their characters. Perhaps time (and the knowledge that the Muppets are in good hands these days) will change that feeling for me the next time I watch it.
Give it another go when Christmas season rolls around. I felt the exact same way for a long time, but this year I decided to re-watch it. Mostly because I figured my kids might like it, and because of Gonzo and Rizzo. Well, the rat and the whatever were so charming that I watched it again the next day. And the next thing I knew, I was singing all the songs. And then I realized I loved the whole darn thing. I must have watched that movie 10 times last December. Being used to the recasts makes a BIG difference. And so does the fact that they cut Scrooge's girlfriend's song out of the version I watched. ;-)
 

LouisTheOtter

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I do plan on giving it another try. And Gonzo and Rizzo were definitely a high point of The Muppet Christmas Carol, right from the opening sequence (Gonzo: "I am here to share the classic story of A Christmas Carol." Rizzo: "And *I* am here for da food!"). That launched a great character partnership that has been one of the most welcome bits of Muppety goodness over the past two decades.
 
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