Review of A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) by Tommy W — 24 Dec 2011

A Muppet Family Christmas is not a perfect Christmas special (not even close) but it's still thoroughly entertaining special with some great music and nice heart that makes it worth a look.

Fozzie Bear and the rest of the Muppets are travelling to Fozzie's mother's place in the country to spend a peaceful Christmas together. Of course however, this is all a surprise to Fozzie's mother Emily who was just about to leave on vacation and even has a renter named Doc with his pet dog Sprocket who were looking for a peaceful and quiet Christmas. The house becomes more and more crowded as the Sesame Street gang and the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock drop in and everyone spends a big happy Christmas together.

This was pretty much an excuse to bring together Henson's most popular Muppet creations and have them sing some popular Christmas tunes. While this isn't a huge deal, the songs are thrown into the special somewhat haphazardly and stops up the flow of the movie. Luckily, all the songs are well executed and enjoyable to listen to so when it does interrupt the movie it's at least a welcome interruption. The plot does get lost in the huge load of Christmas songs, but by the point it gets completely buried you really don't care. You're just enjoying the songs and the pretty funny running gags. This movie also features a cameo from Jim Henson, one of his last appearances before his untimely death, which while is entertaining is also rather bittersweet. If you decide to watch this special, skip the gutted DVD version and try to track down the original version since that's the best version.

Overall, if you're a fan of the Muppets, you'll enjoy this special just fine. If you're a new convertee, don't start with this Christmas special and watch A Muppet Christmas Carol instead first. (Real rating: 84%).