Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

A family of mice living inside the eccentric Mr. Willowby’s house set out to cut down the perfect Christmas tree. They climb to the top of the perfect tree, only for it to be cut out from under them by a group of lumberjacks. Those lumberjacks bring the tree back to Mr. Willowby’s house, where he declares it to be the most perfect Christmas tree. Except that it’s just a little too big. Mr. Willowby has the top of the tree cut off (which is where the mice are) and gives that portion of the tree to his maid. She declares it to be the most perfect Christmas tree. Except that it’s just a little too big. So she chops the top off (where the mice are) and throws it in the trash. From there it’s picked up a family of bears and then the portion that they discard is picked up by some owls before, finally, the mice are able to claim their portion of the perfect Christmas tree. Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree is a fairly obscure Muppets Christmas special starring Robert Downey Jr, Stockard Channing and Leslie Nielsen. Other than a few moments of physical humor, Leslie Nielsen is stuck playing a stuffy butler. And, while I cannot confirm such things, I suspect Robert Downey Jr. might have been under the influence during the production of this special. His character looks like Robert Smith from The Cure and has the manic energy of Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. If RDJ was actually sober at this time, then he truly is America’s greatest living actor.

Rating: Nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, FIVE GOLDEN RINGS, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree%

(Image from IMDB)

The Muppet Christmas Carol

It's the classic Christmas story that you know and love, just with more pigs and frogs than the average adaptation. Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, in a pitch perfect performance. It's the kind of committed performance that elevates the movie overall. The Muppets themselves occaisonally take a back seat to Caine's performance while still fitting perfectly into the story. Kermit the Frog is fantastic as Bob Cratchit. And the choice to have Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat narrate the story really helps with the pacing and makes everything more accessible for the audience. 

Rating: 82%

(Image from Wikipedia)

The Great Santa Claus Switch

On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is kidnapped by the evil wizard Cosmo Scam and his cave-dwelling minions, the Frackles. No, not the Fraggles, the Frackles. They're a completely different group of cave-dwelling weirdos. Let's not get bogged down in the details. The important thing here is that Cosmo intends to use his evil magic to impersonate Santa and then rob all of the houses on Santa's route. Santa's only hope? A keen elf named Fred. The Great Santa Claus Switch aired as an episode of The Ed Sullivan Show in 1970 and is hosted by the man himself. There aren't too many marquee Muppets in the special, as it was filmed several years before The Muppet Show, but an early version of Gonzo does appear.

Rating: A Toy Truck%

John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together

The Muppets did two tv specials with John Denver: 1983's Rocky Mountain Holiday and 1979's John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. A Christmas Together has never been released on home video. It's fallen into that murky grey market of television curiosities from the 1970s. I like to think that dorky Muppet fans (much like myself) are drawn to the special much like Star Wars diehards are drawn to the Star Wars Holiday Special. Having seen both, I feel like I can definitively say that John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together is better than the Star Wars Holiday Special. A Christmas Together isn't anything amazing but it has its moments. My only real complaint is that it's more of a John Denver special than a Muppets special. The Muppets are featured extensively, but it really feels like it's a John Denver special first and foremost.

Rating: Wooden Soldiers%

(Image from Amazon)

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is essentially a riff on It's a Wonderful Life. It's also a real shaggy-dog story. And as much as I love the Muppets, I couldn't help but find this special to be a bit of a slog. There are several dated and unnecessary pop culture parodies throughout along with some borderline racially insensitive moments. It kind of feels like something that was developed by people who don't necessarily understand how the Muppets work. Some of the human characters are playing their parts so big and broad that it's embarrassing. Much like Kermit's vision of a world where he hadn't been born, this was a real bummer.

Rating: Chocolates%

(Image from Wikipedia)

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

A Muppet Family Christmas remains the gold standard of Christmas specials as far as I'm concerned. I still watch it every year. I am, however, always willing to make room in my heart for more Muppety goodness. It was in that spirit that I watched A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa, a Christmas special from 2008. While I enjoyed the special, it did not dethrone A Muppet Family Christmas from its place on high. If I had to criticize something about this more recent special, I would have to say that (much like some of the Muppet films) it leaned a little too hard on some of the human guest stars. Nobody watches the Muppets to see human celebrities. That said some of said humans totally crushed it. Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin and Whoopi Goldberg all did great work. Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, not so much. So, while Letters to Santa won't be getting a yearly slot in my Christmas special lineup, it has earned a spot on the alternates bench.

Rating: Fish%

(Image from Muppet Central)

12 Days of Christmas Specials - #12: A Muppet Family Christmas

A Muppet Family Christmas is my absolute favorite Christmas special, it just isn't Christmas for me unless I watch it at least once. There's been maybe one or two years in the last twenty three that I wasn't able to watch A Muppet Family Christmas and those were horrible times which need not be mentioned again. In the special, the Muppet gang decides to head down to Fozzy's mother's farmhouse for Christmas. The Muppets are eventually joined by the Sesame Street gang and the Fraggles. There's lots of singing and laughing and holiday cheer, it's god-damned beautiful. Merry Christmas y'all.

Rating: And a Partridge in a Pear Tree%

(Image from trustedopinion.com)