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December 20, 2004

Having a Holly Jolly Christmas

For whatever reason, the entire family got into the mood to sit and watch numerous Christmas specials this weekend. In years past, we would make this a ritual, working our way through a tape I compiled of what we consider classics: The Grinch who Stole Christmas, Muppet Family Christmas, Charlie Brown, Rudolph, etc. Over time, we stopped doing this en masse so Rob would watch what he liked and I drifted to watching Miracle on 34th Street and the Alistair Sim A Christmas Carol.

The one thing we all watched, though, was A Muppet Family Christmas. This turns out to be Deb’s favorite. The version we have on tape was a repeat during The Wonderful World of Disney which edited out some scenes and had an intro between Michael Eisner and Kermit. Last year, I decided to just splurge and get the show in DVD, figuring it would be better with the deleted scenes restored and a crisp clean picture. So, I found one on eBay and it arrived too late for the season.

With Kate home, we settled in last night to watch some of the specials. We already had indulged Robbie a night or two earlier by watching his favorite, A Muppet Christmas Carol. We pop in the DVD and the kids are fascinated to see sequences they had never seen before but we were all horrified to discover two songs missing, with ham-fisted editing.

This morning I checked with Henson.com and in their FAQ section they state, “It is true that the recorded release of A Muppet Family Christmas is shorter than was the original broadcast special. The original agreement regarding some of the music for this special was for broadcast television only. Subsequently, when the show was re-released certain selections had to be removed.”

Bah humbug!

I do have to say, after years of not seeing Grinch it was warm and comforting. I was reminding all over again the genius of Chuck Jones and the inspired use of Boris Karloff as the narrator.

Rudolph is really a period piece, isn’t it? The issue of conformity was a hotly debated topic when this was made forty years ago. To me, Rudolph was a mutant, shunned and disliked by reindeer that feared his differences. Then when Professor S needs his power, people come to understand he’s not really a threat.

And this debuted on Sunday, December 6, 1964, just a year after Stan and Jack were developing their own mutant themes? Coincidence?

Posted by Bob Greenberger at December 20, 2004 12:08 PM

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Comments

Actually, according to the true "Secret Origins of Rudolph", Rudolph was not one of Santa's reindeer (or the offspring of one of Santa's reindeer), and he did not live at the North Pole. Rudolph dwelled in an "ordinary" reindeer village elsewhere, and although he was taunted and laughed at for having a shiny red nose, he was not regarded by his parents as a shameful embarrassment. Rudolph was brought up in a loving household and was a responsible reindeer with a good self-image and sense of worth. Moreover, Rudolph did not rise to fame when Santa picked him out from the reindeer herd because of his shiny nose. Santa discovered the red-nosed reindeer quite by accident, when he noticed the glow emanating from Rudolph's room while delivering presents to Rudolph's house. Worried that the thickening fog — already the cause of several accidents and delays — would keep him from completing his Christmas Eve rounds, Santa tapped Rudolph to lead his team, observing upon their return: "By YOU last night's journey was actually bossed. Without you, I'm certain we'd all have been lost!"

Posted by: TAC at December 20, 2004 02:12 PM

I always hate it when an officially sold version of something is missing certain parts due to whatever reasons. It annoys me even more when they don't tell you about it.


I grew up watching and enjoying a lot of the Christmas specials, but I'll never forget what happened when we watched Rudolph in college. A friend of mine asked if he could watch it in our dorm room since we were the only ones he knew who had a big color TV. He wanted to recapture that Christmas spirit he had growing up. Well, as we watched it, and the plot unfolded, we became somewhat uncomfortable. As one of us put it afterwards, the moral of Rudolph is that it's okay to make fun of people who are different from you unless you can find a wait to exploit them.


I noticed that you omitted It's a Wonderful Life from your list. I love that movie.

Posted by: Michael A. Burstein [TypeKey Profile Page] at December 20, 2004 03:33 PM

Our favorite is Scrooged ... what that says about us, I'm scared to consider!

That's terrible about the Muppets. There's nothing worse than discovering an old favorite has been butchered like that.

Posted by: Eliz Flynn at December 20, 2004 03:43 PM