Holiday Moviepalooza: Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas

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Once again, the guys have managed to meet up for another edition of Holiday Moviepalooza. Apologies for the sporadic posting, but you know how it is...Holiday season, shopping, family gatherings. It all makes it a challenge for them to get together on a regular basis. But they do what they can!

FINALLY...Derek and Jake got to sit down and watch a program that Derek has wanted to do for quite a while -- Emmet Otter's Jug-band Christmas.

What a year 1977 was! Star Wars and its infamous Holiday Special were about to cause the first cracks in its burgeoning fandom, a peanut farmer from Georgia was finishing up his first year in the White House, and then, the guy who helped create Sesame Street was hired by HBO to turn a children's holiday book into a television special.

Jim Henson and his Muppet performers managed to create what is really a technological marvel with some fun fur, a few electronics, some creative builders, great songs by Paul Williams and a lot of enthusiasm for the source material.

Which, of course, is Moby Dick.

Emmet Otter (Jerry Nelson) is a young boy otter who lives in Frogtown Hollow with his mother, Ma Otter (Frank Oz/voice by Marilyn Sokol). They're poor, but happy. Emmet brings a little money in by using his late father's tools to do repairs for his neighbors. Ma Otter does her part by doing laundry and some sewing. Both of them love to sing. All in all, things are pretty good for them, even if there isn't much money.

There is one thing that is weighing heavily on both of their minds: Christmas is coming, and neither of them can afford to buy the other a Christmas gift. While strolling through town, they come across a music store where Emmet sees a guitar in the window that he really wants. At the same time, he notes that Ma used to have a piano, but they ended up selling it, so he wishes he could get the money to buy her a new one. Their window shopping is interrupted by a gang of thugs from Riverbottom: Chuck (Oz), Weasel (Nelson), Catfish (Dave Goelz), Lizard (Richard Hunt) and Snake (Jim Henson). The group invades the music store and start making rock and roll noises, frightening everybody away.

They're like a cross between Deep Purple and Yes and Chuck E. Cheese.

On the way back home, Emmet runs across his friend Wendell (Goelz), who tells him that one of their neighbors will pay them to repair her fence. Wendell offers Emmet half to bring his father's tools and help him. They end up practically having to rebuild the fence. For fifty cents. Well, half of fifty cents.

On the way back home, Wendell and Emmet meet up with two of their friends, Harvey Beaver (Henson) and Charlie Muskrat (Hunt), who tell them about a talent contest that pays the winner fifty dollars. They want Wendell and Emmet to start a jug-band with them so they can win. The only problem is that Emmet would have to put a hole in Ma's washtub to make a washtub bass. He is hesitant, but he eventually agrees, reasoning that winning would allow him to put a down payment on a piano for Ma.

For the last time, Wendell, we are not playing "Freebird"!

At the same time, one of Ma's friends, Hetty Muskrat (Eren Ozker) is telling Ma Otter about the contest, suggesting Ma could sing and win. She is also hesitant because she would need a new dress, which would require her to sell Pa's tools, making it impossible for Emmet to to handiwork around town. In the end, however, she decides to do it so she can buy the guitar for him.

And so...Both Emmet and his mother have decided to risk complete and total impoverishment in an attempt to purchase Christmas presents for each other. If they fail, they will have destroyed their livelihoods. But really, what are the odds of that happening?

With top-of-the-line talent like this, anything is possible.

As the day of the contest draws closer, Emmet and the guys get together to rehearse a song called "Barbecue". It's catchy, and they sound great singing it. But that isn't enough for Emmet, who runs rehearsals with an iron fist, demanding they play it over and over again until the others are begging to be released from this hellish nightmare. Fortunately, Emmet's reign of terror is interrupted by the Riverbottom guys showing up on snowmobiles and making fun of them.

Finally, the day of the contest arrives. But who will win? Will Emmet and his band take home the money, or will Ma? What about those rabbits? Also, what's the deal with those jerks from Riverbottom? Also, why does Kermit the Frog (Henson) dress like Ron Burgundy?

You'll have to tune in to find out!

Jake liked it, although he thinks it's a little corny. He's especially impressed with the technical aspects of the whole thing. There are some really impressive sets and lighting, not to mention the puppets themselves!

Derek has loved this since he saw it when it first aired. Despite that love, he's willing to admit that large swaths of the story don't make. Why would anyone risk the source of what little money they bring in on just a possibility?

So sell your tools and put a hole in the washtub, and check out this week's episode!