It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)

On Christmas Eve, an angel petitions God to send help for Kermit the Frog who has lost all hope after losing the Muppet Theatre.

Director:

Kirk R. Thatcher

Writers:

Tom Martin, Jim Lewis

Stars:

Steve Whitmire, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve Whitmire	...	Kermit / Rizzo the Rat / Beaker / Bean Bunny / Mr. Poodlepants / Statler - Assistant (voice)
Dave Goelz	...	The Great Gonzo / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Waldorf (voice)
Bill Barretta	...	Pepe the Prawn / Rowlf the Dog / Swedish Chef / Johnny Fiama / Bobo the Bear / Howard / Lew Zealand (voice)
Eric Jacobson	...	Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Animal / Yoda (voice)
David Arquette	...	Daniel
Joan Cusack	...	Rachel Bitterman
Matthew Lillard	...	Luc Fromage
William H. Macy	...	Glenn
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Daniel's 'Boss'
Carson Daly	...	Self - Cameo Appearance
Kelly Ripa	...	Self
Joe Rogan	...	Self - Cameo Appearance
Molly Shannon	...	Self - Cameo Appearance
Robert Smigel	...	Triumph the Insult Comic Dog (voice) (as Triumph the Insult Comic Dog)
Zach Braff	...	Dr. John 'J.D.' Dorian

Storyline

The owner of a bank (Miss Bitterman) wants to own the Muppet Theatre so she can build a nightclub over it. After she tricks Pepe into giving her the only copy of the contract between her father and the Muppets, she changes it so the Muppets have very little time to pay a debt they owe. Meanwhile, the Muppets are trying to put on a Christmas show. After the Muppets are confronted by Bitterman, they make a lot of sacrifices to save up so they can keep the Theatre.

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Plot Keywords:

campy | nbc | god | guardian angel | alternate reality | 

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Taglines:

More holiday fun than humanly possible!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steve Whitmire, who was beginning to perform Statler around this time, puppeteered him while his current performer, Jerry Nelson, was out sick. Nelson later looped Statler's lines, but one of them ("Historical landmark!") remained unlooped.

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Goofs

When Miss Bitterman is showing Pepe her Club Dot, her head changes position in front of the window between shots.

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Quotes

Kermit: [reading a sign in the park] "Thank you, Kermit, for all you have done for the lovers, the dreamers and you."
[groans]
Kermit: Dreams. Bitterman's right. I ruined everyone's lives with my ridiculous dreams.

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Crazy Credits

Muppets (tm)\,mu-pets\ 1: a trademark of The Jim Henson Company for a fanciful troupe of famous puppet characters created and performed exclusively by, and/ or for goods and services coming exclusively from, the characters at The Jim Henson Company [var Muppet; The Muppets]; 2: none

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Connections

Spoofs Batman: The Movie (1966)

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Soundtracks

Santa Baby
Written by Joan Javits, Philip Springer (as Phil Springer), and Tony Springer (as Tony Springer)

User Reviews

A collection of spoofs and homages but still very entertaining

On Christmas Eve Kermit sits alone on a park bench - a broken frog. His lost cries reach the angels but they can do nothing, until one of them, Daniel, takes the case to God herself and shows Her what brought Kermit to this state in the hope that She will send an angel to help him.

While the TVM status of this film might suggest that it is a lesser product that the Muppet movies that used to be cinema draws, let me assure you that this is not the case and that this film actually benefits from being on TV and keeping the humour of the show rather than having the pressure of becoming a big screen outing. The overall plot is `It's A Wonderful Life' however the back story watched by the angels and us holds spoofs of Moulin Rouge and Scrubs as well as references to A Beautiful Mind, The Grinch, Entrapment and lots more. The downside of this is that the plot is very episodic, but the plus side is that the film is funny and will easily engage adults as well as children.

Opening with the stage manager removing a snowman narrator by calling him a `Burl Ives wannabe' the film keeps this sense of humour that you've come to expect from the TV show. My favourite line from the whole film is Bunsen replying to Beaker with `thank you Beaker - I think you have a beautiful mind too'!

The cast of muppets are very good - with all the new characters from the television show having a bit of time, including Pepe, Risso the Rat, Johnny Fiama and his monkey etc. The voices are not done by the original cast for a variety of reasons but they are still very good - I had to look at the credits to spot that it wasn't Frank Oz doing Fozzie (and Yoda!). The human cast is amusing even if it doesn't all work. The cast of Scrubs are wasted and not funny apart from showing up but cameos from Arquette, Macy, Goldberg and Lillard are all amusing and Cusack seems to enjoy herself.

Overall this was a fun festive film, it has the usual message to it and it has moments that just don't work and the plot really is just a salvage job from other films, but it still works and is surprisingly funny with lots of film references. The downside of this I suppose is that the film won't stand the test of time as the topical references get forgotten over time, but that's why it was a TVM I guess, cause that won't matter.

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 November 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

Filming Locations:

Lion's Gate Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Broadcasting Company (NBC), The Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 85 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1