(courtesy IMP Awards)
SNAPSHOT
The Fraggles eagerly await the first snow of the season and all the traditions it brings, but when only a single snowflake arrives and Gobo can’t write the yearly holiday song everyone is expecting, the season is thrown off course. For the first time ever, Gobo journeys to the human world, or as the Fraggles refer to it: Outer Space, to find some unexpected musical inspiration. And in another first, back at the Gorgs’ castle, Junior is overwhelmed by the arrival of a new baby Gorg joining the family. This holiday season, the Fraggles and Gorgs learn that beautiful moments aren’t always perfect — but they can be as unique and memorable as snowflakes. The First Snow of Fraggle Rock is a holiday special directed by filmmaker Jon Rosenbaum, also a director on Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Woody Woodpecker Goes to Camp, and The Thundermans: Undercover previously. The screenplay is written by Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson. Made by The Jim Henson Company. Executive produced by Lisa Henson, Halle Stanford, John Tartaglia, Matt Fusfeld, Alex Cuthbertson, Arnon Milchan, and Yariv Milchan. (courtesy First Showing)
If you ever feel like your spirits are flagging and everything seems too much, then a good place to remedy those blue is by heading to Fraggle Rock where there is much innocent, child-like joy that being down isn’t really an option. (Panicked, yes, but that’s a whole other thing we’ll touch on later.)
And even if you still feel glum, you can count on your friends and family, all weird but loveably upbeat cave dwellers like yourself to lift you out of your funk.
Although as The First Snow of Fraggle Rock gets underway – it’s the second seasonal special of the reboot of the series that kicked off in 2020 – Gobo (John Tartaglia) is struggling to come up with a super memorable song to commemorate the start of the holidays at Fraggle Rock which looks a lot like Christmas, complete with lit trees and bountiful decorations, but which is not.
Last year’s was a hit of epic proportions and as the Fraggles get ready for the Doozers to generate the first snow of the season, Gobo is having some serious writer’s block, the kind that only gets worse the more he thinks he has writer’s block.
His only reprieve is that the snow seems to be delayed for some reason – it didn’t get cold for long enough and only one Muppet-y snowflake was produced, who’s bright as a button and chirpy as the start of the holidays – and so he has a little more time to strike some musical magic.
But could that strike in Outer Space aka Canmore, Alberta which is as holiday-ish as you could wish for, and might Gobo’s brief encounter with Uncle Travelling Matt (Dave Goelz), his first face-to-face with his postcard-writing relative, and his first outing into Outer Space, as it’s known to the Fraggles, be just the inspiration Gobo needs to write the song of all snow-welcoming songs?
Of course it is, because this is The First Snow of Fraggle Rock which inhabits a world where, while not everything goes right all the time, Gobo’s songwriting issues being a case in point, everything eventually warmheartedly right in the bosom of lovely, inclusive, enthusiastically happy community which includes Wembley (Jordan Lockhart), Mokey (Donna Kimball), Red (Karen Prell) and Boober (Dave Groelz), Gobo does find his song but oh the fun and adventure of getting there!
While Gobo is out seeking unexpected musical inspiration from human singer Lele Pons, Mokey is super excited about trying out her sled, Wembley can’t wait to make to a snowman in his exact likeness (with Hawaiian shirt to match), Goober is gung-ho to make cutting-edge meals from “melted snow” – a running joke is a worm reminding it’s just melted water, one of the many moments of whimsy The First Snow of Fraggle Rock has in snowy spades – and Red can’t wait to break out her ear warmers and scarf.
All they need is snow which looks to be a longer-than-usual time in coming, which worries everyone but Gobo who has an epiphany that maybe some change is good, even when it’s something you love doing every year very much.
It’s a sage lesson that, happily for Gobo, gets delivered in song!
Meanwhile, upstairs Doc (Lilli Cooper) is experimenting with environmentally friendly weather balloons which means no trip to the snow, something that her dog Sprocket has been hugely looking forward to, but which could a snowy surprise which won’t just delight Sprocket but also all the Fraggles too.
It’s only a small part of the special but you have to love how much zest and energy Cooper brings to the role which only adds to the general bonhomie and warmth of The First Snow of Fraggle Rock.
And finally, the Gorgs are close to welcoming a new addition to the family, via egg no less, and while Ma and Pa Gorg (Frank Meschkuleit voice and face and Andy Hayward body and Donna Kimball face puppetry and Aimee Garcia voice respectively) are super excited by the new arrival, son Junior (Dan Garza face & voice / Ben Durocher body) isn’t so sure after he discovers his new sibling may not be who he thought they’d be.
There’s lots of adjustment and newness in The First Snow of Fraggle Rock but the rather delightful message is that as long as you have friends and family around you, change is okay and is likely even a very good thing.
Not a bad way to mark the festive season, and while Christmas isn’t expressly mentioned at any point, The First Snow of Fraggle Rock feels very Christmassy in look, word and deed, full of the kind of seasonal spirit we all need at any time of the year but especially at the most wonderful time of the year when expectations are high and we just need to remember that however it all turns out, it will be perfectly lovely and just what we need at the time.
Give yourself a festive lift and watch The First Snow of Fraggle Rock which streams on AppleTV.