Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, a production of the Jim Henson Company based on Russell and Lillian Hoban’s 1971 book of the same title, is a delight in every sense of the word.
Packed full of American folk music-inspired songs composed by Paul Williams, who went on to write “The Rainbow Connection” for The Muppet Movie (following his work on The Muppet Show), memorable characters and a heartfelt spirit that very much work its festive heart on its sleeve, it’s no surprise that it remains a perennial Christmas favourite almost 40 years after it debuted on HBO on 17 December, 1978.
Using traditional Muppets and marionettes, the TV special tells the story of Emmet Otter and his mother Alice, poor riverfolk who get by (barely) on doing laundry and oddjobs for the likes of snooty Gretchen Fox, the mayor’s wife.
Cheerfully upbeat despite having to sell almost everything they own following the death of Mr Otter some years previously – a salesman who, amusingly, sold actual snake oil, rather unsuccessfully it must be said – Emmet and mother Alice sing their way up and down the river, finding solace and joy in each other, their friends and their music.
With just three days to go until Christmas, money, as always, is tight, and even though Emmet wants a $40 guitar with pearl inlay for Christmas and Ma Otter would like a piano, both know these kinds of store-bought gifts are well and truly out of their reach.
Still when the mayor of Waterville stages the first ever Christmas talent show, they decided to enter to buy gifts for the other, the twist being that they must sacrifice the tools of their trade – Ma’s washtub and Emmet’s toolbox (inherited from his dad) – to do so.
It’s selfless, sweet and very much in keeping with the spirit of Christmas, and while things don’t quite turned out as planned, they come to understand just how much wonder and love there is in sacrificing what you want for another.
A delight from start to finish, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas deservedly attracted this sterling review from The New York Times critic John J O’Connor:
“Jim Henson and the Muppets are on a dazzling winning streak these days… Mr. Henson has produced and directed one of the most charming Christmas specials of the last several years… Once again, Mr. Henson’s creations verge on the marvelous, perfectly capturing the Wind in the Willows aspects of Emmet Otter’s story… These really are the nicest folk on the river – and on prime-time television.”
What is most charming about the storyline is the way in which Jim Henson, in keeping with the ethos that The Muppet Show, the following movies and even the revived movies from 2011 onwards such as Muppets Most Wanted, much to combine sweet-natured wonder with some real gritty truths about life for many people who can’t fully participate in the modern consumerist version of Christmas.
What this gem of a TV special underscores so beautifully is that what matters, what really matters even outside Hallmark cards and festive Lifetime movies, is that you have the ones you love around you and think of others more than yourself.
It may sound cloying or cliched, and for many Christmas productions it is, but Jim Henson had a real knack for making these truths real and authentic, as they very much are, while still giving the warm-and-fuzzy glow you expect from Christmas movies and TV specials.
It’s a real gift that his company has continued on well after his much-mourned untimely death and the reason why this special, along with A Charlie Brown Christmas movie, continued to be so well-loved and watched.
Both of them are heartwarming and truthful, allowing you to indulge your aspirations for a perfect whimsical Christmas with the reality of life which doesn’t always allow for the perfect manifestation of those festive ideals.
However you slice it, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is a joy to watch, the kind of show that is needed now more than ever when the gulf between the vision of Christmas and its less-fulfilling reality has never been greater.