Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and today, we close out the Santa Spectacle as we look at this wonderful little Muppets Christmas special from 2009 that originally aired on NBC. With that out of the way, let's begin.
The Plot
The movie opens with The Muppets in line at the post office to mail off their letters and Miss Piggy bemoans the fact that she has to wait in line and wants to talk to the mayor and it just so happens that Mayor Bloomberg is also in line and Piggy asks about cutting in front and we actually get a nice joke about New Yorkers being polite. And we then see The Muppets enter the post office and get our first number including a cameo from Joe West aka Jesse L. Martin.
Not too surprised to see him in a Christmas movie as Harrison Wells once played Santa Claus.
Let's call that Earth-24. Anyways, back to the review at hand, we get our first number, which is perhaps the weakest of the 4 songs in this special as while it sounds nice, there isn't much substance to it but it is nice to know that the music for this film was written by Paul Williams. Who as most Muppets fans know is a longtime collaborator with The Muppets. After a major mishap, where Gonzo causes the conveyor belt to go too fast, the Muppets are kicked out of the post office. And they end up back in their apartment and Gonzo discovers that some of the letters didn't get mailed including one from a young girl that lives across the hall from him, named Claire. The Muppets want to try and find other ways to get the letters to Santa such as in one, where they go to the U.P.S., United Pigeon Services but that gets them nowhere as the pigeon couple bicker on and on.
We get another one involving Pepe and Rizzo, who surprisingly well as a duo, where they go to an Italian restaurant and Pepe tries to get letters taken care of by a cameo from two actors from The Sopranos. But that goes south, after Rizzo reveals himself and the two reveal that they don't talk to rats. Finally, after going through many other suggestions, the trio of Kermit, Fozzie, and Gonzo decide to personally fly to The North Pole themselves. In our second musical number, that is a lot better and has a lot of heart throughout the number and it's here, it really starts to click that Gonzo is the heart of this special. And Gonzo's portrayal in this special is one of the best things about it. I love Gonzo, he's probably my favorite Muppet after Kermit but sometimes people play up the weird and forget that Gonzo probably has the biggest heart of all the Muppets and would do anything to help his friends and that is so evident in this little film in how much he is willing to risk just to make sure that these letters get delivered. In many ways, this take on Gonzo reminds me a lot of I'm Going to Go Back There Someday from The Muppet Movie In terms of it how it remembers the emotional core that is at Gonzo and how he is one of the sweetest characters from The Muppets and while, he might be a bit weird, he has a big heart.
Rizzo and Pepe tag along as non believers in Santa and they think that this plan is going to go south and want to watch it happen and this number ends with another cameo. This time from Whoopi Goldberg as cab driver, that is always a nice surprise, whenever I watch this.
So, the scene stealer is coming up as the trio arrives at the airport after getting their tickets at The North Pole Airline from a clerk named Joy played by Uma Thurman, who is pretty much there only as the setup for a joke that comes later in the movie.
No, the real standout scene stealing cameo comes from Nathan Lane as TSA agent, Frank Meany and he notices The Muppets thinks that there is something weird about them and it turns out that he's bitter because he was on the Naughty List and never got the red trike that he wanted as a kid but our heroes convince him that maybe he could start over by letting them go, so that they could deliver those letters to Santa.
My only disappointment with this scene is that Animal isn't in this special as his way of saying bye bye would've been great here but Bobo The Bear as Frank's partner more than makes up for that. Well, the Muppets do get on the plane and perhaps, this is what John Lithgow and William Shatner saw on their respective flights into The Twilight Zone.
The Muppets have to jump to The North Pole and they eventually make it to the Workshop and it is gorgeous. All the little details that they put into it make it a sight to behold but they find out from Santa's head elf played by Paul Williams, that they are too late as Santa has already left.
Gonzo is heartbroken as he really tried and this leads to perhaps one of the best Muppets Christmas songs as Gonzo and Fozzie sare in a sweet little duet about how they wish that they could be Santa and how that they would try spread the message of the holiday with goodwill and cheer. But the one thing that always gets me is Fozzie saying that he would try and teach the children to be more like Gonzo.
The message was so strong that Santa heard it and came back and got the letters, as there actually three. Claire's, all she wanted was to spend Christmas with her friends and she gets that wish at the end. Frank Meany as he wishes to be taken off the Naughty List and Pepe, who put up a tough guy act but still believes and wants to be a talented opera singer. The special ends with all The Muppets (I mean, all the ones that you can name and then some) showing up for Christmas dinner at Claire's apartment and with another little song. Oh, and there was a subplot about Piggy going to the Caribbean for Christmas and Kermit was supposed to go with her but decided to help Gonzo instead but that subplot really didn't go anywhere and was dropped real fast. Considering that Santa was barely in this until the end, it'd feel a little odd to talk about him in the character section as he was also an extended cameo but I will say that I love this take on Santa, when I think of traditional Santas, this is exactly the type of Santa that comes to mind. He just evokes the feeling of old time Santas. He has a very classic and regal look to him that puts you in the spirit of Christmas.
I friggin love this special. It's adorable, it's a lot of fun and I'd put up there The Muppet Christmas Carol in terms of great Muppet Christmas entertainment.
Characters
Main Character
Gonzo performed by Dave Golez
This in my opinion is one of the best uses of Gonzo that I've seen The Muppets do. They show that yeah, he's strange but he always means and seeing everything that he goes through, you see that Gonzo is the type of character that wears his heart on his sleeve.
Supporting Characters
Kermit The Frog & Fozzie Bear performed by Steve Whitmire & Eric Jacobson
I am okay with Kermit taking a backseat and the same goes for Fozzie and it was nice to see how much support they have for Gonzo and how they were willing to go along on this crazy journey and were okay with it, the whole way throughout.
Rizzo & Pepe The King Prawn performed by Steve Whitmire & Bill Barretta
These two on the other hand served as the non believers that only went along because they thought this was insane and they kinda served as backseat commenters on the film and they were funny throughout but the classic trio was much more entertaining for me to watch.
Music
Delivering Christmas
Again, this number isn't bad. It's a lot of fun and I love hearing Jesse L. Martin sing and I love how the song gets faster towards the end after the mishaps but I dunno know, I could take or leave this song as it really doesn't do much for me.
It's All About Heart
This song is a lot better and really does a good job of setting up why our Muppety trio are willing to embark on this journey because in their hearts, this is the right thing to do and they feel that they need to listen to their heart.
I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus
This is the best song in this whole special. It's just so sweet and I feel that it really speaks for itself. I go back to what I said in the plot section and have said throughout about this special shows the heart of The Muppets, especially Gonzo and it is nice to see something with The Muppets remember that part of them. Yes, they are funny and do great comedy but these characters have big hearts and it is always nice to see those big hearts on display.
My Best Christmas Yet
This song is alright. It's not bad but it's like Delivering Christmas, I can take it or leave it. It's a sweet little song to end on but I feel like there isn't much to it, compared to the previous song. Perhaps, that isn't fair but this song really doesn't do much for me.
My Final Thoughts
This special is fantastic and I cannot suggest it enough. If you a Muppets fan or if you just love good Christmas specials and want something that'll make you feel good, check this out. Merry Christmas and I hope that you've enjoyed the Santa Spectacle here on A Look at Disney.
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