Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
In case you forgot, what with all the fancy-schmancy computer animation and digital trickery that's so in vogue these days, puppets rock. Especially Muppets.
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas falls squarely between the inspired variety-show lunacy of The Muppet Show TV series (1976-81) and the sweet-hearted feature film odyssey The Muppet Movie (1979), and you can see Jim Henson and Co. (many of whom, like Frank Oz and Richard Hunt, had been with Henson since Sesame Street) stretching themselves and their art.
To tell the story of a poor widowed otter and her dewy young son who sacrifice what little they have in order to win a talent show, thereby making a better holiday for each other, Henson and his craftsmen created large-scale sets, featuring rivers, city streets, and a crowded town hall. The camera dives and sweeps, dollies and tracks, all to help disguise the fact that these are just hand puppets and marionettes.
And the music, while not quite as transcendent as Muppet Movienumbers ''Movin' Right Along'' or ''The Rainbow Connection,'' is still smart and catchy, with a bluegrass spirit that would do those O Brother, Where Art Thou? folks proud.
There's a collective magic that takes place when watching classic Muppet tales; our willingness to believe that these felt-and-fur creations are real, combined with Henson's seemingly innate sense of emotional truth, makes for kids' entertainment that's still unparalleled.
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