John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together | |
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Genre | Television special |
Created by | Jim Henson |
Written by | Herbert Baker Bob Finkel Jon Stone (special material) |
Directed by | Tony Charmoli |
Starring |
John Denver Muppet performers: Jim Henson Frank Oz Jerry Nelson Richard Hunt Dave Goelz Steve Whitmire |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Jerry Weintraub |
Producer(s) | Bob Finkel |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | ABC |
Original release | December 5, 1979 |
A Christmas Together | ||||
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Studio album by John Denver and The Muppets | ||||
Released | October 1979 | |||
Genre | Christmas music | |||
Length | 35:25 | |||
Label | RCA Records | |||
Producer | Milton Okun | |||
John Denver chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic |
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John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together is a 1979 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets and singer/songwriter John Denver. The special first aired December 5, 1979 on ABC. The special has never been released in any standard home media video format and there are currently no plans to release it.
The special opens with Denver and the Muppets singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas". To add comedic effect, Fozzie Bear forgets his line ("Seven swans a-swimming.") and Miss Piggy over-emphasizes hers ("Five gold rings, ba-dum, bum, bum.")
The main plot of the rest of the special is the creation of the special itself and a special musical number for Miss Piggy. During the discussion of her number, Miss Piggy confronts Denver in her dressing room about their presumably mutual attraction. Miss Piggy, as a doll named Fifi, sings "I Will Wait for You" to Denver, who plays a wooden soldier trying to stay in step with a line of marching soldiers.
The program concludes with Denver reciting the story of Jesus' birth and joining the Muppets to sing "Stille Nacht/Silent Night" while the children in the audience join in.
Additional Muppets performed by Mike Davis, Cheryl Henson, Phillip Huber, Brian Muehl, Kathryn Mullen, Bob Payne, and Steve Whitmire.
Better known is the soundtrack album of the same name, which featured 13 tracks of traditional Christmas carols and original songs. This album, originally released on RCA Records in October 1979, was re-released on Denver's own Windstar label in 2000 as an abridged ten-track version; the original full-length CD was subsequently re-released in its entirety in 2006. (The previously missing tracks are "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", "When the River Meets the Sea", and "Little Saint Nick".) All releases of the album contain a different recording of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" than that featured in the TV special, along with their rendition of "Christmas Is Coming".