A gorgeous little jewel of the Muppets at their best
December 21, 2017 12:46 PM   Subscribe

On the 40th anniversary of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, an oral history of Jim Henson's holiday musical from muppeteers Frank Oz and Dave Goelz, and songwriter Paul Williams.
posted by drlith (32 comments total) 39 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yay! I went to an exhibit of Henson's Muppets at my local children's museum many years ago, and the Emmett Otter scenes were the absolute best. Ain't No Hole in the Washtub! Barbecue! Riverbottom Nightmare Band!

I swear Mumford and Sons saw this movie as children and imprinted.
posted by leotrotsky at 12:47 PM on December 21, 2017 [16 favorites]


So glad they included the outtake reel. It never ceases to crack me up.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 1:02 PM on December 21, 2017 [10 favorites]


Do you know what? The book Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas is by Russel Hoban, author of the incredibly traumatic children's book The Mouse and His Child (don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic book but sad on both the plot level and on the meaning level), famous literary post-nuclear novel Riddley Walker and the exceptionally merry and lighthearted How Tom Beat Captain Najork And His Hired Sportsmen, illustrated by Quentin Blake.
posted by Frowner at 1:02 PM on December 21, 2017 [11 favorites]


best. muppets. special. ever.

I sing Bar-Be-Que to myself year round and watch the special each year during the holidays.
posted by djseafood at 1:09 PM on December 21, 2017 [4 favorites]


That outtake reel is my favorite thing. It not only shows Jim Henson's dedication to get the details right, (33 takes!) but it also shows us just how invested the Muppeteers are in their characters. Superficially, it's just a bunch of takes trying to get a tiny drum to roll out of a door correctly.

But when the Muppeteers get frustrated that it's not coming out right, they start cracking jokes in character. There have been a number of essays written and even comments on Mefi about how the Muppets become people in person. You interact with them and they respond to you. They're not just plain old puppets at the end of someone's hand. Those outtakes are the perfect example of that effect. Each muppet has its own personality and responds to the situation a particular way, and in the end, you're watching two Muppets interact with the scene as full-fledged personalities, not toys. The scene isn't going right, and they're tired, frustrated and making wisecracks.

It's so great.
posted by zarq at 1:11 PM on December 21, 2017 [23 favorites]


I always just adored this special and remember watching it every year for a long time. Come to think of it, maybe it's responsible for my love of Elliott Brood. They're kinda like a cross between Emmet Otter's Jug Band and the Riverbottom Nightmare Band.

I wonder what they'd make of my connecting them? Meh, they're Canadian, I bet they'd be tickled.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 1:19 PM on December 21, 2017 [5 favorites]


Do you know what? The book Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas is by Russel Hoban, author of the incredibly traumatic children's book The Mouse and His Child (don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic book but sad on both the plot level and on the meaning level), famous literary post-nuclear novel Riddley Walker and the exceptionally merry and lighthearted How Tom Beat Captain Najork And His Hired Sportsmen, illustrated by Quentin Blake.

You mean Russell Hoban of Frances the Badger fame? I love those stories!

“There is a tiger in my room,' said Frances.
'Did he bite you?' said Father.
'No,' said Frances.
'Did he scratch you?' said Mother.
'No,' said Frances.
'Then he is a friendly tiger,' said Father. 'He will not hurt you. Go back to sleep.”

posted by leotrotsky at 1:28 PM on December 21, 2017 [13 favorites]


Frances' parents are the best.

"What about scrambled eggs?" said Father.
"Scrambled eggs fall off the folk
and roll under the table," said Frances.
"I think it is time for you to go to school now,"
said Mother.

posted by leotrotsky at 1:33 PM on December 21, 2017 [8 favorites]


My wife loved this as a child. I never saw it.
We watched it one holiday when my sister and her partner were visiting.
I loved it.
My sister did not.
I have never seen such direct evidence of infidelity or adoption.
posted by Seamus at 1:36 PM on December 21, 2017 [7 favorites]


so good. my husband has never seen this and I may have to finally ClockworkOrange him to a chair so he can share the utter awesomeness that is this holiday special :)
posted by supermedusa at 2:07 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


I've mentioned it before, but Mrs. Example and I watch Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas every single year. It really is just a pure little nugget of Muppet-y joy.
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:18 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


I just watched this last night! Ain't no hole in the washtub!

I'm learning to crochet just so I can make these amigurumi . It's my New Year's Resolution for 2018. lol.
posted by ilovewinter at 2:19 PM on December 21, 2017 [6 favorites]


Does it talk about how The Riverbottom Nightmare Band should never have been allowed to perform at the talent show?

I love EOJBC, to the point that I want "When The River Meets The Sea" played at my funeral.
posted by drezdn at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


I love mashed potatoes.
posted by 4ster at 2:35 PM on December 21, 2017 [4 favorites]


LOOK AT THE BIRDS UP IN THE TREES
posted by the phlegmatic king at 2:35 PM on December 21, 2017 [8 favorites]


My family has a long and deep tradition with bluegrass music, and I love this little movie more than I can say. There ain't no hole in the washtub of my heart tonight.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:47 PM on December 21, 2017 [2 favorites]


Emmet's special permanently cemented in my love of Muppetry and birthed my love of otters (probably leading to my relocation to California's Central Coast where the otters are plentiful). A few years after first seeing it, I worked for a company that had a semi-resident consultant/efficiency-expert named Emmet whom I nicknamed "Emmet NotAnOtter".
posted by oneswellfoop at 3:23 PM on December 21, 2017 [3 favorites]


Does it talk about how The Riverbottom Nightmare Band should never have been allowed to perform at the talent show?

I always found it odd that a tiny, rural Depression-era town would so immediately take to the glammed-out shock rock stylings of the Nightmare Band. Man, that place was hip!
posted by Atom Eyes at 3:47 PM on December 21, 2017 [8 favorites]


I swear Mumford and Sons saw this movie as children and imprinted.

This is one of the funniest and most accurate things I've ever seen on Metafilter and I've been lurking here since like 2001.
posted by paulcole at 3:58 PM on December 21, 2017 [9 favorites]


I may or may not have named offspring after Emmet Otter, I love it so much.
posted by songs_about_rainbows at 4:03 PM on December 21, 2017 [9 favorites]


I may or may not have named offspring after Emmet Otter, I love it so much.
posted by songs_about_rainbows

Eponytangentiallyrelated
posted by drlith at 4:23 PM on December 21, 2017 [13 favorites]


If Emmet doesn't have siblings named Kermit, Mokey, Jen or Kira, Grover (NOT Elmo) and Rowlf, I'll be disappointed.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:42 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


I saw a band called Well Worn Boot play in a local bar some years back. I thought they were ok, but wasn't really warming up to them. Then their next song turned out to be the Riverbottom Nightmare Band song. After that, I was a lifelong fan :)
posted by triage_lazarus at 5:25 PM on December 21, 2017 [6 favorites]


Does Emmet Otter take place in the Zootopia world, my vox explainer.
posted by drezdn at 6:21 PM on December 21, 2017


For those who don't remember, When The River Meets The Sea was also part of the John Denver/Muppets Christmas Special.

MetaFilter introduced me to Emmet Otter quite a few years ago, and a very kind MeFite whose name I can't recall immediately but could research sent me an amazing DVD package complete with custom cover and with the original HBO version of the show (with Kermit bumpers before and after) as opposed to the shorter edited version that had been airing after its initial run. It's a treasure, and while I didn't encounter it when it first aired (my parents never bought cable, let alone HBO), I really love this particular thing. Maybe I'll get mr. hippybear to watch it with me this year.
posted by hippybear at 9:14 PM on December 21, 2017 [5 favorites]


dresdn: The Muppet universe contains humans, the Zootopia universe does not. While there are no humans in Emmet Otter, that could just be because of the remoteness of the setting of the story.
posted by hippybear at 9:17 PM on December 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


LOOK AT THE BIRDS UP IN THE TREES

We're not birds! We're a jug band!
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 2:02 AM on December 22, 2017 [3 favorites]


I always wondered who operated the pawn shop in that town. They seem to let you hock pretty much anything.

An updated version of Emmett Otter could see the very first payday lending muppet.
posted by dr_dank at 4:36 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


They have Emmet and Ma Otter and their boat at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. We recently took my son to see the Rudolph puppet show and it's always nice to walk through the Henson exhibit.

While I have been a life long fan of the Muppets, I hadn't seen Emmet Otter during its original run. Mrs. Fleebnork introduced me to it after we got married. It has been a Christmas tradition in our home.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:07 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]




We played "Where the River Meets the Sea" at my father-in-law’s funeral. I can confirm it’s appropriate and great for such a scene. (It was also his request.) But that song isn’t what makes me cry every year when I watch Emmet. Every single year, during the long walk home on the ice when Ma says, “That’s the nicest present anyone ever tried to give me,” I go from merely choked-up to actively sobbing. It’s so abject and so plucky--like the christmas branch itself.
posted by miles per flower at 10:22 AM on December 22, 2017 [4 favorites]


Also, two probably-better-they-didn’t notes: Paul Williams wrote another song for the talent show that got cut: a burlesque number for the justifiably nervous music store owner (weasel? stoat?) about... the wooden floorboards of the stage and the tree they used to be part of? I’ve never heard or seen it but I imagine it might have been a jarring addition. Similarly, in the book, Emmet’s band sings a song with the chorus: “Going to Old Man Possum’s shack / Sister Possum waiting out back,” which strikes me as a good bit racier than “pretty girls dancing to jug band music.”
posted by miles per flower at 11:11 AM on December 22, 2017 [1 favorite]


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