"Wembley's Egg Surprise" on DVD February 9

[Drtooth]

Don't look a gift Bemble in the mouth!

 

[minor muppetz]

If not for it's inclusion in the christmas DVD I would put "The Perfect Blue Rollie" in this easter DVD. The rollies are small, round, and colorful, like easter eggs.

 

[RedPiggy]

EASTER? I can vaguely associate Fraggle Rock episodes with something like Halloween or Valentine's Day, but EASTER? Where is there anything that has anything to do with Easter besides perhaps Wembley's Egg?

It's not just about eggs, though. Like I mentioned, the Mudwell ep might work for the Easter theme as it deals with death and resurrection. I realize that's a bit deep for "a kid's show", but as that ep about the radio was a metaphor for religion, I think FR can handle something deeper than an egg hunt. I mean, Halloween is supposed to be more than a free candy binge, you know.

 

[Oscarfan]

Why would they waste money making an "Easter" DVD, when a Halloween one would be so much easier?

 

[GonzoLeaper]

It's not just about eggs, though. Like I mentioned, the Mudwell ep might work for the Easter theme as it deals with death and resurrection. I realize that's a bit deep for "a kid's show", but as that ep about the radio was a metaphor for religion, I think FR can handle something deeper than an egg hunt. I mean, Halloween is supposed to be more than a free candy binge, you know.

Fraggle Rock has always been great for dealing with deep themes and definitely can do better than just a Easter egg hunt. I'm interested in this Mudwell episode now that you mention the themes it deals with. I must admit I haven't seen some Fraggle Rock episodes in quite a while- I'll have to watch this one.
While I doubt any of the episodes or any new specials would outright talk about the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice made it possible for everyone to be forgiven of all their sins and go to Heaven through faith in Him- (though it'd be nice) - I imagine something vague about the "death" that winter symbolizes and the "resurrection" that spring represents would be about as far as it would go. And even that would be nice- just something to let kids know there's more than Easter eggs and candy and bunnies. And there's more than candy on Halloween too- but again, I wouldn't expect them to talk about All Saints' Day or the Celtic festival of Samhain during a Halloween special either- but maybe something generic to talk about community, the common bond between all people and respect for the dead as part of what the Celtics celebrated.
That's the trouble with commercializing and/or generalizing holidays. They are in fact holy days- and either you accept them for what they stand for in full or you just concoct a general message that people of all faiths or no faith can accept - or you wind up marrying the two ideas, by giving the general conception that most folks just take such and such from said holiday, but this particular religious group does such and such in celebration. I think Sesame Street has tried to do that in special like "Elmo's World: Happy Holidays", which makes sense since it's an educational show for kids and it's good for kids to be exposed to different beliefs and cultures. However, in this case, it's Fraggle Rock, so I suppose the overriding beliefs of the creators would trump here. And that's fine as that's to be expected.
Anyway- I'll just be happy to see the final season of Fraggle Rock get released on DVD and I would like a separate DVD box set for the Fraggle Rock cartoon. And if that Fraggle Rock movie ever actually happens- that'd be great to see too.

 

[frogboy4]

Fraggle Rock has always been great for dealing with deep themes and definitely can do better than just a Easter egg hunt. I'm interested in this Mudwell episode now that you mention the themes it deals with. I must admit I haven't seen some Fraggle Rock episodes in quite a while- I'll have to watch this one.
While I doubt any of the episodes or any new specials would outright talk about the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice made it possible for everyone to be forgiven of all their sins and go to Heaven through faith in Him- (though it'd be nice) - I imagine something vague about the "death" that winter symbolizes and the "resurrection" that spring represents would be about as far as it would go. And even that would be nice- just something to let kids know there's more than Easter eggs and candy and bunnies. And there's more than candy on Halloween too- but again, I wouldn't expect them to talk about All Saints' Day or the Celtic festival of Samhain during a Halloween special either- but maybe something generic to talk about community, the common bond between all people and respect for the dead as part of what the Celtics celebrated.
That's the trouble with commercializing and/or generalizing holidays. They are in fact holy days- and either you accept them for what they stand for in full or you just concoct a general message that people of all faiths or no faith can accept - or you wind up marrying the two ideas, by giving the general conception that most folks just take such and such from said holiday, but this particular religious group does such and such in celebration. I think Sesame Street has tried to do that in special like "Elmo's World: Happy Holidays", which makes sense since it's an educational show for kids and it's good for kids to be exposed to different beliefs and cultures. However, in this case, it's Fraggle Rock, so I suppose the overriding beliefs of the creators would trump here. And that's fine as that's to be expected.
Anyway- I'll just be happy to see the final season of Fraggle Rock get released on DVD and I would like a separate DVD box set for the Fraggle Rock cartoon. And if that Fraggle Rock movie ever actually happens- that'd be great to see too.

The whole "commercializing" claim is moot to me because the church co-opted existing observed dates in secular culture for Christian-based festivities. Nobody really knows the exact historical dates of these religious occurrences.

Even though the Muppets under Jim did mention religion here and there, he largely stayed away from being preachy and I am very glad for that! In fact, Convining John represents the lunacy of having to get everyone agree on one thing. The Fraggles never had a Jesus component and they never should. It goes against the core of the program = many ideas, many cultures.

 

[RedPiggy]

"Jesus" wouldn't work in Fraggle Rock because everyone was encouraged to help themselves. However, coming back from the dead is an aspect of the holiday (Christian or otherwise). It's vague enough to fit in with the overall mythology in Fraggle Rock. It's kind of like how the Fraggles tell Kermit and Robin that, while they don't celebrate Christmas per se, they do share a lot of the same concepts in general.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

The whole "commercializing" claim is moot to me because the church co-opted existing observed dates in secular culture for Christian-based festivities. Nobody really knows the exact historical dates of these religious occurrences.

True- no argument there.
I think most of the commercialization claim is just from all the merchandising and things that are thrust upon holidays- Christmas and Easter in particular- though one could argue that for Valentine's Day and Halloween too.

In fact, Convining John represents the lunacy of having to get everyone agree on one thing. The Fraggles never had a Jesus component and they never should. It goes against the core of the program = many ideas, many cultures.

But that's just the point, isn't it? I think Convincing John represents the lunacy of trying to make and/or force everyone to agree on one thing. I don't believe in that. I do believe in people feeling free to share what they believe and everyone having the right to choose what they will believe or won't. And I also believe that, in true Fraggle Rock spirit, it's entirely possible and fine to peaceably get along with one another even if we agree to disagree on some things.
That said, it seems there should be room to talk about Jesus as well as Krishna as well as Buddha as well as Mohammed as well as Confucious as well as no deity in particular. I don't know that Fraggle Rock would necessarily get that specific in addressing any particular religion- but I just feel that if a particular Christian holiday is going to be represented, at least some aspect of Christianity should be represented in order to fully acknowledge it.
(The same would hold true for any other religion.)
However- since Fraggle Rock has never claimed to be the kind of educational show that Sesame Street does- I wouldn't expect it to. That's why I like that Sesame Street has done things to educate kids about the largely African-American celebration of Kwanzaa, the Jewish celebration of Hannukah and the Christian celebration of Christmas.

"Jesus" wouldn't work in Fraggle Rock because everyone was encouraged to help themselves. However, coming back from the dead is an aspect of the holiday (Christian or otherwise). It's vague enough to fit in with the overall mythology in Fraggle Rock. It's kind of like how the Fraggles tell Kermit and Robin that, while they don't celebrate Christmas per se, they do share a lot of the same concepts in general.

I understand that Fraggle Rock never mentioned Jesus and probably never would. All that I was saying is that if a TV special or direct-to-video movie or whatever is going to purport to be about a holiday which happens to be of a religious nature, it would be nice to see that represented in some form or another. It's like doing a Hannukah or Divali special and just treating them both as a celebration of light and goodwill and so forth, without specifically talking about the significance of them to Jews and Hindus, respectfully.
Thus, it's nice to see Christmas and Easter (since these seem to be the two most common holidays that get purposefully religiously-absent specials) get a TV special or whatever that acknowledges Jesus, as in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together".
But that's all I was trying to say on that. Some people want to see religions recognized and mentioned and some want no mention whatsoever. Some are okay with something somewhere in between. That's the whole point of Fraggle Rock- we can be different and think differently and that's okay because we're all still friends.

 

[frogboy4]

True- no argument there.
I think most of the commercialization claim is just from all the merchandising and things that are thrust upon holidays- Christmas and Easter in particular- though one could argue that for Valentine's Day and Halloween too.


But that's just the point, isn't it? I think Convincing John represents the lunacy of trying to make and/or force everyone to agree on one thing. I don't believe in that. I do believe in people feeling free to share what they believe and everyone having the right to choose what they will believe or won't. And I also believe that, in true Fraggle Rock spirit, it's entirely possible and fine to peaceably get along with one another even if we agree to disagree on some things.
That said, it seems there should be room to talk about Jesus as well as Krishna as well as Buddha as well as Mohammed as well as Confucious as well as no deity in particular. I don't know that Fraggle Rock would necessarily get that specific in addressing any particular religion- but I just feel that if a particular Christian holiday is going to be represented, at least some aspect of Christianity should be represented in order to fully acknowledge it.
(The same would hold true for any other religion.)
However- since Fraggle Rock has never claimed to be the kind of educational show that Sesame Street does- I wouldn't expect it to. That's why I like that Sesame Street has done things to educate kids about the largely African-American celebration of Kwanzaa, the Jewish celebration of Hannukah and the Christian celebration of Christmas.



I understand that Fraggle Rock never mentioned Jesus and probably never would. All that I was saying is that if a TV special or direct-to-video movie or whatever is going to purport to be about a holiday which happens to be of a religious nature, it would be nice to see that represented in some form or another. It's like doing a Hannukah or Divali special and just treating them both as a celebration of light and goodwill and so forth, without specifically talking about the significance of them to Jews and Hindus, respectfully.
Thus, it's nice to see Christmas and Easter (since these seem to be the two most common holidays that get purposefully religiously-absent specials) get a TV special or whatever that acknowledges Jesus, as in "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together".
But that's all I was trying to say on that. Some people want to see religions recognized and mentioned and some want no mention whatsoever. Some are okay with something somewhere in between. That's the whole point of Fraggle Rock- we can be different and think differently and that's okay because we're all still friends.

To me Fraggle Rock is about broader strokes and universal themes. Introducing religion, however subtle, just doesn't seem like the Fraggley spirit. The template of the program was so that the different viewers could view the same pieces and have the messages plug into their lives in a unique way. Disguising religious discussions would just go against that. I like what Jim did. It was a truly universal show.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

To me Fraggle Rock is about broader strokes and universal themes. Introducing religion, however subtle, just doesn't seem like the Fraggley spirit. The template of the program was so that the different viewers could view the same pieces and have the messages plug into their lives in a unique way. Disguising religious discussions would just go against that. I like what Jim did. It was a truly universal show.

I agree with you for the most part here. Though I feel like Fraggle Rock did incorporate some basic general messages about life and morals, values and virtues, etc. that most religions would be in agreement with. Some of Cantus' sayings and songs seemed to have a bit of a religious feel somewhat to me- but that's just my take on it. You're right that if anything like that was there at all- it definitely wasn't blunt or abrasive or anything like that. "The rules are there are no rules and that's the rules."- Cantus
So there you go- make of it what you will. But you cannot leav the magic.