Your Thoughts: Muppets Letters to Santa

[LeanneRivett]

Hey, we didn't get "THE NEXT DOCTOR" in the states, so I think it's even.

I didn't think it was a good Christmas special. I never think that the Doctor Who Christmas specials are very good anyway.

There is a new special planned for late 2009.

Do you get the Sarah Jane Adventures. Now they are cool!

Leanne
x

 

[Beauregard]

I didn't think it was a good Christmas special. I never think that the Doctor Who Christmas specials are very good anyway.

There is a new special planned for late 2009.

Do you get the Sarah Jane Adventures. Now they are cool!

Leanne
x

I have to agree with you! (At risk of pulling the thread off topic). It wasn't a great Christmas Special...but it was nice to see the Doctor recovering after the loss of Donna, Rose, Martha, Jack, Mickey, Rose's mother, and Sarah Jane Smith in the last season! The next special is coming at Easter! There should be another in the summer or autumn, and then the next Christmas special before the 5th series with a new Doctor. I'm very excited.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't have any trouble with how the adults acted but I've noticed a habit of movies lately to make little kids in movies act like little mini jaded teenagers rather than realistic kids...I'm glad LTS didn't fall into that trap . That gets to me more than any adult wanting a shiny bell to ring ever could IMHO. *wants to see Bedtime Stories*

Oh yes... total agreement there (outside of wanting to see Bedtime Stories... Adam Sandler was MUCH better in the 1990's)... I hate how kids all have to be angsty or Miley clones, or in all other words fake grown ups. Even in Horton Hears a Who, they made one of the characters an emo kid for the sake of making as many at the moment, predated pop culture smacks as possible. I liked Horton (and Carol Burnett was vastly underrated in that film), but I want to see kids acting like kids. You basically just see older kids/tweens even in commercials for kid's stuff now. When was the last time a Pebbles commercial actually focused exclusively on the Flintsontes... even the kids in Lucky Charms commercials have been artificially aged....

But here we have a little girl acting like a little girl. She IS a little girl playing a little girl. Though, frankly, I thought her wish to Santa was going to be the old "I miss my dad, because he has some job that causes him to constantly be busy, so somehow bring him here" Chestnut...

 

[Davina]

Sarah Jane Chronicles.. yes, we have had some of those pop up this past year, though with the way the SciFi channel does their schedule, I'm not sure if we'll be seeing more of her or not... or when..

back to muppets...

I think the general consensus seems to be that while this special will never be seen in the same light as MFC (and really, what ever could?) and some of the other older movies and specials, it is MUCH better then some of the other things they have been forced into earlier this year (Studio DC - though at least they still run clips from those as filler, so it's exposure..) and they do certainly seem headed in the right direction again. A few things have changed, recasts will take some getting use to and all, but they have a pulse, and strong one again. Once again there is hope of perfectly decent insanity!

 

[MelissaY1]

First half I thought was very corny, but the second half made up for it. I LOVED seeing more of the secondary characters and actually having them speak. Was thrilled to see Scooter, Lew Zealand, etc. LOVED Paul Williams as the elf, though wasn't into his songs for this one as I have been for past Muppet projects.

Oh and I can't say ENOUGH nice things about Eric Jacobson's performing. Fozzie was wonderful in this. Nobody will replace Frank of course but the past few projects that Frank was directly involved with, Fozzie was so dumbed down (but I blame that more on the writing than Frank's performing) as a character and I think Eric Jacobson nailed the Fozzie we originally have grown to love. I still have yet to warm up to his Miss Piggy but seeing his work here and loving the work he does with Grover on Sesame Street, I am definitely a fan of this guy and how he's handled the characters.

I thought all of the guest star cameos were kind of just there just to see how many they could fit in and unlike past Muppet projects none of them were funny to me. Matter of fact, I didn't crack a smile at all during this special. It was just "cute". I have to say I also liked Pepe better in this one than I have in the past movies and specials. This was a cute little special but not one I would watch year to year like Muppet Family Christmas, etc.

 

[Davina]

oh i'd probablly watch it every year.. once... the ones i really like get watched.. a LOT more then that.. hehehe

 

[Redsonga]

I watch the newer movies (even though they are my least favorites) a lot simply because it is so hard to get some of my favorites uncut on DVD at all (or in the case of their Disneyworld trip, at all ) LTS I would watch over and over if it came between that and OZ or Very Merry

 

[frogboy4]

Here's kind of how I'd break down the Muppet/Muppety Christmas specials and films of years past to present. (Note I left out Sesame etc due to that being an almost separate issue for me.)

1. John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together
My memories of this special and the music contained are the reason it's my favorite.

2. Muppet Family Christmas
It used to be down just a tad more on my list until my recent viewing of it in a room full of people. This special is best enjoyed with friends and family. There will never be another special like it.

3. Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
This is such a beautiful world that Henson and company created for this special production. Pitch perfect in every way. I'd almost like to see a television series made out of it if done right.

4. It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie/A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa
Tied for different reasons. The first was a bit too gloomy and snarky while the second was very musical but missed something by way of storytelling. I do enjoy both of these specials very much. If only you could stick both in a bag and shake them until the best parts mix together and rise to the top!

5. Muppet Christmas Carol
A dark but handsome post-Jim production that continues to grow on me each year that goes by.

6. The Christmas Toy
A forgotten special that came before Pixar's close facsimile. It's like Toy Story and the Velveteen Rabbit rolled into one television movie starring Dave Goelz as lead performer. A rare treat that deserved a better DVD release.

_______​

I do think LTS has the Muppets heading in the right direction, however it does seem a bit bare-bones on some levels. Maybe that will help in rebuilding the franchise.

 

[LeanneRivett]

I love the Christmas Toy. I have it on DVD and it is the uncut version.

I watch it an awful lot.

I just wish they would just get the Tale of the Bunny Picnic onto DVD and the series secret life of toys.

What is wrong with these people, they torture us for years and years and now with the move to Blue Ray - come on people!

 

[Drtooth]

Nah, I thought it was kiddy because all the human guest stars acted far more childish than the actual child in the movie did.

I see what you mean... Personally, I felt Uma Thurman's character could have been a little more slinky, or at the very least comedically over perky... and I really had problems with the mother too. Especially since the line "You have to watch what you say in front of Crazy Harry" was one of those lines you didn't need to add, and once you add it, it ruins the joke.

I thought Nathan Lane was great in it, though... his scene was just as good, if not better than Jeffery Tambor in MFS. I think he could stand to be among the Muppet villains... if his scene was longer... it took up a good portion of the movie, and even then it felt way too short.

And, I admit, I had a problem with the Santa Claus too. O guess they purposly made it so that it would be someone unrecognizable... but it really should have been Charles Durning (I loved his Santa in Elmo Saves Christmas) or even Charles Grodin (could you imagine?)