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It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) (TV) More at IMDbPro »

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
A Ridiculous Muppet Christmas Indeed, 12 December 2004
Author: chirpissimo from the World

I think that the people who made this film had the people who grew up with the Muppets (people in their 20's and 30's) in mind. But that's the problem. We watch the Muppet movies to "escape" from the crap that other movies dish out, not wanting to see a movie that celebrates it. Basically, instead of using a plot, the movie tries too hard to use "pop cultural references" (such as referring to Britney Spears, or Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) and also uses inappropriate characters and situations (such as using seemingly gay characters; a rave scene where they have Scooter dancing as a cage dancer in a club, the Shrimp, Pepe, even using the word "sexy", etc.) It's not that we viewers can't "handle" more mature and modern Muppets, it's just that we don't want to. And I don't think parents want their kids to watch this. I just think this kind of stuff would confuse them. Plus the violence, although mild and cartoonish, is unnecessary. They have characters who say "let's go beat up" Fozzie, and fight scenes between humans and Muppets, and Muppets and Muppets, that are uncalled for, and not humorous at all. Bizarrely enough, the humans in this movie (except for one) all have these bizarrely happy smiles on their faces, and don't talk. It's just weird. It's almost like the Muppets are acting worse off than the innocent-looking humans. This movie just failed with me. I was upset how the people who wrote this tried to "sell out" and break something that don't need to be fixed. I will never watch this again, and I would not want to let kids see it. The Muppets have little personality in this, and any plot is substituted with references to other movies, as if the Muppets don't have any worth of their own. Which they should.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
Even the Ending Is Fresh and Unpredictable (sorta), 3 December 2002

Author: Scott Miller from Dallas, TX

This is, without a doubt, the best Muppet movie in a *long* time. And the Muppets are back to zany form with parodies, such as "Moulin Scrooge", taking place in their classic Muppet Theater. Most of the newer Muppets are nowhere to be found, while older favorites have returned, and Fozzie has been brought back to the foreground. Welcome back!

The plot, basically a Muppet version of "It's a Wonderful Life" (I guess we can get used to Muppet versions of classics now, since the more original "Muppets from Space" failed), pits Kermit and the gang against a corporate shark who intends to turn their theater into a nightclub. All is fine until everybody's favorite bear fails to get their money to the bank on time. Now, the theater is gone, everyone is out of work, and Kermit is despondent. Time for a little Divine intervention.

The strange thing about this movie is that it maintains a "G" rating, but just barely. The Muppets have always had bizarre and sometimes risque humor (Gonzo's chicken fetish has always been, well, odd), but the ante is upped in this outing, with Scooter cage dancing and Pepe being promised a special bonus as a woman focuses his eyes on her chest. (No cleavage, though. Either you know what she's talking about, or you don't.) It goes a little too far, but just a little, and not enough to destroy the film.

The other problem, really, is that the director seemed more intent on making a feature film than one for television. Many of the segues into commercials feel forced, like they suddenly hit the time limit and had to end the scene prematurely with artificial suspense, or perhaps they wanted to cut to another scene directly but time wouldn't allow. Whatever the reason, the commercial breaks feel very out-of-place. (There's also one too many NBC plugs, but it never really got annoying. Network TV; what're ya gonna do?)

Still, this film is far too enjoyable to nitpick. The Muppets truly are back to form. Let's hope they stay there.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A collection of spoofs and homages but still very entertaining, 1 January 2004
Author: bob the moo from Birmingham, UK

On Christmas Eve Kermit sits alone on a park bench - a broken frog. His lost cries reach the angels but they can do nothing, until one of them, Daniel, takes the case to God herself and shows Her what brought Kermit to this state in the hope that She will send an angel to help him.

While the TVM status of this film might suggest that it is a lesser product that the Muppet movies that used to be cinema draws, let me assure you that this is not the case and that this film actually benefits from being on TV and keeping the humour of the show rather than having the pressure of becoming a big screen outing. The overall plot is `It's A Wonderful Life' however the back story watched by the angels and us holds spoofs of Moulin Rouge and Scrubs as well as references to A Beautiful Mind, The Grinch, Entrapment and lots more. The downside of this is that the plot is very episodic, but the plus side is that the film is funny and will easily engage adults as well as children.

Opening with the stage manager removing a snowman narrator by calling him a `Burl Ives wannabe' the film keeps this sense of humour that you've come to expect from the TV show. My favourite line from the whole film is Bunsen replying to Beaker with `thank you Beaker - I think you have a beautiful mind too'!

The cast of muppets are very good - with all the new characters from the television show having a bit of time, including Pepe, Risso the Rat, Johnny Fiama and his monkey etc. The voices are not done by the original cast for a variety of reasons but they are still very good - I had to look at the credits to spot that it wasn't Frank Oz doing Fozzie (and Yoda!). The human cast is amusing even if it doesn't all work. The cast of Scrubs are wasted and not funny apart from showing up but cameos from Arquette, Macy, Goldberg and Lillard are all amusing and Cusack seems to enjoy herself.

Overall this was a fun festive film, it has the usual message to it and it has moments that just don't work and the plot really is just a salvage job from other films, but it still works and is surprisingly funny with lots of film references. The downside of this I suppose is that the film won't stand the test of time as the topical references get forgotten over time, but that's why it was a TVM I guess, cause that won't matter.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A Modern Muppet X-Mas, 14 December 2003

Author: travisimo from Pocatello, Idaho, USA

I first saw this movie last year on NBC and was very pleasantly surprised. I'm not really a big Muppet fan. It's not that I don't like them, it's just that I've never watched them that much. So why was I interested in this movie in the first place? I'm not really sure. Maybe because Triumph the Insult Comic Dog was in it! Nevertheless, I had some good laughs watching this last year.

Fast forward to the present time and I saw this on sale, so I had to get it. Watching it a second time, I'm a little more conscious about concerns that some scenes were too "adult" for this movie. For example, the whole rave scene might get people upset where lovable Scooter is grinding in a cage!! Another example is the character Pepe who swoons over Joan Cusack's character and uses the terms, "sexy" and "topless."

So I could kind of see how people can get upset with this movie, but I definitely don't think it tarnishes what the Muppets are all about, unlike what's being done in 'The Cat in the Hat' movie. The Muppets still provide family-friendly laughter and moments to people of all ages. Fozzie's Grinch scene was pretty funny, Pepe steals the show, the spoof on 'It's a Wonderful Life' is great, and I like the jabs at NBC's corporate synergy (I'm a business major and a former Disney employee, so I know this stuff well!) I also found the song between Gonzo and Kermit, "Everyone Matters," to be very nice and sweet.

Overall, this is a very nice and funny Christmas movie. I wouldn't necessarily label this as a classic or really all that memorable though, because honestly, are we going to remember some of their references (Scrubs, Ricky Martin, and Moulin Rouge) ten years from now? By the way, I've never seen Moulin Rouge, so that spoof went way over my head!

This movie is good for the current time period, but I'm afraid it won't live on much longer unlike other Christmas classics (Rudolph, A Christmas Story, Mickey's Christmas Carol). Now is a good time to see it though.

My IMDb Rating: 7/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B (Good)

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Okay, I guess., 30 November 2002

Author: CourageBagge from Close to a mailbox

I saw this movie for the first time on NBC Friday 11-29-02. It was a pretty good movie, but I don't think it would be the kind of Muppet movie Jim Henson would make. I mean first of all, Pepe' using the word "sexy" every now and then, and Pepe saying "it would suck?" And I defenitly know Jim Henson wouldn't allow Kermit yelling "I WISH I'D NEVER BEEN BORN!" thirteen time a minute. This movie just isn't like a classic Muppet movie. Sure I can understand Nicky Holiday stealing the baseball diamond from "The Great Muppet Caper," but a business lady cheating the Muppets in a contract for their theater to turn it into a smoker's nightclub. If Jim Henson was here today, he would HATE this movie!

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1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Well, at least it's the Muppets!, 30 November 2002

Author: queenzulu

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I grew up with the Muppets... well not WITH them, but watching them - and they have always been a favorite of mine. Of course I was really excited to see this new TV movie. It is hard to rate it overall, since it has it's cute spots, fun spots, and kind of stupid spots. It doesn't really flow as one movie all that well. If you read ahead you might find some *spoilers* LOL it's kind of hard to spoil this one though since it's pretty predictable. Basically, it's Christmas time and the entire Muppet gang are going to put on a show in their theatre. (there's no real indication of whether this theatre is the one they had the old shows in, or if it's somewhere else). Then comes along mean Mrs. Bitterman (Joan Cusack) who wants to take it all away and make it into a night club so she can make more money. Meanwhile, an angel (David Arquette) sees God (played by Whoopi Goldberg)to ask Her to help Kermit and the Muppets with their dilemma. Although this movie alludes to several films and shows (Beautiful Mind, Moulin Rouge, The Grinch who Stole Christmas and Crocodile Hunter; who btw, isn't even played by Steve Irwin!) it pretty much ends up as a take off on It's a Wonderful Life. So unoriginal is that idea, that even Beavis and Butthead have done it in their 1995 Christmas special. In A Very Muppet Christmas, there is a lot of jumping around- from the theatre, to Heaven, to Pepe the Prawn, to Kermit and Piggy, to Fozzy and the rest of the gang. The whole lay out is kind of a mess and would be hard to follow for children. Fortunately there aren't many songs but the ones that there are suck bigtime. Although the well-known actors who star in this do a good job (David Arquette was so good, I never realized it was him until later) there seems like there could have been a lot more done with a new Muppet movie. Also, a lot of the original Muppet Spirit seems to be missing as it did with the last 2 movies that were in the theater: Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space. The jokes are pretty lame and they rely a lot on silly gags and the aforementioned allusions to other shows/movies/ideas. The way the ending wraps up so quickly and spontaneously, you almost forget it's Christmas. I give it a 5 out of 10 because the Muppets are in it. Without them it would be a 1.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Too cheesy...even for The Muppets, 17 September 2004
Author: aleusong from Indiana-ish

If you tire of "It's a Wonderful Life" copycats around Christmas time, then you don't want to watch this...because it's exactly what it is.

It's very unoriginal in terms of story (I was hoping for something BUT a Wonderful Life copyoff). Basically the Muppets run a theater (unlike that of Muppets Tonight, since this is a post Muppets Tonight TV film...or should I say 2hour special) in danger of being bankrupted on Christmas. Alongside the muppets is you stereotypical villain: a greedy banker at Christmas time who wants to do nothing but bad things. And a nerdy misfit angel who comes to the rescue. Yeah...uh where's Jim Henson? Oh yeah he's dead. No wonder this was so lame!

The only likable elements are the parodies and spoofs. Unfortunately the storyline of this movie was so terrible and so predictable that they were hard to notice and you only care about watching the end to find out (yes, indeed a "Wonderful Life" copyoff crossedover with a bit of "Hey Arnold: The Movie"). If you seen the Hey Arnold movie then you know that the endings to that and this are no different.

The lessons taught are bankers are evil, cheerful people around Xmas time are good guys, and life is worth living. I want a new kind of Christmas movie/special for once! Something different! But trust me, this ain't it.

Lord knows how NBC got its hand on the Muppets for this temporary amount of time, but I seriously hope that ABC does better with the Muppets with its Oz movie next year. If not, then I demand you take me back to the golden age of Jim Henson...I'm talking about the late 70s and 80s!!!

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Poor, poor, poor., 8 December 2003
Author: kipknee from USA

This movie will probably appeal to the current flock of MTV fans. It has all the naughty humor, celebrities du jour and predictable plot that will more than satisfy the current 2 second attention span of today's post-adolescents.

However, as a family movie, it is simply pathetic and certainly not something that Jim Henson (or even Frank Oz, noticeably absent from this production) would've ever signed his name to. Certainly, Jim would never have approved of a muppet character admiring cleavage or another male character admiring Kermit's "tookus". Fortunately this movie is not representative of the quality Muppet movies produced over the years, of which we are big fans.

I predict that the used bins of many a video store will be filled with copies of this movie after the holidays.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Pepe Saves the Day!, 6 December 2002

Author: Dan

I am still waiting for that dark muppet film where we won't know how it ends from the beginning. I think Linklater could do one hes experimented with animation. This time I was intelligently not expecting such a thing but deeply wishing.

Joan Cusack sucked. She moved to a made-for-tv level lazily acting this one with cliched cynic. The muppets were more life-life than she was. A disappointment.

But then the entire film was, bar Pepe. I loved him. He was the only one to ever get me laugh(while Goldbergh as God got me choking and cursing). If we can't see a dark muppets than how about at least a PG:13 one with more of Pepe's controversial jokes and Animals metal-head, egg-nog-chuggin persona.

The worst Muppets I saw even the boring Christmas Carol beats this one out. The muppets need to avoid this over commercialized holiday.

5/10

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Muppet sleaze, 28 June 2004

Author: Duke-13-2 from USA

I used to love the Muppets. The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan were good family movies, cleverly written and fun to watch. I never thought I would see the day when they would jump on the Hollywood sleaze bandwagon, but here it is: Scooter as a caged rave dancer, Pepe making lewd and suggestive comments every five minutes -- this is not your father's Muppets. It's not Jim Henson's Muppets anymore, either.

This "It's A Wonderful Life" themed movie has its moments, but not enough to save it. I cringed while watching this with my children. I still have hope for their next movie, but this one was certainly a disappointment.

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