Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas UNCUT Extended Edit Muppets

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas - Philfrog Uncut Extended Edit Muppets



EMMET OTTER'S JUGBAND CHRISTMAS - 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

An uncut and extended edit of the classic Christmas special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This is Philfrog's "30th Anniversary Edition," which restores footage featuring Kermit the Frog which is missing from the current US DVD due to rights issues. Other scenes are also added back in and one song extended.

Photos and MP3s from other Muppet Christmas specials are included as DVD-ROM extras.


Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is a one-hour Christmas special which first aired on HBO in 1977; and later broadcast on ABC on December 15, 1980. Jerry Juhl wrote the script for the special, adapting the story from a book by Russell Hoban; original songs for the special were written by Paul Williams; Jim Henson directed. The Henson special was adapted into a live musical stage show by the Jim Henson Company, premiering at the Goodspeed Opera House in December 2008.

In this one-hour musical Christmas special, Kermit the Frog narrates the story of Alice Otter and her son, Emmet, who live along the river in the village of Frogtown Hollow. Ma and Emmet struggle to make ends meet through odd jobs and projects for neighbors and villagers, but this Christmas they dream of having enough money to buy each other a special gift. Known for their musical abilities, the Otters are encouraged by their friends to enter a local talent contest. The mother and son reminisce about Pa Otter, who serves as the inspiration for them to enter the show.

Without each other's knowledge, Ma and Emmet prepare for the contest in the hope of winning the fifty-dollar prize to buy Christmas gifts for each other. Emmet performs as a member of the Frogtown Jubilee Jug Band and Ma Otter sings a solo number, but both face tough competition from a hard rock group formed by a gang of woodland creatures who call themselves the Riverbottom Nightmare Band.

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EMMET OTTER'S JUGBAND CHRISTMAS - 30th ANNIVERSARY EDITION

original film name: Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas
film studio name: Jim Henson
Date Original Film Was Released: 1977 (v1, HBO) / 1980 (v2, ABC)
Date Edit Was Released: (late) March 2008
Original Runtime: 50 min (each version)
New Runtime: 53 min
Amount of time Cut/Added: +3 minutes
Cuts added/altered (stuff not on the official "V2" releases):
-Kermit's opening restored (previously only on older "V2" releases)
-Kermit's narration before "Bathing Suit" song restored
-Emmet and Ma sing the entire "Bathing Suit" song! (unique to this version)
-"pass the hat to fish" dialogue restored
-"fall off the dock" dialogue restored
-"I'm rowin', where's the singin'" dialogue before "Washtub" song restored
-Kermit's narration about the morning snow restored
-"we're off to a shaky start" dialogue restored
-Kermit's last segment restored
-fade-in to final scene and incidental music restored
-original copyright info during end credits restored
-V2's extended "Washtub" and "River Meets The Sea" (reprise) left in
-V2's curtain close, bunny dance, etc...all left in

DVD - Features:
* 53 minutes, NTSC
* static (but nice!) chapter menus
* bonus anniversary footage

Conceptual improvements/advancements of edit over original:
There are two different versions of the "Emmet Otter" TV special: The first was shown on HBO (released as a Muppet Video VHS), while the other appeared on ABC and official video releases (Columbia Tri-star being its first DVD release). Each edit has something that the other doesn't, with the second, more common version deleting some memorable material. On top of that, the most recent (HIT Entertainment) V2 DVD release (which provides V1-only material in a Bonus Clips section) was forced (by Disney, recent re-owners of the Muppet Show related Muppets) to remove all traces of Kermit from their product. To remedy all of this, I'm combining all of the footage to seamlessly (as possible) create the longest, most complete version of this memorable Muppet Christmas special (which is currently being made into a stage musical).

Be sure to buy HIT Entertainment's official DVD of "Emmet Otter", which was created with respect and care for the material, plus plenty of bonus features, including bloopers, lost music, and a full-length documentary (none of which I will be using for my DVD). HIT owns the non-Muppet Show and non-Sesame Street related Muppets, and has also released the excellent Fraggle Rock series box sets. They deserve your support. (Oh, and the original book's pretty neat, too.)