If you’re a Jim Henson fan who misses the glorious puppetry of the 1980s, get ready to dance your cares away (clap, clap) because a 1984 holiday episode of Fraggle Rock, titled “The Bells of Fraggle Rock”, will be hitting movie theaters this December.
Here’s a triumphant, surprisingly mystical taster. (And yes, the Fraggles do have their own religious practices.)
If welcoming Gobo, Mokey, Boober, Wembley and Red back into your eyes and ears isn’t a tantalizing prospect (WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!), maybe we can pique your interest with the movie on the bill: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Which is exactly what it sounds like. Just look at these hat-wearing semiaquatic mammals playing their tiny instruments and singing about barbecue!
Anyone not interested in sitting through 48 minutes of that is basically Scrooge and the Grinch wrapped up in a giant burrito of otter-hate. This seasonal story from 1977 proves that Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem aren’t the only muppet band that deserves attention.
The imminent re-emergence of Emmet Otter also acts as an excellent reminder to dig out this blooper reel of him and his dear old mom talking smack about their incompetent human co-workers for over five minutes.
You can catch the double bill of The Bells of Fraggle Rock / Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas—officially titled Jim Henson’s Holiday Special—on December 10 and 16 only, at the AMC Van Ness, San Francisco; the AMC Bay Street, Emeryville; and the Regal Berkeley, Shattuck Avenue. Tickets are $12.50 and available now!