Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Case

Hey Cassettes and welcome back to the Christmas Case Diaries! We’re three old otters learning everything we can about movies and TV and hopefully teaching you in the process *introduce yourself*.

We’ve said it before and we will say it again: Jim Henson was a very busy man throughout the 70s and 80s. During this time, he produced The Muppet Show, several Muppet movies, Fraggle Rock, Muppet fairy tales, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Storyteller, and more. And beyond all that wonderful Muppet content, he and his team also created several adorable Christmas specials, one of which we’re talking about today.

Picture it: it’s the mid-1970s and The Muppets have taken over TV. In the first few months of its premiere, the wacky variety show pulled in 14 million viewers and would soon air in 100 countries. The world had fallen in love with the puppets from Jim Henson’s creature shop, and audiences were asking for more. Soon, Henson’s team would begin working on the incredibly ambitious Muppet Movie. But before they could try their hand at a full-length feature, the puppeteers tested the waters on a heartfelt holiday special called, Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas.

If you were to look up a list of the best Henson Christmas specials, this one always tops the list. And if you’ve seen it, then you know why. This sweet story about a young otter and his mother perfectly captures the spirit and joy of Christmas. It’s a great story filled with colorful characters and catchy songs, and it paved the way for more Muppet movies to come. So, come join us for a little music with Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas.

Summary

It’s almost Christmas and Emmet and Ma Otter don’t have enough money to give each other the perfect gifts. But when the mayor announces a talent contest with a prize of $50, both Emmet and his mother decide to enter. The only problem is that neither one of them knows that the other is trying to win the money! Emmet gathers a band together and needs to poke a hole in his mother’s washtub to make a washtub bass. His mother’s livelihood depends on her washtub, so he knows that he has to win or else risk not having any money at all.

Making of

Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas was adapted from a book of the same name by Russell Hoban with illustrations by Lillian Hoban. Jim Henson loved bringing beloved stories to the screen, and he was interested in making this beautiful book come to life.

Longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl wrote a sweet and funny screenplay. His perfect blend of humor and heart is what gave the Muppets their signature voice throughout the TV show and various films.

Emmet Otter was the perfect testing ground for new Muppet techniques. On The Muppet Show, the cameras stayed high enough so that audiences never saw the puppeteers or the feet of the puppets. Emmet Otter was the first time that Jim Henson had to create an entire world, with wide shots of scenery and puppets’ full bodies.

In the opening scene, Emmet and Ma sing while rowing a boat. Special effects designer and engineer Faz Fazakas created a mechanism that allowed for remote puppeteering. As Emmet rowed the boat and sang, his puppeteer controlled his mouth movements from solid ground. Fazakas also rigged the rowboat to move with Emmet’s paws. While it appears that he is rowing the boat, the boat is really rowing him.

Fazakas was a huge part of The Muppets and Jim Henson’s other projects, especially Fraggle Rock. It’s rumored that he was the namesake for Fozzy Bear, though that has never been confirmed.

Jim Henson had not used marionettes before, but because there needed to be wide shots of the characters walking and sliding on ice, they appear in this special.

The puppeteers rode cherry pickers that lifted them above the stage to operate the puppets from above. Because cherry pickers aren’t very stable, the marionettes were constantly moving. Marionettes also have to be heavier than hand puppets, so they had to be made differently. Complications like these explain why Jim Henson didn’t use these very often.

Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas was filmed in a large studio in Toronto, Canada. They needed a lot of space to create set pieces like the 50 ft river that Ma and Emmet travel down.

The space was so large, most puppeteers had to hold up two puppets at a time to fill in the blank space. Even Cheryl Henson, who was not a professional puppeteer at the time, got to operate a character.
The sets, just like every other Muppet production, were built several feet off of the ground.
Jim Henson hired Don Sahlin (Suhleen) to design a lot of the puppets. He was responsible for creating Ma and Emmet, the two main characters. Before this, he designed the original Rowlf puppet.

The main characters’ designs were lifted right from the book, looking as close as possible to the illustrations.

The designers and builders began piecing the characters together long before they started filming.

There were about 12 designers working at that time, including Caroly Wilcox, who designed the possums. All the characters were humanoid, meaning that they stood on two feet instead of four.
Designer Rollin Krewson used actual porcupine quills for the porcupine character. She was also in charge of creating a puppet audience, and she used mock-ups of other characters to fill in the gaps.
All the designers had a great time building the characters in the creature shop. They were a close team and would play practical jokes on each other.

This special first aired on CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) on December 4th, 1977. It opened with an appearance by Kermit the Frog, introducing the story. Jim Henson directed the special, and Kermit was the only puppet he operated throughout it. It became common practice for any holiday Muppet specials to be introduced and narrated by Kermit.

Frank Oz operated Ma Otter and recorded her lines. His voice was later replaced by Marilyn Sokol, who really captured the soul of Ma Otter. She sang all of her songs as well.
Muppet veteran Jerry Nelson played the adorable Emmet Otter. You might recognize his voice as it sounds close to Kermit’s nephew, Robin.
Dave Goelz performed as Wendell, Pop-eyed Catfish, and Will Possum.

Goelz was still finding his footing as a muppet performer and wasn’t very sure of himself. He began working with Henson as a builder and it took him a couple of years to become a confident puppeteer. He’s best known as The Great Gonzo.

Richard Hunt played Charlie, Lizard, and George Rabbit.

Hunt was responsible for classic muppet characters like Statler and Sweetums!

Eren Ozker played Gretchen Fox, Hetty Muskrat, Mrs. Mink, and Old Lady Possum.

Ozker was the only female regular Muppet performer on The Muppet Show when it premiered.

Music

Musician Paul Williams was on the set of The Muppet Show when Jim Henson approached him about writing songs for a Christmas special. Henson told him that he wanted to eventually make a full-length Muppet movie, but wanted to try some things out first. Williams wrote the songs for Emmet Otter based on the script and the original book. He also used his own road band for recording.
The songs in the special have a folksy style, and some even sound similar to the songs that would appear in The Muppet Movie just one year later.
The opening song is called “The Bathing Suit That Grandma Otter Wore”

Emmet Otter opens with Emmet and his mother singing this song while riding down the river. The tune was originally longer but they had to cut it down for the special.
Paul Williams felt compelled to write the song because the title was actually mentioned in the book on which Emmet Otter was based. His favorite lines from it were:

Once a pirate tried to steal it
It was rumored he was gonna use it
For a pirate sail
And innocent of such an act he cried
The fact is that's a perfect diaper for a baby whale

This line was cut originally for time but is in some bonus features as well as the newer releases of the film.

“Ain’t No Hole in the Wash Tub” is the name of the second song, which follows shortly after the first.

Its title foreshadows the fact that later on, Emmet would poke a hole in Ma’s washtub to make a bass.

When Emmet’s band gets together to practice, they sing a fun song called, “Bar-B-Que!”

Paul Williams wasn’t used to writing songs in this style. He likened it to “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou” music, which likely refers to the country and folk music of the depression era.
One lyric in the song goes: “And the sauce Mama makes just stays there forever if you ever get it under your nails.” Williams said that line was inspired by his own childhood.

At the climax of the special, Ma and Emmet both perform separately at the talent show. Ma sings a beautiful ballad called “Our World” while Emmet’s band sings a song called “Brothers.”

These two pieces were actually written as one song. The idea was that the second song was answering the first, and that the two would be able to meld together later in the special when Ma and Emmet sing them at the same time. Williams wrote the one song and then divided them.
After losing the competition, Ma and Emmet’s band sing the song together. The songs are performed separately and simultaneously to represent how Emmet and his Ma are great apart, but even better together.

Ma and Emmet’s performances are followed by the “Riverbottom Nightmare Band”

This group of tough guys have been antagonists throughout the special and have stepped up to take the prize for themselves. Their song is, for lack of a better term, an absolute banger. They win the contest.
Henson loved the idea of having a rock band go through this sweet little town. It was his and Paul Williams’ chance to live out their rock n roll fantasies.
One of the funniest characters of the special is a fish puppet that splashes around in a bowl and hangs out with the gang. Dave Goelz had a great time playing him.

Even though The Otters lose out on the prize money, the special still has a very sweet ending. The mayor believes in their talent and decides to hire them to sing for him. It turns out that they won’t have to wash clothes for a living anymore! As the special closes, Ma sings “When the River Meets the Sea”

This was Jim Henson’s daughter Cheryl's favorite song from the special.
This was also one of the songs specifically mentioned in the book as “Downstream Where the River Meets the Sea.” So, both the opening and closing songs came straight from the original source material!

There was a lost song called, “Born in a Trunk.” It was cut from the special.

During the talent show, a prim and proper woman from the music store was going to go on stage and just sing a loud, rousing song.
Paul Williams drew inspiration from Judy Garland for the piece.

Marilyn Sokol performed the song, but did not even remember it! The opening sounds very similar to Rowlf’s song, “I hope that somethin’ better comes along” in The Muppet Movie.
It was not actually a finished song but she did record what Paul Williams had written for it. You can find it in the special features section.
Paul joked that he could send the song to Liza Minelli.

Fun Facts

In 2005, a “Collector's Edition" DVD was released. It featured several deleted and alternate scenes, as well as the song "I Was Born in the Trunk",performed by the Waterville music store owner.

Due to Disney purchasing the Muppets a year earlier, Kermit's scenes and narrations were cut from this version. When the cast and creators reunited to film a making-of documentary, Jerry Juhl passed because he was upset that Kermit was cut from the special.

The scene where the drum rolls past Emmet and his mother took over 200 takes to get right. In 2020, Frank Oz wrote in a tweet about how much fun he and Jerry Nelson had doing the takes.

The song "When the River Meets the Sea" was one of the songs performed at Jim Henson's funeral.

Reception

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas has received very positive reviews from critics and fans alike. Most reviews are more recent but according to one New York Times review from 1980, “Jim Henson and the Muppets are on a dazzling winning streak these days... Mr. Henson has produced and directed one of the most charming Christmas specials of the last several years... Once again, Mr. Henson's creations verge on the marvelous, perfectly capturing the Wind in the Willows aspects of Emmet Otter's story... These really are the nicest folk on the river – and on prime-time television.”
The special sits at 100% from critics and 84% from audiences on rotten tomatoes.
Emmet Otter was also nominated for 4 Emmy Awards in 1981. All for Outstanding Achievement awards in children’s programs such as music, lyrics (When the River Meets the Sea), costumes, and lighting.
Some of the characters from Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas have since made appearances across various Jim Henson creations. Nearly everyone from the special can be found at the end of The Muppet Movie during the Rainbow Connection song at the end, as well as Emmet, his mother Alice, and Mayor Harrison Fox being found in a few episodes of The Muppet Show!
In October 2019, it was announced that Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords, is writing the script and additional songs for a film adaptation of the special.

Emmet Otter is the gold standard of Muppet Christmas specials. With Jim Henson in the director’s chair, it features many of the classic Muppet collaborators that made The Muppet Show so special. This sweet little presentation began a wonderful tradition of Muppet Christmas stories, and it showed that Henson’s team of puppeteers, writers, musicians, and builders were capable of making a full-length film. So if you enjoyed all the Muppet films, you have Emmet Otter to thank. And if you have yet to see this little gem, you OUGHT-er give it a watch! ;)

Sources:

https://muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Emmet_Otter%27s_Jug-Band_Christmas_edits
DVD Special Features