With Christmas just around the corner, there’s no shortage of holiday content for people to enjoy. On just about every network and streaming service, you can find dedicated Christmas specials, movies, and more as well as even a few offerings that might not necessarily seem like traditional Christmas fare but are classics that we turn to each season just the same. There are tried and true favorites — think A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s A Wonderful Life — but then there are some less well-known holiday gems, including one of the absolute best ever made and you’ve probably never even heard of it.
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Originally airing in 1977, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is a unique holiday television special. Directed by Jim Henson, the special is based on Russell Hoban’s 1971 children’s book of the same name and is a take on O. Henry’s classic “The Gift of the Magi”. The special, which is a bit unlike other Muppet specials, originally aired on Canada’s CBC Television where it won over both critics and audiences and later made its way to the United States, first on HBO in 1978 and ABC in 1980. It’s since become a beloved classic — just one we don’t immediately think of during the holiday season.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is a Story of Selfless Love and Hope
If you are familiar at all with “The Gift of the Magi”, you already know the general emotional thread of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. The story generally centers around two people who want to get one another Christmas gifts but have very little money so they sacrifice something important to themselves in order to get something important for the other, the twist being that the gifts end up being related to the things that the other sacrificed. The story serves as a message of true, selfless love and how it is the most valuable gift of all.
In Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, that story is told through a family of otters. Emmet Otter and his widowed mother, Ma, are part of a poor family of otters but both want to give one another truly meaningful gifts for Christmas. The good-hearted and kindly Otters are barely scraping by but as Christmas nears, they hear of a talent contest with a big prize of $50. Without saying anything to each other, they decide to enter separately in the hope they can win and surprise the other with a gift. Emmet wants to buy his mother a piano while Ma hopes to buy Emmet a guitar. However, to be able to perform, the pair have to sacrifice each other’s livelihood with Ma selling Emmet’s tools for dress fabric while Emmet turns Ma’s washtub into a bass for a jug band. Unfortunately, while they both perform well at the contest, they’re beaten at the last minute by another group but not all hope is lost. As they sing on their way home, one of the talent show judges hears them and hires them for a regular gig at his restaurant not only giving them a chance to play together but real hope for the future.
These Aren’t Your Usual Muppets (And It’s Perfect)
While Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is a Jim Henson production and there are Muppets, part of what makes this such a great special is that it’s not the Muppets you’d expect. Kermit the Frog does appear as the special’s narrator, but the rest of the more popular Muppets aren’t in this. Instead, these are country Muppets which makes for some rich storytelling that lets you get to know this entirely different world of Muppet culture.
The special is also full of pretty great music, which while another hallmark of Muppet specials, just feels different and special here. Emmet and his jug-band are really good — “When the River Meets The Sea” is just a great song. Even the “villains” of the story, the Riverbottom Gang that swoops in and wins the talent contest, has some great jams. Trust me, “Riverbottom Nightmare Band” is a bop. Honestly, based on the music alone, it’s a surprise that Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas isn’t more popular at the holidays but never fear. If this is your first time hearing about this underrated gem of a holiday special, you can watch it for free. It’s currently streaming on Pluto TV, Tubi, The Roku Channel and more.
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Image courtesy of Universal Pictures.
