A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa is a 2008 American television special directed by Kirk R. Thatcher featuring The Muppets in a Christmas mission to personally deliver three letters to Santa Claus, accidentally diverted by Gonzo, to the North Pole. The special aired on NBC on December 17, 2008. The special, shot in Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan, was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on DVD in 2009.
Plot
On Christmas Eve in New York City, the Muppets aren't planning to spend Christmas together, because Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are heading for the Caribbean for a romantic date, Gonzo is going to Hawaii, and Fozzie Bear is embarking on a comedy road tour. Before they go, however, they go to the post office to deliver each of their letters to Santa Claus with Mayor Michael Bloomberg denying Piggy's offer to move the line along as people in New York should be polite. The Muppets deliver their letters as Gonzo accidentally speeds up the letter conveyor belt as a postal worker has the Muppets delivered back to their apartment building. When they head back to their apartment, Gonzo discovers that three letters wound up in his coat from a mishap there. One of those letters he recognizes as being written by his friend, a neighbor girl named Claire.With the post office closed early and Sam Eagle warning Gonzo and Fozzie about the pitfalls of opening someone else's mail, the Muppets try different attempts like a pigeon delivery service and the enlistment of two Mafia members. Finally, after Piggy leaves to the Caribbean herself, Gonzo suggests that Kermit, Fozzie, Rizzo the Rat, and Pepe the King Prawn would come with him to the North Pole and deliver the letters personally. They get there in a taxi while scavenging money to pay the taxicab driver. The Muppets end up getting tickets from a North Pole Airlines clerk named Joy and getting caught by a bitter security guard Officer Frank Meany who, for being a bully in his youth, perpetually ended up on Santa's naughty list. It's also because of his appearance that people often fear him. He and Bobo the Bear allow the Muppets to pass through.
They eventually reach the North Pole, only to find out from the Chief Christmas Elf that Santa has already left to deliver the presents. The real Santa overhears their grieving and returns. While on a sleigh ride after being helped by Joy, they hand him Claire's letter and the other two which are revealed to have come from Pepe and Frank. Pepe wanted to become an expert opera singer which Santa grants. Frank wanted to be taken off the naughty list. Santa grants this wish enabling Frank to finally get that red tricycle he wanted as it appears before him and Bobo. Santa brings them home to New York in time to spend the rest of the holiday with Claire and her mom, which was all Claire wanted in the first place. All the Muppets, along with Piggy, show up after cancelling their vacations where they celebrate Christmas with Claire and her mom as they decorate her apartment.
Cast
- Madison Pettis - Claire
- Jane Krakowski - Claire's Mom
- Richard Griffiths - Santa Claus
- Nathan Lane - Officer Frank Meany
- Uma Thurman - Joy
Muppet performers
- Steve Whitmire - Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler
- Dave Goelz - Gonzo the Great, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot, Waldorf, Beauregard
- Bill Barretta - Pepe the King Prawn, Bobo the Bear, Rowlf the Dog, Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth, Pigeon Dad
- Eric Jacobson - Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Animal, Sam the Eagle
- David Rudman - Scooter, Janice
- Matt Vogel - Floyd Pepper, Camilla the Chicken, Lew Zealand, Crazy Harry, Robin the Frog, Pigeon Son
- Noel MacNeal - Sweetums
- Tyler Bunch - Pigeon Mom, Snail, Rizzo the Rat
- Leslie Carrara-Rudolph - Penguin
- Martin P. Robinson - Penguin, Snail, Dr. Teeth
Cameo guest stars
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg - Himself
- Whoopi Goldberg - Cab Driver
- Jesse L. Martin - Postal Worker
- Petra Němcová - Beaker's Girlfriend
- Steve Schirripa - Mafia Guy
- Tony Sirico - Mafia Guy
- Paul Williams - Chief Christmas Elf