Monday, December 19, 2011

Guest Post: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

Today I have a great guest post from Allison of the blog The Allure of Books.  She's going to share one of her favorite Christmas movies (and one I've never heard of!).  So without further delay, take it away Allison!

When I was a kid, my mom always brought out a special basket of holiday-themed books in December. It was also the only time I was allowed to watch the movies on the "Christmas" shelf in the movie closet.
No book or movie was more beloved than Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. Y'all, it became a tradition to watch it every year. In fact - I still do. No matter how old I get, I'll never grow out of this one.

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Emmet and his mother are having trouble making ends meet, and they're both upset at the thought of not being able to buy each other Christmas presents. A local talent show is announced with money offered to the winner. Both Emmet and his mama enter the competition secretly hoping to surprise the other by winning.
The songs, the characters...all of it is exemplary. This movie is one of the things that defines Christmas for me. It probably wouldn't feel like the holidays if I didn't dig it out and watch it.

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas could not be any cuter, seriously. I don't care who you are. Even if you aren't normally a fan of Jim Henson - make an exception! I don't care how young, old or jaded you think you are. Watch it! (It is available instantly on Netflix right now by the way, so no excuses!)





Even the villains are awesome:





So, what are your favorite holiday movies?

Definitely looks like one I will be looking at! Now off to go check my Netflix queue...

Thanks for the great post Allison!

4 comments:

Wrighty said...

I loved this one too! The characters were so cute! Thanks for bringing back such wonderful memories.

I loved the usual classics each year but 2 special ones were The Little Drummer Boy and Nester The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. They weren't as popular on TV but I couldn't wait to watch them every year. My favorite commercial was by Norelco, I think, where Santa rides down the hill on an electric razor. (OK, this was a long time ago!)

Now there are so many to enjoy and they are easy to find. You don't have to wait to watch them once a year. They are still just as fun and I enjoy them with the little people in the family. I also have to watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and on Christmas Eve hubby and I watch A Christmas Story marathon while we wrap gifts and put them under the tree. I have to admit though it's not much fun the 3rd time through at 3:00 a.m. when we're still wrapping and putting things together. We never learn...

Great post! Happy holidays!!

Anonymous said...

I still have a soft spot for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer with Burl Ives as the Singing Snowman

April (BooksandWine) said...

I LOVE THIS SPECIAL! I remember watching it in primary school every year and then one year we did Christmas in July and watched it.

Allison has mad good taste!

danafaletti said...

Watched this growing up with my family. Now, I watch it with my kids every Christmas season. I still cry when Alice Otter sings Pa's song - When the Mountain touches the valley, all the clouds are taught to fly - . This is such a beautiful story!