Yay, Jim Henson made goodness!
Kermit makes a brief appearance at the beginning of this one, and much like in Emmet Otter, he was cut out of the recent dvd release. But I'm watching a bootleg, so there he is, dressed like Santa, being voiced by Jim Henson himself, and letting us know that we are in the home of the Jones family: Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Molly the oldest daughter (who we never see), Jamie and Jesse, the little ones, and Ouija the cat. But this story is not about them-- it's about the toys. All of the toys in the house stay in the playroom, including one that belongs to Ouija the cat. How in the hell did they train their cat to leave its toy in the playroom? And why can't the little kids have, at the very least, a very favorite stuffed animal in their bedrooms? That has always bothered me.
This is really a predecessor to Toy Story, in that the premise revolves around the hidden lives of toys and the jealousy they experience when their children get new toys. The key difference here is that these toys are happy to learn that it's Christmas Eve. They are cool with having new toy companions. Oh, and also, in this universe, if you get caught "out of position"-- i.e., somewhere other than where a human left you, you are forever frozen-- basically, dead.
Rugby the Tiger is Jamie's favorite Christmas toy. And he's a bit confused. Since he was the gift last year, he thinks he's the gift every year. So he takes off for the Christmas tree, much to the panic of the rest of the toys. In his absence, it is mentioned that Apple the Doll used to be Jamie's favorite Christmas toy, but Rugby took her place, and she thinks he's going to take being replaced a lot harder than she did. And this special is partly to blame for the heart-ripping guilt I feel whenever I get rid of an old toy.
To add some dramatic tension, Mr. and Mrs. Jones are doing some laundry. On Christmas Eve while their kids are in bed. For some reason. To their credit, though, they acknowledge that it's weird. It doesn't take long for Ditz the clown (whose name fits) to get caught out of position. He is tossed, unmoving, back into the playroom, then ceremoniously wheeled across the floor to the makeshift graveyard of frozen toys.
Mew the catnip mouse is still worried about Rugby. Even though Rugby is constantly mean to him, calling him "just a cat toy." Mew goes after Rugby, and they just kind of hide out together. So Apple organizes the rest of the toys into a rescue mission.
Ruby and Mew have descended on the Christmas tree and found the box that Rugby believes he is supposed to be in. Mew gets up into the tree, and the tinkling of the ornaments sounds really realistic-- I looked around to see where the noise was coming from. Apple finds Rugby and is trying to talk some sense into him, but he gets the box open and comes face to face with Meteora. Who is a space-themed toy like Buzz Lightyear, except much scarier. She looks like she would be at home on Shera, but she's the size of a large doll. Mew is all ""She's wonderful..." when she springs to life, proclaims herself Queen of the Asteroids, and implies that Mew smells bad. Not nice.
Apple finally gets through to Rugby. Meanwhile, Meteora is destroying the living room. Not cool! Molly the Teenager yells to her parents to investigate the sound, and Mew saves them all by meowing. So the dad just accepts that it's the cat making the noise, because the cat wouldn't be meowing if there were burglars? Whatever. Next, they have to convince Meteora that she's a toy, not the actual Queen of the Asteroids (see? just like Buzz Lightyear), so she'll get in the box. She complies, and the troops head back to the playroom. Except Mew, who gets left behind and is caught by the parents going to turn the tree lights off. The mom's annoyed that the cat would dare leave a toy in the hallway.
Rugby is devastated over Mew being frozen. He sings to Mew's frozen body, and the love brings Mew back. Yay! Back in the playroom, all the toys sing together, and all the toys in the graveyard are also revived.
Next thing we know, it's Christmas morning, and Mrs. Jones's disembodied voice is calling to the kids to put their new toys in the playroom and come down for breakfast. They can't even leave their toys downstairs while they eat? Even the cat brings his new mouse toy in. Once they're gone, the toys welcome their new friends, which include a female version of Mew, also named Mew.
Jamie comes back into the playroom to take one more look at Meteora. She tells Meteora she loves her, even though in my opinion Meteora doesn't seem like the kind of toy you LOVE-- she'd just be a toy you played with. Rugby sheds a tear, but then Jamie says "Just like I love all my toys. I love you, Rugby. I love you, Apple." And apparently that's enough for them. Jamie leaves the room, and all the toys sing together. Kermit shows up to proclaim that everything worked out nicely, and joins in the singing.
Sweet little special, if a little sad, and really, not that action packed. A Rugby stuffed animal was never produced, which is a shame. And there was a TV show YEARS later, but it didn't do too well.
Visuals: 4 out of 5
Spirit: 3 out of 5
Nostalgia: 4 out of 5
Humor: 4 out of 5
Music: 3 out of 5
Overall: 3.5 out of 5
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