Notice:  This contains some spoilers so don’t read this post if you intend to see the special at a later date.

I was watching the Muppet Christmas special , A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa, last night with my son (who only caught the last half of the special) with great hope that this would be a return to the old wacky days of the Muppets when they could draw laughs with slapstick comedy, bad jokes, and sight puns while still tugging at the heartstrings.

One of these days I going to learn not to get my hopes up.

Something was lacking in the special.  It had all of the right stuff, Brian Henson involved and doing a voice, songs by frequent collaborator Paul Williams writing the music (and playing an elf), big name stars (Uma Thurman as a very sexy Joy, Jane Krakowski as the mom, Muppet guest alum Whoopi Goldberg as a cab driver, Nathan Lane as airport security officer Meany, Tony Sirico and Steve Schirripa as, what else, mobsters, and Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon from the Harry Potter movies).  The acting was okay, on par with what is usual for a Muppet special (or for the series for that matter).  The actors seem to be having fun with the roles.  The special effects were no worse than you would expect from a television or Muppet special.  There just seemed to be no life in the special.  I know we can’t replace Jim Henson and we shouldn’t try, but they have proven that the Muppets can go on beyond Jim, take note that the marvelous The Muppet Christmas Carol was a wonderful movie and is considered a modern Christmas classic was made after Jim died.

I just don’t know.  Maybe it is the Disney taint that is lobotomizing the talent.  The story seems overly plagued by filler with too many situations just tacked on the keep the running time up to an hour.  The whole security guard thing was cute, but it shouldn’t have delayed the Muppets from catching the plane (to the North Pole no less) and forcing a gratuitous scene on the wing of the plane.

I guess maybe I was too busy drooling over how hot Uma Thurman was in that white outfit.

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