Changes: The Christmas Toy

Revision as of 19:27, 30 December 2019

The Christmas Toy is an Emmy Award-nominated Christmas special produced by The Jim Henson Company, originally aired on ABC on December 6, 1986. It spawned the 1994 spin-off series The Secret Life of Toys.

Synopsis

KermitInChristmasToy — Kermit with the special's cast

This page about a Christmas special or an episode from a television series with a Christmas theme is in need of a longer synopsis. You can help the Christmas Special Wiki by expanding this synopsis.

In this one-hour Christmas special, Christmas Eve is celebrated at the Jones' house, where the toys in the children's playroom magically come to life when people are not around. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful.

Following an introduction by Kermit the Frog, who provides a glimpse into the Jones' house as they make holiday preparations, the toys talk about the meaning of Christmas and how they will prepare to welcome the new toys that will be given to the Jones children, Jamie and Jesse. Rugby the Tiger, who was Jamie's Christmas present the year before, remembers that special day, and decides to find a way into a gift box under the tree again this year, as he does not want to be replaced as Jamie's favorite. However, he does not stop to think that if she unwrapped him again this year, she would see him out of his normal place where she usually puts him and he would be frozen forever.

Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as Jamie's favorite, tries to tell him what will happen if he does this. But he will not believe her, and he tries to get into the gift box, letting Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she does not know that she is a toy and thinks that she has landed among aliens. It is up to Apple, Mew (the cat's toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they are found and frozen forever.

Songs

Home video releases

US releases

International releases

Edits

When originally aired on ABC, Kraft is presenter/sponsor of this special with the credit "Kraft presents". In subsequant airings, the credit is completely omitted.
When the special was released on VHS in 1993, the opening sequence (before the main titles) was cut.
When HIT Entertainment released the special on DVD in 2008, Kermit's scenes were cut, due to The Muppets franchise having been acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004. That version is also applied to the Hub Network airings and on Netflix streaming.

Cast

Movie8-e1322856210108 — A promotional photo of Jim Henson with the characters

Actor / Muppeteer	Character
Dave Goelz	Rugby Tiger Ditz
Steve Whitmire	Mew Dauntless Dragon
Kathryn Mullen	Apple
Jerry Nelson	Balthazar
Richard Hunt	Belmont Toy Rabbit Magician
Camille Bonora	Meteora
Brian Henson	Cruiser
Rob Mills	Bleep
Nikki Tilroe	Ding-a-ling
Marsha Moreau	Jamie
Zachary Bennett	Jesse
Jim Henson	Kermit the Frog Jack-in-the-Box

Gallery

External links

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed
content from Wikipedia (view authors).

Jim Henson Productions and Related Shows

Specials
Sesame Street and related shows	Christmas Eve on Sesame Street • A Special Sesame Street Christmas • Elmo Saves Christmas • Elmo's World: Happy Holidays! • A Sesame Street Christmas Carol • Elmo's Christmas Countdown • "Peter Alexander präsentiert Spezialitäten" • "Christmas Special (Barrio Sésamo)" • Christmas with Ernie & Bert • "Jul med Jeppe, Marie og Elmo" • "A Christmas Present in Summer" • "Boot" • "Monster Monster Day" • Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas • "A Furchester Christmas" • "Holiday at Hooper’s" • Sesame Street: The Nutcracker Starring Elmo & Tango • "Yip Yip Tree Tree" / "The Snowman Scarecrow"
The Muppets	John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together • A Muppet Family Christmas • The Muppet Christmas Carol • It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie • "Christmas (From the Balcony)" • A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa • "Ringing of the Bells" • Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular • "Single All the Way" • "Ho Ho Ho!" • "Christmas" (Muppet Moments) • "Santa Claus" (Muppet Moments) • "A Very Muppet Babies Christmas" / "Summer's Super Fabulous Holiday Surprise" • "It's a Wonderful Elf-bot" / "A Merry Litter Christmas"
Other shows and specials	The Jimmy Dean Show: Episode 114 • The Jimmy Dean Show: Episode 214 • The Jimmy Dean Show: Episode 314 • Santa Claus Routine with Arthur Godfrey • Christmas Reindeers • The Great Santa Claus Switch • Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas • "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" • The Christmas Toy • "Refrigerator Day" • Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree • "Mrs. Zabarelli's Holiday Baton" • "The Siberian Tiger and the Reindeer" • "A Berry Bear Christmas" • "Holidays" • "Hooblebumper Box Day" • "Oh Christmas Tree" • "Sid's Holiday Adventure" • "Cretaceous Conifers" • "Don's Winter Wish" • "The Annoying Orange Generic Holiday Special" • "Orange Carol" • "Joy to the World (Pajanimals)" • "War on Christmas (No, You Shut Up!)" • "A New York Christmas to Remember" • "A Song For Everyone" • "The Holiday Tree" • "Whitebeard/Coral Day" • "Traditions on Ice" • "Night of the Lights"

Albums

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street • Merry Christmas from Sesame Street • John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together • A Sesame Street Christmas • Elmo Saves Christmas: Holiday Favorites • A Green and Red Christmas • Bob! from Sesame Street: Christmas Sing Along • Holiday Classics . It's Christmas Time

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{title
+{{Italic title}}
+{{Title
 |image=title-xmastoy.jpg
-|director=Eric Till
+|director={{W|Eric Till}}
 |writer=Laura Phillips
 |release=December 6, 1986
 |runtime=50 minutes
-|available=VHS<br>DVD<br>[http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMovie?id=375611164&s=143441 iTunes]}}
+|available=VHS<br />DVD<br />[http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMovie?id=375611164&s=143441 iTunes]<br />[https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Toy-Dave-Goelz/dp/B00BZPP56S/ Amazon Instant Video]}}
-'''''The Christmas Toy''''' is an [[Wikipedia:Emmy Award|Emmy Award]]-nominated [[Christmas]] special produced by [[wikipedia:The Jim Henson Company|The Jim Henson Company]], originally aired on [[wikipedia:American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] on December 6, 1986. The special spawned the 1994 spin-off series ''[[w:c:muppet:The Secret Life of Toys|The Secret Life of Toys]]''.
+'''''The Christmas Toy''''' is an [[Wikipedia:Emmy Award|Emmy Award]]-nominated [[Christmas]] special produced by [[Wikipedia:The Jim Henson Company|The Jim Henson Company]], originally aired on [[Wikipedia:American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] on December 6, 1986. It spawned the 1994 spin-off series ''[[w:c:muppet:The Secret Life of Toys|The Secret Life of Toys]]''.
 ==Synopsis==
-[[File:KermitInChristmasToy.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]] with the special's cast.]]
+[[File:KermitInChristmasToy.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]] with the special's cast]]
-In this one-hour Christmas special, [[Christmas Eve]] is celebrated at the Jones' home, where the toys in the playroom magically come to life when people are not around. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful.
+{{NeedLongerSynopsis}}
-Following an introduction by [[Kermit the Frog]], who provides a glimpse into the Jones' household as the family makes holiday preparations, the toys talk about the meaning of Christmas and how they will prepare to welcome the new toys that will be given to the Jones children, Jamie and Jesse. Rugby the Tiger, who was Jamie's Christmas present the previous year, remembers that special day, and decides to find a way into a gift box under the tree again this year, as he does not want to be replaced as Jamie's favorite. However, he doesn't stop to think that if Jamie unwrapped him again this year, she'd see him out of his normal place that she usually puts him and he'd be frozen forever. Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, tries to tell him what will happen if he does this. But Rugby won't believe her, and he tries to get into the Christmas package, letting Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she doesn't know that she's a toy and thinks that she's landed among aliens. It's up to Apple, Mew (the cat's toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they're found and frozen forever.
+In this one-hour Christmas special, [[Christmas Eve]] is celebrated at the Jones' house, where the toys in the children's playroom magically come to life when people are not around. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful.
+Following an introduction by [[Kermit the Frog]], who provides a glimpse into the Jones' house as they make holiday preparations, the toys talk about the meaning of Christmas and how they will prepare to welcome the new toys that will be given to the Jones children, Jamie and Jesse. [[Rugby Tiger|Rugby the Tiger]], who was Jamie's Christmas present the year before, remembers that special day, and decides to find a way into a gift box under the tree again this year, as he does not want to be replaced as Jamie's favorite. However, he does not stop to think that if she unwrapped him again this year, she would see him out of his normal place where she usually puts him and he would be frozen forever.
-==Home video releases==
+Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as Jamie's favorite, tries to tell him what will happen if he does this. But he will not believe her, and he tries to get into the gift box, letting Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she does not know that she is a toy and thinks that she has landed among aliens. It is up to Apple, Mew (the cat's toy mouse), and the other toys to get Rugby out of the box and Meteora back in it before they are found and frozen forever.
+==Songs==
+* "[[Toys Love to Play]]"
+* "[[The Greatest Christmas Toy of All]]"
+* "[[Try the Impossible]]"
+* "[[Meteora]]"
+* "[[Together at Christmas]]"
+==Home video releases==
 ===US releases===
 <gallery widths="200" captionalign="center" bordercolor="transparent" position="center" spacing="small" hideaddbutton="true">
-TheXmasToy_VHS_1993.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS|Buena Vista Home Entertainment<br>September 28, 1993}}
+TheXmasToy_VHS_1993.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS|Buena Vista Home Entertainment<br />September 28, 1993}}
-TheXmasToy_VHS_1998.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS|Columbia-TriStar<br>September 29, 1998}}
+TheXmasToy_VHS_1998.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS|Columbia-TriStar Home Video/[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Jim_Henson_Home_Entertainment Jim Henson Home Entertainment]<br />September 29, 1998}}
-TheXmasToy_DVD_2008.jpg|{{Gallery note|DVD|HIT Entertainment<br>November 4, 2008}}
+TheXmasToy_DVD_2008.jpg|{{Gallery note|DVD|HIT Entertainment/The Jim Henson Company<br />November 4, 2008}}
-TheChristmasToy_DVD_2013.jpg|{{Gallery note|DVD|Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment<br>October 8, 2013}}
+TheChristmasToy_DVD_2013.jpg|{{Gallery note|DVD|Gaiam Vivendi Entertainment/The Jim Henson Company<br />October 8, 2013}}
 </gallery>
 ===International releases===
 <gallery widths="200" captionalign="center" bordercolor="transparent" position="center" spacing="small" hideaddbutton="true">
-TCT JH Palace.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS (United Kingdom)|Palace<br>1987}}
+TCT JH Palace.jpg|{{Gallery note|VHS (United Kingdom)|Palace<br />1987}}
-AMFC2003UKDVD.jpg|{{Gallery note|''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'' DVD (United Kingdom)|Columbia TriStar<br>November 3, 2003}}
+AMFC2003UKDVD.jpg|{{Gallery note|''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'' DVD (United Kingdom)|Columbia TriStar Home Video/Jim Henson Home Entertainment<br />November 3, 2003}}
 </gallery>
 ==Edits==
+* When originally aired on ABC, Kraft is presenter/sponsor of this special with the credit "Kraft presents". In subsequant airings, the credit is completely omitted.
 * When the special was released on VHS in 1993, the opening sequence (before the main titles) was cut.
-* When HIT Entertainment released the special on DVD in 2008, Kermit's scenes were cut, due to ''The Muppets'' franchise having been acquired by [[The Walt Disney Company]] in 2004. Kermit's scenes were also cut from the special's broadcasts on the [[wikipedia:Hub Network|Hub Network]].
+* When HIT Entertainment released the special on DVD in 2008, Kermit's scenes were cut, due to ''The Muppets'' franchise having been acquired by [[the Walt Disney Company]] in 2004. That version is also applied to the {{w|Hub Network|Hub Network}} airings and on {{w|Netflix}} streaming.
 ==Cast==
-[[File:Movie8-e1322856210108.jpg|thumb|250px]]
+[[File:Movie8-e1322856210108.jpg|thumb|250px|A promotional photo of Jim Henson with the characters]]
 {| class="wikitable" border="1"
 ! Actor / Muppeteer !! Character
-|-valign=top
+|-valign="top"
-|[[Dave Goelz]] || Rugby<br />Ditz
+| [[Dave Goelz]] || [[Rugby Tiger]]<br />Ditz
-|-valign=top
+|-valign="top"
-| [[Wikipedia:Steve Whitmire|Steve Whitmire]] || Mew
+| [[Steve Whitmire]] || Mew<br />Dauntless Dragon
+|-
-|-valign=top
-| Kathryn Mullen || Apple
+| {{W|Kathryn Mullen}} || Apple
+|-
-|-valign=top
-|[[Jerry Nelson]] || Balthazar
+| [[Jerry Nelson]] || Balthazar
-|-valign=top
+|-valign="top"
-|[[Richard Hunt]] || Belmont
+| [[Richard Hunt]] || [[Belmont]]<br />Toy Rabbit Magician
+|-
-|-valign=top
-| Camille Bonora || Meteora
+| {{W|Camille Bonora}} || Meteora
+|-
-|-valign=top
 | [[wikipedia:Brian Henson|Brian Henson]] || Cruiser
+|-
-|-valign=top
 | Rob Mills || Bleep
+|-
-|-valign=top
-| Nikki Tilroe || Ding-a-ling
+| {{W|Nikki Tilroe}} || Ding-a-ling
+|-
-|-valign=top
-| Marsha Moreau || Jamie
+| {{W|Marsha Moreau}} || Jamie
+|-
-|-valign=top
-| Zachary Bennett || Jesse
+| {{W|Zachary Bennett}} || Jesse
-|-valign=top
+|-valign="top"
-|[[Jim Henson]] || [[Kermit the Frog]]<br />Jack-in-the-Box
+| [[Jim Henson]] || [[Kermit the Frog]]<br />Jack-in-the-Box
 |}
 ==Gallery==
 <gallery widths="200" position="center" spacing="small">
+titel 2.jpg
 Xmasanother43.jpg
+Kermit_dressed_as_Santa.jpg
+Jamie_&_Jesse's_Playroom_At_Night.jpg
+Magic_Rabbits.jpg
 Toy_Knights.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 019.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 025.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 027.jpg
 Toy_Motorcycle_Gang.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 054.jpg
-christmastoy07.jpg
+christmastoy07.jpg|"Rugby's in danger! He went out the door!"
+toy-rugby-hall.jpg
+Apple_&_Friends_Worried.jpg
 Toy_Duck_Sensing.jpg
+Dollhouse.jpg
+Ditz_Sensing.jpg
+toy-ditz1.jpg|Ditz is frozen forever.
 christmastoy10.jpg
 toy-hall.jpg
-toy-pile.jpg|Apple and Belmont disappointed
+toy-pile.jpg|Apple and Belmont disappointed.
+l-ravishing-the-christmas-toy-movie-1986-the-christmas-toy-movie-dvd-the-christmas-toy-movie-online-the-christmas-toy-movie-free-christmas-toy-soldier-the-movie-movie-the-christmas-toy-the-chri..png
-Jamie_&amp;_Jesse_Excited.jpg
-Christmas-toy-christmas-tre.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 148.jpg
+Christmas-toy-christmas-tre.jpg|The Jones' Christmas tree.
-Rugby_&amp;_Mew_Satisfied.jpg
+toy-tree.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 159.jpg
 xmasanother65.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 176.jpg
 Apple_Crying.jpg|Apple crying
+The Christmas Toy 192.jpg
 Meteora_Feisty.jpg
 A-christmas-toy-top5.jpg
-Mew_Meowing.jpg
+Mew_Meowing.jpg|Mew meowing.
+toy1.jpg
-Ditz_&amp;_Friends_Coming_Back_To_Life.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 222.jpg
-Jamie_&amp;_Jesse's_Playroom.jpg|The Jones' playroom
+Balthazar_Hopeful.jpg
+toy-mew3.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 231.jpg
+The Christmas Toy 233.jpg
+xmasanother80.jpg
+The_Jones'_Playroom.jpg
 Meteora_Pleased.jpg
+the-christmas-toy-18.jpg
 Jamie_Pleased.jpg
 XMAST04 R C.jpg