It hasn’t even been a week since I published my previous Word On The Street post and it’s yet another “what the heck” story. On the website, MovieWeb, Jeremy Dick reports that a movie about Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is in the early stages of development. In Jeremy’s article, it reveals that Bret McKenzie is going to write the music and script for the film. If you’re not familiar with Bret or his work, don’t worry, Jeremy provides enough explanation. According to MovieWeb, Bret “is of course best known as one half of the New Zealand comedy duo Flight of the Conchords”. Bret also “served as the music supervisor for the 2011 movie The Muppets and its 2014 sequel Muppets Most Wanted”. Because Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas was created by the Jim Henson Company and since this company is one of the co-producers of this project, it makes sense for Bret to be involved.
While I haven’t seen Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, I have definitely heard of it. When I first read this story two days ago, I, once again, found the project unnecessary. Wasn’t Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas already a movie? Based on the article, it seems like the production will be a remake/reboot of the original. Why retell a pre-established story when there’s a beautiful opportunity to create a new story? Similar to the Word On The Street post about “Barney the Dinosaur”, this project hasn’t even started production yet. In fact, the MovieWeb article shared very few details about the movie. So, we’ll just have to wait and see if this film is worth the time.
Have you seen Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas? How do you feel about this piece of movie news? Let me know in the comment section!
Have fun at the movies!
Sally Silverscreen
If you want to check it out, here’s the link to the article I referenced in my post:
https://movieweb.com/emmet-otters-jug-band-christmas-movie-reboot-bret-mckenzie/
18 Cinema Lane 
Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas was a tv special, one that sadly doesn’t get aired much nowadays despite its classic Muppet charm. It’s going to be interesting seeing it expanded to feature-length;I hope it doesn’t fall into the pit that most film adaptations fall into by padding out the run time and over-explaining everything. Still, having Bret McKenzie onboard gives me hope. I loved his musical contributions for the recent Muppet movies.
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Thanks for reading my post, UpOnTheShelf! I assumed that ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas’ was a TV movie, which is the reason why I asked if it was already a movie. You’re right, it will be interesting to see this story receive an expansion. I just hope the creative team uses that opportunity to add new elements to the narrative.
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