A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

It's Christmastime in New York, and the Muppet gang have posted their cards and wishlists, but after causing mayhem at the Post Office Gonzo is left with three undelivered letters to Santa. When he gets back he discovers that the office is closed and he must deliver them to the North Pole by hand. After a few false starts he and a few of the others manage to get to the spot with an all-southern view and save Xmas, for three people. Cameos from Uma Thurman, Nathan Lane, Mayor Bloomberg (!), and, obviously, Whoopie Goldberg come and go.

Directed by Kirk Thatcher, the "Punk on Bus" himself, this is a lot better than his previous attempt at Yuletide Muppetry. I found A Very Merry Muppet Christmas to be rather flat and TV-ish. There's nothing wrong with the TV platform as many Xmas specials have become classics, a few Muppet efforts among them, but the atmosphere matters and Letters to Santa is slightly better than the 2002 in that regard. I don't know what it is, I can't put my finger on it, but maybe the real locations detract from the feeling. I think that the Muppets work best when they are shot entirely in studios where the lighting and effects can be more competently controlled.

It's worth watching, but not up to the better Muppet Xmas specials.

I love the Muppets, the show and most of their movies. However, this special was a big disappointment. Granted it has its good points, I loved the chemistry between Kermit and Miss Piggy, the production values are at least decent and I liked Gonzo very much here. Also the Muppet performers do do a decent job with weak material.

Pretty much everything else is a big disappointment. The story was fresh and original I agree at first glance, but it was a completely different story when it came to the execution. Most of it actually is very predictable and rushed. This isn't helped by the fact it is too short.

I also agree about the special's writing. The script is pretty much terrible, Gonzo and Fozzie have their moments but most of the other Muppet parts are under-written and very rarely was it funny. The jokes were also very lame and childish, and the sentimentality gets mushy.

The music was also a big disappointment. Other than Gonzo and Fozzie's duet, which was compared to everything else delightful, the music is little more than mediocre and I say forgettable too. The lyrics are also trite and the melodies are unmemorable afterwards.

The Muppets do try their best, and I was thrilled at the return of some old favourites, but let down severely by bad material, and I missed Gonzo and Rizzo's chemistry which was always delightful. The cameos are even more disappointing. Some of the characters are somewhat superfluous to the story or are poorly explored- I concur that the whole believing in Santa thing was quite poorly done- and Paul Williams' cameo especially is completely out of place and unfunny.

In conclusion, I am a Muppet fan, but I have to agree, A Muppets Christmas:Letters to Santa is quite weak. It has its moments, but it is a shame especially about the writing and music. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The Muppets in NYC are lined up to get their Christmas letters mailed. Gonzo screws up the post office machinery. Little girl Claire gives Gonzo a letter but Gonzo forgets. It's Christmas Eve. The post office is closed and the gang has to deliver 3 letters to the North Pole. Everybody gives up but Gonzo convinces Kermit and Fozzie to try. Rizzo and Pepe come along.

I wonder if the post office paid to get the Muppets to do this special. I would have prefer the group stays together. It's always more fun with more Muppets. The cameos are fine but they are not the big draw for me. I'm also not a big fan of Rizzo and Pepe as being the main characters. I love Kermit with Miss Piggy. I like that Gonzo, Fozzie and Kermit are together but I miss Miss Piggy. The songs are OK but nothing special. The letter from the airport security guy doesn't really make sense. It's not the strongest Christmas special but it's still the Muppets.

The last Muppet Christmas special was abysmal. The one where Kermit sees what the world would have been like without him. Too dark, too freaky. But this, this is sweet. A little too cheesy sometimes, but I'd rather that than too mature. I've loved the Muppets since I was a kid and still watch the 80's specials at the holidays. This one is finally on that level. Lots of characters offering their running gags, great cameos, beautiful sets, and a lovely finish. The songs weren't quite up to par, but I was glad they decided to have musical numbers. That's the heartwarming Muppets I remember! Thank you Henson studios for bringing them back (and including Pepe the Prawn and Bobo in there)!

A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) is a movie I recently watched on Disney+ with my daughter. The storyline follows Gonzo making a mistake causing letters to be not sent to Santa in time for Christmas. He talks to Kermit and they decide to setout on a trip to hand deliver them to Santa in the North Pole just in time for Christmas.

This movie is directed by Kirk R. Thatcher (Crank Yankers) and stars and/or contains the voices of Steve Whitmire (Muppets Christmas Carol), Whoopi Goldberg (The Color Purple), Eric Jacobson (Sesame Street), Jesse L. Martin (Rent), Dave Goelz (Fraggle Rock) and Uma Thurman (Kill Bill).

The Fozzie jokes were easily the best part of the movie. He had me cracking up from beginning to end. There were some good cameos in this and the rats were fun also. The old men are always fantastic too. Unfortunately the songs were below expectations and the storyline was just okay, nothing you feel too invested in.

Overall this is a very average addition to the genre and doesn't meet expectations of a Muppet movie. It's fun seeing the characters but felt a bit hollow in terms of storyline. I would score this a 5/10 and recommend seeing it once.