I watched this many times on a Muppet Special I had on VHS that was essentially a clip show. One of my all time favorites.
An unnamed scientist conducts self experiments with rejuvenating drugs in his laboratory. Jim Henson voices the line of Muppets who drink the series of different potions and becomes younger after each verse until he reverted to his initial age to sing the final line of the song. He changes his voice gradually on each verse from the gruff old man to the fresh faced young chemist, delivering the last line in a melancholy and familiar tone. Just wonderful.
From episode 31 of “The Muppet Show” with special guest star Edgar Bergen.
A young prince is tricked into helping a heartless giant escape from the king’s dungeon. The wicked giant unleashes terror across the land and those who go off to fight him never return. The young prince becomes the servant of the giant and tries to find where the giant’s heart is hidden. But even if he were able to get the heart, can all be made right once more?
(alternate version of Toy Story 2’s When Somebody Loved Me)
The Christmas Toy is a 1986 made-for-TV movie by The Jim Henson Company. It originally aired on ABC on December 6, 1986, and was originally sponsored by Kraft Foods. As with all Jim Henson creations at the time, I loved it.
When no people are around, the toys still play in the playroom. But since a toy will be frozen forever if a person catches it out of position, they have to be very careful. It’s Christmas Eve, and Rugby the Tiger remembers how he was the Christmas Toy last year, and thinks he’s going to be unwrapped again. And it’s up to Apple the Doll, whom Rugby supplanted as favorite toy, to tell him what’s in store. But Rugby won’t believe her, and tries to get into the Christmas package and lets Meteora, Queen of the Asteroids loose. Unfortunately, she doesn’t know she’s a toy, and thinks she’s landed among aliens. And 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!
The motives of the characters are suspiciously similar to Disney/Pixar’s computer-animated feature film Toy Story, released in 1995. These similarities include (but are not exclusive to):
* Rugby, Jesse’s old toy, is jealous and feels threatened by Meteora (who is a newer, space-themed action figure) and tries to get rid of her. In Toy Story, Woody, Andy’s old toy, is jealous and feels threatened by Buzz Lightyear (who is a newer, space-themed action figure) and tries to get rid of him.
* Meteora, like Buzz Lightyear, does not understand that she is, in fact, a toy and not “Queen of the Asteroids”. Rugby must teach her that being a toy is not inferior to her assumed role, as Woody must convince Buzz.
* As the voice of reason (and practically the only main female character in the cast), Apple the Doll serves the same purpose as Bo Peep.
* The toys revert to their inanimate form the moment a human nears. (Although The Christmas Toy includes the plot device that a toy is frozen forever if seen by human eyes.)
Returning from war, a young solider trades his last biscuit for a magical sack..into which anything summoned will enter! Trapping devils and even death itself, the solder brings peace to his country. But Death soon proves a greater enemy captured then free.
My favorite of the Storyteller series, though its close with the Heartless Giant. Brilliantly written, executed, acted and edited and the cinematography here is the best from the series. The card game with the devils gives m the same excitement chills it did when I first saw it in kindergarden in 1989 and every time afterward on tape.
Best lines:
Devil: That’s a nice whistle. Ahh want ta hav it!
…
Soldier: So… what shall we play for?
Devil 1: his soul!
Devil 2: his whistle
Devil 3: his TEETH…. aye collect teeth…