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Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
''Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas'' is a 1977 television special directed by Jim Henson, based on the 1971 children's book of the same name by Russell Hoban, itself inspired by "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. The special features characters from Hoban's novel, in a teleplay adapted by Jerry Juhl. The special features narration by Kermit the Frog, who tells the story of Emmet Otter and his widowed Ma, a poor family of otters who struggle to get Christmas presents for the other as a result of their financial situation. The special was produced by The Jim Henson Company and first premiered on CBC Television on December 4, 1977. The special received positive reviews from critics and audiences, and would later be syndicated in the years that followed with airings on HBO in 1978 and ABC in 1980. In 2019, it was announced that a film remake of ''Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas'' was in the works to be directed by Bret McKenzie. Production In 1977, Muppets creator Jim Henson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Family Film
A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that generally relates to children in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are made for a wider appeal with a general audience in mind. Children's films come in several major genres like realism, fantasy, adventure, war, musicals, comedy, and literary adaptations. Psychological aspects Children are born with certain innate biological dispositions as a product of long evolutionary history. This provides an underlying biological framework for what may fascinate a child and also impose limitations on the same. These can be seen in certain universal features shared in children's films.Grodal Torben (2009) Embodied Visions, Oxford University Press. P 27 According to Grodal, films like '' Finding Nemo'' (2003), '' Bambi'' (1942), or Hayao Miyazaki's '' Spirited Away'' (2001) are based on certain strong emotions like fea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Gift Of The Magi
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by American writer O. Henry, first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are well known; the ending is generally considered an example of cosmic irony. The story was allegedly written at Pete's Tavern on Irving Place in New York City. The story was initially published in '' The New York Sunday World'' under the title "Gifts of the Magi" on December 10, 1905. It was first published in book form in the O. Henry collection '' The Four Million'' in April 1906. Plot On Christmas Eve, a woman named Della Dillingham Young discovers that she has only $1.87 (equivalent to about $70 in 2025) to buy a present for her husband James, also known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Frog Prince (Muppets)
''The Frog Prince'' (released on home video as ''Tales from Muppetland: The Frog Prince'') is a 1971 musical fantasy comedy television special directed by Jim Henson, and jointly produced by Robert Lawrence Productions in Canada and Muppets, Inc. in the United States. It is a retelling of the Brothers Grimm's classic fairy tale of "The Frog Prince" featuring Kermit the Frog as the narrator, Kermit's nephew Robin as Sir Robin the Frog Prince, and Sweetums. This special marked the debut of both Robin and Sweetums to the world of The Muppets. Plot After a brief introductory scene, Kermit the Frog and several other frogs sit around a well, when a small frog they do not recognize appears. The frog introduces himself as Sir Robin the Brave, explaining that he is actually a prince. He recounts, through a flashback narrated in song, that he once fought an ogre and was transformed into a frog by a witch, who told him the only way to break the spell was to be kissed by a princess. Nearby, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Faz Fazakas
Franz "Faz" Fazakas (April 5, 1918 – September 28, 2013) was an American puppeteer, engineer, and special effects designer, best known for his work with The Muppets. He is the namesake for Fozzie Bear for whom he created the puppet's ear-wiggling effects. Fazakas was the director of electronic and mechanical design for the television show ''Fraggle Rock''. Muppet technology He helped design a radio control system to move the Muppets so they would not all have to be manipulated by hand. This control system was used on movies such as ''The Dark Crystal'' and ''Labyrinth''. This system, called the Henson Performance Control System, won the 1992 Scientific and Engineering Academy Award. Versions of this system were what allowed Kermit the Frog to ride a bike and Emmet Otter to row a boat. Jim Henson called Fazakas “one of the true geniuses of the world.” His mechanical work on the eyes and facial movements of longtime Muppets such as Big Bird and Sweetums gave both characters mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Black Light Theatre
Black light theatre (in Czech ''černé divadlo'') or simply black theatre, is a theatrical performance style characterized by the use of black box theatre augmented by black light illusion. This form of theatre originated from Asia and can be found in many places around the world. It has become a speciality of Prague, where many theatres use it. The distinctive characteristics of "black theatre" are the use of black curtains, a darkened stage, and "black lighting" (UV light), paired with fluorescent costumes in order to create intricate visual illusions. This "black cabinet" technique was used by Georges Méliès, and by theatre revolutionary Konstantin Stanislavski (especially in his production of ''Cain''). The technique, paired with the expressive artistry of dance, mime and acrobatics of the performers is able to create remarkable spectacles. Optics A key principle of black light theatre is the inability of the human eye to distinguish black objects from a black backgroun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bunraku
is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters), and musicians. Occasionally other instruments such as drums will be used. The combination of chanting and playing is called and the Japanese word for puppet (or dolls, generally) is . It is used in many plays. History 's history goes as far back as the 16th century, but the origins of its modern form can be traced to around the 1680s. It rose to popularity after the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653–1724) began a collaboration with the chanter Takemoto Gidayu (1651–1714), who established the Takemoto puppet theater in Osaka in 1684. Originally, the term referred only to the particular theater established in 1805 in Osaka, which was named the after the puppeteering ensemble of , an early 18th-century puppeteer from Awaji ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Marionettes
A marionette ( ; ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose. Etymology In French, means 'little Mary'. During the Middle Ages, string puppets were often used in France to depict biblical events, with the Virgin Mary being a popular character, hence the name. In France, the word can refer to any kind of puppet, but elsewhere it typically refers only to string puppets. History Antiquity Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-opera ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children, it is primarily aimed at children and adolescents aged 2 to 17, along with a broader family audience through its programming blocks. The channel began as a test broadcast on December 1, 1977, as part of QUBE, an early cable television system broadcast locally in Columbus, Ohio. On April 1, 1979, the channel was renamed Nickelodeon and launched to a new nationwide audience, with '' Pinwheel'' as its inaugural program. The network was initially commercial-free and remained without advertising until 1984. Nickelodeon gained a rebranding in programming and image that year, and its ensuing success led to it and its sister networks MTV and VH1 being sold to Viacom in 1985. Nickelodeon began expanding as a franchis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasses films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the Muppets were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004. The Muppets originated in the short-form television series ''Sam and Friends'', which aired on WRC-TV and in syndication from 1955 to 1961. Following appearances on late-night talk shows and in advertising during the 1960s, the Muppets began appearing on ''Sesame Street'' (1969–present) during their formative years in the early-mid 1970s and attained Celebrity, celebrity status and international recognition through ''The Muppet Show'' (1976–1981), their flagship sketch comedy t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bret McKenzie
Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June 1976) is a New Zealand musician, comedian, music supervisor, and actor. He is best known as one half of musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with Jemaine Clement. In the 2000s, the duo's comedy and music became the basis of a Flight of the Conchords (radio series), BBC radio series and then an oft-lauded Flight of the Conchords (TV series), American television series, which aired for two seasons on HBO. Active since 1998, the duo released their most recent comedy special, ''Live in London (Flight of the Conchords album), Live in London'', in 2018. Primarily a musician, McKenzie has worked as a songwriter and music supervisor for film and television since the 2010s. He served as music supervisor for two The Muppets, Muppet films, ''The Muppets (2011 film), The Muppets ''(2011) and ''Muppets Most Wanted ''(2014), the former of which won him an Academy Award for Best Original Song for the song "Man or Muppet". In the 2000s, McKe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division of the Walt Disney Company. ABC is headquartered on Riverside Drive in Burbank, California, directly across the street from Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios and adjacent to the Team Disney – Roy E. Disney Animation Building. The network maintains secondary offices at 77 66th Street (Manhattan), West 66th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City, which houses its broadcast center and the headquarters of its news division, ABC News (United States), ABC News. Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. The youngest of the "Big Three (American television), Big Three" American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
