September is "Fraggle Rock" Month!

"Seek your heart on the high blue skyway,
"Keep your heart and it's bound.
"Steep your heart in the deep of the earth again.
Lose your heart and it's found."
- Cantus and the Minstrels

"Fraggle Rock" was only in its first season when HBO aired this advertisement for a sweepstakes based on its very first original series.  I want you to pay attention to the wording in it:



The grand prize, as you just heard, was a trip for a family of four -and this is the exact phrase they use - "to Fraggle Rock".  Now obviously (to my adult self at least), they meant the studio where "Fraggle Rock" was filmed.  But instead of asking the audience if they want to visit a studio or a bunch of sets or even the Muppet workshop.  They ask us if we want to visit Fraggle Rock.  The real place.

It is a testament to how awesome "Fraggle Rock" was and is that not a few months into its first airing on American television, the network was treating its setting like a real place viewers could go and visit.  I longed with an indescribable heartache to visit the real Rock as a kid.  Hell, I am 35 and a half and I still want to go there.

Thankfully, the series is very easy to access these days.  As I mentioned in an early post, I've got the series sets put out a few years ago, and there is a gorgeous complete series set as well as episodes available through streaming services.  It is, thankfully, no longer difficult to go back to Fraggle Rock whenever you want.

And it turns out this is a series that is worth revisiting and revisiting often.  I have said in the past that I firmly believe that "Fraggle Rock" is the finest television program ever made for children and I'm sticking with that assessment.  The main reason why is because I don't think it's possible to outgrow it.  Thirty years later, watching the show makes me want to be a better person.

There's a reason for this, and it involves Jim Henson at his most Jim Henson-y (and therefore it's kind of the diametric opposite of the supposed origin story for last week's series binge).  The legend is well known by now, but it bears repeating here: Henson wanted to make a children's show that could bring about world peace.  Let's reflect for a moment on how freakin' incredible, crazy, and awesome that is.

For the next few weeks, I'll be watching every season of "Fraggle Rock" in order.  I'll discuss the most interesting, for ill or good (but mostly good), episodes and share a little analysis after I watch them.  In short, brace yourselves for a lot of short posts and a vanishingly rare "every weekday" posting schedule.

And watch along if you would, please, because with Season One already in the rear-view mirror, I've learned that this is not only the finest children's television series I've ever seen, not only arguably Jim Henson's greatest achievement, it is a fantastic series for all ages.

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Posts in this series:

Season 1, Episode 1 -  "Beginnings"
Season 1, Episode 11 - "Catch the Tail by the Tiger"
Season 1, Episode 17 - "Marooned"
Season 1, Episode 18 - "The Minstrels"
Season 1, Episode 19 - "The Great Radish Famine"
Season 1, Episode 20 - "The Garden Plot"
Season 1, Episode 21 - "Gobo's Discovery"
Season 2, Episode 5 - "Uncle Matt Comes Home"
Season 2, Episode 6 - "Boober's Dream"
Season 2, Episode 8 - "All Work and All Play"
Season 2, Episode 14 - "The Secret of Convincing John"
Season 2, Episode 15 - "Manny's Land of Carpets"
Season 3, Episode 4 - "The Grapes of Generosity"
Season 3, Episode 8 - "Believe It Or Not!"
Season 3, Episode 9 - "Wembly and the Mean Genie"
Season 3, Episode 18 - "Bored Stiff"
Season 4, Episode 1 - "Sprocket's Big Adventure"
Season 4, Episode 9 - "Wembly's Flight"
Season 4, Episode 17 - "The Trial of Cotterpin Doozer"
Season 4, Episode 18 - "The River of Life"
Season 4, Episode 20 - "Gone But Not Forgotten"
Season 4, Episodes 24-26 - "The Gorg Who Would Be King", "The Honk of Honks", and "Change of Address"

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Old but Relevant Art of the Day!  I still like it and honestly, I still stand by this theory:

And now, Maurice Sendak and William Joyce being awesome.

The Academy Award nominees were announced a few days ago and there are a number of nice surprises. Two obscure international 2D animated films are nominated for Best Animated Feature, and William Joyce's heartwarming short, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" is up for Best Animated Short. The short is available on YouTube and it will make a rainbow in your heart (much like last year's winner, "The Lost Thing", coincidentally -or not- also based on the work of a lavish children's book illustrator.)



And now that there is a rainbow in your heart, watch this discussion between Steven Colbert and Maurice Sendak. Do it. Because holy cow.

My new life's goal is to be in a position as an artist where I can say such things when I am very old and my fans will think me awesome for it.

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Art of the Day!

Happy Year of the Dragon!

Unusual or Largely Forgotten Christmas Specials

Before I get to topic advertised in the title, I just realized that I can no longer let Xuxa Pets (or whatever they're called) pass without comment. Here's the commercial, which I initially thought was an elaborate satire:

(Love how the actual honest-to-goodness tagline is basically, "It's just like a real hamster, but it doesn't crap everywhere!")

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"Rudolph", "Charlie Brown", "Grinch". We all know the Big Three Christmas Specials. But there are lots and lots of lesser-known specials that are still very good. Some of them are still well-loved but are simply not shown on TV anymore. Here are just a few of my favorites. Titles will link to their IMDB page:

"A Wish For Wings That Work" - Informally known as "The Bloom County Christmas Special" (even though it was made during the "Outland" era, but let's not get into the sticky issue of Breathed-verse continuity). This Youtube clip isn't the best quality, but trust me the animation is superb. Sadly, it's Opus' only animated outing. There is some concept art on Michel Gange's website that suggests a sequel was in the works, but it never came to be. It saddens me that we never got an Opus series (a la "Garfield and Friends") in this style:


"Twelve Tiny Christmas Tales" - I probably only have to say the following words here: Bill Plympton Christmas Special. It does retain his twisted humor and low-tech style, but it's also really sweet. It's available on Plympton's "Dog Days" DVD collection.


"Olive, The Other Reindeer" - It saddens me that this little slice of happy has faded into obscurity. It was produced by the "Futurama" team at the top of their game, and features big name voices that actually fit their characters. Best of all, J. Otto Seibold's artwork is perfectly replicated. As you can see, that was quite the animation challenge:


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As a bonus, here's the unedited cut of "A Muppet Family Christmas", the best Muppet holiday special of all for my money (and it has some tough competition). Tough Pigs called this Jim Henson's victory lap and when you see how many characters he created, it's easy to see why:

(I officially deem it totally cool to go "awww" during the special's very last scene in the kitchen.)