A Cartoon Christmas

With nearly the entire internet devoid of Emmet Otter music and video, we present a legally irresponsible solution! Finally: Listen and Download all the timeless songs you love from Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas…

[I'm republishing this piece from January since not a lot of people saw it, and more importantly, Emmet Otter and The Christmas Toy are now on Netflix Watch Now. WATCH NOW!]

Last years’ Emmet Otter Jug-Band Christmas article was, by far, the most difficult one for me to write. Although the truncated piece finally debuted on December 15th, it was actually the first special I’d watched in preparation to write up weeks before hand. I fell so batshit in love with the Jim Henson classic, forming coherent thoughts about singing puppets became my own personal Amadeus.

Emmet Otter – Intro (right click/save)

Obviously, part of that struggle came from the ridiculously amazing songs by Paul Williams. Even those with the vaguest familiarity with Christmas Special tend to remember at least a lyric or two, right? Remember that hole-less Washtub?

Emmet Otter – The One Bathing Suit (right click/save)

Now, I’m no music critic… and sure, I almost definitely lack the vocabulary to do the songs justice in prose. But most importantly, I also find most writings of that nature tedious and boring, with too much of the author’s personal baggage projected onto a medium most people enjoy on a indescribable, subjective level.

Emmet Otter – Ain’t no Hole in the Washtub (right click/save)

Instead, I really wanted to let you guys HEAR the music of Emmet Otter, for no better reason than they’re unforgettably awesome. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to exist ANYWHERE!

Emmet Otter – When the River Meets the Sea (right click/save)

Through all my research, I found no evidence of any official soundtrack ever, let alone MP3s available for purchase. Plus, YouTube/Henson/Lionsgate/Whomever holds the current rights continuously blocked my attempts to share them with you, which led to further delays.

Emmet Otter – Barbeque (right click/save)

(Oh, I also did my damnedest to find the special’s original air date, which included looking through archived print TV schedules from 1977 with no success. If anybody knows, please pass that info along!)

Emmet Otter – Our World (right click/save)

The stage play and the DVD are virtually the only mediums keeping Emmet Otter’s music alive. And although they both do a great job in preserving the magic, I wanted to make a few of my favorite cuts available for folks who don’t listen to music exclusively through their DVD player or by visiting seasonal theatrical production solely showing in a remote part of the United States (This ain’t 1970, dammit!)

Emmet Otter – Brothers (right click/save)

I don’t maintain any ownership over these tracks, and post them in lieu of NO OTHER OPTION. Should there ever be an official soundtrack release, I’ll remove these tracks post haste.

Emmet Otter – Riverbottom Nightmare Band (right click/save)

And if any of Emmet Otter’s owners/rights holders take issue, let’s try and avoid the lawyers and Internet Police and just please contact me here and I’ll remove do so immediately.

Emmet Otter – Brothers in Our World (right click/save)

Incidentally, that header image at the top is from the original VHS release of Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (With Kermit! You can see it in the article.) But I’ve also taken the liberty of adding that as the album art for all of the MP3s on this page. Thought it be a nice treat to see on your iPods and such… you don’t have to thank me.

Emmet Otter – When the River Meets the Sea (credits) (right click/save)

UPDATE: According to my research, only the song “When the River Meets the Sea” has ever been made commercially available, on Volume 2 of the Favorite Songs From Jim Henson’s Muppets record released in 1986. Glad I looked into it – this may very well be the greatest album covers of all time:

Four Muppet factions featured together in a single product… remind anyone else of A Muppet Family Christmas?

PRODUCT INFORMATION (Shop Amazon through us – it helps!)

Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas is available on DVD, albeit with the Kermit footage completely removed. However, the special contains several short sequences that haven’t appeared on other home video releases, and any scene missing is available to watch in the ample bonus features which include a behind-the-scenes documentary and the Outakes video embedded above. Assuming you’re willing to take a chance on Otter, I strongly encourage – no… I beg you, to pick up the version bundled with Jim Henson’s equally stellar Holiday special, The Christmas Toy for just a few pennies more. Oh, and before you go and call Disney mean names for not allowing Kermit to appear in Emmet Otter, I invite you to see what the previous, out-of-print versions featuring the famous Frog are going for on the Amazon Marketplace. You’ll get an idea of what he’s worth.