Paul created and helped write Letters to Santa, along with writing the wonderful new songs for it. He talks about both this special AND the new Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas musical, which he also revamped for the stage, and for which he also wrote new songs.

Hugh, Scott, and Andrew also wrote the much-discussed but never-seen Muppet Election Special, and you’ll briefly hear about their ideas for that piece. In my opinion these three have the right idea of where to take the Muppets, and Letters to Santa is a good “first project” in Disney’s new campaign to revitalize them.

Stick around for some after-Christmas fun next week.

Questions/Comments can be emailed to me@muppetcast.com, or called in to the studio phone line at 614-364-4270. Make sure to stop by the Muppet Central Forums for some spirited discussion of Letters to Santa (or any other Muppet topic), and check out Muppet Central Radio’s offering of Muppet Christmas music.

Merry Christmas, Jolly Everything, and Have a great week!

-Steve

The MuppetCast is sponsored by Bell, Book & Comic. Life should be more fun! Are you listening to Muppet Central Radio and hearing all of the great Muppet Christmas music they’re playing?

The Jim Henson Company’s new musical “Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas” has officially started its run at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT. The show will run through January 4, see their official website for details and availability.

The Hartford Courant takes us for a look inside the Henson workshop in New York while they were busy making the puppets for the Emmet Otter musical. The New York Times even chimed in on this exciting new production!

While the Henson Company is in the beginning stages of remaking the classic Pinocchio story, ArtistDirect.com has the scoop on the untimely end of a past attempt at retelling the tale.

Don’t forget to watch the new Muppet Christmas special “A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa” on NBC December 17 at 8PM EST. New Muppet goodness and holiday cheer!

Master puppet designer Ed Christie is getting ready for a new exhibit of his work, called “Rods and Monsters“. Christie designs amazing puppets for Sesame Workshop’s traveling and international productions, and his credits are too numerous to name here. His work is going to be displayed at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum from Dec 5 through Jan 25.

The Muppet Whatnot Workshop at FAO Schwartz continues to impress. The New York Times’ CityRoom blog noted that they’re expediting shipments of Whatnot body parts to keep up with all the orders! This is a good thing people, keep them coming!

Kermit the Frog will be the grand marshal of this year’s Port of San Diego Big Bay Balloon Parade on Dec 29. The parade is a prelude to the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl football game at Qualcomm Stadium.

Phillip S. heads up an early music program called the GambaCast, an extension of the program “Viols in Our Schools”. Phillip is a extremely talented performer and educator, and you can see the trailer for the video cast here.

Colby sent some rare links to the Muppets on the German Peter Alexander Show. Get a taste of the Muppets as a different culture experiences them, first video here, second video here.

Take a look at the Disney Podcast Directory, owned by Mike Hamilton, for the most up-to-date listing of all Disney podcasts and the various links to subscribe to them via iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, or any other RSS reader you choose!

MSG.com is making 31 lists (and checking them twice) of all the best, worst, and most memorable moments in entertainment over the past year. Naturally, the Muppets made the list.

Have you seen Jim Henson’s Fantastic World yet? The traveling Smithsonian exhibit is currently housed at the Atlanta History Center, and will soon be moving to Orlando, FL.

Remember these? Here’s an old McDonald’s commercial advertising the collector glasses from the “new film”, The Great Muppet Caper!

Questions/Comments about the show can be sent to me@muppetcast, or called in to the studio phone at 614-364-4270. Keep up with The MuppetCast through Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook! And of course, make sure to stop by the Muppet Central Forums and say hello.

Have a great week!

-Steve