Parents' Guide to

It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie

By Barbara Schultz, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Classic story retold in funny, touching Muppet romp.

Movie PG 2002 90 minutes
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 12+

Based on 7 parent reviews

Stephanie S.
Stephanie S. Parent of 10 and 12-year-old
December 21, 2022
age 10+

Henson probably spinning in his grave over this atrocity.

OH where to start. I'm a life-long muppets fan and I can't believe I forgot how utterly terrible this movie is. It's super slow and boring to start, the jokes aren't funny at all. WAY too much sexual innuendo. It's supposed to be a kids movie for pete's sake. I'm not conservative and it was making me recoil at nearly every turn. It was just way too much and was hard to believe it made it onto screen like it is. Lots of references to substance abuse as well like the Absinthe green fairy in the Paris scene and the alcohol-chugging college scene where they funnel alcohol into their mouths screaming "chug chug chug" come on guys! This is a muppet movie, not a frat party. Then the Mulan Rouge skit lasted WAY too long and was just way too much. The shrimp guy sexual innuendo was annoying and overboard. The fat shaming, ethnic stereotypes, substance abuse, sexual innuendo...I was jaw-dropped at the Asian desk guy who was stereotyped AND severely dumbed down. The Miss Piggy phone work job where she puts on Miss Cleo dreds?! There was a dark rave/bar scene with cage dancers....who thought this was a good idea exactly?! I'm not generally a sensitive person at all, but this one lit me up in a big heap of disappointment in the Muppets.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
twoherring
twoherring Adult
December 7, 2021
age 18+

Negative stereotypes and dark imagery

homophobic jokes, negative representations of minorities, fat shaming, dark scenes taking places in bars with drinking and cage dancing. Asian Americans are presented primarily as stereotypes: overly sexualized women, bumbling men in servant roles. If that’s not enough, it’s filled with B-list actors no one pays attention to anymore. Highly regret watching this film. The older muppets films are actually better somehow. Had to turn it into a learning exercise about critically questioning the media you watch, in hopes that my children don’t internalize all the negative messages coded in this film.

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much consumerism
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In IT'S A VERY MERRY MUPPET CHRISTMAS MOVIE, the banker who held the lease on the Muppets' use of the Muppet Theater has died, and his widow, the greedy Mrs. Bitterman, will stop at nothing to evict the Muppets so she can redevelop the property. Kermit and his pals agree to pool their resources -- even contributing their own salaries -- to come up with the money they need to deliver by 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve, and Fozzie Bear braves numerous obstacles (some erected by Bitterman and others being hilariously random) to get that money to the bank. When he fails in his task, Kermit feels all hope is lost and that he was foolish to encourage his friends to follow their dreams. He tells a stranger that he wishes he'd never been born. Just as in the classic original It's a Wonderful Life, the stranger turns out to be sent from heaven to show Kermit that, "No man is a failure who has friends."

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7):
Kids say (3):

The Muppets provide almost universally reliable entertainment, and with It's a Wonderful Life as inspiration, this made-for-TV movie is not only funny and smart, it's also very heartwarming. This charming movie benefits from top-notch acting (including Joan Cusack as a wonderfully comic villain and Whoopi Goldberg as God), and from the Muppets films' trademark clever cameos and references to other popular entertainment -- in this case, all Christmas-y. It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie gives parents a fun, and shorter, way to introduce youngsters to the It's a Wonderful Life story, and the whole family will be amused.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the message of this movie. What does Kermit learn from seeing what the world would have been like if he'd never been born?

  • Did you catch the references to TV shows and other movies? Name the ones you noticed.

  • If you liked this movie, see the original: It's a Wonderful Life.

Movie Details

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