What do you get when you gather Kermit and Company from “The Muppet Show” with almost every imaginable Muppet from “Sesame Street”, toss in a brief visit from The Fraggles and a human named Doc (Gerard Parkes)? You get the zany and entertaining “A Muppet Family Christmas”.

The plot revolves around Fozzie Bear driving out to the country with his Muppet friends (Kermit, Gonzo, the Electric Mayhem, etc.) to his mother’s house (Ma Bear voiced by Jerry Nelson) to surprise her for Christmas. Meanwhile, Ma Bear has already rented out her house for Christmas to Doc (Parkes) and his dog Sprocket (Steve Whitmire) so she can go to Malibu for the holidays. Change of plans, Ma.

So The Muppets are arriving at Ma Bear’s house and slipping one by one on the icy patch…which becomes a running gag throughout the film.

Then the gang from “Sesame Street” arrive and you really start to wonder where the hell is Ma Bear going to put all these Muppets?

And Doc is getting frustrated because he just wanted to spend a nice quiet Christmas alone with his dog. But everyone settles in and deals with it because, after all, it is Christmas.

The biggest problem seems to be that Miss Piggy is delayed in arriving because of a snowstorm, causing Kermit to worry.

Meanwhile Swedish Chef is trying to convince a turkey that he’s a turkey and will be dinner for everyone. The turkey isn’t having it and reveals the ultimate turkey to Swedish Chef: Big Bird. But in his true innocent way, Big Bird talks to Chef and gives him some birdseed. So, not sure, but maybe that’s what was served for dinner? Who knows!

Somewhere between the Swedish Chef trying to cook Big Bird and Kermit worrying about Miss Piggy, Robin discovers a Fraggle hole and lo and behold, we meet Gobo, Boober, Wembley, Red and Mokey Fraggle, hear them sing “Pass It On” and they present Robin with a nice, yellow pebble that has been passed on among them for years.

With Doc worrying about Kermit worrying about Piggy, he goes out to search for her and miraculously returns safely with her to the farmhouse where all is finally just perfect.

The film ends with a Muppet family singalong and a special final scene of Jim Henson himself in the kitchen washing dishes with Sprocket.

It really is a sweet film that’s been around since 1987 and not too well known about except mainly among Muppet fans. Definitely worth a watch.