In 'The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,' the Fraggles take a big leap outside their world

The holidays tin beryllium a stressful clip — adjacent for a Fraggle.

Apple TV’s caller vacation peculiar “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” premiering Dec. 5, finds Gobo (John Tartaglia) struggling to constitute the cleanable vacation song. The accomplishment of lone 1 snowflake adds to Gobo’s terrible lawsuit of writer’s block. He wants to constitute the opus everyone is expecting and marque it adjacent amended than the 1 helium wrote the twelvemonth before. Tartaglia, who is the puppeteer and dependable of Gobo, describes the peculiar arsenic a “love missive to the fans.”

“The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” from the Jim Henson Co., features respective groundbreaking moments for longtime viewers of the series, which archetypal premiered successful 1983 and was rebooted by Apple TV successful 2022 with “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.”

The lone usher you request for vacation entertainment.

“We felt this passionateness to marque a vacation peculiar that could beryllium aired successful 15 years and consciousness conscionable arsenic applicable and meaningful and emotional,” says Tartaglia, who is besides an enforcement shaper of the special. “There’s much euphony successful this. There’s much magic successful this. There’s much effects. There’s a overmuch much analyzable storyline. There’s things you don’t ever person clip to bash successful a emblematic episode. It felt similar we were firing connected each cylinders for the special.”

For the archetypal time, Gobo goes to “Outer Space,” which is however the Fraggles notation to our world. “We’ve been contemplating for a portion however amusive it would beryllium to spot Fraggles successful the existent world,” says enforcement shaper Lisa Henson, who is the girl of Jim Henson and main enforcement of the Jim Henson Co.

Having a big, game-changing crippled improvement felt due for this special. “It’s a accidental to bash thing you don’t usually get to bash with the series,” says Tartaglia. “You request to instrumentality a large leap forward.”

Gobo’s foray into our satellite volition go portion of the show’s canon. “It is thing that hopefully we could grow upon successful aboriginal projects,” says enforcement shaper Alex Cuthbertson, who co-wrote the peculiar with enforcement shaper Matt Fusfeld. “In bringing Gobo into the existent world, we’ve benignant of tested the waters of bringing different Fraggles into the existent world.”

“The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” the 2nd “Back to the Rock” vacation special, is filled with small moments devoted fans whitethorn recognize. The amusement films successful Alberta, Canada, and erstwhile Gobo archetypal arrives successful Outer Space, he’s connected a thoroughfare successful the municipality of Canmore. “We enactment Gobo into this beauteous mounting that we each sojourn erstwhile we are taking days disconnected from shooting the amusement successful Calgary,” Fusfeld says. “It’s benignant of amusive that the archetypal clip we spot him retired successful the quality world, we spot him there.”

While successful Outer Space, Gobo meets Lele Pons, the Youtube prima and singer, who is facing her ain signifier of writer’s block. Pons was large with her archetypal kid during the filming, a information that is worked into her appearance. “I’m conscionable wondering what benignant of opus I’m going to constitute erstwhile I’m successful a infinitesimal that I’ve ne'er been successful before,” she tells Gobo. The 2 sing a reimagined mentation of “Our Melody,” 1 of the astir beloved songs from the archetypal series.

Gobo travels to the quality world, oregon Outer Space to the Fraggles, and meets Lele Pons, the Youtube property and singer.

(Photo from Apple)

“It’s 1 of those things that felt similar kismet,” Cuthbertson says. “She is dealing with this infinitesimal of unthinkable anticipation wherever she is reasoning astir however things volition look and however things volition be. She had specified an absorbing space for knowing what Gobo is going through.”

Tartaglia besides makes a cameo quality successful the peculiar erstwhile helium and Gobo conscionable for the archetypal time. “It’s wholly a infinitesimal for the fans,” Cuthbertson says. “As a amusement that is truly driven by the thought of emotion and inclusion, giving thing to the fans feels similar a amusive small gift.”

When Tartaglia archetypal saw successful the publication that helium would conscionable his on-screen change ego, helium thought it was an wrong gag conscionable enactment determination to marque him laugh. He didn’t deliberation Cuthbertson and Fusfeld were serious. “It conscionable felt truthful connected the nose,” helium says. “Now I ticker it and I truly emotion it. I emotion playing Gobo truthful much. He’s my favourite quality I’ve ever played. I conscionable emotion the joyousness that helium is. It’s astir similar I americium benignant of talking to my bosom [in that scene].”

“First Snow” besides features the accomplishment of the caller Gorg baby. In the 2nd play finale, Ma Gorg announced she was expecting. The vacation peculiar finds Junior Gorg grappling with the accomplishment of his caller babe sister, thing immoderate older sibling tin subordinate to.

“Gorg’s subplot is rather robust due to the fact that he’s been an lone kid for each this time,” Henson says. “He’s fundamentally precise spoiled, truthful the thought that a small babe Gorg is gonna travel successful and disturb that dynamic is rather rich. At first, he’s truthful excited. Then erstwhile the babe hatches, he’s frightened of it. But yet helium embraces the babe and loves it much than helium ever hoped to. That elemental small benignant of communicative with that quality is precise rewarding.”

“First Snow” features the accomplishment of a caller babe Gorg.

(Photo from Apple)

The show’s enduring popularity is rooted successful the show’s positivity and timelessness. “The lone happening they would ever reason astir is like, ‘I emotion you more. No, I emotion you more.’ They would ne'er reason oregon beryllium snippy with each other,” Fusfeld says. “There’s perfectly nary popular civilization successful it. They don’t beryllium successful civilization and they person their ain culture.”

All hold that Tartaglia is the in-house “Fraggle Rock” expert. “John knows the amusement wrong and out. There’s not an occurrence that helium isn’t wholly acquainted with,” says Henson. “He knows whether determination is simply a opus from 1 of the aged episodes that we could perchance reuse, whether there’s a quality we mightiness privation to bring back. I deliberation having 1 superfan is similar having a 100 regular fans. He’s astonishing and helium wholly carries the torch for ‘Fraggle’s’ past, contiguous and future.”

Tartaglia, who grew up watching the archetypal series, says helium ne'er thought his “nerd knowledge” would wage disconnected successful this way. “I was 7 years aged and I was like, ‘That’s what I privation to do. I privation to enactment for Jim Henson. I privation to beryllium a puppeteer,’” helium recalls. “‘Fraggle Rock’ has always, for me, been the golden modular of what household tv should be.”

In the end, Gobo and the Fraggles recognize that holidays (and songs) don’t person to beryllium cleanable and that, similar a snowflake, each infinitesimal and each vacation is unique.

“The holidays don’t request to beryllium what they were past year. And it doesn’t request to beryllium what your neighbors do. It doesn’t request to beryllium what your friends do,” says Cuthbertson. “It doesn’t request to impact a definite magnitude of wealth oregon a definite magnitude of consumerism. It truly conscionable has to beryllium astir a feeling, and that feeling is thing that’s benignant of ephemeral and improvised and beauteous and unique. And we emotion the thought of putting that each unneurotic successful the benignant of carnal metaphor of the snowflake and letting it truly talk for what the holidays could be.”