Christmas came early this year as D23 celebrated The Muppet Christmas Carol's 30th anniversary.
Director Brian Henson, songwriter Paul Williams, costume designer Polly Smith, Muppet Performer Dave Goelz, joined host Nina West to talk about the film's enduring appeal.
Disney Legend Jodi Benson performed "When Love is Gone."
And Nina West and the Muppets closed the panel with a medley of the movie's songs.
It was also reveled that the full version of the film- including "When Love is Gone" - will debut on Disney+ in December.
You can watch highlights from various perspectives from those in attendance below.
The full version of The Muppet Christmas Carol - including "When Love is Gone" will debut on Disney+ December 11th - exactly 30 years after the film's initial theatrical release.
The Muppet Christmas Carol premiered 25 years ago this week. To celebrate this milestone we scoured the internet, as well as our own our archives, to look at some of the many products and stories related to the movie.
Before the internet, we found out about upcoming movies in these things called newspapers and magazines!
Magazine ad
Cinefantastique
But, much like today, we saw our first real glimpse of the movie in the trailer:
A few weeks before the film was released, Jim Henson Records released the soundtrack,
Which included the songs "Room in Your Heart" and Chairman of the Board" that were scrapped early in the production process. Though they were never filmed, the producers liked the songs enough to include them for the fans.
The Hal Leonard company released the sheet music so you could play the tunes at home.
In addition to the soundtrack a storybook, tape set, and book based on the film of were released as well:
The Muppets appeared on an Ed Sullivan Show Christmas Special to promote the film:
Newspapers ran ads touting critic's praises:
Here's the original review from The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The Disney Channel aired a short behind the scenes special:
Both Taco Bell and Hardee's offered Kids meal toys:
There were TV commercials advertising the film of course:
Golden books released a "big coloring book":
A commemorative magazine was also released:
The following year, The Muppet Christmas Carol was first released for home viewing on VHS and laserdisc.
Where it received even more critical praise and advertisement.
Video stores (remember those) had window clings touting the film's home video release:
Large Window Cling
Small Window Cling
As well as special deals with Pepperidge Farms:
Pepperidge Farm Window Cling
Magazines and Sunday circulares ran ads and reviews for the video:
TV Guide
Philadelphia Inquirer
With all this promotion, The Muppet Christmas Carol VHS was second most bought tape of year, while the laserdisc was the 10th most bought disc.
Entertainment Weekly
Both the VHS and the laserdisc included the song "When Love is Gone" which was omitted from the original theatrical release.
The song was was again omitted from the recent Blu-ray and DVD editions.
The fact that the just the theatrical cut is included is even more mind boggling when you consider that the behind the scenes special included on the disc features a look at the recording of the song!
The face you make when you realize you're watching the theatrical version
Since it's release, film has remained a holiday classic. In 2003, Palisades Toys released figures of the characters from the movie in both Muppet Show red boxes and blue packaging,
and this year's Hallmark Muppet ornament celebrates features Kermit and Robin as from the film:
We'll end our our Muppet Christmas Carol 25thh anniversary celebration with some bloopers and a look at a signed poster for the film:
