The First Snow of Fraggle Rock Is Weird But Cute

The First Snow of Fraggle Rock Is For Series Fans

The First Snow of Fraggle Rock is super cute, but it’s not what I hoped it would be. I assumed that this was an introduction to whatever Fraggle Rock is for people who have never seen it—which includes me. And while the opening scene did give me some broad character traits for the Fraggles to go off of, and their general goals for this storyline, that was the last time I had any idea what to expect from The First Snow of Fraggle Rock. I was thrown into confusion and chaos.

Perhaps that will amuse you; perhaps that will annoy you. But here we are. You might as well enjoy my befuddlement and shots in the dark. As near as I can tell, Fraggles are small cave-dwelling creatures who live alongside a vast and varied biosphere of smaller animals, including a gnome-like race of inventors/builders and some weird plants and bugs. If everything weren’t adorable puppetry imbued with amazing technical skill, it would be kind of horrific, but instead it’s so dang charming I was kind of just enjoying the show.

These Practical Effects Are Great Without Context

This isn’t because it’s narratively rich or anything, though. The First Snow of Fraggle Rock plays out like many, many other kids shows for younger viewers, where most of the conflicts are stated up front, there are some misadventures, a character gets advice from an older character, and then the remaining conflicts are resolved in short order. It’s very predictable in its broad strokes. If it weren’t for a mix of quite good jokes, fun-if-basic songs, and silly interactions, I would’ve been bored with the main storyline. If it weren’t for everything following dream logic, I would’ve been annoyed by the main storyline.

But that’s not all of what The First Snow of Fraggle Rock is. For only being 30 minutes or so, it’s really chaotic with its scenes—and I assume it’s like that out of loyalty to the original series. That’s the only reason that makes sense for it to so often cut away to the human scientist and puppet dog or the life-sized royalty puppets. They both have their own micro-stories that play out in three or four scenes. I didn’t dislike either story; they just didn’t seem relevant to the (very spelled out) themes of the Fraggle stuff. But I’m sure established fans of Fraggle Rock would’ve been sad to not have them included.

And that really wraps it up. There’s just the usual question. Do I recommend this or not? You could show this to kids who have no idea what Fraggle Rock is, and they would likely enjoy it. It’s cute singing puppets. If you’re a fan of the original series, The First Snow of Fraggle Rock is made for you, so you should also watch it. It’s nostalgic, cute singing puppets. If you have no idea what this series is, it’s still pleasant and fits the holiday season, but I’d only watch it if you appreciate the art form of elaborate puppetry.

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• Friday Fiction: It’s Starting to Snow (Part 1)