''The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas'' is a 1996 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

featuring characters from the 1960s sitcom ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein's monster),Episodes referring to the fact that Herman is ...

''. It featured a different cast from the original series, the 1980s revival series ''

The Munsters Today ''The Munsters Today'' is an American sitcom and a revival of the original 1964–66 sitcom ''The Munsters'' that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988, to June 8, 1991. Plot The series concerns the day-to-day life of a family of benign m ...

'' and the previous 1995 television film '' Here Come the Munsters''. The movie is set around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

time and included character actor

Sandy Baron Sandy Baron (born Sanford Irving Beresofsky; May 5, 1936 – January 21, 2001) was an American actor and comedian who performed on stage, in films, and on television. He is best known for his recurring role of Jack Klompus on the NBC sitcom ''Sein ...

as 'Grandpa'. Baron had played Grandpa's older brother Yorga a few years previously in ''The Munsters Today''.

Plot

The movie begins with son Eddie feeling homesick for

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

. Herman decides a "good old Transylvanian Christmas" is what his troubled son needs to get in the mood for the holidays. Together with the family - including Lily, Grandpa and Marilyn, he sends out invitations to the entire Munster family, including Wolfman,

Mummy A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...

, and the

Gill-Man The Gill-man, commonly called The Creature from The Black Lagoon, or simply The Creature, is the movie monster of the 1954 black-and-white film ''Creature from the Black Lagoon'' and its two sequels '' Revenge of the Creature'' (1955) and '' Th ...

. Herman also asks for a raise from his boss and is fired, taking on other jobs such as modeling nude for an art class, donating blood, and wrapping presents. Meanwhile, on Christmas Eve's eve, one of Grandpa's experiments has gone awry, accidentally transporting

Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Chris ...

and his elves to the Munster Mansion. Christmas faces ruin as there is no way to send Santa home, and the entire family must find a way to save Christmas. Meanwhile, Marilyn falls in love and Lily enters a home decorating contest, with nosy neighbour Edna Dimitty (from the previous Munster movie '' Here Come the Munsters'') causing trouble. Eddie also faces trouble at school from bullies.

Cast

Main cast

Sam McMurray Samuel McMurray (born April 15, 1952) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Supervisor Patrick O'Boyle in the CBS sitcom series ''The King of Queens'', Glen in the Coen Brothers comedy film '' Raising Arizona'', Trent Culpepper in th ...

Herman Munster Herman Munster is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters'', originally played by Fred Gwynne. The patriarch of the Munster household, Herman is one of Frankenstein’s monsters, created in a lab in Germany in the nineteenth ce ...

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as Lily Tomlin does". A f ...

Lily Munster Lily Munster (née Dracula) is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, ''The Munsters'', originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in ''The Munsters ...

Bug Hall Brandon "Bug" Hall (born February 4, 1985) is an American former actor. He is best known for his childhood roles as Alfalfa Switzer in ''The Little Rascals'' (1994), Newt Shaw in '' The Big Green'' (1995), and Buster Stupid in '' The Stupids'' ...

Eddie Munster Eddie Munster is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters''. He was portrayed by Butch Patrick in all episodes of the original series except for the pilot, where he was portrayed by Happy Derman. The only child of Herman and Lily ...

Grandpa Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maxi ...

Elaine Hendrix Katherine Elaine Hendrix (born December 28, 1970) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in ''Dynasty,'' '' Superstar'', '' Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'', the 1995 ''Get Smart'' series, the 1998 remake of '' The Parent Tra ...

as Marilyn

Guest cast

Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...

as Mrs. Edna Dimwitty *

Ed Gale Edward Gale (August 23, 1963 – May 27, 2025) was an American actor, stunt performer and registered sex offender who appeared in films and television series primarily between 1986 and 2013. He was notably the physical performer of Chucky in '' ...

as Larry * Arturo Gil as Lefty * Mark Mitchell as

* Jeremy Callaghan as Tom * John Allen as Mr. Pawlikowski *

Noel Ferrier Noel Ferrier Member of the Order of Australia, AM (20 December 193016 October 1997) was an Australian television personality, comedian, stage and film actor, raconteur, and theatrical producer. He was a regular panelist in Graham Kennedy's popu ...

Door Knocker A door knocker is an item of door furniture that allows people outside a house or other dwelling or building to alert those inside to their presence. A door knocker has a part fixed to the door, and a part (usually metal) which is attached to ...

Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...

as Mr. Gateman *

Kate Fischer Tziporah Atarah Malkah (born Katherine Helen Fischer; 30 November 1973) is an Australian model, actress and TV host. Early life Katherine Helen Fischer was born on 30 November 1973 at the Queen Victoria Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, t ...

as Pretty Girl in Bar * Patricia Howson as Mrs. Matagrano * Dominic Condon as Spooky Onlooker 1 * Jonathan Biggins as Spooky Onlooker 2 * Alan Zitner as Cop * Daniel Kellie as Glen * Michael Hamilton as Hector Barbieri * Malcolm Mudway as Burly Biker * Donald Cook as Quasimoto, the Hunchback * William Ten Eyck as Biker * David Jobling as Art Teacher

Production

Filming

The movie was shot at

Heathcote Hall Heathcote Hall is a heritage-listed private residence at 1–21 Dillwynnia Grove, Heathcote, Sutherland Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Thomas Rowe and built by Abel Harber. It is also known as Heathcote Hall and Grounds ...

, a historic building built in 1887 at

Heathcote, New South Wales Heathcote is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney. Heathcote is bordered by Engadine, New South ...

Broadcast

''The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas'' was originally aired on

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

on December 17, 1996. It was acquired by

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

, and was added to their ''

25 Days of Christmas Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas is an American annual seasonal event of Christmas programming broadcast during the month of December by the U.S. cable network Freeform. The event was first held in 1996, and has been an annual fixture of the chan ...

'' line-up on December 15, 2009. It had been previously shown on the cable network

Fox Family Channel American cable and satellite television network Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes during its history. This article details th ...

, which was later renamed ABC Family.

Home media

It was later released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

on November 6, 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Munsters' Scary Little Christmas 1996 television films 1996 films 1990s science fiction comedy films The Munsters films American Christmas television films American science fiction comedy films Fox Broadcasting Company original films Fox television specials Films produced by John Landis Films shot in New South Wales American science fiction television films Films directed by Ian Emes 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Santa Claus in film 1996 science fiction films English-language science fiction comedy films