A Christmas special created and directed by Ralph Bakshi which aired on Nickelodeon in 1988. It's loosely based on a comic strip Bakshi had created in his youth called "Junktown" and was originally the pilot to a series that never materialized.
A girl named Debbie finds a strange book, which sucks her, her Little Miss Muffet doll, and Dog, her stuffed dog, into the realm of Tattertown, where discarded items—including Muffet and Dog—come to life.
While Dog remains loyal to Debbie, Muffet, who has long felt oppressed by the wear and tear of being a toy, runs away. Muffet eludes Debbie and, calling herself Muffet the Merciless, makes up her mind to conquer Tattertown, with the aid of Sidney the Spider, who had attempted to take over Tattertown before. Sidney takes Muffet to the "Deadster Zone", located outside of Tattertown and inhabited by the unsavory rejected items (such as war toys). Muffet recruits these inhabitants as goons into her army.
Meanwhile, Debbie decides to introduce the concept of Christmas to Tattertown. But unknown to her, Muffet, disguised as Santa Claus, is planning an air raid.
Contains examples of:
- Ambiguously Jewish: The Christmas tree who owns the comic book store speaks with a Yiddish accent and rhetorically asks, "Why would I know anything about Christmas?!"
- Animate Inanimate Object: Everyone in Tattertown except Debbie.
- Bad Santa: Muffet, trying to conquer Tattertown, disguises herself as Santa Claus and Sidney as a reindeer.
- Big Bad: Muffet, who's the most antagonistic character in the special and tries to conquer Tattertown.
- Bizarre Taste in Food: At one point, Muffet is about to enjoy a piece of tobacco pie. It even has cigarette butts sticking out of it.
- Clothes for Christmas Cringe: Debbie, chasing Muffet, tells her she's got a new dress for her. While the dress is not stated to be a Christmas present, Muffet reacts with disgusted noises.
- A Dog Named "Dog": Debbie's dog is called simply "Dog".
- Falling into Jail: During the air raid, Debbie decides to make one last effort to show the residents of Tattertown what Christmas is. She finds an old phonograph and plays Bing Crosby's rendition of "White Christmas" on it. Sidney stops flying in mid-air to listen, sending Muffet, who's riding on his back, crashing into the town jail.
- Giant Spider: Sidney, who's big enough for Muffet to ride.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: Debbie loves Dog, especially when he comes to life after landing in Tattertown.
- The Grinch: Muffet hates Christmas because it's the day she was given to Debbie, kicking off a life of being stuffed into new outfits and being made to sit at tea parties, helpless to protest or run away. She decides to dress as Santa and sabotage Debbie's efforts to introduce Christmas to Tattertown.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Golden Age cartoon stars Flip the Frog and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit can be seen sitting together in a bar, both off-model and unnamed. Oswald also appears early in the film via his trolley. Early Looney Tunes star Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid also makes a brief appearance. Krazy Kat and Ignatz also made appearances. Popeye's silhouette appeared near to the end of the special.
- Let There Be Snow: On hearing "White Christmas", Sidney bursts into tears, then begins sprinkling boxes of soap flakes downward to bring snow to Tattertown.
- Living Toys: Muffet and Dog, among others.
- Narrator: Miles, a saxophone residing in Tattertown, tells the story.
- Only Sane Man:
- Muffet can't stand the wacky antics of the citizens of Tattertown.
- Downplayed with Debbie. While there are times when Tattertown's wackiness can get on her nerves, Debbie has more tolerance than Muffet.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Muffet dons a Santa suit, but it's obvious who she is, especially with her blonde ringlets sticking out from under the hat. Sidney's disguise is hardly better: it consists only of a few bells and a reindeer-antler headband.
- Perma-Stubble: Muffet, despite being female.
- Perverse Puppet: Muffet, a doll who tries to conquer Tattertown.
- Plot-Triggering Book: The strange book Debbie finds sucks her, Dog, and Muffet into Tatterown. Muffet then runs away from Debbie and plots to conquer Tattertown.
- Sliding Scale of Living Toys: Before landing in Tattertown, Muffet is immobile but still sentient. She spends her days being stuffed by Debbie into new outfits and being made to sit at tea parties, helpless to protest or run away. As Miles explains...Miles: She was always dressing her up, sometimes just for fun. But her fun, not Muffet's.
- Super-Sargasso Sea: Tattertown. Miles puts it best.Miles: Tattertown is the elephant's graveyard for junk, where all forgotten objects come to rest.
[The streetlight he's leaning on suddenly gets up and walks away.]
Miles: But as you can see, nothing rests around here. An amazing thing happens to some of the things that find their way here—they become alive. - Tears of Joy: Muffet, when she first lands in Tattertown, sheds these on realizing she can move and speak.
