Christmas classics, Jim Henson, and Futurama's latest full-length make our picks this week

by Eric Rosen

A Christmas Story (Ultimate Collectors Edition), Warner Home Video, PG, $29.99

With such infamous scenes as a kid getting his tongue stuck on a freezing steel pole for a “triple-dog dare,” the narrator’s little brother eating like a “piggy,” and being forced to wear a super-warm but comically constricting snowsuit, and the eye-shooting BB gun, A Christmas Story has become a piece of classic Americana. Now re-released in the Ultimate Collector’s Edition with a bunch of goodies to entice even the stingiest Scrooge, the two-disc set comes in a retro Christmas-cookie tin, with a cookbook inspired by the movie, a red apron, and five cookie cutters, each in A Christmas Story shape (like that unforgettable leg lamp, or Randy in his snowsuit). Special features include audio commentary by director Bob Clark and star Peter Billingsley, triple-dog dare trivia, a decoder-match challenge, and a featurette on the Daisy Red Ryder BB gun, among other snippets.

Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Collection, HIT Entertainment, NR, $109.99

This colorful 20-disc set (that’s right, we said 20), comes with all 96 episodes of Jim Henson’s iconic 80’s children’s show, Fraggle Rock. Henson’s vision for the show was to create a vibrant, imaginary world that still had complex themes like individuality, friendship, the environment, prejudice, and social conflict. The Fraggles, furry three-foot high creatures, interact with the hard-working Doozers and the simple-minded but dangerous giant Gorgs ... all while learning about the lessons of life. Nowadays it is hard to find a children’s show with an emotional core as centered or lively as that of Fraggle Rock. According to Lions Gate, each box set is hand-assembled and takes more than two hours to complete, so you can be sure you’re getting a top-quality product.

Futurama: Bender's Game, 20th Century Fox, NR, $17.99

Though this glib, futuristic animated series was only on the air from 1999 to 2003, it lives on in syndication, as well as in this new feature-length "quest," as the DVD is called. Echoing our own times, fuel prices in the future are on the rise, so the Planet Express crew — featuring Billy West as Philip J. Fry, Katey Sagal as Leela, and John Di Maggio as the robot Bender — sets off to the world’s dark-matter mine for spaceship fuel. Things go awry when the three are swept into a Dungeons & Dragons-like universe where they must face down dangers while skewering sci-fi classics like Star Wars, Star Trek (George Takei makes a cameo), and, of course Lord of the Rings. The DVD has extras like audio commentary, recording-session bloopers and deleted scenes, and a featurette called How to Draw Futurama in 83 Easy Steps, among others. A good buy for older grandkids who like Fox’s lineup of animated shows on Sunday nights.

Shrek the Halls (Widescreen Edition), Paramount, NR, $11.99

Since this holiday installment of the blockbuster film franchise was originally a made-for-TV event, Shrek the Halls is only 22 minutes long, but is filled with hilarity and quirks. The show picks up after the end of the third movie (aptly named Shrek the Third), with Shrek (the voice of Mike Myers) married and the proud father of a passel of baby ogres. He wants to throw his new family the perfect Christmas, but he has no idea how, so he goes to the local bookstore and buys a copy of Christmas for Village Idiots. That’s when Donkey (the voice of Eddie Murphy), Puss in Boots (the voice of Antonio Banderas) and all Shrek’s nosy friends enter the picture — or rather, intrude — and insist on treating Shrek, Fiona (the voice of Cameron Diaz), and the babies to their own special, twisted spins on Christmas.