Episode 301: The Bells of Fraggle Rock

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Gobo thinks the Fraggles' own Solstice holiday, the Festival of the Bells, is a big waste of time. Despite Cantus' warnings, Gobo goes on a journey to find out if the mythical Great Bell at the heart of Fraggle Rock is real. When the Rock slows down in the winter, the Fraggles hold the Festival of the Bells to make sure it keeps moving. As part of the celebration, they ring bells to awaken the Great Bell at the heart of the Rock. They also dress up as a Weebabeast, who used to guard the Great Bell when the Rock was small.
Meanwhile, Doc and Sprocket explore mid-winter holiday traditions from around the world.
==Notes==
* All of the Fraggle Rock seasons began on HBO at the beginning of January, except for the third season, which began a week early so that this solstice episode could air before Christmas. The episode was repeated each year at Christmas time.
* The songs "Weeba Weeba" and "The Festival of the Bells" were both written by Phil Balsam and Steve Whitmire.
* The episode premiered in the UK, on December 22, 1984.
* This episode ends with a reprise of "There's a Promise" over the credits, a departure from other episodes which features an instrumental/scat version of the theme. This marks the first of three times that the regular end theme is being replaced by an alternate song. The other two episodes are "The River of Life" and "Change of Address." This is replaced with the standard closing theme in the Japanese and German versions, while the France European co-production and Spain dub left the alternate closing intact, and the UK co-production used an entirely different special credit sequence.
* This is the only alternate ending to not feature the Fraggle Rock logo before the credits.
* Cantus is unaccompanied by the other minstrels.
* When this episode aired on ABC Family on December 12, 2015, the entire episode was cropped into widescreen format and ran at a 30-frame-rate speed, rather than the original 60-frame-rate. Also, the original visual mention of Henson Associates during the end credits appears unaltered, with the 2008 Jim Henson Company logo being shown after the credits. 
* This episode was paired with Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas for a series of screenings for Fathom Events on December 10 and 16, 2018. 
==International versions==
UK version: The Captain and Sprocket wait for their Christmas dinner to be delivered in the middle of a storm. The opening credits feature a unique shot of the lighthouse interior with decorations while the Captain gives Sprocket a present. The closing credits take place over a still shot of the lighthouse over a choral rendition of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" (omitting the reprise of "There's a Promise").
==Supporting cast==
* Cantus the Minstrel (Jim Henson)
==Songs==
*"Weeba Weeba"
*"There's a Promise"
*"The Festival of the Bells"
==Video releases==
*A Festive Fraggle Holiday! (Jim Henson Video, 1993) — closing credits cut
*Jim Henson Presents Fraggle Rock: The Bells of Fraggle Rock & Blanket of Snow, Blanket of Woe (Virgin Video, 1985)
*Fraggle Rock: Complete Third Season (HIT!, 2007)
*Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection (HIT!, 2008)
*A Merry Fraggle Holiday (Lions Gate Entertainment, 2009)
==International episode titles==
*France: "Les Cloches de Fraggle Rock"
*Germany: "Die Glocken von Fraggle-Rock"
*Japan: "きみのベルを鳴らせ" (Let Your Bell Ring)
*Spain: "Las campanas de Fraggle Rock"
FraggleRockUKChristmas.jpg|UK title
FraggleRockUKChristmas2.png|UK credits
GlockenVonFraggleRockTitle.jpg|German title
FraggleRockJapanese2.png|Japanese title
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301
Bells of Fraggle Rock