The Star of Christmas

"*Giving up something for someone when they don't deserve it, when there's nothing in it for you; that's love. Going to someone who needs help when you won't get nothing back; that's love.*"
— Lila telling Heather about love

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**The Star of Christmas** is the VeggieTales special presentation, marked as the show's twelfth episode and the second Christmas special. It is a sequel to A Charlie Brown Christmas.

## Plot

The story is set in London in the year 1882, where jingle writers Heather Francesca Wold and Charlie Brown are admiring the work they've been doing for Durling's Dental Wax. However, while Charlie Brown is proud of what they've been doing, Heather, on the other hand, is depressed, because their careers aren't going anywhere. The reason for this is because Heather is concerned of the lack of love and peace that's been going on in London. Heather then says that if she could do one thing, she could really teach all of London how to love, but she doesn't know how to do that. Heather then looks in the newspaper that Linus is holding, which shows an ad for inventions by the famed inventor Hop Sing, which gives her an idea.

Later, Heather and Charlie Brown have rented a theater from Lucy van Pelt, thanking her for letting them borrow the theater. Lucy then tells them that she'll think of something before she says goodbye to them and takes Snoopy to the vet and get his dog examinations, to which Heather says "I bought a whole chocolate factory with no money down!". After Lucy leaves, Heather and Charlie Brown are now waiting for Hop Sing to show up, which Mimi fearing that maybe the new invention that Hop Sing had failed to work, or that he sold it someone else, or that it blew up. However, she is proven wrong when Hop Sing (played by Franklin) shows up in his brand new invention, a rocket-powered car (which looks identical to the one from *Chitty Chitty Bang Bang*). Hop Sing then explains to Heather and Charlie Brown how it works, with Charlie Brown asking if he would take it for a spin. Just as Charlie Brown is about to get in the car, Heather stops him, telling him that their play entitled "The Princess and the Plumber" (a hybrid of *Super Mario Bros.* and *The Nutcracker*) opens on Christmas Eve, but they have one problem because Charlie Brown Brown never finished writing it, because he is stuck on a rhyme, the word in question being "possum". Heather then asks Hop Sing if he brought the equipment necessary for the play, which Hop Sing did, before Heather then tells Charlie Brown to finish the script for the play.

When Charlie Brown says that he'll try, Heather responds, "No! We're not gonna try, Charlie Brown, no, we're gonna do it this time!" Heather then says that she's not going back to writing ads for Durling's dental wax again, before she starts singing "This Is Our Big Break", singing about how she and Charlie Brown are going to get their chance at stardom. When Charlie Brown asks what's in the box, Heather tells him that in this modern age, it's not enough to have a great story anymore but to show the audience something that they've never seen before, which is electric lights on the scenery itself, as opposed to just on the outside of the building. When Charlie Brown asks Hop Sing if he can do that, with Charlie Brown answering that it's a fire hazard. Heather then says that when it's your big break, sometimes you just have to take chances, which Schroeder agrees with. Heather then sings once again about taking a chance because they're running out of time. Heather then tells Charlie Brown to find that rhyme. Heather then asks Schroeder if he has any luck with the crown prince, to which Schroeder replies that he's on the phone with him right now. Hop Sing is surprised when he realizes that Heather is referring to the crown prince himself, Prince Frederick, which Heather confirms, "heir to throne and England's number one theater critic." Heather is certain that a good word from the prince will make the show be a hit in London. When Hop Sing asks if the prince is coming, Heather answers that he will when he sees what a spectacle the show is as well as the fact that it stars his favorite actress, Effie Pickering (played by Madame Blueberry, which is the first appearance in the 1998 episode). Hop Sing is surprised that Effie is in the musical, but Heather nervously replies, "Not yet exactly." Schroeder then pipes up that Effie is in Heather's office, which surprises Heather.

Heather then enters her office, where she finds Effie Pickering waiting while drinking tea. Heather is glad to see Effie, while Effie tells her to cut to the chase. Effie then tells Heather that she has two minutes to convince her to be in "The Princess and the Plumber" (which she mispronounces as "The Princess and the Plum"). Heather corrects her, telling her that "a plum is a fruit, while a plumber is a skilled laborer who works on pipes". Heather then explains the plot of the story to Effie, telling her that the play is about a sad princess and a kindly plumber and the power of love. She then explains that on the night before Christmas, the Princess's sink backs up so she calls for the Plumber, which unbeknownst to him, the Princess's pipes are actually magic pipes. Back in the main room, four beagles dressed up as fairies sing that they are the fairy beagles and that they like to eat strawberry cheese, which Charlie Brown praises, saying that it's going in. Heather then explains the rest of the story to Effie, while Schroeder is still talking on the phone with the Prince. When Heather tells Effie that the show will have electric lights, Effie tells her that the Royal Theater has electric lights too, Heather tells her that the show will have lights on the scenery, which surprises Effie, before she asks if they can do that, to which Heather confidently replies "Oh yeah." Effie then asks if the crown prince will be there, because the show will fail without a good word from the crown prince. Heather is about to say that the prince will be there, before she comes back out into the main room again, where Schroeder is still talking with the crown prince.

Charlie Brown is still trying to find a rhyme for "possum," when Heather and Schroeder confront each other to which Heather tells him to tell her that the prince is coming, with Schroeder answering, "If Miss Pickering is in, the Prince is in." Heather then says that if the Prince is in, then Miss Pickering is in as well, before she returns to her office again and tells Effie that the Prince will most definitely be at the show, to which Effie then consents that she will be the in show, which Heather is happy about. Heather then tells Effie that a lot of people in London show a lack of love and that a spectacular show will help to teach them to love. Effie then leaves after that, with Heather satisfied that Effie is in the show at last. Schroeder also confirms that the Prince is coming as well. Heather then tells Charlie Brown that they need the rhyme for the show, before Charlie Brown is finally able to come up with a rhyme for "possum," which is "blossom." Charlie Brown then proceeds to sing, "Oh, Plumber, you dropped your possum! Yes, Princess, I think it is true! I was hoping our love might blossom! But the possum is eating my shoe," which Heather praises as gold. Heather and Charlie Brown then sing about it being their first big break and that they will be sure to teach all of London how to really love on Christmas Eve. However, the duo then discover a flyer advertising a Christmas pageant being held at St. Bart's Church, which is to be on the same day as Heather and Charlie Brown's play.

At St. Bart's Church, Sally Brown is overseeing production for the pageant, trying to get the other kids to help out with the pageant, such as setting up the flyers for the pageant, and getting the costumes all ready. Sally's boyfriend, Linus van Pelt, shows up, asking Sally how it's going, to which Sally answers that it's going pretty good, before stating that they're a little behind schedule but tells him that they'll be sure to catch up if she helps out. Linus then tells Sally that a Christmas pageant doesn't have to be a huge spectacle, before he explains to Sally the story of Christmas, about how God sent to Earth his only son Jesus to give love to everyone on Earth. Linus then tells Sally that the Church Committee decided that he would use the Star of Christmas in the pageant, as long as she's really careful with it. Sally is happy, telling Sally that it will be really great. Linus is about to leave, when he nearly bumps into Heather, who was overhearing everything in the church.

Heather then leaves the church, trying to assure herself that it's just a bunch of kids putting on a church play, before she starts wondering what a Star of Christmas is. At that moment, Lucy van Pelt overhears what Heather said and explains to her about the history of the Star of Christmas, before he rushes off to tell the newspapers about the discovery that the Star of Christmas will be appearing in the Christmas Pageant at St. Bart's Church. Heather says that the Post Gazette won't pay any attention to a little Christmas Pageant, but she is proven wrong when the story is published anyway in the Post Gazette. Linus then reads the story about the Star of Christmas being used in the Christmas Pageant, before elatedly stating that they should go see it, before Charlie Brown states that it's the same night as "The Princess and the Plumber." Heather then says that in order for their show to be a big hit, they'll need a good word from the Prince, just as the phone rings, before CHarlie Brown goes to answer it. The caller turns out to be Prince Frederick, who says that he won't be coming to see Heather and Charlie Brown's play after all, which shocks Heather.

Despite all that's happened, Heather states that this was their big chance and that they were going to put on a show so beautiful and so well-lit that it was going to show London how to love. Heather then indignantly shows Charlie Brown and Hop Sing the door, at first mistakenly opening the closet door, before she opens the correct door. Hop Sing tells Heather to shut the door and that they're with her, which Heather is happy to hear. Heather then says that the show must go on before saying that they need the prince in order for their show to be a hit. At first, Hop Sing suggests that they kidnap the Prince, before asking Charlie Brown if that's legal, to which Charlie Brown answers that it isn't. Charlie Brown then says that the only way for the Prince to really give the show a good word is that it's better than the Star of Christmas, which Heather realizes it a good idea, saying that it's their only chance to save the show. Heather then says that they have to make the show even more spectacular with bigger songs, bigger sets, and most of all, lots more lights.

Soon, the sets and the lights are now being worked on, before Charlie Brown has the players take it from the top. Effie as the Princess thanks the Plumber in song for coming, before the Plumber (played by Larry the Cucumber) tells the Princess to show him where the problem is and that he'll fix it on the double. Charlie Brown then praises the song, which Heather agrees with, before asking Hop Sing how he's doing with the lights, to which Hop Sing replies that he got more lights but there isn't any more room on the scenery for them. Heather then thinks a while before she sees one of the beagles balancing one of the lights on his nose, before she says, "Who says we can only put them on the scenery?" which makes Hop Sing nervous. The Plumber then sings "Your pipes are corroded, the water won't drain, your toilet exploded, you're flushing in vain." Heather then asks Hop Sing how it's going with the lights. When Hop Sing tries to light on a light bulb that's on the head of one beagle, the light bulb shorts out, which causes that beagle to feel dizzy before falling off the stage. Heather then decides to give the Prince another call.

While Heather is on the phone with the Prince, Hop Sing has her wear a light bulb hat that he's working on. Once Heather has gotten hold of the Prince, she explains to him that the play is more impressive now, telling him that the songs are bigger, the sets are bigger, and that they'll have electric lights on the costumes as well. Heather is then interrupted by the Prince who tells him to sing the jingle for Durling's dental wax, which goes "For happy Jills and happy Jacks, using Durling's famous dental wax." After Heather finishes talking with the Prince, Charlie Brown asks Heather what he said, to which Heather answers that the only way the Prince would come to the show is if they had a Star of Christmas. Charlie Brown then asks how they could have a Star of Christmas, and that there's only one and that it's at the church, and is wondering how they could have it if there's only one. Of course, this gives Heather an idea, at the same time that the light bulb on the hat she is wearing lights up. Hop Sing was successful in getting the light bulb hat to work, before noticing Heather's devious expression.

Meanwhile, at St. Bart's Church, Linus is talking with Moyer (played by Scooter Carrot), thanking him for helping with the ladies' temperance league dinner, to which Moyer quips that for being temperamental, they sure can eat. Linus then asks Moyer if he put the Star of Christmas in the cabinet, which Moyer says that he did but he is rather nervous about leaving it out all night, before saying that there are desperate characters who would love to get their hands on it. Linus tells Moyer to "have faith in your fellow man" and tells Moyer that anyone who wanted the Star would have to go through him first. Moyer then says that his fighting days are behind him now, even in spite of Linus reminding him of when he was second runner-up for Prize Fighting Champ. Linus then says that they'll lock up the church good and tight before he leaves afterwards, leaving Moyer all alone in the church. It turns out that Heather and Charlie Brown had snuck into the church before the doors were locked, before they proceed to approach the cabinet where the Star of Christmas is kept. Charlie Brown says that he doesn't feel very good about the Star, but Heather tells him that they're not stealing the Star, but borrowing it, and once they're done with it after the Prince gives their play a good word, they'll bring the Star back. After opening the box that the Star of Christmas is kept in, Heather is amazed by it, while Charlie Brown says that it looks like a turtle. Heather then says that she doesn't care if it looks like a chicken on a bicycle and that it's what the Prince was to says, so she tells Charlie Brown to grab it so that they can leave. Charlie Brown then grabs the box, but while leaving, the tablecloth gets hooked on the back of his shirt, which causes him to unknowingly pull the tablecloth from behind him, which surprises Heather when she sees what's about to happen.

From outside the church, there is a loud crash, which wakes up Moyer, who asks who goes there. Heather and Charlie Brown try to escape from the church, before they find themselves face to face with Moyer, who then discovers that they've got the Star of Christmas, which angers him. Heather and Charlie Brown run as fast as they can to escape from Moyer's wrath, but they find that the front doors for the church are locked, so they have no other choice now but to run up the attic stairs, with Moyer close behind them. Heather and Charlie Brown find that there are no more stairs, before Heather notes that the lift at the top of the attic must go somewhere, just as Moyer is still closing in on them. When Heather walks onto the lift, it then falls down while she is on it, before falling past Moyer, who then goes back down the stairs after her. The lift then crashes down to the bottom of the attic. When Charlie Brown asks Heather if she's okay, he winds up bumping into a shelf that some bells are kept on, which causes the bells to fall onto the basket that pulls the lift back up with Heather still on it, going past Moyer again, before she starts going up the stairs once again. Once Heather is back up to the top of the attic again, she is rather dizzy, before noticing a ladder in front. When Charlie Brown is apprehensive about climbing up the ladder, Heather asks him if he would rather stay with Moyer, to which Charlie Brown then starts up the ladder, with Heather behind him. Moyer is able to catch up to the ladder, which then starts to tilt backwards with Heather and Charlie Brown on it, before Heather and Charlie Brown end up falling out the top window of the church and land into a laundry cart that was being pulled by a tradesman (played by Scallion # 3). The cart then rolls backwards, with Heather and Charlie Brown laughing about how they're lucky to be alive after falling out of the bell tower. Heather then asks if they're moving, before the cart then crashes off-screen after that.

Back at the theater, Mimi and Linus have returned while looking very bruised and beat up from what happened, while the Plumber asks if they want to talk about it. Mimi answers "No," but says that she does want to see the closing number in the most spectacular musical that London has ever seen. Mimi then recaps that the Plumber has defeated the Monkey King in a plunger duel while the Sugar Plumber Fairy has turned the wicked Building Inspector into a newt, and that the Princess realizes that the Plumber is the one that she's been in love with all along. The final song then starts up, with the Princess and the Plumber singing that they've loved each other all along and that their love will flow like water running down the drain and will shine like a star, showing the Star of Christmas, which looks suspiciously like a turtle. Hop Sing then turns on the lights that have been placed on the scenery and on the player's costumes, but unfortunately the excess power for the lights causes one of the switches to emit a spark which then catches the curtains on fire and engulfs the theater in flames, as everyone evacuates, but the Star of Christmas also ends up getting lost in the flames as well.

The next morning, the theater has been burned down, with Mimi and Linus disappointed that their one chance to put on a spectacular play has literally gone up in flames. To make matters worse, they are then approached by Moyer, who has the Constable (played by Bob the Tomato) arrest Mimi and Linus for theft of the Star of Christmas, and are thrown into jail as a result. Mimi is upset that she and Linus have to spend Christmas Eve in jail, before Linus then sits down to play a harmonica that he apparently had with him all along. Mimi then says that all she wanted was to teach London how to love, before she and Linus hear a girl voice say "Teach London? How to love?" There, they meet a sadness birthday girl named Lila, who asks the duo how they were going to do that. Mimi then answers that they were going to do it with a spectacular stage show with great songs, costumes, and lots of electric lights, before Lila starts laughing at the prospect of using light bulbs to teach London how to love, before sarcastically telling them that they could teach London to read with light bulbs if they were in night school. Lila then tells Mimi that she's more likely to teach a horse to fly than to teach London how to love. When Mimi asks Lila if anyone has been nice to her, Lila answers that someone will be nice to you when they want something from you. Lila then goes on to tell Mimi that she's real nice to his actors when he needs them, but that isn't love, then says that giving up something for someone when they don't deserve it, when there's nothing in it for you is love. Then, she says that going to someone when he needs help but you won't get anything back is love. Of course, Lila then says that he never saw anything like that around where she came from. Lila then concludes that you can't teach a girl to love because it's not in her nature, before she then has another good laugh about the prospect of using light bulbs to teach London to love.

The Constable then approaches then jail cell, telling Mimi, Linus, and Lila that it's dinnertime, then wishes them a happy Christmas Eve, before telling Mimi and Linus that they have some visitors, which Mimi thinks is Charlie Brown. Sally and Peggy Jean then enter the room, which Mimi and Linus are surprised about, as Mimi asks what they're doing at the jail. Mimi then thinks that Sally and Peggy Jean are mad at her and Linus about the Star of Christmas, but Peggy Jean tells her that they're not going to yell at her, before explaining that it was Sally's idea to come and bail Mimi and Linus out of jail. She then explains that she's been teaching Sally about how God gave to us his only son Jesus, and that he's named as Emmanuel, God with us, because he loved us. When Mimi asks what that means, Sally replies that it means that they aren't going to press charges. Peggy Jean adds that they're forgiving Mimi and Linus, and that the judge says that they can go. Mimi and Linus are happy about this, while Lila is a little bit bitter about what she just witnessed.

Once Mimi and Linus have been released from jail, they are happy that Sally and Peggy Jean have bailed them out from jail. Mimi then says that since she and Linus don't have anything else to do, they can go see the pageant at the church, but Peggy Jean says that the pageant starts in 10 minutes and that it took them more than to hour to get to the police station. When Mimi asks how they're going to get back in time, Peggy Jean asks that they weren't, before Mimi realizes that Sally and Peggy Jean gave up the pageant for her and Linus. Of course, Charlie Brown then shows up in his rocket car once again, before wondering why Mimi and Linus why they aren't in jail. Linus then tells Charlie Brown that it's time for him to let him take the rocket car for a ride. Soon, Mimi, Linus, Sally, and Peggy Jean are now seated in the rocket car, with Charlie Brown explaining to Linus that Rockets 1 through 5 got burned up arriving at the police station and that Rockets 6 through 10 should be able to get them to the church, before warning Linus not to use Rocket 11 because it never has been tested. Charlie Brown also adds that the brakes only work on the ground, with Mimi saying that she didn't know that that was optional. When Charlie Brown asks them where they're going, Linus says "We've gotta make it to the church on time!" before the rocket car then takes off, with Charlie Brown quipping that it just gets weirder and weirder.

The rocket car then zooms down the streets of London, before Linus is able to steer the car in order to dodge some wagons, but the rocket car crashes into a wagon being pulled by the same trader that was pulling the laundry cart, to which that cart was full of hats. The rocket car then crashes into a bakery, to which Mimi has doughnuts on her eyes, Peggy Jean and Sally are up to their necks in a pile of bread, and Linus has lemon danishes covering the lenses of the goggles he is wearing. The rocket car next crashes through a bank, which picks up a confused banker (who may be Art Bigotti), which scares Peggy Jean. Linus is about to take a shortcut through the crystal palace, but the others dissuade him from it so he goes the other way. With the rocket car now down to Rocket 10, the group is now approaching the drawbridge, but unfortunately for them, the drawbridge then starts lifting up, just as the last rocket has now started to die, leaving the group dead in the water. Peggy Jean and Sally thank Mimi and Linus for trying, with Mimi disappointed that they're all out of rockets. However, Linus notes that they're not completely out of rockets, so he activates Rocket 11, which the others tell him not to do, but he says, "Mimi, the show must go on!" before Rocket 11 then fires up, sending the rocket car forward and propelling them up into the air as they fly over the entire city of London, right towards the church.

At the church, Moyer is greeting everyone who has come to attend the Christmas Pageant, including Prince Frederick (played by Pa Grape), before Moyer tells him that he's really in for a treat tonight. The rocket car then starts to descend towards the ground, right towards the church before it starts bouncing across the ground, just as Moyer then has gotten everyone inside the church, before he notices the rocket car coming towards the church. The rocket car then crashes to the ground, sending Mimi, Linus, Sally, Peggy Jean, and the banker flying towards the church doors, to which Moyer jumps out of the way. The group is then able to make it inside the church after that. Once the group has landed inside the church, everyone inside then starts applauding after that. Edmund then says that it's time to put on a pageant, before Cavis tells him that they don't have the Star of Christmas, but Edmund tells him that they do and that he didn't steal the real star of Christmas, which confuses Cavis. Edmund then tells him that the Star of Christmas isn't something you can steal, and that it isn't something at all, referring to the baby Jesus. Cavis and Milward understand this, before Edmund tells them that he does need a new Star of Bethlehem and asks them to help me out, to which Cavis and Milward agree to do.

Soon, the pageant has started, with Edmund narrating that Joseph and Mary have come up from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and that they were expecting a baby. He also explains that after the baby was born, he was wrapped in cloth and placed in a manger because there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. Edmund also narrates that out in a nearby field, some shepherds were watching over their flocks of sheep, when they were approached by an angel, which frightens them. But the angel tells them not to be afraid because he brings them news that Christ the savior has been born. Edmund then explains that after Jesus was born, three Wisemen came from the East to Jerusalem and asked where the one has been born to the Jews and that they saw his star and have come to worship him. However, nothing happens, before Cavis realizes his and Milward's cue. Seconds later, Milward is on the prop star, with Cavis using the lift from the attic to lift up the star, before Edmund concludes that all this took place to what the prophet has said; that she will give birth to a son and that they will call him Emmanuel, God with us. Everyone starts applauding, while Cavis watches on, saying that he understands, which Reverend Gilbert is curious about, before Cavis states that there is only one story that can teach us how to love, which is the story of the first Christmas. However, when Cavis hops off the lift, it also causes Milward to fall to the floor after that.

After the pageant is over, Cavis and Milward hop out from the church, before they are confronted by Ebenezer Nezzer, who is not happy from hearing about what happened to his theater. Mr. Nezzer then tells them that they are to work for him in his factory until it's paid off, just as Edmund and Reverend Gilbert show up after that. After Mr. Nezzer leaves, Prince Frederick then shows up, praising Edmund for his performance, before telling Cavis and Milward that that star was their finest work since dental wax. However, Moyer then shows up, which frightens Cavis and Milward again, before Moyer shows everyone that he has found the real Star of Christmas, which had been in his sock drawer the whole time. Cavis then asks him what they took, to which Moyer answers that it was their other most famous relic, the Turtle of Damascus, which most people believed to be a hoax, before Milward tells Cavis, "Told you it looked like a turtle." Reverend Gilbert says that all things considered, things worked out pretty well, before Prince Frederick tells Cavis and Milward that he wants to talk to them about their next production, but Cavis says that he has one more thing that he needs to do first. Later, it turns out that Cavis and Milward have gone back down to the police station to do something nice for Mr. Pincher. This involves Milward hanging up a Christmas wreath on the wall and gives Mr. Pincher a Christmas present, while Cavis gives Mr. Pincher a plate of cookies and hot cocoa, before warmly telling him "Merry Christmas, Mr. Pincher." Mr. Pincher is happy that someone is kind enough to show him love and do something for him out of kindness, before the episode ends.

## Characters

* Heather Francesca Wold
* Charlie Brown
* Sally Brown
* Madame Blueberry/Effie Pickering
* Linus van Pelt
* Lucy van Pelt
* Lydia
* Pa Grape/Prince Frederick
* Larry the Cucumber/Plumber
* Bob the Tomato/Constable
* Little Pigtailed Girl
* Lucy van Pelt
* Rerun van Pelt
* The Beagles
* Marcie (*picture cameo*)
* Peppermint Patty (*picture cameo*)
* Schroeder
* Lila
* Franklin/Hop Sing
* Scooter Carrot/Moyer
* Birthday Girl
* The Peach *(picture cameo)*
* Art Bigotti *(possible appearance)*

## Voice Cast

* Lauren Schaffel as Heather Wold (Little Red-Haired Girl), Lydia, and Little Pigtailed Girl
* Wesley Singerman as Charlie Brown
* Megan Taylor Harvey as Sally Brown and Lila
* Jamie Cronin as Lucy van Pelt
* Corey Padnos as Linus van Pelt
* Megan Moore Burns as Madame Blueberry
* Jimmy Bennett as Rerun van Pelt
* Christopher Ryan Johnson as Schroeder
* Jake Miner as Franklin
* Phil Vischer as Bob the Tomato and Pa Grape
* Mike Nawrocki as Larry the Cucumber and Jerry Gourd
* Jim Poole as Scooter Carrot

## Songs

* Our First Big Break
* Flushing in Vain
* Durling’s Dental Wax Song
* Plugged Up Love
* O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

## Home media

*Main article: The Star of Christmas/Home Video*
## Fun Facts

### Morals

* True love is putting someone else's needs above yours.
* Don't take other people's stuff without their permission.
* Teaching love doesn’t have to be a big spectacle. It can just be the simplest of things.

### Explanations

* Dental wax (commonly known as orthodontic wax) is used to prevent and treat irritation between the lips, gums and cheeks.
* A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top (not covered) with pastry.

### Trivia

* The episode's original title was "The Star That Saved Christmas", but was changed at the last minute.
* This was the first episode for several things:
	+ The first appearance of Madame Blueberry since the 1998 episode.
	+ The first episode Joseph Sapulich provided the voice actors.
	+ The first episode of Heather Wold and Charlie Brown's relationship.
	+ The first episode not composed by Kurt Heinecke.
	+ The first time Pa Grape smiles since his debut.
	+ The first episode where Snoopy plays the secondary character along with Woodstock.
* This is the last episode for several things:
	+ The last episode where Larry has a lisp.
	+ The last episode to be animated in Softimage.
	+ The last episode to use the Palatino font for the end credits.
	+ The last episode to have Little Red-Haired Girl, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, Franklin, Schroeder and Rerun van Pelt to be animated in Softimage.
	+ The last VeggieTales episode (and Big Idea Production in general) to be produced in the 1990s.
* This was the only episode in the entire series to air on PBS Kids. It was aired on that channel in December 2002.
* This is the first time Charlie Brown had a bruised eye.
* There are some differences between the pre-production and the final version:
	+ The concept art shows Heather in her new outfit, although she never wore it in the final.
	+ In the script, Charlie Brown was going to say "Possum, vlossum, plossum, vossum...". This was absent in the final.
	+ Originally there are going to have Nutcracker warriors similar to the Mouse King's armies as shown in concept art from the 1998 teaser trailer. This was scrapped for an unknown reasons.
	+ Charlie Brown never got a bruised eye when he and Heather got injured after escaping the church.
	+ Originally in the storyboards and concept art, it was going to be an entirely new model for Prince Frederick's Sushi chef. That was probably Hop Sing.
	+ There was going to be a scene where Heather is hiding for 20 seconds after Marcie locks up the church, but was cut due to time constraints.
* In some airings on Smile of a Child, some scenes were removed, including Heather's sinister smile after the fearie hat light lights up.
* The numbers on Heather and Charlie Brown's plaques are the actual birth dates of both the comic strip.
* The episode was originally going to be released on December 22, 1998, but was rescheduled back to July 27, 1999. This is possibly that the episode wasn't able to release in production until they finished it in late summer.
	+ Funny enough, the script for this episode was finalized in 1998.
* This is the second episode not to feature Marcie, though she appeared as a picture cameo.
* This is the first episode where Peppermint Patty is not present. However like Marcie, she has a picture cameo obscured in the background.
* There exists an extremely rare early 2002 VHS reprint of this episode by Lyrick Studios/HiT Entertainment. It has a black tape with a white ink label, and it has a print date of March 15, 2002.

### Remarks

* Even though there are songs in the special, it's not a musical. It's a film about producing a musical.
* It'd be very unlikely all the townspeople could fit on Charlie Brown's rocket carriage at its size.
* Heather and Charlie Brown were injured from after escaping the theater, but their injuries vanished after being bonded out.
* After the rocketcar passed the Tradesman with the wagon of hats, he was seen again when Linus was going through the second street.
* The portrait of Effie Pickering is clearly a still image if you watch this special on a computer.
* According to the script, Prince Fredrick wasn't the crown prince at the time. The reason why was because he didn't want to portray the real crown prince as a Jewish grape.
* When the episode was remastered in 2003, the brightness and gamma of the picture was adjusted to a slightly higher level, possibly due to the church's walls being too dark to be barely seen in the original version.
	+ As of DVD releases, the original master of the episode (with darker picture brightness) is still on the Holiday Double Feature VHS.
* What does T.W.B.A.K.H (The Wanted Brothers at King of Hearts) have to do with the abbreviation for The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk?
	+ T.W.B.A.K.H in this case would actually stand for "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk", not "The Wanted Brothers at King of Hearts".
* The previews option has a preview for the episode itself.

### Fixed Goofs/Goofs

* In the opening scene, when Heather hands Charlie Brown a newspaper, Heather's headband clips through her hair.
* In the opening scene of London, the birds' wings clip through their bodies.
* Some red lines on Heather's mouth can be seen when she walks to Charlie Brown. This could be from her hair clipping through her mouth when she looks up.
* In the original version, when Hop Sing is on his rocket car passing through the townspeople, his shirt turns red before returning to its orange color upon his arrival. Though this was fixed in the 2000 version, a goof was introduced which sees Hop Sing clipping into his seat during the shot.
* Heather's headband clips into her head when she tells Linus to write like the wind.
* In the original version, while Heather sings about the first big break, both she and Charlie Brown's mouths move. This was corrected in the 2000 version in that Charlie Brown's mouth no longer moves and only Heather's does.
* In the original version, the interior of Heather and Charlie Brown's office changes colors between shots. This does not happen in the 2000 version.
* In the original version, when Heather tells Miss Pickering about the story of The Princess and the Plumber, the inside of Miss Pickering's mouth is missing when she is in close-up. Though this was fixed in the 2000 version, in both versions Miss Pickering's cup twitches while she is in close-up.
* One shadow flickers in one shot.
* Charlie Brown's shirt glitches in one shot.
* As Heather leaves the church, she clips through the door.
* When Heather says "We just need the prince!", Charlie Brown's hand clips through his shirt. Also in the same scene, the three cookies are missing on the plate.
* As Heather heads back to the office when she says "He'll be very excited to hear about this!", the straps on her shoes flicker as she walks away.
* During the scene where Heather is on the phone, she has her headband. Hop Sing lets her wear a fairy hat, then her headband disappears. She later regains it at the church, though she might be possible that she just work.
* The shelf from the church that Charlie Brown bumps it suddenly disappears after Heather starts going up the stairs.
* As Charlie Brown is about to tell Heather that Moyer is getting close to the ladder before it bumps into the wall, his hand somewhat clips into his shirt.
* When Hop Sing tells the group that there's a fire in the theater, the upper right part of the set flickers white as the background turns black. Due to the team being unable to fix it, an electric sound effect was added to cover up the mistake.
* As you'll noticed in some shots, you can see some buzzing in the textures.
* The bowler hats had vanished after the group passed through the church entrance.
	+ On a similar note, Heather loses her headband after the car passes the cart of hats, but regains it after the pageant was over.
* The background building shots are shown at inconsistent angles. One shot shows them in a lower position, but the shots after that show the buildings back to their normal higher position. Also in one shot of the background buildings, a cloud can be seen zooming across behind the background.
* One shot shows a wall renders too late.
* The 2003 VeggieTales Classics DVD strangely has the framerate slightly messed up with interlace flickers. This could be due to the original 29.97fps interlaced video being transcoded at a different framerate in some form.

### Inside References

* Heather's line "I bought a whole chocolate factory with no money down!" is re-used by Larry in Very Silly Songs!.
* There are some music that can be heard on the radio from Very Silly Songs!. These include:
	+ Larry's Workout music
	+ Larry's Home Improvement music
	+ Larry's Success music
* There are some pictures that can be found at Heather and Charlie Brown's office. This includes:
	+ VeggieTales 1993 poster
	+ Advertisement for VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular! poster
	+ The Pecking
	+ Josh and the Big Wall! poster
	+ Madame Blueberry poster
* Heather crying is re-used in the previous episode.

### Real-World References

* The Princess and the Plumber is based off of the story of the Nutcracker and a Nintendo game of Super Mario Bros.

### Fast Forward

* There's a later episode where a lesson is about true love.

## Miscellaneous

### Etc.

TheStarofChristmas1999VHS1.jpgThe Original 1999 Front, Left Spine and Top Spine CoversTheStarofChristmas1999VHS2.jpgThe Original 1999 back and spine coverTheStarofChristmas1999VHSStickerLabel.pngThe Original 1999 Word Entertainment Sticker LabelThe 2000-2002 Word Entertainment reprinted VHS Front CoverPrototype box cover2nd prototype box cover