New editions of 4 Muppet movies coming soon! Widescreen confirmed. (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

Per ultimatedisney.com:


Well, I'm looking forward. Here's hoping for better-quality versions of TMM and TGMC, plus OAR versions of Xmas Carol and Treasure Island.

 

[DavidBC]

This is great news, especially if we finally get OAR versions of "Carol" and "Island". Too bad "Muppets Take Manhattan" (their second best movie after the original) isn't included, I'd like to see it get the special treatment as well, but I understand someone else owns this one.

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

That's great news. The video and audio quality of the current Muppet Movie DVD is lousy, to put it mildly. The 5.1 mix is particularly awful. Here's hoping it's done right this time.

 

[Colby]

Christmas Carol and Treasure Island in widescreen? Oh please, let it be so!

I believe Disney does own The Muppets Take Manhattan now. Not sure why it wouldn't be rereleased, too. At least the current DVD is OAR.

 

[Joe:C]

I had heard a rumor a while back at Ultimate Disney saying special editions of the Muppet movies were being worked on. It's good to hear they really are coming. Hopefully a special edition of Muppets Take Manhatten isn't far off (they have been playing that a lot on T.V. lately).

 

[MatthewA]

I think the Muppets Take Manhattan is still a Sony-owned property. The old disc is still in print.

 

[Colby]

Nope, Disney acquired all the Muppet films when they bought them out. Check this out to see exactly who owns what:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=18187


EDIT: Upon further reading, it appears that Sony does still have some kind of rights to the film even though Disney owns it.

 

[Rob T]

I would get them if they're done right.

 

[Brenton]

If these are indeed all OAR, I will buy all four. I haven't touched the current MAR versions of Christmas Carol and Treasure Island, and it looks like my stalwartness is about to pay off. I already own the current disc of The Muppet Movie, but would happily upgrade. I have The Great Muppet Caper only on VHS and have been intending to buy the DVD, but now it looks like I'll be waiting for the SE.

As for Muppets Take Manhattan, I think its absense in this news can be chalked up to popularity. Even though I usually tell people that I'm a fan of the Muppet stuff "made prior to Jim Henson's death", the secret truth is that I don't consider Muppets Take Manhattan particularly good, and I would even go as far as to say that I like it less than at least Muppet Christmas Carol.

But anyway, with these coming out soon, and the first season of The Muppet Show in a week and a half, I think I just might be in Muppet heaven.

 

[Sam Favate]

Anyone know anything about The Frog Prince? Has it ever been issued on DVD? Any chances we will see it alongside these reissues?

 

[Amy Mormino]

The fact that Disney has put together what looks to be an impressive DVD set for the first season of The Muppet Show is a very good sign for the movies. The studio seems to be listening to the fans on their Muppet releases, so I think we can hope for something really special.

 

[Brenton]

I don't know, but I would really like to see Hey Cinderella released on DVD.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Amen. When the musical fidelity sounds better on the stereo foreign language tracks than it does on a remix of the original language track, you know someone could not (or did not even try to) find the best audio elements.

Regards,

 

[Joel...Lane]

The original Muppet Movie was one of the first movies I ever saw at a theater so I've got pretty fond memories of it. Can't wait for that one.

And you just can't go wrong with Kermit! He rocks!

for this release!

 

[Brenton]

I'd like to take this opportunity to express my deep and everlasting fondness for the Muppets.

 

[Brenton]

According to Ultimate Disney:

 

[Shad R]

Muppets take Manhattan is the only movie I bought! Cool, now I just need to wait for the rest. BTW, when did Disney get the rights back? I know Columbia had them for a while, then they went to Disney, then back to Columbia, but when did Disney regain the movie rights?

 

[MatthewA]

When they bought the Muppets recently, it included the copyrights on the first 2 films.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I thought the current DVD was 4:3? (At least, I think the one I got for free in a cereal box is 4:3!)

 

[David Williams]

I fished a widescreen copy out of the $5.50 bin at Wally World a few months back. First time I had ever seen the movie the way it was supposed to be seen!