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New editions of 4 Muppet movies coming soon! Widescreen confirmed.

#1
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7/22/05 at 6:14pm
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Per ultimatedisney.com:

Quote:
A sneak peek on the new catalogue discs reveals some other quite exciting news. Believe it or not, Kermit the Frog is turning 50 this year; his debut television appearance was on Jim Henson's black-and-white program "Sam and Friends" in 1955. In celebration of this golden anniversary, Disney will be rereleasing four of the Muppets' most popular films to Special Edition DVD: The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and Muppet Treasure Island. The promo provides no new release date nor information on bonus features, but ensures the films are "completely restored and remastered." One assumes from the widescreen clips previewed that each will be presented in their original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratios, which was not the case when Disney first released Carol and Island to DVD in 2002. We'll have more details for you as soon as they come in!

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.

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#2
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7/22/05 at 6:59pm
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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.

I don't care for modern films. All crashing cars and close-ups of people's feet.
-Lillian Gish

Why I\'m Poor And Skinny

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#3
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7/22/05 at 7:09pm
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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.
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#4
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7/22/05 at 8:05pm
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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.
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#5
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7/22/05 at 9:00pm
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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).
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#6
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7/22/05 at 9:02pm
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I think the Muppets Take Manhattan is still a Sony-owned property. The old disc is still in print.

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#7
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7/22/05 at 9:23pm
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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.
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#8
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7/22/05 at 9:51pm
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I would get them if they're done right.
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#9
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7/23/05 at 12:07pm
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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.
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#10
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7/25/05 at 4:24am
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Anyone know anything about The Frog Prince? Has it ever been issued on DVD? Any chances we will see it alongside these reissues?
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#11
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7/25/05 at 8:36am
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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.
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#12
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7/25/05 at 8:09pm
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Quote:
Anyone know anything about The Frog Prince? Has it ever been issued on DVD? Any chances we will see it alongside these reissues?
I don't know, but I would really like to see Hey Cinderella released on DVD.
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#13
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7/26/05 at 6:45am
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Quote:
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.
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,

Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

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#14
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7/26/05 at 7:08am
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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!
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#15
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7/26/05 at 11:14am
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I'd like to take this opportunity to express my deep and everlasting fondness for the Muppets.
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#16
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7/27/05 at 2:37pm
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According to Ultimate Disney:
Quote:
A booklet inside The Muppets' Wizard of Oz reveals that Disney's remastered and restored reissues (which we mentioned last week) of The Muppet Movie and three other Muppet films will arrive in November.
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#17
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7/27/05 at 5:31pm
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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?
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#18
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7/27/05 at 7:05pm
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When they bought the Muppets recently, it included the copyrights on the first 2 films.

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#19
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7/28/05 at 2:41pm
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Quote:
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.


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!)

"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick

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#20
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7/28/05 at 2:56pm
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I thought the current DVD was 4:3?

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!
"Only two things are infinite––the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the universe." ––Albert Einstein
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#21
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7/28/05 at 3:03pm
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Aaron Silverman wrote:
Quote:
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!)


The June 5, 2001 DVD release is a single sided disc with the choice of both the anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 version, or a Pan & Scan 4:3 version on the one side.

Paul

Quick Edit: Although the disc is single sided, the back of the box erroneously states: "Side A is a WIDESCREEN VERSION and Side B is a FULL SCREEN VERSION and is re-formatted to fit your TV."
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#22
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7/28/05 at 4:02pm
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Got it! I'll have to take a closer look at the disc I have. . .

"How wonderful it will be to have a leader unburdened by the twin horrors of knowledge and experience." -- Mr. Wick

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#23
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7/28/05 at 8:52pm
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The cereal box one is, however, only 4:3 (if I'm not mistaken).
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#24
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7/29/05 at 10:18am
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Yes it would be nice to finally get them done right on dvd.
Along with The Frog Prince and another one that i only vaguely remember, I think it was called The Muppet Musicians of Bremen. Anybody remember that one?
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#25
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8/3/05 at 7:50pm
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in addition to thebooklet, a preview trailer on muppets of oz for the 50th anniversary of kermit reveals new versions, completely restored and remastered of "caper" "movie" treasure island and christmas carol.

coming soon.


was kermit ever a regular on sesame street?

also, why is there an extended interview with tarantino
on Oz?
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#26
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8/3/05 at 11:39pm
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Looking forward to getting Movie on DVD. When I was tv shopping they were running this on one of the screen and my 3 yr old was glued to it. He only watches an hour of tv a day but we like to get him special movies to watch on occasion.

BTW - Kermit was a regular on Sesame Street back in the day before Elmo ruled the world.

-paul
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#27
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8/4/05 at 4:49am
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Quote:
a preview trailer on muppets of oz for the 50th anniversary of kermit reveals new versions, completely restored and remastered of "caper" "movie" treasure island and christmas carol.


Christmas Carol is pretty good, and I remember a TV Christmas special, circa 1987, with John Denver that was pretty funny. I wonder if that will make its way to DVD?
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#28
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8/4/05 at 11:15am
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Quote:
in addition to thebooklet, a preview trailer on muppets of oz for the 50th anniversary of kermit reveals new versions, completely restored and remastered of "caper" "movie" treasure island and christmas carol.
OAR?
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#29
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8/5/05 at 12:14pm
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Who else hopes that they use the original poster art?



Just compare it to the Sony/Columbia/Whatever DVD cover art:



The Great Muppet Caper cover was alright, but The Muppet Movie cover looked like crap. Whoever made it should have been fired. A little harsh, yes, but the original poster was amazing. Let's hope Disney has the sense to use it, after all they did use original poster art (though somewhat altered) on their MAR versions of A Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island.
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#30
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8/6/05 at 2:59am
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Who designs these craptastic covers?
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