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The Muppet Movie??

post #1 of 13
7/10/09 at 9:31am
Thread Starter 
I read something a while back that said the current release has the bar scene where Kermit orders a "Grasshopper" has been cut. Is this true?
Is there a unedited version out?

I would have bought it by now if it was unedited!
It's so sad that this is where we are now. There's so much garbage on TV now and these guys at Disney worry about a scene from The Muppet Movie. There's far worst stuff on Disney Channel now than that!
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post #2 of 13
7/10/09 at 1:01pm
In the newest version from Disney it is cut. I don't know about the previous Columbia DVD though. Yes, God forbid that Kermit has a drink!
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post #3 of 13
7/10/09 at 4:55pm
Oh, this is just innane!
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post #4 of 13
7/10/09 at 6:13pm
And I thought it was bad Disney forced Kermit's scenes to be cut out of old tv specials they didn't get in the deal.
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post #5 of 13
7/10/09 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SilverWook View Post

And I thought it was bad Disney forced Kermit's scenes to be cut out of old tv specials they didn't get in the deal.

When did this happen? He's all over the Sesame Street: Old School discs. I knew that Columbia made huge cuts to "A Muppet Family Christmas" and "Emmitt Otter's Jug-Band Christmas", and that was before Disney came into the picture.

Furthermore, I have never seen any video of this film with a version that is different from the one out now, going back to the Magnetic Video VHS version. I missed the theatrical release on account of not being born yet, so I haven't seen any film prints.

There was extra material on the soundtrack album not in the film (extra lyrics to "Movin' Right Along" and "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along") but that doesn't mean they were ever intended to be in the film.
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post #6 of 13
7/10/09 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy*S View Post

I read something a while back that said the current release has the bar scene where Kermit orders a "Grasshopper" has been cut. Is this true?
Is there a unedited version out?

I would have bought it by now if it was unedited!
It's so sad that this is where we are now. There's so much garbage on TV now and these guys at Disney worry about a scene from The Muppet Movie. There's far worst stuff on Disney Channel now than that!

I'm pretty sure that the 'grasshopper' line was never in the movie. It's on the soundtrack LP and in fact the whole conversation with Rowlf and Kermit is different on the LP than in the movie (at least, judging by the VHS tape that I bought in 1984).

I also saw the film with my Mom in '79, but I can't say that I remember whether the line was in the film then. 
I DO remember that the film broke several minutes into the film, and we had to wait a while for the projectionist to fix it. When the scene in the film came where the film melts, we were like 'UGGH! Not again!.....oh." 

The Emmet Otter butchering is terrible. I'm glad I still have my old Nickelodeon VHS.
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post #7 of 13
7/11/09 at 12:29am
I think Nickelodeon was the last channel to ever broadcast the original version of Emmet Otter!

Sesame Street seems to be the happy exception. They also can still use the word "Muppet." Does Kermit ever appear in new segments today? 

Kermit was in the old Columbia Emmet Otter video, but his scene at the end was gone in that cut. All of his scenes were cut from "The Christmas Toy".
I've noticed the non-Disney Henson productions of recent years never use the "M" word at all, even though the puppets used are certainly in the Muppet style.
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post #8 of 13
7/11/09 at 10:42am
Thread Starter 
I saw the theatrical release and actually do seem to remember the scene but perhaps they edited it out back then. And since you mentioned it I wish they'd release the soundtrack on cd.

I almost bought Emmett Otter too a while back but decided not to. Glad I didn't from what you all say.

Edited by Randy*S - 7/11/2009 at 06:09 pm GMT
Edited by Randy*S - 7/11/2009 at 06:11 pm GMT
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post #9 of 13
7/11/09 at 12:47pm
I played the film theatres that I operated back then and I seem to remember the "Grasshopper" scene also.  I never heard the soundtrack record/CD so it could not be that memory.  What I do remember is Kermit sitting at the bar and asking for a grasshopper.  I thought that was pretty funny.
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post #10 of 13
7/12/09 at 3:15pm
Didn't Rowlf comment about going home and having a beer, or something to that effect in his and Kermit's scene together. If so, it must be on at least the Columbia DVD because I remember thinking it was kind of stange that a Muppet would be making reference to drinking.
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post #11 of 13
7/12/09 at 11:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by WillG View Post

Didn't Rowlf comment about going home and having a beer, or something to that effect in his and Kermit's scene together. If so, it must be on at least the Columbia DVD because I remember thinking it was kind of stange that a Muppet would be making reference to drinking.

I take it you never saw the Wilkins coffee commercials of the 1950s?

And I believe it was stated that the Disney DVD has the same transfer as the Columbia DVD. I'm guessing it'll be awhile before we see any of the Muppet movies on Blu-Ray, seeing how Disney isn't releasing any of its own catalog titles from the 20th century that they actually produced on BD even when they get reissued on DVD.
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post #12 of 13
7/13/09 at 7:43am
I have both The Muppet Movie 2001 Columbia TriStar DVD and the 1993 Jim Henson Records soundtrack on CD. The grasshopper line is only on the soundtrack. Rowlf mentions having "a couple of beers" in the movie - that's the only alcohol reference. I don't know what's on the newer DVD released by Disney, as it offered no upgrade and I therefore passed on it.

Sesame Workshop apparently has a good working relationship with Disney, as they get virtually everything cleared whenever releasing older Kermit material on DVD. Henson's former distributor, HIT Entertainment, did not have such luck and foolishly decided to release classics such as Emmet Otter heavily butchered. There is, however, a 2001 EO disc that is largly intact. Muppet Central says there are minor edits, including Kermit's closing remarks being completely removed, but it sounds close to complete otherwise. Kermit's other scenes remain. You can find several used copies on Amazon for less than $10.
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post #13 of 13
7/14/09 at 2:30pm
That version of EO seem like an alternate cut at times. (I don't think there has ever been an official explanation of the changes.) Some songs have more verses, but Ma Otter's line wishing a certain grumpy customer would "fall off the dock" is snipped.

Did anybody catch the live version staged last year?
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Emmet_Otter's_Jug-Band_Christmas_(stage_show)
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