Muppets Christmas Carol questions (1 Viewer)

[Brian LaRose]

I was at Disneyland this weekend and revisited Muppets 3D and it made me nostalgic for all things Muppets.
Is the current version of the Muppets Christmas Carol open matte or is it truly P&S? Secondly, does anyone know if they are coming out with a SE of this, or at least a new version that is OAR? I did a search on this title and nobody seems to have talked about it recently so I thought I would ask.

Thanks,
Brian

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

Don't think there's been any word, but the signs aren't good.

Disney simply placed new UPC codes over the old Columbia/Tri-Star releases of the first three Muppet films. It seems as though they aren't a priority...

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I'd like to stay in the loop on this too. I'm ever-hopeful for a new, properly mastered disc.

I mean, even Disney's direct-to-video stuff is 16x9 these days. And yet the muppet movies they own get such shoddy treatment?

BTW, I believe the image is true P/S and *not* open matte. I seem to remember folks with the laserdiscs (1.85:1 WS) commenting on this.

Now with the announcement of the first season of Fraggle Rock coming out on DVD in about a year...I've been on muppet-cloud-nine and haven't been feeling the "muppet christmas carol P/S blues" as much lately...

-dave

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

it's pan and scanned all the way.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

So is Muppet Treasure Island, btw.

 

[svenge]

The R1/R4 DisneyLatino version is non-anamorphic widescreen.

 

[Mike_Richardson]

It is -- and the movie is wrecked without seeing it in widescreen.

There are Widescreen versions elsewhere in the world, but those are all of the cut version (86 mins.) minus the song "When Love is Gone," which was also trimmed for the theatrical release due to studio demands. Henson fortunately forced them to put it back in all U.S. video releases.

Just glad I have my LD

 

[Jonny_L]

Disney should revisit the muppets, especially while most of the participants like Frank Oz are still here to contribute something. Imagine what a genius like him could contribute to a commentary on all the movies! A lot of the innovations developed for the puppets and whatnot are incredible. Each movie would make a very nice double disc collectors set.

I don't know if this will ever happen though :frowning: Disney is more concerned with CGI stuff. I fear they are gonna learn the hard way that its not the type of canvass that makes a movie great, its characters and storytelling.

 

[AndrewWickliffe]

Is this the cut version?

 

[Andy_MT]

any links to e-tailers for the R1/R4 DisneyLatino would be very much appreciated ...

 

[Brian LaRose]

Thanks for all the replies. I was hoping Christmas Carol was at least open matte, but it appears not. Here's to hoping that Disney will someday get around to fixing this Christmas gem.

Brian

 

[Patrick Soucy]

They need to release an OAR version... This movie is one of my favorites adaptation of the book, and I'll never, never, purchase a Pan & Scan movie... Even for this one.

I will watch my old VHS tape this holiday... I hope watch it on DVD for 2005!

 

[Colby]

I still watch my old VHS every year. Man I wish they'd put out a proper DVD. But alas, Disney is Scrooge and we (the DVD community) are all the poor Cratchets. Only thing is, we don't know if this story will have such a happy ending. :frowning:

 

[Andrew Budgell]

I also love this movie, and would definately purchase this if it were to be released in animorphic widescreen. Check out this Yahoo article:

Disney Relaunches Muppets on Web Site

By GARY GENTILE, AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES - Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo and their pals are starring in their own Web site — the first in a series of new creative efforts launched by The Walt Disney Co. since buying the Muppets in April.


"Today is the first day of the Muppets being back," said Chris Curtin, general manager and vice president of Muppet Holding Co., the group formed by Disney to manage the characters.


The site, which debuted Wednesday, features games, biographies of the Muppet characters, screensavers and news about current projects, including the new film "The Muppets Wonderful Wizard of Oz," slated to air on ABC next May.


The movie is the first since "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie," which aired on NBC in 2002. It features singer Ashanti as Dorothy, Queen Latifah as Auntie Em and director Quentin Tarantino in a cameo role as himself.


The film had been proposed some time back to ABC executives, but was not approved until Disney bought the characters.


The characters have been grouped together under The Muppets Holding Co., which is teaming with Disney's film studio, television network, Internet operations and other divisions to create new films, videos and TV shows in the future.


The sale to Disney, announced last February, also includes a four-year consulting arrangement with The Jim Henson (news) Co. to provide strategic advice on the use of the characters and a three-year production deal to develop movies, television shows and other projects using the characters.


The deal does not include the Sesame Street characters, which were sold earlier by EM.TV to the Sesame Workshop.


___


On the Web:


http://www.muppets.com

 

[David Stone]

I also wouldn't hesitate to purchase this in OAR. The last time I spoke with a Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment customer service rep on an unrelated subject, I took advantage of my call to also mention that I wanted to give them my money for an OAR of this film and that I would never buy the cropped version.

Has anyone ever seen Brian Henson ever go on the record and comment about the treatment of his father's (and his) films on DVD?

 

[Eric Emma]

I just wanted to bump this to say someone on the muppet central boards is selling the R1/R4 Latino Widescreen Muppet Christmas Carol except it's the theatrical version so one of the musical scenes is not there, it's 28 dollars but I don't know of any e-tailers selling it so it's pretty good buy since it's not on ebay or anything...

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=19298

If posting to another board is against the rules I'll edit this post and I apologize but I figure I put this out here because I've been wanting to get this in Widescreen for a long time and it's fianlly nice to be able to get it so I figured I share it with other people.

 

[Jonny_L]

GOOD NEWS!!!

According to Ultimate Disney -

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!

 

[Andrew Budgell]

That's great news, Jonny! If Muppet's Christmas Carol is indeed in anamorphic widescreen, I will be sure to make a purchase in time for this Christmas viewing season!

Andy

 

[ScottR]

I hope it includes "When Love is Gone"...I can't imagine watching the film without it now.

 

[Eric F]

Starz has already broadcast Island in HD quite a few times.