The Muppets Christmas Carol 20th Anniversary Blu-ray available for preorder on Amazon (1 Viewer)

[NY2LA]

The only update I can find online is regarding a UK reissue to theatres, and the news there is not good. The UK fans want that song back as much as we do, but apparently Disney don't care...
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-muppet-christmas-carol/22320/updated-the-muppet-christmas-carol-cinematic-re-release
This doesn't augur well for the Blu Ray release. You would imagine that the film will be screened digitally, and one would imagine that would be the most recent master, which would have been made for the Blu Ray...

 

[JohnS]

Special Features:
Muppet Audio Commentary: All new Audio Commentary from the Muppets themselves.
Audio Commentary from Brian Henson
Disney Intermission: Press "Pause" and see what happens when the Muppets Show up at your door to sing your Christmas Carols - Muppet Style!
Muppet Holiday Sing-Along
Blopper Reel
Frogs, Pigs, and Humbug: A Behind the Scenes Look
Christmas Around the World with Gonzo and Rizzo
Pepe's Profiles Presents: Gonzo, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Weirdo

 

[NY2LA]

We've known about the extras for quite a while, but Still no word about reinstating the missing song.

 

[MatthewA]

Originally Posted by NY2LA /t/322490/the-muppets-christmas-carol-20th-anniversary-blu-ray-available-for-preorder-on-amazon/30#post_3982175
We've known about the extras for quite a while, but Still no word about reinstating the missing song.

The extras don't even mention the song, and no one other than Blu-ray.com's "1 movie, 2 cuts" listing, which no one else has verified, so it could go either way.

 

[Youbethejudge]

Evening guys,
I live over in the UK and have been desperately trying to gather any info on what version will be released on this blu ray, safe to say i will be absolutely gutted if they release the theatrical cut and neglect the directors cut of the movie. I watched both versions of the film last year and the theatrical cut is not even worth owning with the missing scene, its extremely crudely cut from the movie and we never see the pivotal turn in scrooges demeanour. Cutting the scene severs the audiences understanding off his emotive turn, and 'the love we found' song at the end of the film looses its prime purpose.
I lady over on amazon(also on muppetcentral.com) claims she has spoken to a Disney contact and it's not good news on the directors cut front!
I have contacted Disney to ask the question and put forward my feelings but have heard nothing back.
I just cannot understand how they constantly shaft thousands of fans over, who its clear are begging for the un-cut version to be released in a widescreen format.

 

[NY2LA]

Speaking of the UK, I think I posted earlier that I had read UK is getting a theatrical reissue of this film and the site I saw (obviously indicating the movie has fans over there that want it complete as well) said that they found from the distributor that the theatrical reissue would NOT be the full version.
One has to wonder what Disney is thinking, or rather IF they are. I reached out to the Henson co because you would think at least the director Brian Henson would want to be heard on the subject but what I got back was a statement that, unlike Pixar, which retained creative input and control of their films when they were sold to Disney, on no uncertain terms the Henson company now had absolutely nothing to do with the Muppets anymore. that is very sad.

 

[Youbethejudge]

Hi Carter,
Yes, i also read that the movie will be shown from the 23rd of November over here. Although, it has been stated that it will be the theatrical version which is disappointing. I suppose though after all there would always only be one version that was ever going to be shown at cinemas. I didn't hold much hope that it would have the scene in it.
I'm just very disappointed that the blu ray does not contain the version, which Disney clearly are aware of the views on many fans. They just continually choose to ignore the wishes of fans.
It is indeed very sad that you have had such a blank template sent back to you from Henson co, you would think if any man could influence Disney on which version should be delivered to fans it would be him. It is not the first time fans have reached out to him on the issue so he must be aware of what the fans desire. I have no doubt that he has the best wishes of fans at heart, and which version he also prefers..
The only way i feel to get them to take note is to vote with our wallets. I for one will not be purchasing this blu ray with its poorly cut version.

 

[NY2LA]

Hi Carter,
Yes, i also read that the movie will be shown from the 23rd of November over here. Although, it has been stated that it will be the theatrical version which is disappointing. I suppose though after all there would always only be one version that was ever going to be shown at cinemas. I didn't hold much hope that it would have the scene in it.
I'm just very disappointed that the blu ray does not contain the version, which Disney clearly are aware of the views on many fans. They just continually choose to ignore the wishes of fans.
It is indeed very sad that you have had such a blank template sent back to you from Henson co, you would think if any man could influence Disney on which version should be delivered to fans it would be him. It is not the first time fans have reached out to him on the issue so he must be aware of what the fans desire. I have no doubt that he has the best wishes of fans at heart, and which version he also prefers..
The only way i feel to get them to take note is to vote with our wallets. I for one will not be purchasing this blu ray with its poorly cut version.

As the version being shown in the UK will be digital, I see no reason why it could not be the full version.
Based on other projects they are doing, (amazingly more like early Muppets than Muppet show, if you check out their site) I think Brian Henson's creative heart is in the right place, but it's clear that was an outright sale and Disney now calls the shots. So far I don't believe we know one way or the other about the Blu ray yet. Different sites still list different running times, and I still haven't had a word from Disney.

 

[NY2LA]

Someone's posted on another site that Disney's homevideo consumer phone line says "original theatrical version." Period. I've read elsewhere that that consumer line has stated a missed extra wasn't there when it was because they had no real knowledge of the product. That can be true again. Seems they don't give their folks any more info than we get around the net, so what's the point?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Just a week until release day...and there's still no definitive word?

Amazing. And disheartening.

 

[Tom M]

Confirmed on Blu-Ray.com from someone that just got it that it's the short version. Strangely, he said that Disney fixed the bad edit in the scene so that you can no longer hear the end of the song's music.
My guess is that was cheaper than re-instating the song which would probably require a new HD scan of the material as to my knowledge, the song currently exists only in SD.
Last fall, I took the song from the LD, did a fake 16x9 squeeze on it and stuck it into it's proper spot on the DVD. The change in quality is a bit jarring (even back in the day the PQ on the LD was meh) but at least the song is there with no aspect ratio changes.
I'll keep my pre-order but it's really getting annoying that both directors and studios just can't give us multiple versions of a movie in HD where it applies.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

That's disappointing. Considering what CBS is doing on the entire 7-season run of TNG, I really wonder how expensive or difficult it would have been to locate the materials for this one scene, scan them, conform them, and provide the option to watch either version? I guess it's possible those materials no longer exist or are otherwise unusable, but that seems unlikely.

 

[NY2LA]

Confirmed on Blu-Ray.com from someone that just got it that it's the short version. Strangely, he said that Disney fixed the bad edit in the scene so that you can no longer hear the end of the song's music.
My guess is that was cheaper than re-instating the song which would probably require a new HD scan of the material as to my knowledge, the song currently exists only in SD.
.

Doesn't cost much to run four minutes of film through a telecine, and since the picture was completed with the song intact, no reason they would not still have the film.

 

[Rick Thompson]

Doesn't cost much to run four minutes of film through a telecine, and since the picture was completed with the song intact, no reason they would not still have the film.

Agreed. It's not like this picture was a box office turkey that they didn't want to invest a great deal of cash on. It was quite successful and continues to be in demand on homevideo. The only good thing is that the picture was done in a not very wide format, 1.66:1. That's not far from 1.33:1, though it's not ideal.
What amazes me is that a successful picture like this is not considered worth the investment, while a box office disaster like Heaven's Gate -- which virtually killed UA -- gets the royal treatment. By that logic, before too long we should get Inchon.

 

[BJQ1972]

Agreed. It's not like this picture was a box office turkey that they didn't want to invest a great deal of cash on. It was quite successful and continues to be in demand on homevideo. The only good thing is that the picture was done in a not very wide format, 1.66:1. That's not far from 1.33:1, though it's not ideal.
What amazes me is that a successful picture like this is not considered worth the investment, while a box office disaster like Heaven's Gate -- which virtually killed UA -- gets the royal treatment. By that logic, before too long we should get Inchon.

I thought it was 1.85:1. The disc has the full theatrical version of the movie.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I thought it was 1.85:1. The disc has the full theatrical version of the movie.

I forget where I read it, and I know that imdb says 1.85, but I remember thinking that my widescreen DVD had narrower bars top and bottom than usual (back in the day when my TV was standard 1.33:1), and finding the answer in a magazine or newspaper article.

 

[NY2LA]

I thought it was 1.85:1. The disc has the full theatrical version of the movie.

it's already been established in this thread that the theatrical version IS the CUT version.

 

[NY2LA]

I forget where I read it, and I know that imdb says 1.85, but I remember thinking that my widescreen DVD had narrower bars top and bottom than usual (back in the day when my TV was standard 1.33:1), and finding the answer in a magazine or newspaper article.

1.85, which has been standard 35mm flat aspect ratio for decades, would be less letterboxed than 2.35, which is has been the ratio for anamorphic widescreen.

 

[BJQ1972]

it's already been established in this thread that the theatrical version IS the CUT version.

It depends how you define cut. The scene in question was not used in the theatrical release. It should be on the disc as a deleted scene.

 

[NY2LA]

It depends how you define cut. The scene in question was not used in the theatrical release. It should be on the disc as a deleted scene.

Well, no. Theatrical release does not mean definitive version. Or Director's Cut. To understand why, you can go back and read this thread from the beginning. Or google the film, or read about it on Wikipedia, or read the most recent reviews on Amazon. It is all over the net about this film and the hastily cut song. All the answers and reasons are here, and there, and everywhere, just waiting for you.