The five PLUS stars are for the MOVIE, not necessarily this 2005 DVD release . . . . (Now that I have seen the fresh DVD, I give it 3 1/2 or 4 stars. Watch explanation below.)
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit’s 50th Anniversary Edition! Click Here
In Oct. 2002, Disney Home Video released its first DVD formatted THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL. The response was both pro and con. The response that was negative dealt with two necessary issues:
(1) That the 2002 DVD was pan-and-scan (AKA “elephantine veil” or “1.33:1″) instead of widescreen, and, in fact, unlike many DVDs, did not even offer the viewer a choice between pan-and-scan and widescreen. For fans of the movie who engage widescreen, this was a huge disappointment!
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit’s 50th Anniversary Edition! Click Here
(2) That the 2002 DVD for Position 2 and perhaps other regions also removed the “When Treasure Is Gone” song. Disney has not, to my knowledge, offered an explanation for the removal. I would guess that it was because the song is “shaded” and someone at Disney probably decided that such a “dismal” song did not belong on a DVD intended for children.
Thus, that 2002 DVD had TWO strikes against it as far as MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL purists were concerned. At the Amazon dwelling for that earlier DVD, you can net more than 130 reviews, many of which recount PROFOUND disappointment about the lack of widescreen and the missing song. (Note: Amazon has accountably merged those 2002 reviews with the 2005 reviews. Fair got toward the demolish of the list to examine the older reviews.)
Fast forward to 2005, fair a couple of months ago. Disney announced a current release of this film–The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit’s 50th Anniversary Edition. Keen fans immediately assumed that this would be the long-awaited anamorphic widescreen version. However, various statements and press releases listed the movie as 1.33:1 or, in other words, pan-and-scan. When this was discovered, the fans HOWLED at what seemed like a betrayal and an absence of common-sense by the people at Disney. THEN, within a few days of the official announcement, Disney “back-peddled” and issued a modern announcement that the first one was in error and that the 50th Anniversary version would be in BOTH pan-and-scan and widescreen. The ***SIGH*** of relief was like a wind that rushed across the globe!
But now comes the TRICKY Allotment that tries to acknowledge your specific examine. Some fans who have contacts within the industry or have means of mining the Internet, discovered that the Negate of the pan-and-scan and the widescreen versions that would be on the same disc would be different in that one would have the afore mentioned song and one would not. As mentioned HERE in these reviews for this novel release, apparently the version to enjoy the song is the pan-and-scan version–which, if it’s true–is a totally incomprehensible creative decision. (Why would the the version that was Just to the widescreen format be missing the song, thereby compromising that version? )
Right now, as a GIANT FAN of MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, who has longed for a widescreen DVD since the advent of DVD, I am hoping that there has been some miscommunication going on (for example, survey above at the official aspect ratio listed in the Product Details. On today’s date of Oct. 13, 2005, it’s listed as 1.33:1, so the facts about this release seem to be unfortunately garbled!)
Incidentally, there exists a WIDESCREEN (though obviously not anamorphic) Laserdisc version of the film that INCLUDES the song “When Appreciate Is Gone.” I know because I fill it . . . and it is among my most precious possessions!!
All we can do is wait until November 29 to secure out what this current release will truly occupy. I personally hope there will be an anamorphic widescreen version that also includes “When Esteem Is Gone.”
ADDENDUM: Well, yesterday was November 29, 2005, and I picked up this DVD. There’s superior news, poor news, and some superb advantageous news. The anamorphic widescreen image far exceeds any previous video or DVD version. However, the rumours are Just that the widescreen does NOT include the improbable song “When Worship Is Gone,” and that the fullscreen version DOES include it as “Extended with Deleted Scene.” However, for the diehard, there is this awkward-but-workable compensation: The two versions are on the same side of the DVD, thus when the widescreen version comes to the point when the song should be sung, you can expend your remote to go encourage to the menu, decide fullscreen, go to chapter 5, listen to the song, and then go help to widescreen to thought the rest of this graceful Christmas movie. It is a Ample damage and an unfathomably abominable decision by the suits at Disney!
Since a complete widescreen version obviously does exist in the Disney archives (the Laserdisc version in the mid 90s was both widescreen AND complete), one can only wonder how and why Disney made this very insensitive and unprofessional decision!
Neverthless, FINALLY having MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL in anamorphic widescreen is definitely a plus. Being able to explore all the Muppet antics definite to the sides of the cloak is a pure joy, and not being forced to examine tastelessly SQUISHED images is a immense relief! Also, this disk is the best resolution (though not perfect) that has ever been available in any home media format, and the Dolby Digital sound is quite acceptable.
Since this is likely to be the last DVD version of this movie for quite some time, we should (1) continue to ponder Disney’s callous obliviousness and its distinct childish stubbornness to do what’s legal, while (2) counting our blessings that at least we are nonetheless Fragment draw to the ideal MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL DVD.
Talk about MIXED emotions! I believe that one quandary is that nobody at Disney is definite that the film is a legal work of art, instead of “honest a movie stamped out for kids.” I mediate nobody there realizes that the film deserves far more respect than the grudging, lackluster, shoddy efforts they have so far foisted on the public. I am very joyful to peer the many astute reviewers for this novel edition over and again execute this point exceedingly positive! THE WORST OF IT IS THAT IT DOESN’T Create ANY SENSE!
BTW, on November 29, 2005, Garan Grey posted a review mentioning several Well-behaved points underscoring Disney’s contaminated decision-making–especially about the lackluster special features, recycled menu construct, and so forth, in what is supposed to be a very special “special edtion”! However, this reviewer says: “By the scheme, it seems that the “widescreen” version is objective matted down from the chubby 35mm 1.33 frame, so the fullscreen version is not missing any of the portray.” In point of fact, ALL pan&scan versions that I have seen (INCLUDING the pan&scan on this very disc) SQUISHES the titles, cuts Muppets off the sides of the movie, and even sometimes squishes scenes so the characters perceive grand and skinny. Which is WHY I have been waiting for the widescreen for years! In general, I’d say that Garan Grey is definitely unsuitable on this point.
Charles Dickens’ classic account “A Christmas Carol” has probably been adapted for stage, conceal, and TV more than any other anecdote in the history of literature. Many have been really titanic — the Mr. Magoo though-provoking version, Patrick Stewart’s one-man stage prove, the George C. Scott version, etc. But one of the best is definitely “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” directed with heart and intelligence by Brian Henson. This version is particularly great because it combines two beloved pop-culture icons: Dickens’ sage and the Jim Henson Muppets.
Buy,Download, Or Stream The Muppet Christmas Carol - Kermit’s 50th Anniversary Edition! Click Here
It’s been a long time since I read Dickens’ fresh text, but from what I remember, the MCC is quite faithful to Dickens. Like the other Muppet films, MCC combines human actors with the whimsical Muppet characters (fair in case you don’t know what a Muppet is, it’s a sort of puppet) . The colossal Michael Caine plays Scrooge, and the Muppets play other Dickens characters: Kermit the Frog is Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy is Mrs. Cratchit, etc.
One clever touch is having Charles Dickens (portrayed by Muppet Gonzo the Gargantuan) appear as a narrator in the film. Gonzo/Dickens is accompanied by Rizzo the Rat, and the two have some substantial comical banter and slapstick humor. This blueprint nicely complements the main tale without distracting from it. The film is enhanced by some pretty songs; my celebrated is the one sung by the Ghost of Christmas Show.
Dickens’ current “Carol” is, at its core, a compassionate and life-affirming epic, and the Muppet version is upright on target in preserving the soul of the yarn. There are some genuinely sweet and interesting touches (such as one Muppets’ gift to Scrooge) that combine well with the trademark Muppet humor. Add to this salubrious special effects, magnificent performances (both human and Muppet), and impressive sets and costumes, and you have a accurate classic: a film for every member of the family. In “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” Brian Henson and his Muppets reveal that, with imagination and skill, unique life can be breathed into a approved conventional myth.
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