The Great Muppet Caper and Muppet Treasure Island coming to Blu-ray December 10

[dwayne1115]

I'm sure there has to be some interesting things about GMC. I mean this was Jim's first hand at directing a movie, and sure that was a mile stone for not only him, but the company as well. even if there where just interviews from the Muppets about the movie, that would be great. However the fact that this and MTI are getting released to Blu-ray at all makes me happy.

 

[muppetlover123]

Yeah true i am excited

 

[dwayne1115]

I still think at the end of the day that Disney, Sesame, and Henson are still trying to figure out who owns what, and more importantly how to use it the right way.

 

[jvcarroll]

The cover art for Blu-ray and DVD releases is farmed out to marketing companies. They are not created with loving care. The assumption is that the fans will buy the release anyway. These marketers are trying to get a new generation of fan. That means kids. That means big, glossy, images that are super-saturated with color.

I believe it's been said that the Struzan art was commissioned by the Jim Henson Company and they retain the rights to it. I'm not sure how Disney would obtain these pieces and even if they did, they probably wouldn't use them because they're not considered "cool" by kids. Whether that's right or wrong, it's the assumption of the marketers.

I still don't see why the beautiful posters for Labyrinth and Dark Crystal have been replaced by dull Photoshopped images. I also don't understand why Disney doesn't pull the Muppets out of storage to create some new images. None of it makes much sense to me.

Here's a complete list of alternative fan-made sleeves that I found on the web. They all incorporate the original poster art. I guess MFS and TM weren't included because the releases retained some original artwork. Enjoy.

 

[Drtooth]

I believe it's been said that the Struzan art was commissioned by the Jim Henson Company and they retain the rights to it. I'm not sure how Disney would obtain these pieces and even if they did, they probably wouldn't use them because they're not considered "cool" by kids. Whether that's right or wrong, it's the assumption of the marketers.

They used a classic art piece for the cover of the Muppet Movie Soundtrack re-release. They used the exact same Michael Frith cover as the original. While I understand why we need to have these bland kiddy looking DVD covers, I fail to see the logic of why they couldn't also use that for a DVD/Blu release cover. I mean, there is the logic that only older fans would care about the CD's rerelease. Other than that, it makes no sense.

Then I see some fan friendly stuff... Shout's Sam and Max DVD came with original artwork from Steve Purcell, the Sonic SatAM came with submitted fan art (with only the most professional looking ones gracing the cover)... and after several Rocko releases with clip art, Joe Murray did the covers for the last of the releases. It's a shame these movies are kid's stuff and therefore marketed to them. However, to single out just Muppet/Sesame/Henson releases shows a sheltered fan base that doesn't get a good look at most other DVD titles out there. Then again, you could say the same for movie posters.

I still don't see why the beautiful posters for Labyrinth and Dark Crystal have been replaced by dull Photoshopped images. I also don't understand why Disney doesn't pull the Muppets out of storage to create some new images. None of it makes much sense to me.

Disney has created new posers. Problem is, it's a money saving technique to use the old Henson ones that Henson was using back when we got sick of them the first time. So we're always going to have invisible doobie smoking Chef, flat head Kermit, and DVD cover of MTM group shots. If there's one thin that bugs me about this double disk's cover, it's flat head Kermit, when they have enough pictures of fixed Kermit they made themselves.

 

[jvcarroll]

They used a classic art piece for the cover of the Muppet Movie Soundtrack re-release. They used the exact same Michael Frith cover as the original. While I understand why we need to have these bland kiddy looking DVD covers, I fail to see the logic of why they couldn't also use that for a DVD/Blu release cover. I mean, there is the logic that only older fans would care about the CD's rerelease. Other than that, it makes no sense.

Then I see some fan friendly stuff... Shout's Sam and Max DVD came with original artwork from Steve Purcell, the Sonic SatAM came with submitted fan art (with only the most professional looking ones gracing the cover)... and after several Rocko releases with clip art, Joe Murray did the covers for the last of the releases. It's a shame these movies are kid's stuff and therefore marketed to them. However, to single out just Muppet/Sesame/Henson releases shows a sheltered fan base that doesn't get a good look at most other DVD titles out there. Then again, you could say the same for movie posters.


Disney has created new posers. Problem is, it's a money saving technique to use the old Henson ones that Henson was using back when we got sick of them the first time. So we're always going to have invisible doobie smoking Chef, flat head Kermit, and DVD cover of MTM group shots. If there's one thin that bugs me about this double disk's cover, it's flat head Kermit, when they have enough pictures of fixed Kermit they made themselves.

I thought that was strange too. I wonder if the CD cover art was a direction from Paul Williams. We know those who hold the music rights have a lot of clout. I also think older fans comprise a great deal of customers for the Muppet Movie soundtrack. This was its debut on MP3 and its first solo CD release in 20 years.

The reuse of images isn't a cost cutting technique. The creative team receives a number of images to work with and they seem to choose the same ones. These cover artists are not necessarily fans. They don't know which images have been used before or which ones fans do not like. That particular flat head Kermit is one of the images already extracted from the background so he's easier to handle, but not really that much. Kermit's one of the easier characters to deal with because he has no pesky hair to deal with. It's also important to note that Jim Henson approved a lot of flat-head Kermit photos in his day. However, he was always taking fresh new poser photos.

Regardless, I wish Disney handled the graphics better for Muppets properties. They own these fellas. There is no need to cut and paste the same old things in Photoshop. The beautiful spreads that have popped up in Entertainment Weekly have proven that.

 

[dwayne1115]

What if Disney dose not know how everyone (older fans) feel. Why not someone try and reach out and let them know. I'm sure they would at least listen, I mean if it's really that important, and it really hurts the sells of these products I'm sure they would change.

 

[Drtooth]

Again, it's not a Muppet thing, it's not even just a Disney thing. Every company has to deal with stock photos and style guides because that's what the higher ups are looking for. Brand unity and easy recognition. In the case of animation (just throwing this into the conversation), the style guides rarely are identical to the show proper due to the fact they were taken from the earliest designs. Then the art evolution of the cartoon series changes the character looks, and you're stuck with toys and t-shirts with sort of looking the same characters. Best example I can think of is the Looney Tunes Show. The overly stylized characters look less and less stylized as the show progressed.

I know there's some Sonic the Hedgehog DVD out there that uses one of Milton Knight's original model sheet Robotnik poses. I'd love to see more weird original artworks being used and less style guide crap. And the funny thing is, those Ncircle releases actually commission new art a good amount of the time. Some very off model and ignoring style guides.

As for the Muppets... I agree. We've got these great new posers that Disney has been starting to use, and they're inconsistent with it.
I wish I had a bigger picture of this, but I don't want to make one....

They have new Piggy, Kermit, and (I'm going to guess) Pepe poser cards, but they're still using pepper shirt Gonzo, the MTM DVD cover, and that exact Bunsen and Beaker pose from the 90's. I long for the day when we have a new batch of Disney made poser pics to put on merchandising.

 

[minor muppetz]

I still think at the end of the day that Disney, Sesame, and Henson are still trying to figure out who owns what, and more importantly how to use it the right way.

With Sesame it shouldn't be hard to determine - anything Sesame Street or Sesame-related is owned by Sesame Workshop (but Sesame Workshop doesn't own any crossovers with the Muppets). In fact The Jim Henson Company only owned the rights to the characters and the distribution rights to one special. So the rights to Sesame Street productions didn't change, just ownership of characters created for the show.

It can be more confusing with Disney and Henson, but there are documents online listing what productions/properties Disney got the rights to (including some things that seem odd like the Muppet Meeting Films, Neat Stuff to Know and To Do, Tale of the Bunny Picnic, and Mr. Willoby's Christmas Tree) and what Henson retains the rights to. Disney doesn't own the distribution rights to all Muppet productions (and Henson doesn't own distribution rights to all its properties), and there are some things not mentioned, a few things that seem confusing. There's no mention of who owns The Muppets on Puppets (I assume Disney owns it, as it was included on The Muppet Show: Season Three release, but then again the season sets have a few additional bonus features that I think other companies own the rights to, like the appearance in a Weezer music video and the Purina commercials, and I've heard that they almost cleared the rights to the Muppet skit from I Love Liberty for the third season). It doesn't say which company owns either of the Tinkerdee specials (though the Henson Company YouTube channel did post a clip from Land of Tinkerdee), InnerTube (I would think Disney would have the rights to that one), or The Jim Henson Hour Pitch Tape. It also doesn't say who owns the Cinderella pilot, understandable considering Henson didn't have a copy in its archives until recently.

I would assume all poster images are owned by Disney.

 

[panmanthe2nd]

but there are documents online listing what productions/properties Disney got the rights to

Could you link me to this? Thank you