Warner Home Video now distributing Sesame Workshop DVDs

[minor muppetz]

Well, I saw according to the Muppet Wiki that on DVD, the "Public Transporation" segment of "Elmo's World" had the Peanuts theme replaced during Dorothy's fantasy of Elmo flying a plane, AND the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" theme replaced during the fantasy of Elmo driving the train.
Unfortunately, they cut the film with Mark and his mother riding a commuter train to visit his grandfather. I imagine this was also due to music rights, as you can hear the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" song during it, along with an instrumental of "Down By the Station."

I read about that on the wiki. I wondered if maybe there was an issue with paying the people in the film, or maybe somebody who worked on that film segment.

It's interesting that the packaging both refers to it as "first time on DVD" (I guess to please us fans who knew it was the only one not on DVD) and as "Classic Elmo's World". I guess the segment has been on long enough to be considered "classic", but it is an interesting term.

On a similar note, has anyone noticed how the only video release of the very first Elmo's World, "Balls", was as a bonus on the Elmo in Grouchland Sing-and-Play (it was included after the program on the VHS in addition to the DVD)? Interesting how that one hasn't been included in any "Elmo's World releases" (and no, Sesame Workshop/Warner Home Video, I don't want this new trend of yearly Elmo's World releases to continue).

 

[minor muppetz]

The next DVD after Sing It, Elmo! will be Elmos' Favorite Stories, which will have seven street stories. I wonder if that's a new trend.

Only two of the stories have been announced, but one of them is the one where Abby thinks Oscar is a prince, which was released in Fairy Tale Fun. Still, despite Elmo's name in the title, that is one street story he wasn't in, so it's not all "story episodes" where Elmo was involved.

I hope this one follows the trend of other story-themed releases and has a Sesame Street News segment or two (or more). Of course there are a lot of other storytime inserts that could be included (Fairy Tales Today, various segments where an adult character reads a story acted out by Anything Muppets, etc.).

When it comes to street stories involving stories, I hope it has Goldilocks and the Four Bears or Baby Bear telling the story of what the bears did when they waited for the porridge to cool.

The only bonus feature mentioned is Elmo's Music Adventure: Peter and the Wolf.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Well, I saw according to the Muppet Wiki that on DVD, the "Public Transporation" segment of "Elmo's World" had the Peanuts theme replaced during Dorothy's fantasy of Elmo flying a plane, AND the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" theme replaced during the fantasy of Elmo driving the train.
Unfortunately, they cut the film with Mark and his mother riding a commuter train to visit his grandfather. I imagine this was also due to music rights, as you can hear the "Chattanooga Choo-Choo" song during it, along with an instrumental of "Down By the Station." I uploaded that film segment right here, as it's probably one of the first times a diesel train was depicted on the show (footage of the Long Island Railroad, to be exact.)

Too bad they couldn't just take this segment without music (if it exists) and simply re-score it.

Wow, I can't believe I don't remember this at all. I guess they must not have shown it on TV very much after 2002.

 

[minor muppetz]

This September will see a release called "Love to Learn". I'm not sure whether this will be a release of two full episodes (the description at Muppet Wiki only describes two street stories, so it could be that) or multiple street stories.

Considering it's title, it seems like it'd be hard to make a wishlist for this. It feels generic enough that just about anything could qualify.

 

[minor muppetz]

Looking at the description for Love to Learn again, I've noticed that both of the street stories mentioned have been released on DVD already.

I also saw that "Love to Learn" is a new initiative from Sesame Street.

 

[minor muppetz]

I got Elmo's Favorite Stories. When I heard it would have seven street stories, it made me curious as to whether it would just be street stories or if, like in many of the other videos made up primarily of street stories, there'd be some inserts in-between (we've gone from videos with three street stories to four street stories and now seven street stories). And there's only one insert, shown right before the end credits. It's an animated insert with a girl singing on a rainy day, I'm not exactly sure what all happens and can't remember the lyrics. Can't remember if it's about her reading or imagining. There's no inserts between the street stories.

Unlike previous videos focusing on storytime (Big Bird's Story Time, Silly Storytime, Fairy Tale Fun), only a few of the stories involve fairy tales or nursery rhymes. For years I've felt that a story-themed video should have these kinds of segments in addition to fairy tale segments. In fact, a good number of them involve characters writing their own stories. With that in mind, it's a shame it doesn't have the episode where Baby Bear writes "Goldilocks and the Four Bears", or Ernie's typewriter alphabet, or Sesame Street News: The New Three Little Pigs Story. Then again, I think all of the content is in widescreen. Not sure if they deliberately avoided full frame segments or not for the main program.

I like the bonus material better than the main program. There's only a few street stories included that I feel are really great (and one of them was previously included in Fairy Tale Fun). This is the first time I've seen Elmo's Musical Adventure: Peter and the Wolf, and it is wonderful. The bonus video storybook, Rise and Shine, is also good. I think the book came out during the 1990s, so it has a lot of "around the corner" characters. Additionally, Bob provides a voice-over introduction and also asks the viewers some questions about what they learned in the book, but a kid does the actual reading. I wonder if this video storybook existed outside of this release before or not.

 

[minor muppetz]

I recently saw that the Love to Learn release will include five street stories, so that confirms that it won't be a release of full episodes.

In October, there'll be a release called Monster Magic. Muppet Wiki doesn't have any info beyond the title and release date, but it sounds exciting. I hope it's a compilation of monster segments from all eras. Given the "magic" part of the title, it would be great if it included at least one segment with Grover and Mumford, or the sketch with Mumford and Cookie Monster. I won't be surprised if it has some segments with Abby and Elmo, Zoe, or Rosita. Man, there's been two magic characters, and neither are monsters. The "Furry Potter" episode of Cookie's Crumby Pictures would be a good segment to include.

 

[minor muppetz]

Wow, it's been a week and we still don't have any further info on the Monster Magic DVD. No info on what to expect in the main program (street stories? full episodes? a compilation? completely new material? A street story with additional linking material and inserts, like Elmo's Super Numbers and Count on Elmo?), no cover image, no listing of bonus features. Normally when a new DVD is announced we get additional info within a few days. I wonder what's going on.

 

[Oscarfan]

Wow, it's been a week and we still don't have any further info on the Monster Magic DVD. No info on what to expect in the main program (street stories? full episodes? a compilation? completely new material? A street story with additional linking material and inserts, like Elmo's Super Numbers and Count on Elmo?), no cover image, no listing of bonus features. Normally when a new DVD is announced we get additional info within a few days. I wonder what's going on.

The info's on the Wiki now.

Good things come to those who wait...

 

[minor muppetz]

The info's on the Wiki now.

Good things come to those who wait...

I saw that today. It actually looks like a cool release. Actually, most of this years releases have been rather great (I haven't purchased Sing It, Elmo!, but I would be interested in owning that one).

So I guess it's really focused on magic, not so much on monsters. It's great to know that it'll have at least one classic Mumford segment (even if it is one that's been released on video). I guess we'll have a few months before we know if it just has street stories or if it's two full hour-long episodes. It looks like this will be the first Sesame Street DVD in a while to not include an existing video as a bonus feature (I would have included A Magical Halloween Adventure).