Sesame Workshop/Shout! Factory Deal

[minor muppetz]

I just found a plot description for Awesome Alphabet Collection, it sounds like it will contain new linking footage. Though technically it doesn't say if there'll be clips from the show or if all the segments are created for the DVD, but there will be focus on each letter.

 

[minor muppetz]

Well, Muppet Wiki has more info on Awesome Alphabet Collection, which confirms it'll be a mix of classic and recent material, though most of the specific stuff mentioned is more recent (it does mention Maya Angelou doing a handclapping game about the letter H, that's from the '90s but I can't decide if I'd consider that "classic", though I think we've gotten to a point where the late-1990s are officially considered "classic").

So far the only classic clips (well, pre-1990 classics) listed are ones that have been released on video before - Letter B and C is for Cookie (though it technically doesn't say which version). Hopefully there'll be a lot more classics (it doesn't really say what the balance between classic and recent clips are, though all the guest appearances mentioned so far come from the 1990s and later).

 

[minor muppetz]

Been looking at the Muppet Wiki page for Awesome Alphabet Adventure and just realized that this video will include "Try a Little Kindness", which doesn't seem like much of a letter/alphabet segment.

I looked at the wiki page for the song to see if it was more alphabet-themed than I thought and didn't see anything, but then I checked out the song online and saw that it does start with a lesson that K begins the word kindness, with the letter getting some focus for the first few seconds, but even with that it's not too K-focused. It's almost like "celebrity segments with Elmo as part of the gang in some Best of Elmo sequels" all over again.

Still, I don't think I've watched/heard that segment before until now. It is a great sounding song (though it has already been released on DVD, albeit one I don't expect to check out myself anytime soon).

 

[LittleJerry92]

Honestly that’s another DVD I personally wish NTV had been included on.
Oh well.

 

[minor muppetz]

Honestly that’s another DVD I personally wish NTV had been included on.
Oh well.

You mean Awesome Alphabet Collection? Currently, we don't know that it's not on this collection. But it'll be out in a few weeks and we'll know then.

 

[minor muppetz]

I just found an official trailer for Awesome Alphabet Collection (which I see has been online for over a month, I have actually searched YouTube for a trailer a few times in the last few weeks and I must have missed it until tonight):

It shows about one clip for each letter of the alphabet, the only pre-1990s clip I saw in the trailer is X Marks the Spot. I haven't noticed many clips confirmed in the press release so the release must include multiple clips for various letters (but I figured that).

 

[minor muppetz]

I found this review of Awesome Alphabet Challenge done by a kid, but he has the DVD case with him, and looking at the channel, it seems like it's a channel meant to review things for a kid (I think I saw a review for another recent Sesame Street DVD on that channel).

He talks about one segment for almost every letter. It's interesting that he knows a bit about the Beatles. He mentions an "f for frog" segment, at first I thought/was hoping it might be the first season "f is for fly and frog" segment but I feel he would have mentioned the fly. And it's confirmed that this will include Kermit drawing the letter K. I think he also confirms that this will have "My Favorite Letter" for the letter P.

 

[minor muppetz]

Awesome Alphabet Collection came out today, and it is interesting. It's the first DVD release since 2014's Alphabet Songs to have a fairly big amount of clips from the Jim Henson years (and that release just had five), and the first since 2013's Fairy Tale Fun to have full unreleased clips from those years.

It's almost a good balance of classic and newer clips, though the promotion seems to downplay the classic stuff. The official description only lists two classic clips, no classics are pictured on the back cover, and the trailer only has one '70s clip. I think '90s and later dominate the release, but it's still a good balance. I think I counted 22 clips from the first 20 seasons.

It feels like this takes so many clips that have been included in previous alphabet-themed videos, some more deserved than others.

Maybe it's just me, but the original C is for Cookie looks worse here than on past releases. Not sure if the classic clips are HD upgrades (even though this wasn't released on Blu-ray... would the digital release benefit more?), I feel like there's some interlacing for something over Cookie Monster's eyes, and when we first see the monsters behind him, the background looks a bit darker. I don't think the quality on any of the other '70s clips have this kind of problem.

With the exception of The Sound of the Letter A*, I think every segment using a track from The Muppets Alphabet Album has now been released on home video.

It was a surprise to see Ernie and Bert's "Happy Birthday to U", since he basically sings the copyrighted "Happy Birthday". I don't know if it counts as parody to replace "you" with "u". Then again, I think I read that the songs lyrics officially lost their copyright status a few years ago. Also surprising to see that "Letter B" is the edit from Count It Higher, with the music video-style captions and missing the introduction. But I am happy that Rebel L is uncut.

I did look at the sketch rundown on Muppet Wiki this morning before buying a copy, so I already knew a lot of what to expect, though there were a lot of clips listed that I wasn't instantly familiar with. There are quite a few that I couldn't tell if they were from the 1990s or 2000s (some I wondered if maybe they were from the 1980s), used Muppet Wiki's "what links here" feature on the images. Seems there's a few inserts (not just street scenes) that actually only aired once (like "Zelda's Z Day").

And there's two Kermit segments!

My only big complaint is that there's no Typewriter or AlphaQuest segments. Which are always left out of alphabet-themed releases.

*I know Professor Hastings did a lecture on the letter U in the first season, not sure if that's the same as The U Lecture on that album. I thought all the songs/skits/tracks debuted on that album, but the U lecture that aired premiered in the first season. Of course I technically don't know if the televised rendition of The Sound of the Letter A used the same audio track.

 

[LittleJerry92]

I really don’t understand why Shout would have to use the Count It Higher source for Letter B - it just feels like a cheap copout to save money from digitizing the full clip.

 

[minor muppetz]

I really don’t understand why Shout would have to use the Count It Higher source for Letter B - it just feels like a cheap copout to save money from digitizing the full clip.

The uncut version appears as a bonus feature in Old School Volume 3. Couldn't that version have been used instead?

This release has two "It's the Letter of the Day" segments led by Abby Cadabby (when I first saw the full segment listing I thought one of them was a "What's the Letter of the Day?" songs led by Elmo). Kinda weird/sad that we got two of these (when there's not much difference beyond the featured letter).

This release marks the second home video release of ABCs of the Swamp, after 1988's The Alphabet Game. Interestingly, that segment opened its first home video release, and now it closes its (currently) last video release (not counting a reprise of the "Sesame Street Alphabet" clip that plays during the credits).

Although this isn't promoted as a 50th anniversary release, I was thinking it would be cool if the segments were arranged with five per letter, one for 1969-the 1970s, one 1980s, one 1990s, one 2000s, and one 2010s. Not sure if that would make the release too long (though there are plenty of letter segments that only last a few seconds, like the Sand Animation and letter candles). That would make for a good concept for a special 50th anniversary release (more towards a different theme, like character or numbers, than just the 50th).