For me, no. No they are not worth the money. I may pick up MCC and MTI just to have widescreen (but I can survive for now, if it save me $20+ in the long-run).
If you own the original releases on DVD already, then here is my advice to you. First ask yourself these four questions:
1) Is having the theatrical cut of “The Muppet Christmas Carol” in widescreen worth the cost of the disc? If not don’t buy the re-release of MCC.
2) Is having a widescreen version of “Muppet Treasure Island” worth the cost of the disc? If not don’t buy the re-release of MTI.
3) Is it worth the cost of the disc to get a 5-minute Pepe profile? If not don’t buy the re-releases.
4) Is it worth loosing the “Jim Frawley Camera Tests”, the “Making of The Muppet Christmas Carol”, the “Making of Muppet Treasure Island”, the “Treasure Island Hidden-Treasure Audio Commentary”, and the “Treasure Island Sing-along”? If not, don’t get rid of your old DVDs.
However, whether you buy these discs or not - we need to tell Disney how we feel. We need to tell them that the reason we didn’t buy is not because we don’t like the Muppets, it is because we don’t like this DVD treatment (and if you did buy them still tell them you’re not happy). So short of sounding like a broken record, I would say that sometime between now and New-Years we all should take some time and send a letter (or two) to Disney saying that you we want these films to get a better DVD treatment. Basically tell them you want better re-releases in the future (and sooner rather than later). I've talked with the companies and letters actually do work with this kind of situation. They can help and can make all the difference. Let Disney know you want better DVDs. 3-4 sentences will do the trick. You don't need to give specific details of disc features (actually getting too specific with a “dream product” will turn them off from listening) and don’t ramble on for pages and pages about the philosophy of what makes a good DVD. Just say you saw these releases and want more in-depth 2-disc collector's editions of the Muppet films (loaded with related goodies and behind the scenes stuff). Tell them you do not want bare-bone discs, you want a proper treatment. Tell them that you will buy such a product, and say you are not happy with these bland discs that are out now. That way, Disney will know what to do in the future to make people happier. If they feel enough people want them (and thus will make them money) they will do it - history shows it. Maybe 3-5 years down the line we’ll get totally awesome collector’s editions of the films (Disney is known for release a bare-bone disc, and then based on feedback and demand produce a better product later one ). Let them know that you want better dvdS. If we don’t tell them they won’t know (otherwise they will think either we’re happy with this kind of treatment and that’s why the DVDs sold, or they’ll think the reason they didn’t sell because no one really likes the Muppets that much – we need to tell them we love the Muppets and want better DVDs.)