FAQ Additions: Muppet Family Christmas and Emmet Otter Edits

[Phillip]

A couple questions were added to our FAQ today. These are questions that we get very frequently this time of year so we wanted to provide a good summary of the various Muppet Family Christmas and Emmet Otter edits.

Let us know what you think about the answers. If you have any other comments or suggestions of ways to make these questions better, please let us know. As others post and have questions about the edited videos, please direct them towards these responses as a reference.

What scenes are missing from the Muppet Family Christmas video?

http://www.muppetcentral.com/help/faq/collectibles.shtml#9

What scenes are missing from the Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas video?

http://www.muppetcentral.com/help/faq/collectibles.shtml#10

 

[anathema]

MFC:

I can confirm that all the UK releases I know of (Palace, Buena Vista and two Columbia Tristars) are uncut aside from the Fozzie/Ma Bear scene (does anyone know why this was cut?); also the German-language Columbia Tristar release from a couple of years ago (although the packaging states a running time of 42 mins, the programme runs to the expected 47).

Emmet Otter:

I have a CED copy of this with a run time of 51 mins, so it seems likely that this is uncut (the more recent VHS only runs to 48). Unfortunately I can't play the disc to confirm this :-( If memory serves, there was a laserdisc release done at around the same time, so it's quite possible that this is uncut, too.

 

[Phillip]

Alex,

Thanks for confirming your findings. It helps greatly. We're trying to ensure that the above questions are complete and as accurate as possible.

 

[BlueFrackle]

Alex,

Emmet Otters Jugband Christmas has only been released once in England.
It was by Columbia/RCA, And had no edits.

A Muppet Family christmas was released by Palace and then Columbia and they both only have one edit.
The Fozzie and Ma Bear scene.

See ya

 

[anathema]

Yup My CED and VHS copies are NTSC. I'm not a great fan of standards conversions...

 

[Chilly Down]

If the only reason for the cuts are due to copyright issues with the songs, then why is the scene with Fozzie and Ma Bear *talking* cut from every video version?

 

[Zack the Dog]

here are a few more questions

and if Henson didn't have the right's to produce the certian songs on video how come they were released onces in the UK on video and not now?

Can henson buy the right's to the songs still? I mean i fully still don't understand the whole thing, they have the right's to use the song on TV but it's part of the specail why can't they just put it on the video?

what's the reason for the right's not to be on video? Because Henson would be making money off songs they did not own? That's the only reason i can think of.

i wonder, if sabin bought the muppets, if that's still an option, if he could buy the rights or if he had the rights to the songs already, but the same goes for Disney, i wonder if they already have the rights.

Zack

 

[anathema]

Rights vary from territory to territory. Just because a piece of music can be cleared for home video use in one country doesn't automatically mean it's cleared for anywhere else. In this case, the music is clearable for the UK but not the US.

TV rights are different to home video rights, too. I don't know what the deal is in the US, but in the UK the broadcasters have a blanket agreement with the music industry that allows them to use anything they like for broadcast, but requires negotiation for commercial exploitation. For example, there's a recent 'Doctor Who' DVD release which had to have a Beatles song replaced because it simply wasn't possible to clear it for home video use - the copyright holder said no. A repeat of the story wouldn't have this problem. The same release features another piece of music which was clearable for the UK DVD, but not for the US and Australian releases, so it had to be removed from them.

The reason the US release had to be cut is nothing to do with Henson profiteering - if the songs had been clearable, the copyright holders would have received their royalties. I don't know the reason why the rights were withheld, but it will come down to one of two things: either the copyright holder said no, or else they asked for too much money.

 

[Zack the Dog]

Rights vary from territory to territory. Just because a piece of music can be cleared for home video use in one country doesn't automatically mean it's cleared for anywhere else. In this case, the music is clearable for the UK but not the US.

Thanks for all that info, it clears it up a bit, but how come it was released in the uk in full( besides for the fozzie and ma stocking part) then and can not be released now in full in the uk? Did they have the rights then in the uk or did they expire?


i wonder if disney has the rights to those songs, they own everything else;-)

Zack)Rowlf the,Dog.

 

[anathema]

The last UK VHS release I am aware of was about 12 months ago, and apart from the Fozzie/Ma Bear part, it's uncut. Unless something has changed radically since then, the UK rights are still cleared.

Alex