Muppet Family Christmas - why was it edited?

[Kamit]

This has been bothering me for awhile now - and I figured if anyone knew the answer (besides the folks at JH) it would be you guys.

Does anyone know why Muppet Family Christmas was edited when it was released on VHS (and DVD I think) a few years ago? Suffice it to say MFC is a very important part of our Christmas celebrations at my house (but tis for another thread that is) and we had been extremely happy to find a commercial copy rather than having to depend on our 10 year old, taped-off-TV copy.

I was then extremely disappointed (not to mention a little ******, actually) to discover stuff had been cut out of the commercial copy! Fozzie's song with the snowman, the 'real' Muppet Babies segment, and some of the sing along (I think - not sure about that last bit). I can see it going the other way around (cutting stuff from the TV broadcast in order to accomodate commercials) but there should be no reason to edit the home video version.

Does anyone have an explanation?

 

[jediX]

Although the cut from Rocky Mountain Holidy is somewhat understandable (yet debatable since it was one of his passions) the stuff taken from MFC is just plain strange. My best guess would be that they couldn't secure the rights to all the songs for the DVD release.

And yes, parts were taken from the end singing.

There's a guide to what was cut and what is in the complete version somewhere on muppetcentral.

 

[Kamit]

Sorry *looks sheepish* Guess i should have checked the FAQ first and then asked.

 

[jediX]

No problem...I don't work here lol

 

[Phillip]

Here's the link in case anyone is wondering...

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

We get questions about the Muppet Family Christmas edits all the time, especially as the holidays approach.