November's Special Edition DVD's are pan-and-scan only

[anathema]

And since all for of these titles were hard-matte, the 4x3 P/S transfers will be true P/S making them good "see what you're missing" demonstration material for audiences who need to be educated about the difference between WS and "Full Frame".

Actually, TMM is open-matte. I have a copy. I don't know about GMC or MTI, but MCC looks like it *might* be open-matte too. I have three different copies of this: the UK DVD release, the US letterboxed laserdisc, and an anamorphic broadcast from UK TV. The framing on the laserdisc is different to that of the broadcast, indicating that there is definitely some picture material outside the selected 1.85 area, and a good many shots (although by no means all) of the 4:3 DVD are in fact the same width as the widescreen, simply including more picture at the top/bottom of the frame.

 

[dave02149]

dvd's will have both p&s and widescreen

call the 800 number and they will tell you this..the press release was not correct

 

[dbarrie]

Excellent! Thanks for letting us know Dave.

OI MuppetFan

 

[galenfott]

Another email alert?

Since many people (myself included) have probably barraged Disney with unwarranted calls and emails in response to the Muppet Central email alert INCORRECTLY stating that the DVDs won't be available in widescreen, shouldn't another email alert go out as a correction?

 

[rexcrk]

I really hope that these movies will be in widescreen or else I'm definitely not buying them. I long to see Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island in widescreen.

 

[sansconformist]

Here is the letter I shot off at 3am to Disney:

"Dear Sir/Madam;

I have recently learned that the Disney Company plans to re-release remastered,
fully restored versions of The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, Muppet
Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol to DVD. This is great news! I am,
however, sorely disappointed to know that they will not be in their original
wide screen format and will instead be edited to pan and scan. So many lively
scenes in Jim Henson's movies featured interactions between 15 or more Muppets
at once, and it would do an injustice to Henson's vision to reduce the
visibility of that to accomodate the full screen format. While I applaud Disney
for taking the initiative to market the beloved Henson franchise and bring the
Muppets back into the limelight, I think for the time being I will hold on to my
old VHS widescreen copies. Hopefully in the future you may consider releasing
the widescreen DVD's that the audience is waiting for.

Respectfully,

(omitted)"

And their reply this afternoon:

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding Muppet movies.

In celebration of Kermit's 50th Anniversary, THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE
MUPPET MOVIE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, and MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND will be
released on Disney DVD. These titles will be released in both Widescreen and
Fullscreen formats and are tentatively scheduled to be released on November 29,
2005

Please visit our website at www.disneyvideos.com for further details.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Regards,

WDHE Consumer Relations

US and Canada"

Very encouraging, I thought. Cheers!

*I'd encourage anyone who has gotten a response from Disney to email them back with a thank you for their time and good news as well. Don't want Muppet fans to be known primarily for their fire and brimstone

 

[Cheebo]

From THe Digital Bits:
" By the way, we've been getting a lot of questions about this from panicked fans: Disney's upcoming Muppet feature film DVDs (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol - due 11/19) will each include BOTH full frame and anamorphic widescreen video. That's confirmed, direct from the studio. So endeth the controversy."

DavisDVD, HTF, Digital Bits, AND IGN are all reporting it is both.


Someone edit the title so they know it is widescreen.

 

[dbarrie]

Just sent my thank-you note to them now. Thanks to you as well!

OI MuppetFan

Here is the letter I shot off at 3am to Disney:

"Dear Sir/Madam;

I have recently learned that the Disney Company plans to re-release remastered,
fully restored versions of The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, Muppet
Treasure Island and The Muppet Christmas Carol to DVD. This is great news! I am,
however, sorely disappointed to know that they will not be in their original
wide screen format and will instead be edited to pan and scan. So many lively
scenes in Jim Henson's movies featured interactions between 15 or more Muppets
at once, and it would do an injustice to Henson's vision to reduce the
visibility of that to accomodate the full screen format. While I applaud Disney
for taking the initiative to market the beloved Henson franchise and bring the
Muppets back into the limelight, I think for the time being I will hold on to my
old VHS widescreen copies. Hopefully in the future you may consider releasing
the widescreen DVD's that the audience is waiting for.

Respectfully,

(omitted)"

And their reply this afternoon:

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding Muppet movies.

In celebration of Kermit's 50th Anniversary, THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE
MUPPET MOVIE, THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER, and MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND will be
released on Disney DVD. These titles will be released in both Widescreen and
Fullscreen formats and are tentatively scheduled to be released on November 29,
2005

Please visit our website at www.disneyvideos.com for further details.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Regards,

WDHE Consumer Relations

US and Canada"

Very encouraging, I thought. Cheers!

*I'd encourage anyone who has gotten a response from Disney to email them back with a thank you for their time and good news as well. Don't want Muppet fans to be known primarily for their fire and brimstone

 

[MrsPepper]

Yup, I just got that same response. Excellent!! I'm so happy I could sing...

 

[GelflingWaldo]

Many of you were distraught yesterday to hear that the official Disney press release about the upcoming Muppet DVDs stated that the films would be released in pan-and-scan only. And until just a few hours ago, even Disney constumer service said only full frame would be included. After hearing this upsetting news, I decided to find out why, and if there are any plans to release the films in widescreen. So I did some real digging, sent many e-mails to insider sources and even called friends inside Disney. It turns out that the rumors are untrue, and so was the official press release. That's right, Disney messed up and wrote the wrong thing on the press release (I guess a little mistake on the press release is better than them actually having a real mistake on the DVDs - which would be putting only full frame on them).

"The Muppet Movie", "The Great Muppet Caper", "The Muppet Christmas Carol", and "Muppet Treasure Island" will be released on Disney DVD in both widescreen and full-frame formats. That's right - you get both (including widescreen)! Disney admits to the mistake in the press release and apologizes for all and any confusion. They also stated there were some other oversights and mistakes in the press release, and they have sent me a corrected list of features (see here: http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11637710&postID=112485329227191146).

Once again, all four DVDs will be released with Widescreen on them!