Question about MCC DVD

[Princeton]

On the MCC DVD (Kermit's 50 Years Edition), there's an option to watch the theatrical version or the restored version. When I checked, they both seem to be the same. Does anyone know the difference?

 

[GelflingWaldo]

The “extended version” includes the song “When Love is Gone”, the “theatrical version” omits the song.

The song “When Love is Gone” was originally planned to be part of the film, however when film makers found that the test audiences (mainly family viewers with younger children) become restless and bored during the scene. They felt the song slowed the film down, and was not “fun” nor Muppet-focused. The song was seen as slow and boring. Plus the film was already pushing the limits of many younger viewers’ attention spans in the test screenings. The producers decided to cut the song from the theatrical release of the film. The film, as shown in theaters, did not include the touching song sung by Belle to Scrooge.

It was not until the film was released in the home-viewing format that the song was presented to the viewers. Brian Henson felt the song was important, and regretted cutting it from the film to begin with. He felt that the in the home viewing setting that the song worked better and audiences would be more excepting, understanding and appreciative of its inclusion. At home it is not as much of a problem if a 6-year old get restless during a “boring” song in the film. Since the they mourned cutting the song from the theatrical edit, they decided to add it back in to the film for all subsequent home video and DVD releases, along with all subsequent TV airings of the movie.

It was not until the 2005 “Kermit’s 50th Anniversary Edition” re-release of the film that the shorter theatrical cut was released in the United States. This upsets many enthusiasts which would have liked the widescreen version to include the important song. It is somewhat ironic that the widescreen version is the shorter more “kid-friendly” cut of the film; and the full-frame (which was included because Disney claims “kids don’t like widescreen”) holds the less kid-friendly edit. However it would sound silly to have a labeled “theatrical cut” be the full-frame presentation and not the widescreen one. Maybe one day a widescreen version of the extended cut will be released on DVD.

The Muppets Christmas Carol
Theatrical Run-Time: 85 minutes
Extended Run-Time: 89 minutes

 

[TotallySpiesFan]

The only difference is that the standard version contains "When Love is Gone".