Douglas Fir said:
Could you elaborate - I thought the only thing missing in the UK version was the "stocking" scene???
The original programme is split into six 'acts', which were joined together for the re-edited version, losing both video and audio material at each join.
At the start of each original act there was a musical cue, sometimes overlaying the main audio well into the dialogue. The structure of the show was as follows:
Act 1 - "We Need A Little Christmas". Originally, the first shot of this did not have the MFC title on it; this was instead placed at the end of the song, superimposed over an exterior shot of the farmhouse in the snow.
Act 2 - Doc's arrival to "Jingle Bell Rock". The opening of this act is the same shot of the farmhouse from the end of act one, minus the title caption, and an instrumental of "We Need A Little Christmas" was used as backing music. This then dissolved to the shot of Ma Bear making her preparations to leave.
Act 3 - Rowlf's arrival to the news report. This opens on the shot of the Christmas tree being cut down, and an instrumental reprise of "Jingle Bell Rock" backed the scene until Rowlf and Fozzie start talking.
Act 4 - Sleeping arrangements to "Home For The Holidays". Act 3 ends on the shot of Kermit peering anxiously out of the farmhouse window into the gathering storm. Act 4 opens with the same shot, with a blue MFC title at the right of the screen, and backed with the same music.
Act 5 - The Carol Medley. In the original edit, this opens with a very short scene showing Fozzie lighting the Christmas tree, and then goes to Ma welcoming everyone to the house. I don't have a copy to hand to check what was used, but there is definitely a short musical cue in the background of this. The entire scene is omitted from the later versions.
Act 6 - Fozzie's stocking to the end. Again, the stocking scene was removed; it uses "Silent Night" as a musical backing. Finally, at some stage the end credits were remade. The original roll has a "Jim Henson Productions" copyright caption at the end of the roll; this is no longer present on later edits. It *is* present on the 1989 UK home video release, so this change took place later than the other edits. There was no Henson logo after the credits.
Each act faded in from, and faded out to black. All told, it runs to approximately 48 minutes. Roughly two minutes were cut for the second edit, circa 1988, and this is the version available on video in the UK. A further four minutes were lopped out for the US home video release due to musical rights issues.
To the best of my knowledge, the original uncut version has not been aired since 1987 and has never been released on video.
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