Which format is better for the Muppet Movie?

[antsamthompson9]

I was wondering which is better to watch the Muppet Movie: widescreen or full screen? I always prefer widescreen, but I'm not so sure with the Muppet Movie. What do you guys think?

 

[Drtooth]

Frogboy? You there?

He has a much better angle on this than me, and even wrote an article or two about it.

Personally, after seeing Ghostbusters in full frame VHS, I NEVER wanted to see another movie in full frame ever again. It's also said that you can unfortunately see some of the puppeteers' heads in certain shots of the full frame version. I'd rather have that hidden out of frame by the widescreen.

 

[Whatnot1988]

Widescreen. Definetly widescreen. It's how it was originally made and that's all that matters. Also, if you have a 16-by-9 television, the picture (at least on the Columbia-TriStar version from 2001, I don't know about the Disney reissue from a few years ago) should fill your entire screen (I discovered this when viewing the DVD on my computer in "windowed" mode).

 

[D'Snowth]

Either way, you lose 25% of your picture... it just depends on which 25% you'd rather lose: possibly the tops of performers' heads and the "sleeves" below the Muppet torsos, or random people standing off to the side, staring into space.

Muppet movies are the only movies I know where you actually gain more picture in widescreen than you do full screen... everyone says you ALWAYS lose 25% of the picture in full screen, but that's not always true: most movies I've seen actually have MORE picture in full screen than widescreen, in widescreen, you either lose the tops of people's heads, or maybe their ankles and feet in crowd shots and such... but with Muppet movies, you actually do retain all of that stuff, plus extra... I was even surprised at how much we gained with the recent anniversary edition of FTB,compared to previous VHS and DVD releases that were in full screen.

My opinion? Widescreen for Muppet movies, and Muppet movies ONLY; full screen for all other movies if at all possible.

 

[Sgt Floyd]

The Muppet movie was recorded in full screen, but it is officially meant to be viewed in widescreen. The idea was that by filming it in full screen then formatting it for widescreen, any goofs such as the puppeteers heads exposed will be fixed without a whole lot of editing.

As a general rule, if it was filmed in full screen, widescreen removes the tops and bottoms. If it was filmed in widescreen, full screen removes the sides. It is usually best to watch the movie in its native format. You also have to watch out for dvds that will format the picture to your tv, making a widescreen picture stretch so that the black bars arent there. It is extremely annoying and hard to look at. It generally can be fixed with messing with your dvd player settings though.

But because The Muppet movie really is meant to be viewed in widescreen, I would say widescreen, unless you want to make a game of full screen and count how many times you see heads.

 

[matleo]

ask and ye shall receive..... http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/editorials/widescreen.shtml

I can also tell you from personal experience that Great Muppet Caper is WAY better in widescreen. I believe the same can be said for MCC and MTI. if there's one thing that Jim and Brian both did they filled their shots with Muppets so when you watch those films in fullscreen you not only lose 25% of your picture, you lose 25% of your muppets.

For TMM I don't think it makes a huge difference but I prefer to watch it in widescreen.

 

[Scooterfan5]

Widescreen

 

[dwmckim]

Widescreen

How else can you fit the pig in the shot, okay?

 

[Beauregard]

: *rimshot*

 

[CensoredAlso]

Well you know the scene in The Muppet Movie where Gonzo first goes up with the balloons and Fozzie taps on Kermit's shoulder? If you watch that scene in letterbox format (I believe), for a second you can see Richard off to the side performing Fozzie's arm. Lol