Why can't JHC see the light?

[radionate]

This story appeared on the yahoo news wire today:

Rarely seen gems on DVD including Richard Pryor

I just don't understand why Henson doesn't go this route, and rake in some dough when its so badly needed.

You can't convince me that lesser seen things wouldn't go over big time if marketed right.

 

[Drtooth]

Well... for that matter, you could have also called this post, "Why couldn't Disney see the light"

If you think about it, they have all these old cartoons that they could remaster and put on DVD. They did have a limited edition collectible set of Goofy cartoons, but that's about it. It's all "Let's sequal this, and let's rerelease the same video fifteen times." I mean, they've rereleased the Freakin' Newsies for crying out loud.

I wish they'd have old classic cartoons plus shows like Tailspin, Ducktales, and Darkwing duck on DVD, so I don't have to rewatch the rapidly deteriorating copys I had since I was 9!

 

[radionate]

Actually Disney released quite a few in that series:

Silly Symphonies
Black and White Mickey
Color Mickey
The Walt Disney Studios

I think there is another I'm forgetting. I believe there were 6 in all.

 

[scarecroe]

Originally posted by Drtooth
you could have also called this post, "Why couldn't Disney see the light"

Actually, they've got the complete Goofy cartoons, the entire Silly Symphony series, and a volume each of Mickey Mouse color and black & white shorts all on wonderfully produced DVD sets. Not to mention some of the other gems that have shown up in the Walt Disney Treasures DVD series.

But, back to Muppets. This new Richard Pryor set is the perfect example of forgotten throw-aways showing up on DVD with all kinds of crazy and lavish features when works of genius like The Muppet Show go without any respect. 15 volumes of "select" episodes is not my idea of respect to a work of art either. Especially not when the releases are limited to phone order only, with in-store versions coming out much later at a rate slower than it takes to produce a multi-million dollar blockbuster film. The Muppet Show should be a no brainer on DVD. It would be so easy to produce and make a buck off of, if Henson just made a little effort.

 

[DramaQueen86]

Originally posted by Drtooth
I wish they'd have old classic cartoons plus shows like Tailspin, Ducktales, and Darkwing duck on DVD, so I don't have to rewatch the rapidly deteriorating copys I had since I was 9!

i know, the cartoons of my childhood have been taken away. those wher the good one to, they showed compassion and good deeds and you know, all the other stuff that kids are being deprived of b/c of stupid shows that come on tv now. i miss the old stuff!

the other day i found a video that i had taped off the tv of Darkwing Duck, and i think it also had an episode of MMC, the one w/ the nysnc kids in it, i dont care for MMC but i was so happy that i found the others that i had to watch them. i miss that stuff!

 

[frogboy4]

I think Luke said it before, but it's probably about Henson leasing the rights to a distribution company that is the problem. I think a lot of other companies have been savvy enough to take advantage of DVD releases and lower the licensing price for a possible percentage of the profits or something along those lines. With how the Best of the Muppet Show DVDs were done, I'd guess that the licensing fee is rather high - and who knows how much it costs to keep the music in the episodes. Could be a tough issue.

So, I think the issue is about costs and money rather than Henson's willingness to do it. But I don't think they should let that stop them.