Your Thoughts: Fraggle Rock DVD

[GelflingWaldo]

Regardless of how you feel about Wal-mart, it does not look like HIT will move this specific release out to other places (it is just to test a sample of the market). If you are anti-Wal-mart you should be able to order the DVD from there online store soon. Plus the "special edition", which will be out in October, should have a much wider release.

In the wake of this product's release, I started to wonder about the future of the Fraggle-DVD franchise. I wrote a letter to HIT and Henson, I mailed it and E-mailed it. I hope they read and consider what I say. I also hope other fans write letters too. Let's have our voice be heard - We can make a difference! Below is a copy of the letter I wrote. I thought you might enjoy reading what I had to say to the "power that be".

Dear HIT Entertainment,

The television show Fraggle Rock has truly enhanced my life, and I would adore seeing a complete collection of all 96 Fraggle Rock episodes on the DVD format. I'm sure all the parties involved would want the show properly released to the public, and recognize the great marketplace for it.

In the past I've been frustrated by hundreds of other studios’ treatment of television shows when releasing them on DVD. Yet I feel you have the ability to create a great product with the Fraggle Rock DVD collection. The existing fan-base of Fraggle Rock is diverse. From kids to adults, the show reaches all ages. I hope to see DVDs that cater to all fans, and not just children.

Season box sets are the preferred choice of Fraggle Rock, and TV-DVD fans. Releasing the show in their proper five season sets would be the best treatment one could give to such a beloved classic, such as Fraggle Rock. Smaller single disk releases, with one or two episodes each, are great for casual fans, and for getting new viewers hooked. I am not discouraging them. But the large fan-base of Fraggle fans would much rather have all 96 episodes in a season-by-season collection full of extras. The fan base has been waiting for years for a decent release of the show.

What makes any DVD release even better is when the DVD experience is enhanced with special features and extra goodies. Jim Henson created an excellent behind the scenes special called Down at Fraggle Rock: Behind the Scenes. This one-hour special shows interviews with performers, writers, composers, and technicians and it provides a wonderful backstage look at Fraggle Rock. I know that every fan of the show would love to see this special again on a DVD collection. International comparison clips, showing the difference between the different versions of Fraggle Rock shown all over the world, is another fan desired extra. And another DVD extra that would set these DVDs apart from others would be selected “bonus episodes" from the 1987 animated Fraggle Rock cartoon show on each DVD. And, of course no DVD set would be complete with out interviews, image galleries, promos, and commentary tracks. I hope to see Fraggle Rock DVDs handled with great care to enhance the viewers’ experiance of Fraggle Rock.

Fraggle Rock has touched the lives of so many people; millions of people grew-up with the Fraggles, and a dishonorable treatment of Fraggle Rock will only ruin their memories of a show which lately has been hard to come by. It’s been over 20 years since Fraggle Rock first aired on television, and today fans are still excited by any news of “Fraggle happenings”. I hope that HIT Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company can work together to create a great DVD collection for the fans of Fraggle Rock. Thank you for your time and consideration. Please keep the magic alive, and bring the world the best Fraggle DVDs possible.

Sincerely,

 

[baby sinclair]

Well, all i know is that on tuesday (hopefully my walmart has this dvd today) i will purchase where it all began the first edition. i'm not buying the same dvd with just with a few extras. i think thats just silly. Why cant they just release the next episodes. id rather have a NEW fraggle dvd this fall than just another version. This is so messed up. Not at all how i wanted it. Not at all.

 

[BigTiny]

Apparently some Wal-Mart stores have this title in stock as of today (7/20) while others will not be getting it in stock until next Tuesday (7/27). So if your Wal-Mart doesn't have it yet, they should most definitely be stocking the title as of next week.

It seems that Alabama stores do in fact have it! I figured the west-coast would be the first to see it. I'm a little suprised that only some stores will get it before others...

 

[vetters]

In the wake of this product's release, I started to wonder about the future of the Fraggle-DVD franchise. I wrote a letter to HIT and Henson, I mailed it and E-mailed it. I hope they read and consider what I say. I also hope other fans write letters too. Let's have our voice be heard - We can make a difference! Below is a copy of the letter I wrote. I thought you might enjoy reading what I had to say to the "power that be".

GelflingWaldo, that was a great letter. Thanks for posting it. And thanks to Traveling Matt for suggesting what to write and where to send it! Hopefully we'll get our season-by-season DVD release. I know that I will write a letter.

 

[doctort13]

Maybe they don't want women taking their boobs out in the store rows. What is wrong with going into the rest room and breast feeding?

I must call you on this buddy!

First off, the part of a woman's body that a baby nurses from is a BREAST. Not a boob. Most mothers are very discreet about feeding their children, and do not "take their boobs out in the store rows".

Secondly, would you eat in ANY restroom? I doubt it very much. I used to work for a company that serviced Wal-Mart stores, and used their restrooms...which were ALWAYS filthy! I could never suggest that a mother should have to feed their baby in a WAL-MART restroom, let alone have to use it for the purpose that it is intended for.

I hope that if you ever become a parent you will see things differently. I would hate to know that your children were hungry while you and your family were shopping, and that the store would eject you (or your wife) for breast feeding your baby.

 

[GelflingWaldo]

I was out shopping today at many stores and asked the employes/managers of the stores I was in what their responce to A WOMAN breast feeding in their store would be. The following stores said they would ask the mother to leave or go to a private areas (restroom/changing room).

K-mart
Macy's
CVS
SunCoast Video
Waldenbooks
Old Navy
BlockBuster
Burger King

These are just places I went to and asked, many other places probally have the same rules. Of all the places I went, none said they would be "Ok" with it. Places have policies on this issue, I think Wal-Mart is one of the few where the mothers complained and they had law suites. Many places don't allow shoppers to eat or drink in their stores and no one complains about their right to eat in the store. Regardless, it does not look like this Fraggle DVD will be moved out of Wal-mart.

 

[SillyRed]

Just saw that The Wal-Mart Nearest me has the Fraggle Rock DVD!! I can't wait to buy it tomorrow!!!

 

[jeremyactor]

Episodes 1 & 2 are merged???

Can I get confirmation on that from anyone else cause if so that's ridiculous!

Hit! would have to be seriously clueless to do a thing like that, are they still unaware of their consumer fanbase, cause I don't know many folks who have taken well to supporting studios who edit a show's release context in such a way... certainly not enthusiasts of the DVD medium, nor fans and preservationists of the series - it seems so far that Hit! appears to be quite negligiant in such regards.

This started out as "test" (so say random messgaeboard posters as such has never officialy been stated) with 2 episodes, it's since turned into 3 episodes and a Pingu short, and now it seems to be 2 episodes edited into one another with audio timing glitches in the 3rd...

I know I definitely will NOT be buying if this is the sort of treatment that Fraggle Rock will continue to recieve. I'll go with the R2 sets from Columbia instead...

Someone please verify this, because I'd like to contact Hit about this!

When I say they were merged, I mean they took the end credits off of one, the beginning intro off another and put a graphic in the middle to separate them. Obnoxious? Yes. End of the world? Nope. But I will be voicing my displeasure with HIT.

As for the audio problems - I have to do some looking, but it could just be my player. I'll try it in my computer and see what happens.

Jeremy

 

[WiGgY]

I must call you on this buddy!

First off, the part of a woman's body that a baby nurses from is a BREAST. Not a boob. Most mothers are very discreet about feeding their children, and do not "take their boobs out in the store rows".

Secondly, would you eat in ANY restroom? I doubt it very much. I used to work for a company that serviced Wal-Mart stores, and used their restrooms...which were ALWAYS filthy! I could never suggest that a mother should have to feed their baby in a WAL-MART restroom, let alone have to use it for the purpose that it is intended for.

I hope that if you ever become a parent you will see things differently. I would hate to know that your children were hungry while you and your family were shopping, and that the store would eject you (or your wife) for breast feeding your baby.

Boob, breat, melon, bazonga, same diff "buddy". Don't get caught up in details. I'll use what ever word I want to.

Is the baby licking the floor of the restroom? Is the mother quirting milk on the tile and having the baby lick it up like a cat? No? So what is that problem? It's not like walking into the restroom with a hamburger and seting it down on the counter or the rim of a toilet seat. And there is that second option of going outside. What is so wrong with that? Just walk right outside. The kid can't wait for a minute? Please.

If I ever become a parent and my wife breast feeds I will still be on the same side. First of all, why bring the kid to the store? You can't leave the child with a baby sitter while you take an hour to shop? Do you really think other people want to hear your child screaming? I know i don't. Does that make me anti-family? No. It makes me anti-hearing other people's screaming babies. If the child can not be away from you for an hour or 2 so you can shop, then you should not go shopping. Send someone out, leave the baby, order online. There is no reason to burden others with your screaming baby.

Anyway, there is no reason not to breast feed in a private place away from other people other than selfishness. It's doesn't bother you, so why should you care if it bothers someone else?

 

[Phillip]

Guys, let's move on from the breast-feeding discussion. The focus here is on the Fraggle DVD. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.