Muppet Christmas Carol now streams on Disney Plus with controversial cut song

2022 is an early Christmas for fans. muppet christmas carol — at least those who have a Disney Plus subscription. The streaming service not only added Brian Henson’s 4K restoration of his 1992 holiday film, but also released a restored version of the film with the song “When Love Is Gone” as an additional option for die-hard fans. Did.

The number written by Paul Williams was cut from the theatrical version. muppet christmas carol, reportedly at the behest of Disney chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. It was then haphazardly restored in the home video version. VHS copy? It contains. 86 minute widescreen DVD release? Not included.90 minute full screen version of same dvd set? It contains! The original film negative of the scene was presumed lost at some point and has since been rediscovered, but not in time for the film’s first streaming on Disney Plus in 2020 for his release.Love is Gone” muppet christmas carol Disney’s flagship streaming service.

The addition sparked a small holiday war on Polygon, with staff debating what the song would add and whether it was an important part of the film. Streamers offer theatrical versions of movies, “full versions” with songs, and clips of just the songs, so viewers can pick and choose their own songs according to their tastes. ) But what’s the pop culture debate if you don’t encourage an entire readership to choose one over the other? We decided to speak it out publicly.

Tasha Robinson: Ok, let’s clarify one thing: I saw muppet christmas carol I saw it for the first time a week ago and was appalled at what I had never seen before, thanks to a friend who set up a group viewing online. actually found in white christmas, and insisted on setting this week’s screening almost a year in advance. )

The main implication of this is that I’m not entering this conversation with long-standing nostalgia for the film or an internal meter about what constitutes the “correct” version. Getting lost or lost doesn’t sound strange or out of place to my ears. wizard of oz musical number “jitter bug’” did the conservationists when they first found and published the footage.you are much muppet christmas carol Vet than me, Susana — did that influence your opinion here?

Susana Polo: Oh, on the contrary. Although it was cut in the movie version, “When Love is Gone” was suddenly recorded in the home video version. Every copy my family happened to own, from VHS to the present day, included that scene. It has always been there for me. And yeah, I think it’s suuuuuuuuu — I mean, uh, I think that’s the weakest part of the movie. But how did it hit you? muppet christmas carol?

Tasha: As an important part of the story, be honest! We first saw it in theaters, and that scene where Ebenezer Scrooge’s youthful romance ends and leaves him on a path of bitter stinginess seemed strangely shortened and confusing to me. I don’t understand why she abandoned him! The cutscenes aren’t just about the song, but how he keeps postponing the wedding and how she feels he doesn’t love her anymore, and continues without really feeling their plans. It’s a general description of what you’re doing. Quite important context!

And I thought the song itself was very nice. This is another song from frequent Muppets-his songwriter Paul Williams, behind such Muppets-his classics as “Rainbow Connection” and “I’m Going To Get Back There Someday.” This song isn’t in that class, but to me it has some of the same flavors of sweet melancholy and sweet harmonies.

Susana: See, this is an interesting flip. Since I was in elementary school, I have basically never seen a movie without that scene. What Katzenberg cut was never quite clear until now. Whole character beatIt was very stupid of him. And I’m doubly happy that Disney Plus has brought it back.

As you’d expect from an individual scene in a movie, “When Love Is Gone” has a lot going for it. muppet christmas carol, as you say, introduces a musical motif that is replayed especially in the final moments of the film. These are the things I truly believe.

But I’m against “When Love Is Gone” because of what a good musical is. The songs themselves aren’t all that good, stiffly played and uncreatively staged, but more than that, the audience is left with an overabundance of characters we barely know and characters who are trying to leave the story entirely. Take a detour to As a true outlier in the realm of absolute banger music sequences.

Tasha: Just a few minutes! Not so long! And it’s the final touchpoint before the young and emotional Scrooge’s heart hardens.

But for the most part, I’ll admit you’re right on the nose here, and that this is a pretty flawed scene. The sudden focus on emotional pain feels pretty weird, especially when she’s forever at peace right after.

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

But this is not what I expected for a long time muppet christmas carol Dissent the fans – here, most people who want this song to go away are the dramatic, melancholy, tales of a movie full of Muppets, in which two humans navigate a very rudimentary love. I thought it would feel out of place to have a number without Muppets… stories, not puppets. Is that at all in your calculations when considering cutting this scene? What is your big objection here?

Susana: Quite frankly, I think the whole scene should have been rethought before we shot it. There is, but there are more questions:

Why is the visual staging of this solo number so beyond words bored? She won’t even take her hand off her cute little Victorian muff. [Ed. note: While gathering images to lay out this post I discovered that Belle is actually not wearing a muff at all, she just keeps her hands so still and pinned to her stomach for the whole song that I Mandela Effect-ed one into existence. I am noting this in case you too believed that Belle was a muff-wearer.] why earth Wasn’t this song designed from the beginning as a shared song between Belle, Young Scrooge and Older Scrooge? It can culminate in the harmonies of Belle and Present Scrooge.

if i had I think the best fix for doing a scene with this song is to simply slim it down to its essence. In the first verse and chorus, Bell spells out the whole character development here. But she leaves anyway! Don’t jibe. Cut straight from the end of the first chorus to her and present Scrooge in the bridge and outro. Short, sweet, it tells us everything we need to know, introduces us to musical motifs to call back later, and makes the most of awkward situations.

Tasha: I go to bat not to let Belle start out singing with young Scrooge — consciously, I know it’s the same character, but Belle and this random lad interact When we see it, we feel like we are watching it. 2 A character we know very little about and have no meaningful connection to. Again, this scene isn’t really about young Scrooge. It is about an old man who looks and remembers this moment he was repressed in the process of convincing himself. like His lonely, bitter, efficient life. Young Scrooge felt nothing at this moment. (Seems like the man playing him is more focused on making a compelling Michael Caine face than watching his planned life fall apart in front of him.) I can see it. )

Image: Walt Disney Pictures

That staging is part of what makes this song so great! He proved her point in that moment. he Not full of regret, it is now up to Scrooge to step in and express that regret. Their duet — a conversation between past and present in a whole new way — is the most beautiful part of the scene for me. The ghost of an old man who, in his arrogant and insecure youth, realized for the first time that he didn’t know everything? It’s hard to cram into one song, but just as the staging is rigid and the sets are fake and plastic, Michael Caine stepping in at this moment and adding his voice makes it all come through. come.

Susana: I honestly never thought of it that way.

Perhaps the other half of this situation is that Muppet musicians have historically struggled to fit genre-mandatory serious romance songs into Muppet movies.he makes me happy,” Muppets take Manhattan) to the nagging saccharine, not really supported by the plot (“love brought us here,” muppet treasure island) to pretentious pretentious (“Never before, never again!,” muppet movie; “first time event,” Great Muppet Caper). The best romance song in a Muppet movie isCan’t We Ride” from Great Muppet Caperand how wonderful it is to ride a bike with your sweetheart in the park, and how the puppeteer’s intricate feat is pulled off with sublime simplicity.

Tasha: Well, I wouldn’t want to fight you over all the Muppets love songs. I totally agree with the view that the Muppets are at their best when they are completely sincere.”River Meets the Sea” is a sweet holiday her song about death.

But somehow that sincerity never really translates into a good Muppet song about romantic love. , or (again) you can love a sweet death hug, but when you try to love each other, alchemy doesn’t work. It just falls flat. It’s probably a good thing that Gonzo and Rizzo don’t try to get involved in “When Love Is Gone.” For me at least, it’s a compelling figure, albeit one with its flaws, which makes him an important character in the film. It’s not an eternal love song. But the way it works, it puts the Muppets aside a bit and appeals directly to the audience’s humanity, so it’s probably the most effective.