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Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas (Complete) - (Released) — Page 8

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Disney would still have to okay the Kermit scenes being included.

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Where were you in '77?

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 (Edited)

The 40th anniversary edition of Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas is now available and I found 2 Amazon reviews confirming that the Kermit scenes (and the laundry scene) have been restored:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R25QRZ02WJ7U3A/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0746S1XZ1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R3LUIR1VP9HQUJ/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0746S1XZ1

No word yet if the presentation is original full screen with the proper 60fps framerate or the matted widescreen presentation with the manipulated film-like framerate (the one that aired on ABC Family/Freeform) but I asked one of the reviewers and currently awaiting reply.

UPDATE: So bad news; the 40th AE DVD is in matted-widescreen with the film-like framerate.

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Hello I would like a dvd copy of the original emmet otters jug and Christmas with Kermit narration thank you

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I can’t wait to see some reviews.
Of course I wouldn’t be surprised if they cropped the left and ride sides of the cropped-to-widescreen version.

Dr. M

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 (Edited)

Likewise. I regret never obtaining whatcobblers version. I want to go see it in a theater, but fear it will be cropped. My local theater inexplicably only has a 4pm show on Monday. A theater a few towns away has a 7pm show as well, but a bit far for me to go.
The soundtrack is finally being released as well. I can finally rock out to Riverbottom Nightmare Band! 😉

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Where were you in '77?

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 (Edited)

Funny thing. I had found the soundtrack several years back and I have no idea what the source was. It even has Born in a Trunk. Now I wish I asked questions.

Edit: Wait. Are you saying the Philfrog version is no longer anywhere? I just checked a couple of the usual places and I don’t see it.
If the new release is another dud, I’ll have to do something about it.

Dr. M

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Very late coming to this thread, but I have on old dvd with no Kermit, and a recorded off of TV VHS that I transferred to DVD myself, which has all of KErmit, including narration, but the quality is everything one would expect of a 25 year old vhs to dvd transfer. For me, the narration really adds a special element to the story,and I would love to obtain a copy of the complete fanedit version if possible. Is it possible?

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 (Edited)

Last night, I watched the DVD I made from my own S-VHS recording taped off Nickelodeon in the late 90’s. More than watchable, except for a brief cable outage at the beginning of the talent show I always forget is there.

From the reviews I’ve read of the new release, Kermit is restored, (opening and closing) but the narration is absent. It’s been said the narration was added for a later broadcast, but even the Henson Organization’s own history seems murky on this.

Emmet has had more versions on tv and video than there are cuts of Star Wars. Fall off the dock is also restored. Digital wire removal has been done on the upscaled Blu-Ray, but apparently the new DVD release left them alone.

With the new release available, it seems like a good time for someone to revisit this. My old recording could suffice for Kermit’s narration. (I had enough sense to capture at the highest settings with PCM audio.) A bit of cleanup would be needed to take out the faint background hum that plagued my cable system at the time.

I’ve thought one of the 80’s video releases might be a cleaner source for the narration if they were recorded in Hi_Fi, but every auction of an old VHS or Beta comes from people who are clearly more deranged than the Riverbottom gang.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Emmet-Otters-Jug-Band-Christmas-VHS-1977/254031225804

JEDIT: Seems like the new release incorporates all the deleted footage, except for Kermit’s voiceovers.
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Emmet_Otter’s_Jug-Band_Christmas_edits#Comparison_table

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Where were you in '77?

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$717,700? At least the shipping is free.

So the new release identical to the PhilFrog minus the Kermit voice over? That’s not nearly as bad as I expected.
One user review I saw does rate the picture quality as ‘meh’ though.

I does sound like it could be a good source for a restoration, just some audio patching and done.

Dr. M

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I think some reviewers have unrealistic expectations for a tv show that was shot on videotape in 1977. And thank Ma Otter there’s a full frame version this time! The 16:9 DVD from last year(?) was pretty awful to look at.

The RCA videodisc can be had for cheap, but I don’t have a CED player and don’t know anyone who does. And it’s a crapshoot if a used CED disc won’t be heavily worn and skip worse than a vinyl record.

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Where were you in '77?

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It looks like What.Cobbler? hasn’t been around in 10 years.
Anyone know if he is on a different forum having the exact same conversation we are?

Dr. M

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 (Edited)

Not on fanres or FE, AFAIK. May have changed their name over time. I’m seeing reference to a philfrog over at FE, but not sure if it’s the same EOJBC edit or not. A Muppet centered tape trading website seem to be offering his edit.

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Where were you in '77?

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I looked in on 'Spleen again and saw this edit IS there with just under a dozen seeders. It’s called 30th Anniversary Edition which is why I didn’t see it before.

Dr. M

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SilverWook said:

I think some reviewers have unrealistic expectations for a tv show that was shot on videotape in 1977. And thank Ma Otter there’s a full frame version this time! The 16:9 DVD from last year(?) was pretty awful to look at.

I watched the Blu-ray last night and I can’t help but feel it’s worse than it should’ve been. Lots of ringing/halo artifacts around edges. No reason for that type of artifact to appear in analog sources without some type of processing. Whether it was intentional edge enhancement or just bad upscaling (which can cause ringing), I can’t say. The frame rate is also 23.976, which something shot on video certainly shouldn’t be.

Having it in 4:3 is nice, but if the original broadcast tape still exists, I find it hard to believe this is the best they could do. Seems to me they’re just recycling the same old master.

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MTFBWY…A

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How can they constantly cock this up? Is there any way to undo/fix the frame rate, at least for the Kermit scene at the end?
There is a separate DVD of this. Maybe that’s less messed up since they left the wires in? Might have been done before the upscale.

Also, it seems only the first DVD release has the French and Spanish dubs. The French went the extra mile of translating the songs. It would be fun to preserve those, even though they would have to conformed to the longer edit, and have some gaps.

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Where were you in '77?

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SilverWook said:

How can they constantly cock this up? Is there any way to undo/fix the frame rate, at least for the Kermit scene at the end?

I’m no expert, but I don’t see how you can go from 29.976 broadcast video to 23.976 without discarding frames, making them unrecoverable.

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MTFBWY…A

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I wonder if a Dr. Who Restoration Team-style effort grabbing frames from other sources could work? Anyway, I totally misread the blu-ray.com thread. There apparently is no 2018 DVD, just the 16:9 abomination from 2017. 😕

Putting out some feelers to see who might have a working CED player, since the RCA videodisc release isn’t hard to find, and super cheap compared to the 700K auction for an early 80’s VHS.

It’s odd all the other Muppet one-off specials got an LD release, except for Emmet.

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Where were you in '77?

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Hi all, I managed to track down Philfrog’s 30th anniversary EOJBC – on the hunt now for his 20th anniversary edition of Muppet Family Christmas but having trouble finding it…can anybody help me out? Or recommend a similar edit/reconstruction of that special? TIA

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rorysl said:

Hi all, I managed to track down Philfrog’s 30th anniversary EOJBC – on the hunt now for his 20th anniversary edition of Muppet Family Christmas but having trouble finding it…can anybody help me out? Or recommend a similar edit/reconstruction of that special? TIA

Hi folks, as a longtime fan of the original Emmet Otter I would LOVE to find Philfrog’s restoration to share with family this Christmas. Is there any chance someone might be able to point me to this? Feel free to PM if that’s possible or find me on Instagram at the same username @aphonik.

Thanks in advance!
Eric

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aphonik said:

rorysl said:

Hi all, I managed to track down Philfrog’s 30th anniversary EOJBC – on the hunt now for his 20th anniversary edition of Muppet Family Christmas but having trouble finding it…can anybody help me out? Or recommend a similar edit/reconstruction of that special? TIA

Hi folks, as a longtime fan of the original Emmet Otter I would LOVE to find Philfrog’s restoration to share with family this Christmas. Is there any chance someone might be able to point me to this? Feel free to PM if that’s possible or find me on Instagram at the same username @aphonik.

Thanks in advance!
Eric

Hi Eric,
I sent you a PM

“Always in motion is the future” 🌌

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I would like to get a link to this edit. If anyone can help out please send me a message.
Thank you,
David

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BINKS said:

I would like to get a link to this edit. If anyone can help out please send me a message.
Thank you,
David

PM sent

“Always in motion is the future” 🌌

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Hey All, looking for this version to pass down to the niece’s and nephew’s, it seems to be the most complete out there. Can anyone send a link?

Thank you