No, I don't think that's the case. The edit was very, very professionally done, with brand new leader on the front. It was an ex-library print, and sometimes what would happen is a clueless projectionist would misthread the print and pull all of the sprocket holes for the first 300 feet or something...

My guess? Some idiot pulled all of the sprockets sometime in the late '80s or the early '90s, and the library requested replacement footage (which happened a lot), and spliced it in themselves. There are no physical splices in the film except for the one in the middle of "Bumble Boogie." There are lab splices/crossfades in the middle of the Pastoral and Once Upon a Wintertime, though...