OK THIS IS NOT A FUCKING DRILL EVERYONE FUCKING REPEAT AFTER ME. THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL DO WHEN YOU WATCH MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL THIS YEAR:
You will navigate to the page on disney plus (and it has to be here. Unless someone has actually uploaded the REAL movie anywhere else you cannot get it elsewhere)
BUT YOU WILL NOT HIT PLAY. You won’t do it. Because it’s NOT THE REAL VERSION OF THE FILM AND DISNEY IS FUCKING LYING TO YOU AS IT ALWAYS DOES
You will scroll down HERE. To EXTRAS instead. You MUST GO HERE. This is non -negotiable
THEN YOU WILL SCROLL DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF THE EXTRAS AND YOU WILL THEN HIT PLAY ON THIS BAD BOY: THE FULL LENGTH VERSION
And you will watch it. And you will thank me for having been so blind and led astray by that stupid fucking mouse. You’re welcome.
ok children gather ‘round because all of these kindof have the same answer and I am way too passionate about this subject and the history behind it that I physically cannot remain silent about it
So if you were a 90’s kid like me, you grew up with this film on VHS. if you were also like me, then you probably remember it very differently from how it was released recently both in blu-ray and on streamer formats and probably were freaking out thinking this was some kind of mandela effect for years: and THIS IS BECAUSE. THERE IS A CRUCIAL SCENE MISSING. AND LITERALLY I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. THE TWO MINUTES CUT KINDOF CHANGE THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE WHOLE MOVIE??? and allow me to explain why.
That video above it the Deleted Song “When Love is Gone” was ONLY EVER featured on the VHS release of The Muppet Christmas Carol that came out through the 90’s. Why? because initially, some uppity disney executive market tested it and went “kids are gonna get antsy with that and not like it” so they cut it then for the theatrical release, but then Brian Henson (director, son of JIM) somehow managed to get it into the VHS cut of the film. Kinda went rogue about it if memory serves. Now, as a child, this was kindof… a huge part of the movie for me? like I remember listening to it and crying a bit as a kid because this one song is just… so emotional? like seriously. other than the fact that it’s being sung by Meredith Braun (who at one point played Eponine in Les Mis, and you gotta have some SERIOUS pipes to do that) AND Michael Cain, and it’s a love song in a way, like it’s very clear that she still cares for Ebenezer but she recognizes that her love for him is different than his love for her and she has to leave him, meanwhile THE MAN IS BEHIND HER CRYING AND SHE DOESN’T EVEN SEE HIM AND CLEARLY IT’S THE BIGGEST REGRET HE HAS And honestly? That’s a HUGE part of what made it stand out for me as a child. Like. The muppets themselves were all fun and good but then you have this song for a second… and it really feels true to the dickensian spirit guiding the whole film, and it’s what’s made it to me the most true to form adaptation of his yet. It’s phenomenal. And this dumbass disney exec said “it’s too adult emotional for the kids” (an argument that always has and will always continue to be completely fucking stupid).
So then what happened? why didn’t they put it in the DVD and Blu Ray releases that have come out throughout the years? Well, literally DISNEY LOST THE FOOTAGE. APPARENTLY. so when they went to restore it and reformat it for those releases AND THEN SUBSEQUENTLY for the streamer release, it was literally missing. and Brian Henson has been asking them to look for YEARS. FINALLY they found it back in 2020, and then only last year did they upload the fully restored version that you see me ranting and raving about.
“But Egg”, you ask, “why does this matter? What does this small 2 minute sequence change about this movie SO MUCH that it merits a huge ass post about it that is making people confused?”
Because let me tell you friends. Belle does not seem very significant and kindof pointless to flashback to without that song. It’s like ok. she’s there. She tells Ebenezer she’s breaking up with him. and then… THE MUPPETS CRY ABOUT IT??? and that’s it. That’s all you get. you don’t get any of the sense of how deeply this affected this guy- the LITERAL PROTAGONIST THAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT. And it’s all because, again, say it with me folks: the dipshit disney executive said “It’s Too Emotional For Children”.
Not ONLY that. But THIS SONG IS LITERALLY THE REPRISE THEY SING AT THE END OF THE FILM. WHICH. LET ME TELL YOU. IT’S FUCKING WEIRD FOR THAT TO LITERALLY COME OUT OF NOWHERE COMPLETELY LEFT FIELD AS A NEW SONG AT THE END. Like it makes no sense. ok sappy sentimental “the love we found” all right. BUT REMEMBER. THE ORIGINAL LYRIC IS “LOVE IS GONE”. IT’S SYMMETRY. IT’S POETRY. IT’S FUCKING VITAL. An the movie is good as it is but literally trust me this makes it infinitely better when you see it as a whole. Please. Just trust me on this. Thank you and goodnight.
The Mouse… lost something that would make It money? WTF. (eyeroll)
(Disclosure: I have taken the Mouse’s money and in return for it did good work that I’m still pleased with, in a universe I’d loved since childhood; so, as we say around here, “sorry, Not Sorry.” Yet all the people I was working with at Disney in the late 80s were well aware of the Rodent’s more greedy-and-grasping qualities. “They didn’t get so rich by overpaying their writers,” was one theme that made the rounds a lot.)
Anyway; I can’t imagine this movie without that song. The pain is necessary for the full joy later. Seek out the full version if you can.
ETA for European viewers (and maybe others, who knows): On Disney+, the “Extras” page for “The Muppet Christmas Carol” now explicitly offers both the excised song (as a standalone) and the version with the excised song.
