Hope everyone is still enjoying the holidays… This should be my last rant and rave of 2009:
On to our second Christmas movie…
When the four of us actually get together to watch a Christmas movie, there is a lot of thought involved. We have a lot of movies to pick from, since we have a lot of Christmas movies that we enjoy. My daughter and I tend to enjoy more movies than the two boys enjoy… Christmas in Connecticut (with Barbara Stanwyck) is one of the Christmas chick-flicks we love.
This year, I mentioned A Muppet Family Christmas, and the boys agreed that it had been several years since they saw it. (My daughter and I watched it last year, which reminded us how good this Jim Henson movie is.)
Again, my husband is a “technical gadget, wide-screen, perfect picture” sort of guy. So, I was a little hesitant when I got out our very old VHS version of A Muppet Family Christmas. I taped it years ago when it originally aired on television… which of course means that I have all of the television ads (brought to us by Osh Kosh B’ Gosh and M & Ms!) as well as the VHS tracking problems. I knew that it would not be up to my husband’s “perfect picture” taste, but I also knew that it is a terrific Christmas movie.
We all really enjoyed seeing the Muppets in all of their splendor… Miss Piggy braving the snow storm to be with her true love – Kermit (or as she would say “Kermie”), Big Bird making a home-made gift for the Swedish Chef – who was measuring Big Bird for the roasting pan, Fozzie Bear’s grandmother welcoming all of the unexpected guests into her home while ditching the warm-weathered plans she was looking forward to, the Fraggles explaining their “Pass It On” holiday, ETC.
After watching the movie, my husband decided that we do indeed need the DVD of this great Christmas movie, so off he went to buy it online. What a disappointment! Remember what I said about messing with perfection?!? Apparently, when Disney decided to sell the DVD (remember my previous entry: Disney bought the Jim Henson Company…) they would not/could not buy the rights to several of the songs, and instead simply decided to cut out many scenes from the original movie.
Let me keep this brief: If you have a VHS copy of the original movie, enjoy it AND treat it with care! Needless to say, my husband did NOT buy the DVD. I’m guessing that Disney must not have the money to pay for the rights of those Christmas songs… (Right! They certainly have the money to pay for all sorts of computer-generated movies, etc.)
Shame on you, Disney Studios, for messing with perfection!
Laura says
Danna: May I suggest that you transfer your favorite VHS tapes to DVD? Easily done these days and Costco does it at a reasonable price. Lots of things can go wrong with tapes. I know from experience!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
What a great idea, Laura. Until this year, I had no idea that so many Christmas classics were being… abbreviated!
Alfred says
HI Danna
The two movies I look forward to are Miracle on 34th Street and A Christmas Story. I saw the second one but did not see anywhere where the Miracle on 34th Street was on, but the remake of 1994 was which I don’t like. I also like Christmas in Connecticut as well.
Have you ever looked up Barbara Stanwyck on wikipedia? Such a sad early life she had, especially when here mother was pushed off a moving streetcar by a drunk when she was young and died. Well if you have a chance you might want to check it out and read about her. OK Happy New Year.
Molly says
It’s just like Mr Magoo Christmas Carol. If they bother to show it at all, they cut almost all the music out of it. I’m SO glad I have the real DVD that has all the music!
Jenny says
That’s so unnerving. It’s such a cute movie. I do love Christmas in Conn. I watched it twice this year while my babes were napping. I had a hard time finding my favorites on cable this year. The Bishop’s Wife (the one with Cary Grant) is at the top of my list.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Jenny,
I love that movie! What a delight it is to watch David Niven flounder around!