ohmahaaha wrote:
My big questions are:
1) Will Scarecrow be the theatrically released movie (and how much of the original TV shows were edited out for that) or will it be a collection of the individual TV shows?
Here's the history of the production:
The production was originally conceived and budgeted as three one-hour television episodes titled "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh."
The production was shot on location and at Pinewood Studios, England, in the first half of 1963, and then edited as three one-hour television episodes.
The production was then re-edited and released theatrically in England just before Christmas 1963, with a new title, "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow." The run time was 98 minutes.
The original three-episode television cut was broadcast in the U.S. on February 9, 16, and 23, 1964, with its original title, "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh." (Rerun dates were August 16, 23, and 30, 1964, and May 10, 17, and 24, 1970.)
The production was re-edited again and first released theatrically in the U.S. in 1975. While this version had the same title as the 1963 British theatrical, "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow," the run time was now only 75 minutes (so it could be shown on a double bill with a re-release of "Treasure Island").
The production was re-edited yet again as two one-hour television episodes, and broadcast in the U.S. on June 18 and 25, 1978.
Then, the production was re-edited one more time and released as a Walt Disney Home Video on November 18, 1986. The video carried the title of the 1963 and 1975 theatrical releases, "Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow," but the run time was now 129 minutes. Here's why. The content of all three one-hour television episodes was included ... with the following exceptions. One scene from episode three was dropped, as it was only a repeat of a scene from episode one. (The repetition of the scene was for the benefit of weekly viewers in 1964 - to help them keep track of characters and incidents.) Also, the opening sequence of the three television episodes - a sequence that was slightly different for each episode! - was dropped, and the "kiddie matinee" title sequence of the 1975 theatrical was used instead. (This 1975 title sequence, among other changes, left out the sound of the Scarecrow's scary laughter.)
Finally, the PAL version of the 1986 Home Video had a run time of 94 minutes, instead of 129 minutes. I believe this is because it was actually the 1963 British theatrical, with the difference in run times - 94 minutes as compared to 98 - being due to the PAL format's 4% time compression of NTSC masters. But this is only a guess. I haven't been able to verify this yet.
So ... what will we see included in the August DVD release? Here's my hope. Walt's original three-episode, 1964 television version, with his introductions included, and the differences in the opening sequences preserved. PLUS, Bill Anderson's 1963 British theatrical version. The composer of the production's music, Gerard Schurmann, has said that that '63 theatrical is the most beautiful (best edited) version of them all. Further, the '63 is the most likely theatrical version to be included, as the Archives began restoration of the '63 several years ago - but only the visual restoration was completed. Funds were not available, at the time, to restore the soundtrack as well. But the project may have been completed, since then, for the DVD release. Doing so certainly would have been sensible - for both artistic and economic reasons.