THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE - UNCUT...Anyone else have it?
Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2004 9:17 pm
The reason I first got into the whole "home theater" thing - starting with laserdisc back in the early 90's - was because I wanted to see films the way they were originally intended to be seen. The Happiest Millionaire was the last film to be released that was personally produced by Walt Disney. Running a whopping 2 hrs. and 44 minutes, the film was cut down substantially from it's original "road show" release version to 1 hr., 58 minutes for it's general theatircal release in 1967.
The Anchor Bay company released the full uncut version onto DVD in 1999 or early 2000. The uncut version is, I think, a vastly better movie than the severely truncated version most people saw in theaters and on TV in the late 60's. While no one would ever argue that The Happiest Millionaire is a "great" movie, I'll gladly defend the uncut version as a "good" movie, with a great deal to commend it, including some wonderful Sherman Bros. songs, and great performances from everyone involved.
In 2001, I showed the movie to my 12 year old niece who was in town for a two week visit, and she liked it so much, she watched it three times while she was down, and now, every time she comes back into town, she asks to watch it. She liked it so much, I bought her the soundtrack for Christmas in 2002 (she did not own a DVD player at the time, and no VHS release of the uncut version could be found).
I understand that many of the Disney/Anchor Bay DVD releases have been discontinued, so I don't know if you can still buy this title anymore on the Anchor Bay site (I'm sure you can get it on e*bay) -- but I was just curious if anyone else owns this DVD, or has seen it.
Thoughts?
The Anchor Bay company released the full uncut version onto DVD in 1999 or early 2000. The uncut version is, I think, a vastly better movie than the severely truncated version most people saw in theaters and on TV in the late 60's. While no one would ever argue that The Happiest Millionaire is a "great" movie, I'll gladly defend the uncut version as a "good" movie, with a great deal to commend it, including some wonderful Sherman Bros. songs, and great performances from everyone involved.
In 2001, I showed the movie to my 12 year old niece who was in town for a two week visit, and she liked it so much, she watched it three times while she was down, and now, every time she comes back into town, she asks to watch it. She liked it so much, I bought her the soundtrack for Christmas in 2002 (she did not own a DVD player at the time, and no VHS release of the uncut version could be found).
I understand that many of the Disney/Anchor Bay DVD releases have been discontinued, so I don't know if you can still buy this title anymore on the Anchor Bay site (I'm sure you can get it on e*bay) -- but I was just curious if anyone else owns this DVD, or has seen it.
Thoughts?