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The Castaway is incomplete on Treasures set

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 1:20 pm
by jebsdad
I finally got around to checking each cartoon on the new Treasures and discovered that The Castaway version on the Mickey Mouse In Black and White Volume 2 treasures set is missing 3 seconds. I compare the DVD releases with cartoons I bought on VHS in the early to mid 1980s and from cartoons I copied from the Disney Channel during that same time.

The missing scene is just after Mickey is frightened by the spider. In my VHS copy of the cartoon, a wave is shown depositing a crate on the beach. It's just 3 seconds, but it is the same crate that Mickey backs into from fright of the spider. That same crate is shown later to contain the piano.

I had noticed that scene missing when I taped a colorized version of that cartoon short from the Disney Channel in the early 1990s. But I expected the cartoon would be complete on the Treasures set.

Obviously, there is nothing to censor about a crate being deposited on the beach by a wave. It is likely that whoever chose the film for the DVD Treasure did not know that the source film was not complete.

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:42 pm
by Luke
That is very odd. On the one hand, it's good to know, on the other hand, it's annoying that it's not complete.

Still, knowledge conquers ignorance. Thanks for the info, Jerry!

Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:50 pm
by deathie mouse
mmm.. that amount of animation could fit into 1 or 2 MB of monophonic b/w mpeg2 video...

8)

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 12:28 pm
by jebsdad
deathie mouse wrote:mmm.. that amount of animation could fit into 1 or 2 MB of monophonic b/w mpeg2 video...

8)
I do not have the technology to share this missing animation, but if you - or anyone else in the forum - want to share this, I would be willing to send a VHS copy of the short so that you could share it with the forum members.

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:01 pm
by Ciaobelli
Looks like they are not so uncensored after all :cry: :( :evil:

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 8:05 pm
by jebsdad
Ciaobelli wrote:Looks like they are not so uncensored after all :cry: :( :evil:
Well ... as I mentioned above, I do not consider these missing 3-4 seconds as CENSORSHIP. As has happened several times in the past, the person who selected the source film did not realize he/she was using an incomplete source film. The various cartoons, TV shows, and films over the years have had several "versions" depending on them being edited down to fit time restraints when they were included as part of later Disney specials or the Disney Channel showings.

So, in this specific case, there was nothing to censor. Just a mistake by a Disney employee who wasn't careful enough about using the correct source film for the Treasures set.

Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:10 pm
by orestes.
Yeah it sounds like an omission like this was just passed by because the missing few seconds were not harmless at all.
This would be something to bring up if anyone wanted to e-mail Leonard Maltin.

Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 7:39 am
by Lars Vermundsberget
In general, don't scream "censorship" too fast. This seems more like a slight "goof-up"... Unfortunate, but hardly a disaster.

Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:18 am
by Sir Hawkins
jebsdad wrote:
deathie mouse wrote:mmm.. that amount of animation could fit into 1 or 2 MB of monophonic b/w mpeg2 video...

8)
I do not have the technology to share this missing animation, but if you - or anyone else in the forum - want to share this, I would be willing to send a VHS copy of the short so that you could share it with the forum members.
I have all the video capture equipment and would be glad to do so! I don't really know why anybody is interested in a mere 3 second clip, but hey, anything for my fellow Disney enthusiasts. Maybe Luke could host it on the site under some "missing scenes" section or something. Anyway, email or PM me if you're still interested.

Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2004 9:53 am
by jebsdad
Sir Hawkins wrote:
jebsdad wrote: I do not have the technology to share this missing animation, but if you - or anyone else in the forum - want to share this, I would be willing to send a VHS copy of the short so that you could share it with the forum members.
I have all the video capture equipment and would be glad to do so! I don't really know why anybody is interested in a mere 3 second clip, but hey, anything for my fellow Disney enthusiasts. Maybe Luke could host it on the site under some "missing scenes" section or something. Anyway, email or PM me if you're still interested.
I'm sure several Disney enthusiasts will appreciate your willingness to do this favor for them. You'll receive a PM from me soon.

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 4:43 am
by Class316
This sucks! I guess the treasures are not so pristine after all :(

And I would prefer the 100% complete B&W short up for download rather than just a 3 second clip. Could anyone put the whole thing into mpeg and put it up for download?

Maltin should definately be informed so as to prevent future goof ups like this!

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 5:26 am
by Hennie
I had mailed Leonard Maltin this was his answer.
Hi... apparently it is true, but for the life of me I don't know why or how this came to pass. I believe all these shorts were taken directly from 35mm masters at the Library of Congress; why one of them would have this gap while another source (used a decade ago) wouldn't is a mystery to me! cheers, Leonard Maltin

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 7:32 pm
by Sir Hawkins
Wow, he actually responded? That's interesting. I would suggest not focusing so much on getting Maltin to do something about this though. He's the host of the treasures and has some input, but I really don't think he had anything to do with the ommision nor would he probably be able to do anything about fixing it. I would save your energy for the creatives at Disney itself. As stated by other earlier, this was a technical mistake, not a political one.

Posted: Sat Dec 25, 2004 9:25 pm
by postamessage
This thread talks about some alternate versions of the Castaway. I can't find the alts on the set so I guess they were not included.

http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/sho ... .php?t=707

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 7:20 am
by jebsdad
Just to clarify the missing 3-4 seconds on the cartoon short The Castaway.

The only way that I caught the missing scene is that I have the complete copy of the cartoon from copying it in the mid 1980s on the Disney Channel.

I first noticed the missing scene when I copied a colorized version of the cartoon off the Disney Channel in 1991. Due to the Disney Channel censoring their cartoons by that time, I have kept track of the length of the cartoon in minutes and seconds, not counting the beginning and ending credits. That way I could immediately notice if the cartoon length matched. If it didn't match, I knew there was something missing.

So, back in 1991, I noticed what scene was missing from the original black and white cartoon in the later colorized version.

When this Mickey Mouse Black and White Volume 2 Treasures set came out, I had long forgotten about that missing scene. Even if I had remembered, I would have expected that the Treasures set would have the complete original. When I checked the DVD and saw the cartoon was missing the 3-4 seconds and was the same length as the colorized cartoon, I knew which scene was missing. I then verified that it was indeed the scene that was missing by playing the DVD copy at the same time as the VHS black and white copy (I have a second VCR).

Possibly the above is "too much information" but some of you might be interested.

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:42 pm
by Class316
jebsdad wrote:Just to clarify the missing 3-4 seconds on the cartoon short The Castaway.

The only way that I caught the missing scene is that I have the complete copy of the cartoon from copying it in the mid 1980s on the Disney Channel.

I first noticed the missing scene when I copied a colorized version of the cartoon off the Disney Channel in 1991. Due to the Disney Channel censoring their cartoons by that time, I have kept track of the length of the cartoon in minutes and seconds, not counting the beginning and ending credits. That way I could immediately notice if the cartoon length matched. If it didn't match, I knew there was something missing.

So, back in 1991, I noticed what scene was missing from the original black and white cartoon in the later colorized version.

When this Mickey Mouse Black and White Volume 2 Treasures set came out, I had long forgotten about that missing scene. Even if I had remembered, I would have expected that the Treasures set would have the complete original. When I checked the DVD and saw the cartoon was missing the 3-4 seconds and was the same length as the colorized cartoon, I knew which scene was missing. I then verified that it was indeed the scene that was missing by playing the DVD copy at the same time as the VHS black and white copy (I have a second VCR).

Possibly the above is "too much information" but some of you might be interested.
We need that B&W VHS converted to DVD format to complement our Disney Treasures!! Do you think you could give it to someone to convert it to a DVD image?

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:50 pm
by MickeyMouseboy
postamessage wrote:This thread talks about some alternate versions of the Castaway. I can't find the alts on the set so I guess they were not included.

http://forums.goldenagecartoons.com/sho ... .php?t=707

According to that link. it says the alternative version is in the bonus features?

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:59 pm
by ichabod
I had completely forgotten about it but now it has been mentioned I am sure the original press release did say the bonus features would include alternate versions for Pioneer days and the castaway! But the old post has been edited!

Posted: Sun Dec 26, 2004 3:32 pm
by jebsdad
Class316 wrote:
jebsdad wrote:Just to clarify the missing 3-4 seconds on the cartoon short The Castaway.

The only way that I caught the missing scene is that I have the complete copy of the cartoon from copying it in the mid 1980s on the Disney Channel.

I first noticed the missing scene when I copied a colorized version of the cartoon off the Disney Channel in 1991. Due to the Disney Channel censoring their cartoons by that time, I have kept track of the length of the cartoon in minutes and seconds, not counting the beginning and ending credits. That way I could immediately notice if the cartoon length matched. If it didn't match, I knew there was something missing.

So, back in 1991, I noticed what scene was missing from the original black and white cartoon in the later colorized version.

When this Mickey Mouse Black and White Volume 2 Treasures set came out, I had long forgotten about that missing scene. Even if I had remembered, I would have expected that the Treasures set would have the complete original. When I checked the DVD and saw the cartoon was missing the 3-4 seconds and was the same length as the colorized cartoon, I knew which scene was missing. I then verified that it was indeed the scene that was missing by playing the DVD copy at the same time as the VHS black and white copy (I have a second VCR).

Possibly the above is "too much information" but some of you might be interested.
We need that B&W VHS converted to DVD format to complement our Disney Treasures!! Do you think you could give it to someone to convert it to a DVD image?
Someone has agreed to share that short and The Story Of Menstruation with forum members. I will be sending him the VHS copies. Then he can work things out with Luke about the best way to present these two shorts so forum members can see them.

Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2004 8:51 am
by ohmahaaha
Class316 wrote:This sucks! I guess the treasures are not so pristine after all :(

And I would prefer the 100% complete B&W short up for download rather than just a 3 second clip. Could anyone put the whole thing into mpeg and put it up for download?

Maltin should definately be informed so as to prevent future goof ups like this!
Folks, are we really getting our shorts tied in a knot over a 3 second clip that was obviously a mistake?