If The Muppet Christmas Carol isn’t the best Christmas movie, it’s second behind Gremlins. But unless you owned the VHS, you haven’t seen the 1992 film in full.
“When Love is Gone,” the lovely tune sung by Mr. Humbug himself Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Michael Caine in an Oscar-worthy performance) and Belle (Meredith Braun), was cut from the theatrical version as “Disney felt it wouldn’t appeal to young viewers,” according to the BBC. The Paul Williams-written song is on the VHS version (and the soundtrack), but it was left off the DVD and Disney+ — until now.
Gizmodo reports that “starting December 9, you’ll be able to watch the movie in its entirety, as director Brian Henson originally envisioned, in time for its 30th anniversary… The reel that featured the song was recently unearthed and utilized to prepare a 4K remaster of the classic film.” Henson told Radio 2 his reaction when the reel was found:
“They actually hid it… So, I went down and they said, ‘But before we show it to you, we’ve got something else we want to show you’. And they put up reel four of Christmas Carol with ‘When Love Is Gone.’ I was like, ‘No, you did not!’ and they said, ‘Yes we did! We found it!’ I was so happy, I was so happy.”
It’s a bot-free Muppet Christmas miracle.
The complete The Muppet Christmas Carol comes to Disney+ on December 9.