JAWS sequel star Michael Caine's Christmas classic to get an extended cut
Michael Caine may have (arguably) first dipped his toe into Christmas films with JAWS the Revenge in 1987 - here’s why it is a Christmas film - but the festive film he is most fondly remembered for is The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992).
It is this film that gets the extended treatment this holiday season on Disney +, and pays viewers a visit from December 11.
A song that was missing upon its theatrical release – but was in early VHS and laserdisc versions – has now been added back in to complete director Brian Henson’s (son of Muppets creator Jim Henson) Muppetfied Christmas Carol vision as he had always intended it to be.
The song, "When Love Is Gone", has been restored for the first time in high definition, with the uncut version finally making its 4K debut. We’ll now get to see Scrooge's love interest Belle, sing about her sadness at how Scrooge (Michael Caine) has replaced his love of her with the love of money.
So, why did the much-missed song end up on the cutting room floor? Disney’s then executive Jeffrey Katzenberg – who would later form DreamWorks with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen - is said to have insisted on the cut and got all humbug about it as he felt it would have been too much of a downer for younger audience members (says the same studio that gave two thumbs up to Bambi’s mother getting shot dead).
Although for JAWS Christmas fans there is also an extended cut of the third JAWS sequel that is available, although alas not on home media.
Sadly, the TV version of JAWS the Revenge doesn't feature an extended Hoagie dance sequence, but it does - according to IMDB - includes a voice over during the opening credits in an attempt to make sense of what the viewer is about to see (it doesn't).
Other deleted scenes feature Jake and Mike singing and playing guitar on the porch, Ellen telling Mike a strange joke, and more scenes of Ellen and Hoagie walking around doing nothing!
And let's not forget that Revenge is the only JAWS film to feature two different endings. One has Jake (Mario Van Peebles) becoming shark food and a skewered great white shark, whilst the other has an exploding shark and somehow surviving Jake with a bit of a flesh wound.
We of course looooove The Muppet Christmas Carol, which although is full of all your favourite Muppet characters, is actually a very faithful retelling of the Charles Dickens classic.
Both a commercial and critical success, it lead to The Muppets taking to the high seas with Tim Curry in Muppet Treasure Island (1995), which is also great fun. We'd love to see The Muppets return to adapting books and their sea-fairing legs, especially if that included Muppet JAWS.
Words by Dean Newman
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