The ABC live action special was edited.

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CassiaIlliper
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The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by CassiaIlliper » Thu Sep 19, 2019 4:51 pm

Ok so.. this is going to sound pretty weird, but back in the day, you could get the Live Action Special Teddy Ruxpin movie on VHS in most video rental stores. I watched it, as it's the only one that's been uploaded to YouTube and if possible burned to DVD somewhere. However, THAT movie was edited from what was aired on ABC.

I recall watching the movie as a kid, and remembering they did include the grunge village and the gumbo soup event, which was cut from the final production that went to VHS. I'm just wondering if I missed something or if I was seeing things. Also Tweeg hitches a ride on the rudder of the Airship, not as a old lady, which leads me to believe that some artistic changes were done, and also makes me think if that happened there, were other things chopped and changed in the cartoon that differed from the original Live Action material.

It's not a bad thing, just the costume that they used for the Iron Giant was actually pretty cool.
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IlliopMom
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by IlliopMom » Thu Sep 19, 2019 5:50 pm

Wow, that's certainly something! I've never heard this from anywhere else before. I wonder if there's a way we could ask around to confirm this, because in all my research on it, I haven't seen a thing.
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Billy Tooma
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by Billy Tooma » Thu Sep 19, 2019 8:07 pm

I can provide confirmation on this. The Grunge Village was not a part of the 1985 ABC Live-Action Special. Over the course of my research for the documentary, I’ve read through the Special’s script and it doesn’t include the sequence. It goes straight from meeting Wooly to arriving at the Wizard’s Fortress.

In addition to the script, I’ve accumulated behind-the-scenes photos and none show the sequence-in-question, plus nobody involved on the project has ever mentioned it.

But I remember being a kid and watching the Special and thinking: but...but...where’s the gumbo...?
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CassiaIlliper
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by CassiaIlliper » Thu Sep 19, 2019 9:46 pm

Hmmm yeah, I just.. maybe am thinking but I do recall that scene as the "cliff hanger" at the end of the first part, to appear on the second part when they arrive at the wizards. It just makes me think that it was cut for whatever reason? Perhaps too scary? Not sure. Costume malfunction? Possibly. Too much of a deviation from the story? Director's choice? The fact it wasn't in the script also makes me scratch my head. It's been so long since I saw the movie that it's hard to recall, but I'm pretty certain the Iron Giant did make a cameo in the First Half of the movie. *shrug*

Or I'm losing my marbles.

Which is possible at my age. XD
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Billy Tooma
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by Billy Tooma » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:11 pm

Fun Fact: The Iron Warrior was a tweaked throwback to a character Ken created back in the 1950s, and, yes, it’ll be in the documentary.
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CassiaIlliper
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by CassiaIlliper » Thu Sep 19, 2019 10:39 pm

Nice! It is interesting to see how all the pieces fit together, from the years working as an Imagineer and perhaps doing a prototype with Dumbo's circus to see how it went, I have to admit I do like Ken's creations better than what we had with the Krofft brothers. Even though I would say Sid and Marty pioneered the art of live action children's television and perhaps laid the foundation for what would become The World of Teddy Ruxpin, in my opinion the puppets on the Live Action Special were superior to those used by the Kroffts. On the other hand, the cost to produce a television show that had the scope and breadth of Ken's idea would have cost a mint, so animation was the way to go.

I think Jim Henson's puppets did have the animated eyes, but not to the same design as Kens. Only a few of the muppets eyes emoted the same way. I'm curious to see the difference though, in that I wonder if Forsse's costume heads were actually programmed to emote to the script and not necessarily controlled by the actor/actress in the costume. *shrug*
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Billy Tooma
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by Billy Tooma » Thu Sep 19, 2019 11:03 pm

Alchemy II didn’t work on “Dumbo’s Circus,” but they did create the costumes for “Welcome to Pooh Corner,” which is what got them out of Ken’s garage and into their own workshop.

The Pooh costumes were controlled by mechanisms in the hands, but the costumes for “The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin” live action special were designed to sync remotely with the prerecorded audio tracks.
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CassiaIlliper
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by CassiaIlliper » Sun Sep 22, 2019 6:48 pm

Hmm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumbo%27s_Circus

I think this was sourced from IMDB Pro and since you have to have a subscription for the full details I can't verify it, but on the Wiki for Dumbo's Circus it does cite Ken Forsse as the one who developed the animatronics for the costumes. Also the lineup of voice actors matches up with the crew on Teddy Ruxpin. I know Forsse was an Imagineer before he started Alchemy II so its possible he did do some work for this show too.

Mid 80's Disney was a strange place tbh, they only got their big hit in 1988 with the Little Mermaid, but prior to that it was and is considered the dark age of Disney animation wise, and just general ideas on where they wanted to go as a company. The 80's were definitely a transition period in more ways than one. The other thing is that "The Disney Channel" that we know, wasn't accessible to the general cable viewer, it was a premium channel and so the only way to be able to watch the shows was during the "Free weekends" which ran every now and then and you had to sit through a hard sell of the channel that always happened between shows. I just remember watching Dumbo's Circus and Welcome to Pooh corner during the day and trying to figure out where I had heard the voices before, and now looking at the cast, it all makes sense.
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Billy Tooma
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by Billy Tooma » Sun Sep 22, 2019 8:57 pm

I assure you that Ken and Alchemy II didn’t work on “Dumbo’s Circus.” Yes, you will see some of the same voice actors on both shows because they were Disney Channel shows, but what Disney did was basically hire another person to take the technology that Alchemy II created for “Welcome to Pooh Corner” and duplicate/improve upon it for the newer show. So, yes, without Alchemy II working on the Winnie-the-Pooh show, “Dumbo’s Circus” probably wouldn’t have existed.
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CassiaIlliper
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Re: The ABC live action special was edited.

Post by CassiaIlliper » Fri Oct 11, 2019 4:35 pm

Wow. Hmm ok, it's strange that IMDb gave credit to Ken Forsse for the show. I'm guessing Dumbo's Circus came after Welcome to Pooh Corner, as far as the animatronic technology being improved, I'm not sure I see much of an improvement tbh. It seems rather similar, perhaps the eyes are a bit more expressive? They added some animation to the eyebrows?

Rewatching Welcome to Pooh Corner I see a lot of similarities, but also a lot of big differences, mainly the way the eyes are animated, the various size of the heads, and just the programming is smoother in Dumbo's Circus. It also explains why I became a furry LOL XD

It's all connected.
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