A lost song from The Muppets Christmas Carol will be making a return to the classic holiday film.
Director Brian Henson recently revealed the returning song will be "When Love is Gone," sung by Scrooge's fiancé when the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him to the moment Belle breaks off their engagement. The song was cut from the film because producer Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested that children would not be able to relate to it.
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According to Henson, the video master and the negative were both lost during the cutting. The film is now being remastered for 4K, and when Henson was finally shown that the song was found, he was ecstatic. "I was like, 'No, you did not!' and they said, 'Yes we did! We found it!' I was so happy, I was so happy,'" Henson said. He then clarified that while the full-length version was coming back, he was not sure if it would be on Disney+ in time for Christmas because they would "have to scramble to do it in time"'.
"When Love is Gone" was chosen as a melancholy ballad because, as Henson said, the lack of a loving relationship to celebrate could not justify the use of a love ballad. There was an agreement that the song would be removed from the theatrical release, but it would be put back on for television and video showings. Though the song is available on VHS versions of the movie, it is unavailable on DVD.
The Muppet Christmas Carol was released on Dec. 11, 1992. It stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge and Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson and Frank Oz serving as Muppet performers.
Source: BBC