Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Muppet Treasure Island arrived in 1996 from Walt Disney Pictures and Jim Henson Productions, the third theatrical outing to pair the Muppet troupe with a literary classic. Directed by Brian Henson, it reworked Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure into a musical romp starring Tim Curry alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy, and company, with Billy Connolly and Jennifer Saunders rounding out the human cast. It followed the Muppets' well-worn tradition of folding puppet anarchy into established stories, and it stands as one of the final features made under Henson's guiding hand before the studio's ownership shifted, giving it a particular place in the troupe's cinematic history.
This 35mm cell preserves Benjamina Gunn, the gender-swapped take on Stevenson's marooned castaway, played by Miss Piggy in one of her more eccentric supporting turns. Collectors seek this figure for the novelty of the adaptation choice itself, a character reimagined specifically for Piggy's comic presence on a deserted island far from Kermit and the ship. A film cell of this kind preserves a single frame of release print, a physical fragment of the actual theatrical reel rather than a promotional reproduction, making it a direct artifact of the picture's original run.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, appearing as a dual bilateral waveform consistent with a stereo optical print.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer text or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm-to-neutral tint; the dye image reads with full colour saturation and no obvious red shift or fading.
Projection history
Faint vertical lines running through the frame area are consistent with projection wear on a release print; no splices or cue marks are visible.
Picture
Positive colour image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot, and the subject matter is consistent with the Muppet Treasure Island (1996) production on record.
Era check
The dual bilateral variable-area optical soundtrack, colour dye image, and 35mm four-perforation layout are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print of the film on record.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063430
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
