Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Muppet Treasure Island arrived from Walt Disney Pictures in 1996, the third theatrical feature to unite the Muppet troupe with Jim Henson Pictures following Henson's death two years earlier, directed by Brian Henson. It reworked Robert Louis Stevenson's novel with Tim Curry as Long John Silver alongside the Muppet ensemble, earning a place among the more fondly remembered Muppet films for its songs and its willingness to bend a classic adventure story around felt and foam performers, extending the franchise's run into a new generation of viewers while honoring its variety-show roots.
This cell centers on Benjamina Gunn, the film's gender-swapped reimagining of Stevenson's marooned castaway Ben Gunn, played by Miss Piggy. Collectors seek her out as one of the film's clearest examples of the adaptation's playful liberties, a role built specifically to give Piggy a castaway's eccentric presence within the pirate tale. A cell bearing her name preserves a single frame tied directly to that character turn, a physical fragment of release printing stock rather than a reproduction, valued for connecting a specific Muppet performance to the larger structure of the story being retold.
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 appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the picture area, consistent with an analog stereo print; Dolby Digital data blocks between perforations are not clearly distinguishable at this size, though the region between perforations appears to carry fine patterned data suggesting a Dolby Digital SR·D composite track.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears with a slight blue-violet tint consistent with a dye-based color print stock; the dye image reads as warm and saturated with no obvious fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratch lines are visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive color image; the three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single shot and the puppet characters visible are consistent with the Muppet Treasure Island (1996) production.
Era check
The composite optical soundtrack format, blue-base color stock, and Dolby Digital-era track layout are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1996 release date 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 000063431
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
