Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Muppet Treasure Island arrived in 1996 as Walt Disney Pictures' second theatrical Muppet feature following Jim Henson's death, with Brian Henson directing and the Muppet performers carrying the franchise's puppetry legacy into a new decade. Adapting Robert Louis Stevenson's novel with Tim Curry as Long John Silver alongside Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the ensemble, the film blended swashbuckling adventure with musical numbers, earning a place among nineties family films that balanced nostalgia with fresh production values under Disney's stewardship of the Muppet properties.
This 35mm cell preserves the card that opens the picture, the frame where the film's name is first presented to the audience before the story proper begins. Such cells mark a threshold moment in exhibition history, the point where projected light first announced the production to theatergoers. Collectors seek these pieces because they represent the film's identity distilled to text and design, a physical artifact from the reel that ran before Stevenson's tale, Henson's puppets, and Curry's performance took over the screen.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced, cleanly punched with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track runs along one edge beside the perforations; a second high-density data track consistent with a digital optical format (Dolby SR/Digital) is also visible in the same region, with what appears to be a DTS timecode stripe alongside.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base shows a blue tint consistent with a dyed safety base stock; dye image appears warm-amber with no obvious fading or colour shift.
Projection history
No splices, cue marks or significant scratches are visible in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to show the same title-card composition, consistent with consecutive frames from a title sequence of Muppet Treasure Island.
Era check
The blue-tinted safety base, multi-format optical soundtrack configuration, and dye-image colour balance are all consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print.
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 000063434
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
