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, the third theatrical outing built around Jim Henson's ensemble following Kermit and company's ventures into Manhattan and Christmas Carol territory. Directed by Brian Henson, it folded Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure novel into the Muppet universe, pairing Tim Curry's Long John Silver with Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie Bear. The film holds a durable place in family cinema history as one of the more ambitious literary adaptations the Muppet brand attempted, balancing swashbuckling plot with musical numbers and vaudeville humor.
This piece preserves the opening title card, the frame that announces the picture before a single scene unfolds. Such cards are prized by collectors because they mark the threshold moment of the production, the studio's formal introduction of the story to come. As a Muppet Treasure Island artifact specifically, it carries the weight of the whole crossover concept, the pairing of Henson's puppet troupe with a classic pirate tale, making it a compact symbol of the film's identity before any character or setting is shown.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm Dolby Digital theatrical release print of Muppet Treasure Island.
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 along one edge, and a Dolby Digital data-block strip is visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge, consistent with a dual optical/digital release print.
Edge print
Text reading 'EA' is visible along one edge; remaining edge print is too small to read fully at this size.
Base & colour
Base shows a warm amber-brown tint consistent with a colour dye image in good density; no obvious fading or red shift detected.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks or heavy scratching are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be from the same title-card shot and match the title on record, Muppet Treasure Island.
Era check
The combination of Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks alongside a variable-area optical track is 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 000063437
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
