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 feature built around Jim Henson's ensemble following Kermit and company's earlier big-screen outings, and the first to carry on without Jim Henson himself at the helm creatively guiding every puppet. Directed by Brian Henson, it folded Robert Louis Stevenson's adventure into the Muppets' established formula of song, slapstick, and gentle irreverence, pairing Tim Curry's Long John Silver with the familiar likes of Kermit and Miss Piggy. The film holds a lasting place among family adventure comedies of its decade, remembered for stitching a literary classic into puppet variety-show energy.
This piece preserves the opening identifier for that production, the card that announces the picture before its story begins. Such title cells mark the threshold moment of a film's presentation, the frame audiences met just as the adventure was signaled to start. For collectors, an early strip from this stretch of reel carries the appeal of origin, the literal first marked footage of the release, tying directly to the Muppets' venture into swashbuckling territory and Henson Company's post-Jim Henson creative chapter.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
Gauge
35mm, 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 throughout the visible strip.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the perforations, with what appears to be a Dolby Digital data-block column occupying the inter-perforation gaps on the same edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
The base shows a warm amber-brown tint consistent with a colour dye image; no obvious red shift or fading is apparent.
Projection history
No visible scratches, splice marks or cue marks are apparent in this capture.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to show the same title-card composition, consistent with a title sequence from Muppet Treasure Island (1996).
Era check
The combination of a variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks 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 000063438
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
