The Gang of Five
The Land Before Time => 1988 Theatrical Release => Topic started by: Petrie. on October 13, 2006, 07:31:17 PM
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Decided to visit Don Bluth.com today and there was a message on there from someone about LBT and a 20th Anniversary release.
The year 2008 will mark the 20th year anniversary of The Land Before Time, and I was curious if you know of any plans on the part of Universal to make a special edition DVD release. I know that there were some scenes which were trimmed or edited for the final film, and it would be nice, if the artwork still remains, to see what these additional sequences would have been like. Also, if it would be possible, it would be wonderful to have an audio commentary for this film at last. I know I am not alone in saying that it is one of the most heartbreaking and beautiful animated films not only of the 1980s but of all time, and I would love to see it receive a worthy treatment on DVD. Best regards and good thoughts for the future, - Nicholas R. Zabaly
Reply: Nicholas, Thank you for writing. As far as we know, there are no plans for a re-issue of The Land Before Time (1988). But then, they didn't notify us when they did the 15th anninversary DVD release of the film. The original footage that was cut from the film was not kept in the archives of editorial, therefore is lost forever. So, we are pretty sure there will be no effort to remake elements that would have been in the original release. Thank you so much for the kind words. All the best to you and your career. Regards.
So the deleted scenes are just that--gone. :cry :cry Still hope for a 20th anniversary release of course, but after I saw that so-called "anniversary" release Universal put out in 2003 I really do wonder..... <_<
I guess we don't have to debate at least one thing anymore.
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Aw! That stinks! The footage is gone? :cry
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Aw dang! It's all gone, eh? That stinks :cry
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NOOooo!! okay people time to cue in the sad emo music
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Aww...now that is a shame. At least some of us do have some snippets of those deleted scenes. Well...never mind. I guess when Don Bluth handed over the title to Universal for them to continue minus his input, the footage was just disposed of. I mean, at that time, people weren't really thinking about "bonus features" for films. It was only with the influx of DVDs that the concept really became mainstream.
Well, as least we know they existed and there are traces of the deleted footage in old trailers of the movie. I've got some of the scenes on an American Tale video (re-release) and it's got a few of the scene on there. Oh well. At least we have more LBT to look forward to! :^.^:
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It's weird, the Back to the Future Trilogy has some missing footage there. And it's older than lbt! It's probably because BTTF was more famous than LBT. Still, why would they keep the extra footage from some movies and get rid it from others?
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Depends on who has the rights to the films. Universal owns both, but Back to the Future was a lot bigger, so I guess some things were archived from it. That's about the only way anything was saved in those days. Might depend on what role the director has too...apparently Bluth didn't hold onto the copyrights...maybe Zemeckis did and had the footage. :unsure:
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How disappointing. I have to say, however, that I'm not surprised by this news at all. As much as I entered thoughts of someday seeing the deleted either put back in the film, or in a "Deleted Scenes" section, I knew that given Don Bluth's complete and utter unenthusiam with anything and everything concerning LBT, it wasn't going to happen.
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I recall that earlier questions about the cut footage were answered very differently. Regretably older messages are deleted in the question board of Don Bluth's page, but I am positive that when I asked about it I was told that the material was still kept. So either it was destroyed quite recently (unlikely in the age of DvD and with an upcoming TV series and a probable rise in interest about such materials) or else they told something wrong either back then or now.
Without the rights on LBT and with the bad experiences they connect with the movie I don't think Mr. Bluth and his team were too much into learning about what became of it. Perhaps I have just reached the psychological state of repression, but even now I am not a hundred percent certain that indeed all the material is gone for good.
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I am saddened that the footage is lost. :cry
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Perhaps they've learned to happened to footage since then Matle, but I wouldn't ever get my hopes up for ever seeing it, if it does still exist.
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Dangit...I was REALLY looking forward to that deleted footage...
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It is a shame but this does happen with movies of all sorts. Now there was a rumor about a alternate ending relise that it never existed. The great vally was never a dino version of heaven and non of the 5 died.
What intrest me more about this rumor than any thing else is who started it and why. I have been trying to track the source over the last 2 years or so with little luck. It was originally posted on the big lbft wiki least thats where i first seen it. Thats where i kept reachign a dead end.
Acordign to don the wiki imdb and other sources the scenes were mostly fights between little foots mother and escape sceen changes and extra scenes witht he kids. Corse some would also be simple time fillers like all movies have.
Like don said he can not be sure that there will not be a 20th aniv release as he is not kept informed on such things.
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It's weird, the Back to the Future Trilogy has some missing footage there. And it's older than lbt! It's probably because BTTF was more famous than LBT. Still, why would they keep the extra footage from some movies and get rid it from others?
It depends on what the footage is. The scenes from LBT were cut from the final release because it showed footage of the five dinosaurs in great peril, along side with more violent T-Rex encounters. Since this was supposed to be a movie for children, footage like that would leave too much of a dark impact on them.
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The cut scenes aren't gone forever if they were stored on computer. It would just be VERY difficult to recover them, especially if the HD has been through more than one format, but it is possible. The files would most likely be very large and they would most likely have to be manually recovered, taking hundreds, even thousands of hours. In short, I'm sure they could get the scenes back, but they don't want to pay some computer guy $60-$100 an hour to get the data back. :cry
If ya think about it, if it took 500 hours for one scene (which It probably would), that would be $30,000-$50,000 for one scene! They're not going to do that....ever. :cry2
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I wonder how much longer the movie would be if most of those were added in. It would likely improve the movie and fill certain holes.
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Darn, those missing scenes REALLY tantalized me.
It is VERY likely the scenes are permanently lost.
As landbeforetimelover said, if they are on a computer it would take an obscene amount of money to restore them:
Calculation for cost to recover deleted scenes:
Note: numbers are from landbeforetimelover's post
19 scenes x $60-$100 per hour, wages for computer technician x 500 hours =
$570,000 - $950,000
Admittedly, this is just a guess but with costs over half a million dollars Universal will NEVER restore the deleted scenes.
But at that time (1988) it is more likely the movie was hand drawn and computers were not used or sparingly used. Unless the scenes are are found somewhere in the Universal archives it is very likely that no one will ever see the scenes again.
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At least we have some ideas of what some of the scenes contained or likely may have contained and some glimpses from one or more books.
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Very few pieces of the original LBT used computers, so I don't see why we're speaking of computer restoration when what likely is lost are animated pencil sketches and cells.
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I couldn't agree more that this is a real shame; like many others I would've loved to see some of this footage. I'm curious just what was 'too scary' for children and why (okay I admit, Sharptooth did scare me some as a young child (originally saw the movie in 1988 when I was three ;p), but it's suppose to have that effect. That's what made the movie so 'on the edge of your seat' fun. ^^ I always loved the 'darker' feel of many of Bluth's movies, it gives them more emotion and makes the characters all the more real, IMO.
I'm certain we won't get to view this footage now, and for those of us who most especially love the original classic (*raises hand*) that's truly an upset. I always find myself sneaking back to rewatch scenes from the original to catch little things (I pay too much attention to stuff^^;; ) and just...get the feeling of it again, if that makes any sense. I think most of us could agree that the first movie has a very different and unique feel; just...not like the sequels. They just can't compare (no offense to them, the original is always tops for me though). I've often found myself wondering just how the original writers would've managed a sequel. Given the creative freedom that they perhaps didn't have full access to even with the first movie, I think it would've turned out very different. ;)
There is one thing that, if there are any animators among us, we could do. Check this out...
http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs5/f/2004/334/...Sync_Nov_24.mov (http://fc01.deviantart.com/fs5/f/2004/334/d/b/AnneMarie___Charlie___Full_Lip_Sync_Nov_24.mov)
I found this very intriguing, and my applause to the artist. They truly did some amazing work here.^^ Anyways, the point? If any of us are knowledgeable
in animating, perhaps we could 'create' those scenes, given the little information and glimpses we have from various sources. Just add to it.
I know, it's a stretch; the most animation I've managed myself are simple frames (and some gif animations); example: http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs21/f/2007/270...y_akikowolf.gif (http://fc05.deviantart.com/fs21/f/2007/270/7/e/Snoopy_Style__Animation_by_akikowolf.gif) :lol Practice, practice though! Who knows. Just a suggestion.^^ Another, and much easier, form to 'create' such 'footage' is a comic or drawing; a fan fiction even. Not the same effect, but lovely all the same.^^
We have our imaginations no matter what. :^.^:
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A shame really...but what can we do, ya know?
I would like to see an anniversery DVD of some sort with a good handfull of Don's movies, includeing LBT.
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To bad they can't put those cut scenes in as an uncut version or something. But my guess is they destroyed the cut scenes. It would likely improve the movie even more if they put them on some sort of an uncut dvd version.
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I hope there will be some tribute to the original at least by November. I don't care what Don Bluth says. Throw us anything, at least a "thank you for keepin' it alive" message from anyone involved with the movie's production. So some scenes were cut; that didn't keep the movie from having such a large impact.
I wouldn't mind a new DVD release either, even if it is released a little over the original's 20th Anniversary. Give it some acknowledgement at the very least.
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yea, but no scripts or "alpha"s?
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It may happen, but it looks like they'll do nothing really special sad to say.
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Man, what a real let down. :(
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...Yeah... It does make one wonder, though, since this was a kids movie... How successful would The Land Before Time have become today, if those scenes that were cut, would have remained? (It's easily one of most successful animated franchises of all time...) That's a question that I've asked before, though not on the web. ...It really doesn't make too much of a difference to me; The Land Before Time is, as it is. As it stands, so it is. It's exactly how we all remember it from our childhoods (or whenever), and that's the most important thing. It simply is. Don't take it too hard, guys... It'll be okay... ;)
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Plus they could sell 2 versions, the theatrical version and the director's cut version. Some folks would buy both, 1 to show to the kids and 1 to watch when the kids are older or when the kids are in bed or away from home visiting or camping.
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I would just be happy seeing the rereleased movie. ;)
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Well, its later August 2008. I don't want to be a dreamy crasher, but I think the verdict is finally in. We will not be getting the 20th Anniversary we've been not-so-secretly begging Bluth for for years now.
Better luck for a 25th Edition, though, perhaps?
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If anyone has seen the original trailer, there are a few of the missing scenes in it.
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If you mean the original trailer for LBT I had found the original trailer on youtube and put the link in the lbt wiki page for the movie. But on checking the link it seems it is no longer avaliable
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Trust me, the video is still there.
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I researched and found another copy of the same type. It seems to be the original 80's trailer. I can't conform it since at the moment the pc has no sound, till I unplug it from the power strip.
I would post the link, but it seems the link sometimes works and sometimes it does not.
The only thing that seems to work is to go to youtube and look for
80's The Land Before Time TV Trailer Commercial
Even with that all you get is maybe a 50/50 chance it'll work.
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This looks like the trailer to me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FncvmmLAgZo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FncvmmLAgZo)
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Yes, that is it. I didn't post a link since it didn't work for me every time I tried, but only about 50/50.
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"It depends on what the footage is. The scenes from LBT were cut from the final release because it showed footage of the five dinosaurs in great peril, along side with more violent T-Rex encounters. Since this was supposed to be a movie for children, footage like that would leave too much of a dark impact on them."
Yeah, apparently some of the people who produced the movie thought these scenes would cause psychological damage to children. This may sound weird, but now that I'm older and understand so much more about this movie, I have a hard time remembering it's a kid's movie.
But it really is a shame that we're not getting those scenes back. [/extremelylate] I personally would have loved to see those deleted scenes. They went more into Sharptooth encounters and showed why the kids had to travel to the Great Valley without any adults. Since they had to put insomething that showed the lack of adults in most of the movie, the only very violent scene that was kept was Littlefoot's mom fighting Sharptooth.
I read somewhere that a lot of the deleted scenes had adults dying, or something like that. I am very interested in seeing what "great perils" the kids ended up in...
Most of this is rambling, but I, too, am disappointed that we aren't getting those scenes in anniversary releases. Then again, now that I think about it, if I'd seen those deleted scenes when i was younger, maybe I WOULD get psychological damage. :neutral
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Hey guys, I was watching a commercial on youtube about the puppets pizza hut gave away whilst the film was in theatres, and one of the removed scenes is shown. I guess it would have been the final scene in the film origionally.
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This is the original trailer which has a number of the removed scenes. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nLW_uymCcJs&feature=related (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nLW_uymCcJs&feature=related)
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And here is the one I just found. It has the removed scene that would have been the final one before the credits. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSYIrLIF7w&NR=1 (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wVSYIrLIF7w&NR=1)
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Very interesting commercial, Zilla.
I think they took out Littlefoot saying "Now we'll always be together" because it sort of suggests they all died and went to Heaven. Originally the Great Valley was going to be portrayed as Heaven.
But uh...where's Petrie in that commercial? :p
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The heaven ending was just a rumor, the ending shown in the filom was always the one planned.
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The heaven rumor has spread pretty far hasn't it?
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The heaven ending was just a rumor, the ending shown in the filom was always the one planned.
Has it?
I'm not entirely certain about this. Of course it is a rumor as there is, as of now no confirmation whatsoever of it, but neither am I aware of any official source (e.g. Don Bluth) confirming that there had never been such intentions.
Actually the idea of Great Valley planned as a kind of heaven sounds rather plausible to me. "Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart" does go in that direction. Death was a subject closely touched by some children cartoons ("All dogs go to heaven" being the most striking example). With every child knowing that dinosaurs are extinct the idea of them continuing to exist in a "Dinosaur heaven" would have probably had a certain appeal to the kids while the tragedy of the story would have had an appeal to grownups. Littlefoot being reunited with his mum in the end would have also been an effect the movie makers may well have considered. It is also official that sharptooth scenes were cut from the movie as they were considered too scary by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. If they intervened there because of the scenes being to scary, is it so unlikely that they would have (at an earlier state) intervened upon a note that all of the characters were to die?
I do not know if there is substance to the rumor, but it sure is more credible than most rumors and is still in want of official revoke.
PS: It is certain that the ending is not quite the one that was originally planned by the way. An earlier idea (one which supports the concept of the Great Valley being an actual place rather than a heaven by the way) had Littlefoot discover the Great Valley shortly after the quarrel with Cera and the separation from the others. Rather than entering the Great Valley he returned to lead the others there. The final version of the movie of course has him discover the Great Valley only after all other "business" is done.
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PS: It is certain that the ending is not quite the one that was originally planned by the way. An earlier idea (one which supports the concept of the Great Valley being an actual place rather than a heaven by the way) had Littlefoot discover the Great Valley shortly after the quarrel with Cera and the separation from the others. Rather than entering the Great Valley he returned to lead the others there. The final version of the movie of course has him discover the Great Valley only after all other "business" is done.
Exactly my point. There were definitely alternate paths this was going to take and editing won't cover it up. The soundtrack has an early placement of the "If We Hold on Together" theme in "Rescue/Discovery of the Great Valley" indicating that Littlefoot had likely found the Great Valley much sooner and rushed back to help his friends who didn't follow him. Also, there's a bad edit of Littlefoot in the film where he's in front of some really dead trees when he says "the Great Valley!" and then then next pan he's no longer there. But this would indicate he isn't in heaven or anything because he wouldn't have been able to help the rest get there, so I don't see the heaven story as being plausable, and the fact the animators were not considering heaven as the destination in the stages of the film either.
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There are some bad edit spots in the movie. One is it seems obvious to me that Littlefoot found the valley first, likely as said above after he leaves in one direction and Cera and the others go in another, he finds the Great Valley then goes back to get the others. I do wish they had kept this since it would have shown more of what sort of character Littlefoot was. He could have gone into the valley, but choose to go back and get his friends, even though they had had a fight and had left going in another direction instead of sticking with him. I wonder if their dealing with the sharpteeth took place during this time, and the scene was moved since Littlefoot finding the valley first and going back was cut out.
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I will admit that there are a lot of rough cuts in the film, and it would be good to see them. but the heaven ening was always a rumor, don bluth confirmed this.
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but the heaven ening was always a rumor, don bluth confirmed this.
When and where did he?
His word would of course be the kind of official statement (we could always ask at www.donbluth.com to make sure) that could end the discussion.
Note that as far as I understood the rumor, the whole idea of GV = heaven must have been dropped very early, so (as pointed out) there would be no trace in the drawing while a couple of text lines may still be interpreted as alluding to it (not so much the "now we'll always be together" but more the "Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart").
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I wonder how much longer the movie would be if most of those were added in. It would likely improve the movie and fill certain holes.
Only, ten minutes longer. I found that through a link on wikipedia, it said that ten minutes of scenes were cut from the film. But they were FAR to violent for kids under 13. It was supposed to be PG-13 for Violence with a brief scene of gore.
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:cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry
I want the full version! I want to see Littlefoot find the great valley on his own and go back to get the others! I want every freakin' scene that was cut from this movie! :cry :cry :cry
And for the seuquels!! :exactly
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...and of course, now I'm not really sure if we can believe this "the scenes are gone" crap. More stuff for cut scenes in Don Bluth films have been found in 2 years than the last ten or more!
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Wow can't believe this was gonna be PG-13 sad that we won't get those sence anymore
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I don't think it was going to be PG-13. It wasn't going to go THAT far with intense scenes.
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I would like to see those scenes for sure, but am I the only one who thinks having them re-added (if that's ever going to happen) would hurt the film instead? I don't know, I find the original LBT to have some weird timing as is.
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Ah okay true I agree don bluth wouldn't be that dark in a kids movie
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well, since they DID scare to show it in theaters...
I still doubt.
It's called uncut version, Midnight. I think everybody above 6 years old would like to see full version in videotapes. :p
No hurt at all.
What the hell, even I in 8 and yonger wasn't think about "it's too scary" or "it's too heavy." I just watched films, and thought only about LENGTH. It means, I wanted as more as possible. So 12 additional of 80 minutes would have been best gift. :)
@Adfan: heh, just wondering: do you DISAGREE with anything or anybody? Do you have your own constant opinion point? Or you randomly join opposite camps each time after someone posts post? I don't understand. :angel
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Yeah, I know what uncut version is...
Still, the pacing on the first film was a bit too wild for my liking.
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I thought it was fine for me it didn't bug me at all
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I would like to see those scenes for sure, but am I the only one who thinks having them re-added (if that's ever going to happen) would hurt the film instead?
I'm somewhere in the middle. There are some things that were cut which I think would've made the film better, like the full version of the Sharptooth chase near the beginning. But then there's certain things I prefer in the final version, such as with the discovery of the Great Valley and Littlefoot seeing his mother in the clouds. To me it just feels more complete and emotionally-satisfying to have that part at the very end.
That, and if Littlefoot had discovered the Great Valley earlier on just after his fight with Cera, then it doesn't make sense to me that, after the trip through the volcano area, that he would let Cera wander off on her own after the tar prank and ultimately leave the group. Like, if Littlefoot already knew where the Great Valley was, then he knows that Cera won't find it after she storms off. Obviously she was mad and needed time to herself, but I think eventually he would've gone after her to try and convince her to come with them. But in both the script and the film proper, it seems like she'd left the group seemingly for good, and they just let her go, which I don't think would've happened unless they hadn't found the Great Valley yet.
Regardless, I would still be immensely grateful if the deleted scenes ever turn up someday, and I'm sad to think that the footage may be lost forever. But I am happy that we have the script, at least, which is the next best thing.
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@Malte279 Its quite possible, there may be new finds for Lost Artwork for TLBT so it would be interesting if there was and if there isnt, then that is very sad :(petrie
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So the missing footage being erased was confirmed in late 2006. That’s interesting that it was thought to definitely still exist until then. Like most people who’ve become aware of this footage in the last 16 years, I’ve pretty much only known of it as being probably lost.
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Btw, OP actually heard back from Bluth? That’s amazing. And I guess he of all people would know. I’ve heard a rumor that he has a personal copy of the uncut version, but unless there’s actual confirmation it should just be taken as a rumor.
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This is why it's always important to hang on to any material that's cut from your work, no matter how terrible it may look. You never know how useful it could be down the line.