I should figure out torrent sites for old films, TV, and cartoons. I know there are streaming sites, and when I ask people just say "pirate bay", but there's so many old movies that are hard to find these days, or when I do find them the prices are outragous.
Someone here on the farms told me about solidtorrents.to which is one of the main ones I've been using, especially for western animation (it sucks anime gets its own dedicated torrent sites but non-anime cartoons have to share). I found Gargoyles there and the copy I have certainly looks like its from a DVD source, but it has Elisa getting "shot" (even in original broadcast, the impact was not shown, so I'm not sure how the episode would have to be edited--Brooklyn played with her gun, then walked into the kitchen to find one of the bullets he fired off had hit her).
the dub sucks but why the hell would you watch a dub of Eva lol, you're still going to have to read a shitload of words on the screen regardless of subs
This is exactly WHY I would watch a Dub of Eva.... in the later episodes, so much is being said at once that even the Flash couldn't keep up. Its less pressure on me to hear some words and read others.
be REALLY fucking careful about trusting TVTards
there's stupid internet jokes I've had a hand in that they claim are really real things
True, unfortunately at this moment their "Digital Destruction" list is also the ONLY place that has a convenient list of these edited releases, as well as mentions what exactly was changed without you having to weed through a forum thread or a lengthy review. Its out of date on a lot of entries but still, its a starting point.
The VHS and DVD releases for the Rankin Bass
Hobbit had some audio taken out in the fight scene with the spiders. The
Hi-Fi Hobbit fan release restores them and can be found on archive.org. The Rankin Bass Hobbit is weird because the original release left out a key scene where the Dwarves see the Wood Elves before being captured by them, and as far as I know, it was never properly animated and included.
When it comes to the animated Tolkien trilogy, one thing that always bugged me is the changing of a line of narration for the Ralph Bakshi Lord of the Rings--the original version (and the VHS I had growing up) ends with a freeze-frame where a narrator says "so ends the first part of the War of the One Ring." On all DVDs I've ever seen though, there's a new narration (which starts when Gandalf tosses his sword into the air--the freeze-frame still happens but its just quiet now) which goes into more detail and gives more finality to the story.
I really wish they had given you the option, because that one change always kinda sneaks up on me. I still have my old VHS but I have no idea how to rip the audio from it and place it over HD footage, and I'm not sure the effort would be worth it for just one line of narration.
Getting back to Rankin-Bass, one thing I've never heard a straight answer on is if their version of Return of the King similarly has missing audio. I don't think it does, but I'm not an expert.
Does anyone know if there's a Bluray version that preserves the original TV aspect ratio?
I'm pretty sure there is and that I've "acquired" it, but I wouldn't know exactly which release it is.
....................
So a few cases I ran into:
I'm repeating myself, but if you want the full version of the He-Man 1983 episode "Diamond Ray of Disappearance," look for the Greatest Adventures of All VHS.
Super Mario Super Show--some live-action segments are not on DVD due to rights issues. Some of them got on VHS (I have a Legend of Zelda tape that for some reason has the Diana Ross segment) and you can find all of them on Youtube. Not sure if anyone ever did a restoration that put them all back in.
Garfield and Friends--I "acquired" episodes that were supposed to be from the DVDs only to find some intros were missing, apparently on whatever version I have the show keeps using the second intro all the way through.
My Little Pony (the 1980s one, not the one that'll turn you gay)--The first two episodes, "Rescue at Midnight Castle" and "Escape From Katrina" are both syndication edits on DVD. You need the old VHS tapes (or Youtube) to find the full original versions.
Same deal with Rainbow Brite--the first five episodes are syndie on DVD and only uncut on VHS.
Speaking of the version of MLP that will cause aids, apparently one episode was edited because dialogue was considered "Ableist," but the episode got put on a DVD before that happened, so that old DVD has the original version. Anything else will be the PC cut. Its amazing a show made in 2011 even had to be edited to be more PC but there you go.
Care Bears has a similar issue with its first two specials, "CB Battle the Freeze Machine" and "The Land Without Feelings." If you watch and it begins with the theme song from the later TV show seasons, its the syndie edit. (the UK DVDs, to my memory, have the uncut specials).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1980s)--I've heard this isn't the case on the UK DVDs, but on the US ones, there's a sequence in the second episode (when the Technodrome is firing through rocks) where the screen cuts to black. This is apparently a mastering error. Of course, the old VHS looks fine. Also in general I kinda hate these DVDs because they mash so many episodes onto each disc that you start to see compression issues, but literally all streaming versions use the DVD as a source.
On that note I've heard that the US DVD of the Turtles Forever special is missing a lot of footage, but the UK DVD is complete. Not sure why you'd want that thing to be even longer, but there you go.
