Stay at "The Witches" Hotel!

In 1990, Jim Henson Productions released a film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. The Nicolas Roeg directed movies was in mostly filmed at The Headland hotel in Newquay, in Cornwall England. An actual hotel you can actually stay in. 

While the famous ballroom scene was filmed at a studio soundstage, the exterior (renamed the Hotel Excelsior), lobby, hallways, dining areas and other parts of the hotel were used in the film.

Ballroom not included

Rooms 223, 227 and 205 were used for some of the bedroom scenes.

The Headland hotel as looks today:

You can book a stay at the Hotel Excelsior, I mean the Headland here.
(Just beware of the soup!)

The Witches is available on Bluray and DVD from Amazon and is streaming on Netflix. 

The Witches Now on Bluray!

The Witches has finally arrived on bluray. Jim Henson Productions 1990 film was released this week through the Warner Archive Collection. 

This marks the first physical time (it had been released through iTunes and OnDemand previously) that The Witches is available in widescreen and in HD. 

It comes in it's original 2.0 stereo, though it's now in DTS HD-Master quality.

Unfortunately, there are no bonus features but you can watch the original trailer below:

The Witches blu-ray is available now through the Warner Archive Collection and Amazon.

The Witches Come to Bluray!

Warner Archive Collection announced that it is finally releasing Jim Henson Productions' The Witches on bluray!

Below are the official specs:

THE WITCHES (1990)
Run Time 92:00
Subtitles English SDH
Sound Quality DTS HD-Master Audio 2.0 - English
Aspect Ratio 1.85:1, 16 X 9 WIDESCREEN
Product Color COLOR
Disc Configuration BD 50

From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Wizard of Oz, many classic tales through the centuries wouldn’t be half as exciting without the devious doings of a witch. Now add another to the venerable tradition of stories that deliver family fun every witch way, a collaboration combining the effects wizardry of executive producer Jim Henson and the imagination of Willy Wonka creator Roald Dahl.

Academy Award® winner* Anjelica Huston won the Los Angeles and National Society of Film Critics Best Actress awards for her marvelous work as the Grand High Witch in this enchanting fable directed by Nicolas Roeg. Jasen Fisher plays Luke, the 9-year-old boy who must foil the plans of a society of witches to turn the world’s children into mice. It won’t be easy: They’ve already transformed him into one! But some big, bad witches may be no match for the resourcefulness of a single tiny rodent.

The Witches Bluray will be released 8/20/2019, and can be pre-ordered now through the Warner Archive Collection. 

It's Saturday Morning - Muppet Babies!

It may be Friday, but "It's Saturday Morning" is a new coffee table book that focuses on Saturday morning TV series. 

The book is arranged by decade as you can might guess, Muppet Babies gets a major presence in the 80's section. 

Also, as you can see above, one of the images they use is from the season 8 episode "Nice to Have Gnome You." The episode featured a parody of Labyrinth and footage from The Witches. That's like 3 Henson references in one! The image even has Baby Gonzo dressed as Hoggle.

Unfortunately, no other Henson Saturday morning series such as Little Muppet Monsters, City Kids, Dog City, or the animated Fraggle Rock are mentioned. Maybe they're saving them for volume 2.
 

You can pick up the book at your local Barnes and Noble and on Amazon.

RIP Nicolas Roeg (1928 - 2018)

Filmmaker Nicolas Roeg died last week. He is best remembered by Muppet fans for directing 1990's The Witches."

Jim Henson bought the film right's to Roald Dahl's children's novel, of which the film is based, in 1983 and Roeg was selected by Jim to direct the film. 

The film marked many lasts. I was the final film Jim personally worked on, it was the final theatrical film produced by Lorimar Productions, and the last film made based on Dahl's material before his death.

Dahl was noted to have hated the film, since it didn't follow the books darker ending. 

Roeg has another Henson connection, having directed future Goblin King David Bowie in 1976's The Man Who Fell to Earth.

You can read more about his life from the New York Times. He was 90 years old.