Go to main content

That's The Way It Should Have Been

October 23, 2000 | Other
Of course we were very disappointed when we heard the bad news last week. Obviously a lot of fans are, and it is very understandable. We got a lot of suggestions to start action against EPE and/or Turner through mail bombs or whatever. We decided not to step into this.

First because EPE can't do a thing about it. They do not own the rights to TTWII. Of course they have more influence than you or we do, but having in mind EPE's behaviour of the last couple of years, when they showed they really care for their product. And secondly because we saw some suggestions that were very primitive and some that we won't follow ourselves, like not buying the DVD, because we want to have it anyway, with or without an additional 60 minutes. We did express our concern towards EPE, telling them we are flooded with mail regarding this subject, which we answered this way. Below you can read EPE's reaction.

"We have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that the TTWII DVD will not have the additional footage as previously announced. We do not own the film. We have done nothing but give the project our fullest cooperation and support, including giving Turner the easiest path possible with any clearances required from EPE for a new edition of the film. From the beginning we have passionately encouraged them to include as much footage as possible in the DVD, with all our hopes falling exactly, perfectly in line with Elvis fans' expectations. We had hoped that, once and for all, TTWII would be out there in its fullest glory.


The explanation we were given by Turner is the one found in the e-newsletter we sent out on Friday, October 20 and in the revisions we made to the TTWII article in our site's news that same day. We do not have any other details at this time. We do expect to learn more about the various complications that made this situation happen, but it will be up to Turner to decide how much of it, if any, is to be shared publicly. We will have to abide by their decision. It's their film. We do know that they are as disappointed and frustrated as we and the fans are about the situation. It is unfortunate that word of their enthusiastic plans for the additional footage on the DVD leaked out before everything was locked in. Everything looked like a "go" so they okayed our acknowledging the plans in our news and in our other communication with the fans. As the project "got down to the wire", it became a "no go".


We hope the expanded edition can happen someday soon and if ever there is any progress to report, we'll help them get the word out as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we remain joyful about Elvis, That's the Way It Is, Special Edition. It's splendid and will do much to introduce Elvis to new audiences and to re-educate people who have no clue as to how magnificent he really was.

It's hurtful that some fans automatically blame us for all this. We are not at fault. But, it's understandable. It probably stems from the problems we have had with song deletions on the '68 and Aloha DVDs and the fact that some people refuse to believe our explanation or haven't seen our explanation.


Thank you for your courtesy in asking for our side of things."