Some episodes have been lost to time, as in no copies exist anymore, the Dr. Who series has the same problem, gotta remember back when these were recorded it was to film, which doesen't keep very well in storage, and is over written often, as episodes weren't expected to air more then two or three times. It's sad, but unless someone somewhere has it recorded on VHS or something those episodes are likely gone for good. I'd personally really love to see "The Princess and the Pig" in english, but not getting my hopes up.
All episodes not currently available in English I have in German, Italian and Spanish.
As far as I'm aware, there's been no evidence to suggest that any of the original film reels for the AATC 80s series have been lost to the elements or misplaced. If they stored them in safe conditions, they could be coverted to digital if they didn't do that already when the series reran on Cartoon Network; and if all original episodes were rerun. Regardless, I'm not sure if we're ever going to get all 8 seasons on DVD because Bagdasarian productions already had to replace some songs like New Attitude in The Chipette Story.
I watched most of the episodes in English and Spanish via YouTube in 2009 or 2010. Interviews for featurettes in the CG films suggest that they still have all of the animated stuff. They used footage from episodes which I remember watching, but weren't on home video ever (i.e., TAS The Cruise Ship).
It's much harder for copies of animated episodes to be destroyed, as you would need to destroy both the film reel and the multiple drawings. Hence why many series which aired before Dr. Who are complete. The digitization for some episodes on the Cartoon Network reruns would have made episodes even harder to destroy. I recall the kimcartoon episodes having the Teletoon logo right as they start, so the footage was recorded from a Teletoon airing. It seems like the digitized copies moved hands or multiple were made.
I have heard that home video release was more sufficient in other languages, even before 2011/2 when the existing home video releases in major US retailers just disappeared (music too). Almost all of my US DVD physical copies are from before that.
Very plausible analysis. If they are all digital now, then the only reason the 80s episodes aren’t on DVD/Blu-ray is probably due to either copyright (because of the song covers, and Bagdasarian has had a long history of copyright troubles) or they just want to wait until the right time to release them.
I'd imagine that it's more of an issue with the distributors than anything else. I'm sure BP can afford the royalties, but maybe whoever now owns the folks who made 12 season 6 episodes isn't willing to distribute.
Is there a thread or off-site forum for members to get a European or bootleg copy of either the 80s series or TAS?
I agree, I wish it's hurry up to bring the english of Princess and the Pig. It's so unfair
Episodes from Season 7 in particular is what I’m very frustrated about. I mean the songs that were originals in THAT season these episodes aren’t released either! Like what the heck?