The original cold open to episode 4 of Family Matters. When the show introduced Urkel, they refilmed some cold opens for 4 earlier episodes to make it look like he was on the show from the start. Three of those episodes have the original versions on the DVD set, but Rachel's First Date used the Urkel version making it still lost.
Frankly, what I would like to find is possibly gone forever. I posted an article the other day about it. The 1954 version of A Star is Born. I watched it a few weeks ago and honestly, it's right on the cusp of being a masterpiece. What holds it back, are the audio only sequences that have been cut within the first hour or so of the movie and replaced with production stills. The footage has been missing for ages, and its thought to be long gone. However, there have been rumors of an uncut print. Supposedly Michael Arick (the guy who re-discovered the workprint cut of Blade Runner) has a copy. I have never, ever been able to confirm whether this is true or not. I hope it is. Otherwise, all the footage may've been melted down for the silver content.
This is a longshot, but if anyone had any information regarding two odd little animations made for the fourth Kitaro anime, it would help me immensely. There's no English information on them. Nothing. So I'm going off what I've found on Japanese sources using Google Translate, since my knowledge of the language is novice at best... not ideal, I know.
Number One:
A seven minute *possibly alternate??* cut of the "Yokai Castle" episode of the fourth anime. Title in Japanese is "ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 風雲!妖怪城"
I don't think it was ever shown outside of the theater it was exhibited in. I don't know whether or not it contains new footage, but when I was searching for it, I often saw Kitaro fans reminiscing about how they wanted to see it, along with the second lost piece of animation I'm looking for. Again, not much information.
Number Two:
This one is the most intriguing, because I don't know for sure whether it's an edited episode, or an entirely new piece of animation. Full title in Japanese is "ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 〜コピー妖怪対鬼太郎〜 不正商品には気をつけろ!"
This special was shown to school children, as a sort of PSA against the dangers of buying bootleg/fraudulent products. The plot Wikipedia gives (Nezumi Otoko working with Wanyudo to sell fake products) also mentions a "copy yokai", which I assume was made exclusively for the special?
It had a VHS release, with exclusive artwork to boot, which makes me think it could've been a new piece of animation. But it's been a hot topic among my friends, lol
If anyone can help, it would be very much appreciated!!
A seven minute *possibly alternate??* cut of the "Yokai Castle" episode of the fourth anime. Title in Japanese is "ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 風雲!妖怪城"
I don't think it was ever shown outside of the theater it was exhibited in. I don't know whether or not it contains new footage, but when I was searching for it, I often saw Kitaro fans reminiscing about how they wanted to see it, along with the second lost piece of animation I'm looking for. Again, not much information.
Okay, I have confirmation now that this special is indeed a piece of unique animation. In one of my books, I found an excerpt that mentions the special.
Important to note is that the character "Miage-Nyudo" is mentioned. He's a large cyclops yokai, and he does NOT appear in the 1996 adaptation of "Yokai Castle" that aired on television. This leads me to believe that this special is a new piece of animation, although heavily based on the "Yokai Castle" two-parter.