Feature Films for Families buys copyrights to family films and edits them to remove anything that might cause young children to ask awkward questions of their parents. They made 28 cuts deleting frames from the film and 6 additional cuts to the soundtrack that didn't cut the film length, shortening the film by 0:11:47, from 1:34:56 down to 1:23:09, and released their shortened version on DVD in 2009. Most of the deletions were to delete words or sentences containing the words: bastard (1), crap (5), damn (5), hell (4), Jesus (1), making-out (1), shit (1), shut up (1); some were to delete images: severed finger, burned arm, naked buttock, short red negligée, one boy repeatedly slugging another; some were to delete concepts: drinking beer (2), a man talking to another man's wife (2), erectile dysfunction (3), disrespect of public officials (sheriff shoplifting, sheriff littering, mayor saying of Moss World - "Just think what it'd do for the town"). One cut did eviscerate the mea culpa moment in Jake Brewer's view of what to do with the miracle moss: the deletion of the last exchange in Jake's talk with his best friend Mike after Mike says "Ya know, Jake, one day you'll lose someone you care about, and then you'll feel differently" [a reference to Mike's father who died 5 months before]. Jake: [deleted] I still won't give a crap about Timmy Brock. Mike: [deleted] Ya know, Jake, sometimes you can be a real looser. This prodding swayed Jake's perspective on whether the moss should be sold for $500,000 or used to save the life of the bully Timmy Brock.
