Speaking of "the thing"...

[bratpop]

As far as I know, there's never been a version of The Thing on DVD with a "bonus disc." The only "early ideas" I remember are some different design sketches for the monster, most of which looked totally hokey.

[izatright]

As for the bonus disc, maybe it's not available in region 1?

As for the production drawings, some of those monsters were kind of cool.  But I don't know if they would have made independently satisfying central monster characters in their own right.  What I learned from the extras is that the Thing was a production ensemble piece.  The special effects guy responsible for all of the coolest scenes deserve an oscar.  And Stan Winston deserves more than a "thanks" in the credit, what with coming up with the wolf/dog monster in the first alien manifestation scene.  That was one of the coolest effects in the film!

What would have been great is if they could have done the wolf breaking through the Blair Monster's torso, falling out by an "umbilical cord" and landing in front of McReady with realism.  That would have been amazing.  Of course it would have been harder for that one stick of dynamite to blow up the whole monster...  But still!

And where's the sequel?  It would be pure crap, but I'd love it anyway.  It's been 25-26 years already.