I'm not sure which is more bizarre, that the studios couldn't come to an agreement on a fake or CGI mo, or that they couldn't pull off the CGI mo removal.
I think it would have been easier to add a mo rather than remove it by CGI. That's why WB was offering to pay for the CGI mo but Paramount wasn't having any of it. I guess Paramount thought it might not look good so decided not to risk it.