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Fantasia - Special Edition laserdisc (Released) — Page 4

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Does this mean you are considering a v2.0?

Either way, I’m very happy to see this project released! came back here today after more than a year since my last checkup and seeing all these updates was a great sight!

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Class316 said:

On comes the pc police to tell me that my childhood was bad? They can go fuck themselves!

And YOU can go fuck YOURSELF, you racist piece of shit.

Class316 said:

There are tons of cartoons that don’t portray Caucasian folks in a flattering matter. Characters ranging from Elmer J Fudd and Yosemite Sam to the likes of Beavis and Butt Head. No one ever complains about those or censors those.

White people are stereotyped LESS than people of different races, you Repuglicunt.

Class316 said:

In my view, feeling “uncomfortable” watching an uncensored Pastoral Symphony is exactly what is wrong with this nation and the world in general.

It’s come to a point where nothing can be done for fear of offending. Look at Apu from the Simpsons for instance! It’s enraging to even think about. But of course NO complaints about Cletus Spuckler and his family.

Fuck you. The uncensored Pastoral Symphony is racist, but it deserves to be shown so that we can teach our children about racism in our past, why it was wrong, and what can be done to prevent racism in the future. That’s how to ACTUALLY be politically correct.

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Looks like ‘James76’ wants to get banned.

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In a way, I’m sad about the banning. Is it permanent or a lockout for a period of weeks?

Please understand: I cannot and will not defend his personal attack nor his choice of language.

And at the same time, he raised points that would have been great in a constructive dialogue. Unfortunately, those got swallowed up in his vitriol.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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MattMahdi said:

In a way, I’m sad about the banning. Is it permanent or a lockout for a period of weeks?

Please understand: I cannot and will not defend his personal attack nor his choice of language.

And at the same time, he raised points that would have been great in a constructive dialogue. Unfortunately, those got swallowed up in his vitriol.

As far as I know it is a temporary ban for James76.

IMHO, the personal attacks and language by James76 were well out of order - and yet without them he did make some valid points for discussion in response to class316’s post.
 

Class316 said:

Growing up, I was fortunate to watch lots of cartoons uncensored. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Disney, Tex Avery, and others. Those were my childhood. The mammy from Tom and Jerry yelling Thoooommmasss is a voice that resonates my youth.

Somehow, someway, I even managed to watch a couple of the censored 11. Not sure how, but when I watched them recently I definitely remembered a couple of them from my childhood.

On comes the pc police to tell me that my childhood was bad? They can go fuck themselves!

Many of us watched those cartoons - and other similar films - repeatedly over a long, long time.

There is no ‘pc police’ involved in the removal of content of which the owners of these franchises themselves deemed offensive years later and then removed.

If anything, it is the owners of these franchises wanting to re-write history in an attempt to show they weren’t offensive, derogatory, or used racial caricatures and so on, in their past content. A bid to retcon their own history - which they obviously have issue with.

Nobody is telling you your (or our) childhood was bad - so please don’t claim otherwise. Or include and twist such a point to post inflammatory remarks, or lay blame at some sort of imaginary ‘pc police’.
 

Though if you’re using the “On comes the pc police to tell me that my childhood was bad? They can go fuck themselves!” as a political dig at people who think such removed scenes are inappropriate - and telling them to go ‘fuck themselves’… don’t be surprised if you find yourself, like James76 did, in having a short period of time away from here to reflect on your post.

 

A shame about all this - a passionate, yet civil and intriguing discussion almost broke out.
 

A little patience goes a long way on this old-school Rebel base. If you are having issues finding what you are looking for, these will be of some help…

Welcome to the OriginalTrilogy.com | Introduce yourself in here | Useful info within : About : Help : Site Rules : Fan Project Rules : Announcements
How do I do this?’ on the OriginalTrilogy.com; some info & answers + FAQs - includes info on how to search for projects and threads on the OT•com

A Project Index for Star Wars Preservations (Harmy’s Despecialized & 4K77/80/83 etc) : A Project Index for Star Wars Fan Edits (adywan & Hal 9000 etc)

… and take your time to look around this site before posting - to get a feel for this place. Don’t just lazily make yet another thread asking for projects.

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oojason said:

If anything, it is the owners of these franchises wanting to re-write history in an attempt to show they weren’t offensive, derogatory, or used racial caricatures and so on, in their past content. A bid to retcon their own history - which they obviously have issue with.

I think you really nailed it here. Companies revise their own histories to appear as if they were against it all along, and people believe it wholeheartedly. Similar to a politician who does one thing his whole career and runs on campaign promises of the opposite thing and votes think “wow he’s totally being honest now, all the stuff he did before wasnt his fault”
Either way, I’d just prefer these companies to say “Here’s how it was originally shown, we know social sensibilities were changed but we will not pretend it never happened” similar to what WB did.

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Starbond9 said:

oojason said:

If anything, it is the owners of these franchises wanting to re-write history in an attempt to show they weren’t offensive, derogatory, or used racial caricatures and so on, in their past content. A bid to retcon their own history - which they obviously have issue with.

I think you really nailed it here. Companies revise their own histories to appear as if they were against it all along, and people believe it wholeheartedly. Similar to a politician who does one thing his whole career and runs on campaign promises of the opposite thing and votes think “wow he’s totally being honest now, all the stuff he did before wasnt his fault”
Either way, I’d just prefer these companies to say “Here’s how it was originally shown, we know social sensibilities were changed but we will not pretend it never happened” similar to what WB did.

+1

Project creator and film enthusiast.

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1. Apologies for a long post.

2. Please understand that I know and love many people who are fundamentalist Christians and wonderful, positive people. When I describe Yancey’s negative upbringing in a fundamentalist church, his experience was the cliched light years away from theirs.

Philip Yancey was born in 1949 in Atlanta, GA. I say that for context.

The quote is from his recently published memoir Where the Light Fell, in which he recounts his disturbingly fundamentalist upbringing and eventual experience of grace.

This is what he experienced one year at church camp (page 145):

Then Ruckman grins and moves from behind the pulpit: “Have you ever noticed how Coloreds make good waiters? Watch them sometime. They swivel their hips around the chairs and hold those trays high without spilling a drop.” He does an exaggerated imitation, and the campers laugh. “Don’t you see, that’s the kind of job they’re good at. But have you ever met a Negro who’s the president of a company? Have you? Name one. Every race has its place, and they should accept it. We can get along fine as long as we stay separate and don’t mix.”

He was raised believing this. He was taught about the Curse of Ham being the cause of dark skin.

Even as a child he noticed that the “doctrine” of the curse of Ham didn’t make logical sense – at the very least it was Canaan who was cursed, not his father Ham, and that it was a drunk Noah who cursed him, not God (page 66). But he believed – because he had no reason not to believe except for the camp cook – that people with black skin were truly inferior in every way to people with white skin.

The KKK was a strong force where he lived.

There was some applause in his high school when it was announced that President Kennedy had been shot because Kennedy had been sending federal marshals to enforce racial integration in the South (page 167).

And this is why the Sunflower scenes make me queasy. I think they’re important as a cultural artifact, but they’re definitely not something to be celebrated as a triumph. We can view the uncut Fantasia as a reminder of how far we’ve come as a nation – but we still have so, so far to go as the news can remind us almost any day. I can watch it uncut, and at the same time I don’t know that I’ll be watching the restored version near so much as I’ll be watching the censored one.

Which may just be because it causes me less feeling of White Guilt.

Yancey’s story is one of metamorphosis, as the title suggests, and as I already indicated he did eventually discover grace instead of a harsh, vindictive, and vicious religious upbringing.

A few years after the camp incident, but before Kennedy’s assassination, when he was in high school and excelling in science and maths, he applied for and won a summer internship at the CDC. He was going to be working under a Dr. Cherry, a Ph.D. in biochemistry from an Ivy League school, and he was nervous going into the situation. He studied and studied a paper Dr. Cherry wrote that was “way over my head” in preparation (page 160).

When I show up for work the first day, I get a photo ID badge and am escorted to Dr. Cherry’s office. The security guard knocks on the door, hears “Come in,” and opens it. I nearly drop my pack of papers on the floor.

Dr. Cherry is a Black man.

In one second, something cracks inside me.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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Spookyking said:

Does this mean you are considering a v2.0?

Either way, I’m very happy to see this project released! came back here today after more than a year since my last checkup and seeing all these updates was a great sight!

I personally would very much like to see a V2 released. If anyone wants to tackle it I’ve got all the materials.

Many of us watched those cartoons - and other similar films - repeatedly over a long, long time.

There is no ‘pc police’ involved in the removal of content of which the owners of these franchises themselves deemed offensive years later and then removed.

If anything, it is the owners of these franchises wanting to re-write history in an attempt to show they weren’t offensive, derogatory, or used racial caricatures and so on, in their past content. A bid to retcon their own history - which they obviously have issue with.

Nobody is telling you your (or our) childhood was bad - so please don’t claim otherwise. Or include and twist such a point to post inflammatory remarks, or lay blame at some sort of imaginary ‘pc police’.
 

I disagree with you on one front, there definitely is a pc police. Disney for instance succumbed to mob rules in 2020 and announced they would eliminate Splash Mountain and re theme it in favor of princess and the frog. To boot, they took away the zip a dee doo dah song from their parks and even removed a statue of Brer Rabbit. Everyone is afraid to release certain material or say certain things so as not to be a victim of cancel culture. It is not just limited to old cartoons but across the board.

Take for instance, the social media site GAB. They essentially refuse to moderate any content that is legal speech under US law. Unlike the Facebooks and Twitters of the world that censor viewpoints they don’t like. For this stance, credit card companies deny them service. Google and Apple deny them a spot on their app store. Obviously there is a pc police. People get fired for posts on twitter. Again, pc police. And so on and so forth.

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Class316 said:

Take for instance, the social media site GAB. They essentially refuse to moderate any content that is legal speech under US law. Unlike the Facebooks and Twitters of the world that censor viewpoints they don’t like. For this stance, credit card companies deny them service. Google and Apple deny them a spot on their app store. Obviously there is a pc police. People get fired for posts on twitter. Again, pc police. And so on and so forth.

“Ideas have consequences”, Frank Herbert said (and I’m sure many others have echoed him).

If my choices make credit card companies unwilling to associate with me, whether for their own reasons or because of perceived backlash from their stakeholders then that is MY problem.

That said, there is always collateral damage. Living in WA state, I’m reminded of when marijuana was legalized and banks would not deal with companies that sold the stuff because their national standing as corporations put them at potential risk with the federal government. Unintended consequences of well-meaning people who had the neat idea of legalizing the stuff.

I can see your point about a PC police. Things do get taken too far with cancelation culture.

And I also wonder if what we’re doing is, in fits and spurts, trying to work our way into a better world.

We won’t get there by rewriting our pasts, though, a la 1984, but by acknowledging them and moving beyond them.

“Before the Dark Times. Before the Prequels.”

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MattMahdi said:

If my choices make credit card companies unwilling to associate with me, whether for their own reasons or because of perceived backlash from their stakeholders then that is MY problem.

That said, there is always collateral damage. Living in WA state, I’m reminded of when marijuana was legalized and banks would not deal with companies that sold the stuff because their national standing as corporations put them at potential risk with the federal government. Unintended consequences of well-meaning people who had the neat idea of legalizing the stuff.

I can see your point about a PC police. Things do get taken too far with cancelation culture.

And I also wonder if what we’re doing is, in fits and spurts, trying to work our way into a better world.

We won’t get there by rewriting our pasts, though, a la 1984, but by acknowledging them and moving beyond them.

I do agree it’s their choice, but the fact that they are all united in the same choices is very chilling. It means that one entity controls everything and denies rights to who they see fit, regardless of what is allowed under the law. Essentially, the free market system is a lie.

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Hi! I’ve been following your progress. Mind if I get the link to this remastered treasure in PM? I am an archiver and I would love to keep this preserved!

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Sorry that this has little to do with the topic at hand, but I find it absurd to say that Gab was removed for anything other than being a dangerous haven for white supremacy. Free speech does not allow me to engage in libel/slander, use racial epithets, or plan and execute an insurrection.

Having said that, I think the mere fact that we’re debating Gab and “PC police,” and not the Fantasia restoration, is against the spirit of this site. I come to Original Trilogy to read about and to discuss film, not politics. If people wish to debate, that’s fine, but please take it to Off Topic. In fact, I don’t know if there’s one there already, but perhaps all of the political aspects of Fantasia could have their own dedicated thread there? These tangents happen often.

Back on topic, I think Fantasia is a true work of art, and it’s long been my intention to own it with the original Fantasound mix. It’d be spectacular to see that recreated on 4K Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos!! In the meantime, I intend to learn more about Fantasia and to celebrate the great preservation efforts people here make! 😃

What can you get a Wookiee for (Life Day) Christmas when he already owns a comb?

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ScruffyNerfHerder said:

Sorry that this has little to do with the topic at hand, but I find it absurd to say that Gab was removed for anything other than being a dangerous haven for white supremacy. Free speech does not allow me to engage in libel/slander, use racial epithets, or plan and execute an insurrection.

Having said that, I think the mere fact that we’re debating Gab and “PC police,” and not the Fantasia restoration, is against the spirit of this site. I come to Original Trilogy to read about and to discuss film, not politics. If people wish to debate, that’s fine, but please take it to Off Topic. In fact, I don’t know if there’s one there already, but perhaps all of the political aspects of Fantasia could have their own dedicated thread there? These tangents happen often.

Back on topic, I think Fantasia is a true work of art, and it’s long been my intention to own it with the original Fantasound mix. It’d be spectacular to see that recreated on 4K Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos!! In the meantime, I intend to learn more about Fantasia and to celebrate the great preservation efforts people here make! 😃

Not sure why you say Gab was “removed” as it’s still online. And actually racial epithets is in fact covered under the first amendment. Gab does not promote any point of view, they allow all views. If for instance the American Communist Party or the NAACP want to go on Gab, they would be allowed to do so.

But you’re right, free speech does not cover plans to execute violence. That being said, Twitter, IG, and Facebook are guilty of that as they did nothing to stop the instigators of the 2020 riots from using their platforms to plan violence and destruction throughout the nation. 25+ dead, 700+ injured, and 2 billion in damage is on the hands of “respectable” social media platforms. Not Gab. To boot, Twitter was a major tool for the Taliban as they took over Afghanistan. Twitter did nothing to stop that. Again, the Taliban did not use Gab.

All that being said, I do agree. Let’s get back to Fantasia discussion. Bottom line is, you don’t like Sunflower? It’s simple. Don’t download a version that showcases it and allow people who want to watch it to do so. No one is forcing you to watch it. Don’t force others not to watch (or enjoy) it.

So who is willing to work on V2 of this? In doing so we can upgrade the source video to the Australian PAL DVD.

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Class316 said:

Good news everyone! This is done, this is up, and this looks AWESOME! I figured since February is a politically correct month it’s only fitting to release a restored Fantasia in February! I don’t think we’re allowed to post Mega links here. But I do have a link ready. Here is the write up of this release. If you release it on torrent sites please keep the following write up along with it:

Hello everyone. My username is Class316, and over the years it has bothered me that there was been no authentic version of Fantasia available for viewing (officially or otherwise). Unlike the Original Star Wars Trilogy, Song of the South, and many others, Fantasia never got the same love. So over the years I took it upon myself to find a way to change that.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, I present to you something that is not only long overdue, but also making its Internet debut! Disney’s timeless classic Fantasia with Fantasound, Deems Taylor’s voice, AND all the censored scenes restored!

As most of you may know, in what is probably one of the earliest cases of cartoon censorship in the name of political correctness, the “offensive” scenes from the Pastoral Symphony of Fantasia were cut out in 1969, never to be seen in official form again. Additionally, Fantasound was lost to time.

In the early 90s Disney would recreate Fantasound theatrically in two theaters, one in New York and one in Los Angeles. This would be dubbed as “Fantasound 90”. And this would be the basis of the audio in the VHS, Laserdisc, and soundtrack CD released in the early 90s. Although a few seconds of audio is missing from the Pastoral Symphony of those releases due to the censorship. Regarding the intros, these home releases use the shortened (and generally more preferred) intros by Deems Taylor.

In 2000, Disney released Fantasia on DVD. This was dubbed “original and uncut” on the cover. Was it uncut? Debatable. It PANNED the “offensive” scenes (thus yielding complete audio at least) but it is anything but “original” as Disney blatantly falsely advertised on the front cover. Additionally, unlike the LD, the DVD audio is far gone from Fantasound. To boot, Disney chose to use the longer intros. In itself perhaps not necessarily a bad thing as some might prefer that. But the audio of said intros were so deteriorated that they couldn’t be used. So rather than work with what was still usable, Disney decided to completely dub Deems Taylor’s voice entirely with that of actor Corey Burton.

Here is a youtube comparison of the uncensored Pastoral Symphony segment compared to the modern-day censored versions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyPFibRadto

In 2010 Fantasia was released on blu ray and its audio was even more far gone from Fantasound than the DVD release (and of course retained the dubbing and censorship of the DVD release).

Another “feature” of both the DVD and blu ray releases is the visual “retouching” that Disney is infamous for when it comes to their older films. Meaning the laserdisc more so reflects the work of the original artists than the more modern releases do.

Now there have been projects on the Internet that have restored all the censored scenes back into Fantasia. But all those releases use the DVD or blu ray release as the basis. Meaning there has yet to be a fully authentic version of Fantasia that is available, officially or otherwise. That is up until February 2021!

Over the years I had collected many Fantasia related things, these include but are not limited to:

In December 2018, I was given (by someone who has long disappeared) a great looking HD version of the censored scenes.

In August 2020, Myspleen.com user AlanGrant released a wonderful rip of the early 90s CAV laserdisc. Here is his write up of it, and I quote:

-start-

This is the 1990 remaster of Fantasia transferred from the CAV LaserDisc boxset, released in January of 1991. This serves not only as a preservation of the 1990 remaster, but of the LaserDisc itself as this is one of numerous disc sets that has disc rot issues which will intensify with time.

Several noticeable differences to other, more modern releases include:

-Color timing is much brighter, especially in the “Nutcracker Suite” section of the film

-A recreation of the 1940 intermission card is used as a title, as opposed to the 1941 “RKO” titlecard used for the 81-minute cut and all post-2000 releases

-Alternate shots with the orchestra in darkness are used for Taylor’s narration; later cuts restore Taylor’s speaking footage

-Deems Taylor’s narration, which was replaced by an actor’s redub in post-2000 releases of the film due to deteriorated optical soundtracks

-A ~115 minute runtime made to resemble the 1946 release of the film (which restored Toccata and Fugue), as opposed to the 124-minute 1940 Roadshow version

-An end credits sequence, which all other versions lack

This boxset suffers laser rot to some degree due to the glue used; thankfully here, it’s contained to the very beginning of each side. It will be most noticeable in the beginning of the film but each subsequent disc/side has less visual “disc rot”.

Transferred using a DVL-90 player, DMR-ES15 passthrough to an AJA Kona LHe card using the S-video input.

Captured as a raw image sequence which was then ran through QTGMC and exported as a 10-bit 4.2.2 H.264 video through ffmpeg (Placebo setting).

(The film runs at 59.94p to better preserve the LaserDisc image as the high framerate and raw modulated image combine to create a “clearer” picture to the eye.)

Digital audio track piped from the DVL-90 to an X-fi Titanium card, bit-matched and recorded as a 44100Hz 16-bit PCM; the file is directly muxed to the .mkv.

Analogue audio was transferred using the AJA KONA LHe card and exported as a monaural Opus file.

Captions were transferred by way of DVD burning on the Panasonic DMR-ES15, ripped using MakeMKV/MKVCleaver and corrected to the .mkv timing in SubtitleEdit.

Chapter stops and titles are direct from the “Chapter Index” insert in the CAV boxset.

-end-

So here I had the most authentic looking and sounding version of Fantasia that Disney put out (ie a HQ LD rip), I had a great looking clip of the censored scenes, among other things.

After many attempts of trying and failing to find someone with the necessary skills and patience to insert the scenes back into the LD and patch up the missing LD audio, on comes user Starbond9 of originaltrilogy.com. I sent him all Fantasia related materials I had collected over the years, and he did a fantastic job. To summarize, he reinserted all the “offensive” scenes into the LD, he patched up the missing audio of the stereo/Fantasound track with that of the DVD audio (the next closest thing we have to Fantasound after the LD), and he patched up the missing audio of the mono track with audio from his own vinyl record!

Here is his write up on what he did, and I quote:

-start-

-Added 5 individual scenes featuring Sunflower and Otica (the centaurette who assists Bacchus)

-Sources on these clips are the audioless HD clips floating around online, color adjusted for LD (adjusted by originaltrilogy.com member Brodnation). The scene with the carpet was from a personal source found on the internet

-3 of said clips were inserted by removing panned/zoomed/and looped existing animations

-2 clips required expanding the video track and inserting a stereo and mono dub as the audio tracks of the movie were physically shortened, see below. (this is also heard on the 1990 CD and Legacy Collection versions of Pastoral)

-Used the DVD stereo audio track as dub source for the missing Fantasound track. These few seconds are NOT Dolby Prologic so listeners with the setting will notice a loss of spatial surround when the two dub spots play. Regular stereo listeners will not notice an issue

-Used a personal copy of a 1961 Mono LP of Pastoral as the dub source for the mono audio track

-Adjusted chapter and subtitles beyond the Pastoral Sunflower clip insert to match the ~8 second shift

-Technical: demuxed individual tracks, remuxed with MKVtoolnix, project assembled in Vegas Pro 14

-end-

I would like to thank him for his time and effort, and for finally bringing an authentic version of Fantasia that showcases, in all its glory, all three of Fantasound, Deems Taylor’s voice, AND the full video/audio of the Pastoral Symphony.

Hopefully someone can also use these two patched up audio tracks for any future Fantasia projects, such as HD 35mm film scans or edits of the blu ray footage.

Please feel free to release this on Torrent, my only request is you keep this write up along with it.

May I have a link please?

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working”
-The wind in the willows

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Class316 said:

ScruffyNerfHerder said:

Sorry that this has little to do with the topic at hand, but I find it absurd to say that Gab was removed for anything other than being a dangerous haven for white supremacy. Free speech does not allow me to engage in libel/slander, use racial epithets, or plan and execute an insurrection.

Having said that, I think the mere fact that we’re debating Gab and “PC police,” and not the Fantasia restoration, is against the spirit of this site. I come to Original Trilogy to read about and to discuss film, not politics. If people wish to debate, that’s fine, but please take it to Off Topic. In fact, I don’t know if there’s one there already, but perhaps all of the political aspects of Fantasia could have their own dedicated thread there? These tangents happen often.

Back on topic, I think Fantasia is a true work of art, and it’s long been my intention to own it with the original Fantasound mix. It’d be spectacular to see that recreated on 4K Blu-ray with Dolby Atmos!! In the meantime, I intend to learn more about Fantasia and to celebrate the great preservation efforts people here make! 😃

Not sure why you say Gab was “removed” as it’s still online. And actually racial epithets is in fact covered under the first amendment. Gab does not promote any point of view, they allow all views. If for instance the American Communist Party or the NAACP want to go on Gab, they would be allowed to do so.

But you’re right, free speech does not cover plans to execute violence. That being said, Twitter, IG, and Facebook are guilty of that as they did nothing to stop the instigators of the 2020 riots from using their platforms to plan violence and destruction throughout the nation. 25+ dead, 700+ injured, and 2 billion in damage is on the hands of “respectable” social media platforms. Not Gab. To boot, Twitter was a major tool for the Taliban as they took over Afghanistan. Twitter did nothing to stop that. Again, the Taliban did not use Gab.

All that being said, I do agree. Let’s get back to Fantasia discussion. Bottom line is, you don’t like Sunflower? It’s simple. Don’t download a version that showcases it and allow people who want to watch it to do so. No one is forcing you to watch it. Don’t force others not to watch (or enjoy) it.

So who is willing to work on V2 of this? In doing so we can upgrade the source video to the Australian PAL DVD.

Can you please give me a link to the DVD file? I can try to help.

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working”
-The wind in the willows

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 (Edited)

I got a very nice review for this on archive.org. When reading things like this it reminds me what a great thing the existence of this release is. The review also educated me on some tid bits I didn’t even know. For instance this release can be made slightly more accurate to Walt’s vision by inserting the RKO intermission title card right after the Right of Spring segment (as seen in the 2000 DVD release).

And it was quite flattering to be told that Walt himself would commend me.

Here is the full review:

Reviewer: Filefanatic - March 27, 2022

Subject: THE ONLY REAL WALT DISNEY APPROVED VERSION

This is hands down THE BEST version of Fantasia. Yes even better than the Blu-ray and DVD. Both the DVD and Blu-ray have altered the colors and pushed their tone to a lot brighter than was ever intended. The film was also DNRd like crazy to the point that a lot of detail was lost. The audio on the Blu-ray, while good, is still altered and remixed to sound nothing like the original Fantasound experience.

The 1990 Laserdisk was the best format that the Fantasound was ever released on and the picture is identical to the original film and colors as was intended by the artists. The slightly longer 1940 Deems Taylor intros are nice on the Blu-ray but without the original audio they are worse than worthless and do indeed make the film run a bit too long as most of the comments are still included on the 1946 version. The rerecorded audio also sticks out like a sore thumb to anyone that has seen and heard the original.

The 1946 version was the very first wide release of Fantasia that was fully approved of by Walt Disney himself. The first 1940 version was a very rare limited run of only 12 screens, so it was more a premier event than a real release and when RKO took over in 42 and wanted to edit it way down by cutting all of Deems Taylor out and one of the animated musical numbers, Walt couldn’t do it. So that wasn’t approved of by Walt himself. However, in 1946 for the new wide rerelease, a completed version was overseen by Walt with more reasonable length introductions by Deems Taylor and with all the animated sequences intact as Walt had originally in 1940. This version shown here is missing the actual intermission, but for those that want to reenact it, they need only pause for 15 minutes after the right of spring. That’s where it was except it had the title card seen in the intro with RKO included on it. Aside from that, and the added end credits, this is exactly as it would have been seen and heard in 1946. After the last number, it would have just ended with no credits.

Your work on obtaining the deleted sections and your friends work on restoring them and the proper audio cues is simply outstanding. Could a bit more cleanup have been done on the added sections? Perhaps, but then you run the risk of ruining the film and doing the same thing the modern company is guilty of.

Finally, at long last, the world has WALT DISNEY’S fully approved version complete and uncensored as it was shown in 1946. Would Walt himself have changed it had he lived? Perhaps, but that is doubtful as it was rereleased multiple times even up through the 60s and he hadn’t ever changed it. Roy O. Disney is not Walt Disney and never was. He should have had no right to approve an alteration to his brothers masterpiece. What he did was wrong even if it was to make it more politically correct for changing times.
Comedy and other forms of art are often controversial and sometimes come at the expense of someone or something else. Walt knew once you went down the path of changing old works, no art or work would be safe. He kept it as is, up until his death and that’s the way it should have stayed. Children were never the intended audience and I have never once seen a child that could ever make it towards the end. It is an adult experience and was always intended as such even from the very beginning.

You sir have righted a tremendous wrong in the cause of film preservation. I salute you and have absolutely no doubt if Walt Himself were here today, he would commend you as well for a job very well done!

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What a great write-up! I’m glad I was able to help out and be in the right place at the right time for all of this! I suppose there could be another version in the works with the credits removed and the intermission corrected. (maybe even make it 15 minutes long haha)

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Starbond9 said:

What a great write-up! I’m glad I was able to help out and be in the right place at the right time for all of this! I suppose there could be another version in the works with the credits removed and the intermission corrected. (maybe even make it 15 minutes long haha)

I’m glad too!

And yes I suppose that could be a V2 fix. And anyone who doesn’t want to wait 15 minutes can fast forward.

I find it ironic and strange that in the 2000 release they gunned for accuracy for a title card by putting the RKO title card in the correct place. And they removed the end credits. Meanwhile they ruined it in most every other respect.

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Class316 said:

Starbond9 said:

What a great write-up! I’m glad I was able to help out and be in the right place at the right time for all of this! I suppose there could be another version in the works with the credits removed and the intermission corrected. (maybe even make it 15 minutes long haha)

I’m glad too!

And yes I suppose that could be a V2 fix. And anyone who doesn’t want to wait 15 minutes can fast forward.

I find it ironic and strange that in the 2000 release they gunned for accuracy for a title card by putting the RKO title card in the correct place. And they removed the end credits. Meanwhile they ruined it in most every other respect.

May I help making the V2 please? I think I have the tools and skills to do so.

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working”
-The wind in the willows

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CMGF said:

May I help making the V2 please? I think I have the tools and skills to do so.

Knock yourself out. The title card you need to insert is in the NTSC 2000 DVD. And of course chapter and subtitles beyond that point would have to be shifted.

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Class316 said:

CMGF said:

May I help making the V2 please? I think I have the tools and skills to do so.

Knock yourself out. The title card you need to insert is in the NTSC 2000 DVD. And of course chapter and subtitles beyond that point would have to be shifted.

Can you please send me a link to the australian DVD file? I can rip it to mkv, then start working on V2.

“After all, the best part of a holiday is perhaps not so much to be resting yourself, as to see all the other fellows busy working”
-The wind in the willows