Info/FAQ
What’s the big deal?
This is a really important project to me because Toy Story is an entirely different-looking film on film as opposed to the DVD/Blu-Ray releases. This is because of the unique film-out process Pixar used at the time to print each rendered image onto film, whereas with the DVD and onward they directly transferred the digital files onto the disc.
As a result, Toy Story on 35mm has a very unique look to it, and also looks far better than the DVD in my opinion. The colors have a very filmic look to them, and it makes many of the scenes pop out compared to the DVD version’s vey dull palette. Additionally, the grain present on the film print makes a lot of the low-res textures and makes them look less noticeably fake compared to the DVD.
Here are some comparison images to show what I’m talking about, with screenshots from a scan of the theatrical trailer by FT Depot. Some differences are more subtle while others are plain as day– particularly, notice in the “YOU ARE A TOY” scene how much Woody stands out against the background in the film version. Also, notice in the “Out the window” scene how much redder the glow of the sunset is on film, whereas in the DVD/Blu-Ray film you can hardly tell there’s a sunset.
This is all to say that Toy Story on film was and is an entirely different beast than Toy Story on Blu-Ray, and again, arguably far better-looking. Naturally, the VHS and Laserdisc releases used a film print to transfer the movie, but both are obviously very low-quality by today’s standards, and this scan will give us a nice, clean look at how the film looked in theaters.
The Print/Scanning
Our print of Toy Story is an original theatrical print from Australia (meaning presumably in English). Here’s a link to the eBay listing where you can see pictures of the print– it looks like it’s in pretty nice condition aside from a loose wind in one of the reels. It also seems a bit pink in some of the pictures, although this could just be due to lighting.
Anyways, the print was bought for AU$1500 (just under US$1000 at the time), and is currently being held onto by our Aussie friend Valeyard (RU.08) who will be shipping it to the US when appropriate.
Scanning will be done by Quazza with his Scanstation 6.5k. Ultrasonic cleaning will be done by Flix35.
Donations
Donations are being accepted on PayPal right now– the two links are at the top of this post. Shoot me a PM if you’d like to use another method of payment!
I suggest using Link 1 if you have a PayPal account, as with Link 2 there’s a fee for each donation made. Also, be sure to select Family and Friends instead of Goods and Services, as the latter also incurs a fee.
Is this donors only?
I’m happy to tell you all that this scan will NOT be donors only. Donors will be the first priority in getting the final print sent out, but I’ll otherwise be sending the final scan to anyone interested for at least a few months after it’s finished, as I want more people to see this very unique version of one of the most important animated films of all-time.
HOWEVER, I should mention do plan on coming up with some sort of donor-exclusive bonus. I have a few ideas in mind already– not sharing anything yet to avoid any empty promises, but just know that I’ve got some cool stuff planned.
Either way, I encourage anyone interested and willing to donate, even if it’s just a few dollars. I’ll be equally matching every donation under $5 with my own money, so any amount you send really does count!
