Toy Story on DCP - Alternate Sound Mix?

Hello.
I am here to post something that I have been stumped about for at least a while now about the DCP versions of the 1995 CG animated comedy, Toy Story.

I’ve seen this version of the film in theaters at least three times now and every time I watched it in theaters, I’ve noticed that the film has a completely different sound mix than what most DVD & Blu-ray copies have.

While the visuals are identical to the 2010 Blu-ray releases, the audio mix is very different when comparing it to the Blu-ray’s 5.1 DTS-HD sound mix. In this sound mix that is somewhat exclusive to DCP showings, some bits of dialogue apparently have been moved slightly during specific points for some reason. Notable examples include the Pixar sound effects being quiet at first before becoming loud once the lamp stops at the I at the opening logos, the dialogue being delayed slightly during the opening song, a subtle out-of-sync sound effect when Woody coughs into a microphone, Sid’s first bit of dialogue, which is played on a surround channel, playing earlier than usual, and some loud twinkling sound effects at the closing Walt Disney Pictures logo.

Now, I don’t know how this mix was made, neither do I know if it’s a 7.1 mix or a 5.1 mix, or if it’s on any of the Blu-ray releases, but it’s a really interesting mix and I want to see it preserved somehow. I have two audio recordings of the audio that I have, one from the El Capitan Theatre re-release (2021) that had a lot of echoing and another from the recent Disney100 re-release that sounds more clear than the former.

If anyone could figure out a way to record this sound mix in a high quality in ANY WAY, or if you have a very professional sounding recording of the audio mix that I could sync up with the BD (of course by speeding it up to 23.93fps), that would be great. However, I have no clue if that will ever happen considering that this is a “DCP exclusive” mix and the whole piracy thing. But hey, I did it so I could make this post, I guess. And plus, it would become a “lost media” thing anyway if I didn’t record it.

As of writing this post, the Disney100 re-release is still playing in theaters until Thursday. Disney’s own El Capitan will be showing the film the same day this part of the D100 engagement ends before the switchover to Frozen, so if you are going to attempt to get the audio via Assistant Listening Devices if those even work, you might need to do it now before it’s too late. I’ve heard Frozen is just the same DCP print from 10 years ago, even with the Get A Horse thing before it.

EVEN IF IT’S JUST THE CENTER CHANNEL, IT STILL COUNTS AS A HIGH QUALITY AUDIO RIP!

How does it compare to the original Cinema DTS track?

Toy Story, as far as I’m aware, never had a theatrical DTS track. However, assuming that this is referring to the DTS laserdisc (that was basically a DTS version of the original theatrical Dolby Stereo Digital track), there is a difference between the two tracks. Some dialogue delays that occur in this DCP exclusive audio track actually make it so that they are placed closely to the original theatrical track. The ending of the film before the credits start shows proof, as woody’s worried chuckle before it cuts to black is placed at the same spot as the original theatrical track, while on the comparing 2010 Blu-ray track, woody’s chuckle happens slightly earlier. I have a comparison of it somewhere in my video files, but it is a minor difference. I’m sure there are some other differences between the DCP track and the original DTS laserdisc/Dolby Stereo Digital track, but for now this should give an indication that the DCP track is different from the original track and the 2010 Blu-ray track.

I actually found the similarities on the Dolby TrueHD Atmos track on the UHD BD, so I’m pretty sure you are listening to the Dolby Atmos remix.

Based on what you said that may just be playing the original mix as found on the ac3 laserdisc and DTS laserdisc exclusively as far as home releases go. Having listened to both extensively they have the subtle differences you mentioned like the cough and sid. Makes sense they would just ship the theatrical masters they already got instead of re making/encoding all the new stuff for a movie locked to 1080p anyway