Class316

Roxas776 said:

I would love to see this finished project.

IMO a project like that is looooonnng overdue

Roxas776 said:

I would love to see this finished project.

IMO a project like that is looooonnng overdue

Charles Threepio said:

The 1990 release had closing credits, unlike other releases. AFAIK the US VHS and laserdisc are the only places where said closing credits can be found.

Since LD will be your main audio source, what source would you use to fill the gaps for the missing audio in the pastoral symphony and where no Deems available?

Charles Threepio said:

OK, so as soon as I have all the materials gathered together, I’ll do the following with the visuals:

1. Attempt to align the 35mm footage I’ve received in digital form as closely with the Blu-ray footage as possible, and crop accordingly (hopefully, very little, if any, of the 35mm footage should be trimmed);
2. Clean up the same 35mm footage;
3. Recolor the Blu-ray footage to match the 35mm footage as closely as possible; and
4. For the 1990 theatrical version, recreate the closing credits.

My release, once complete, will consist of the uncensored roadshow version with the unedited Pastoral Symphony and as much of the original Deems Taylor audio as possible, and the 1990 theatrical version, also with the unedited Pastoral Symphony. The main audio track will be as close a recreation of the original Fantasound experience as possible, with additional tracks in mono 1.0, stereo 2.0, Dolby Stereo 4.0, and Dolby Digital 5.1.

ETA: I almost forgot to mention, apart from being the main audio source where possible, the laserdisc release will also be used as a timing reference for the 1990 theatrical version.

Sounds awesome. Hope you make this your priority project, cause as I mentioned, Fantasia is in dire need of some releases.

Not sure if you need it, but I have the 2000 DVD release with the censored bits added back. I got that from myspleen. The source for censored bits is fairly bad but it is VERY well inserted. Maybe you could see how well that is done. Or maybe you’d need it for the audio source? In any case if you need it I can get it to you.

Also, what’s this about closing credits recreation? Educate me.

Charles Threepio said:

If this “perfect” edition isn’t the 1990 reissue edition with the uncensored Pastoral Symphony, I’d be much interested in making that one of my (admittedly very many) projects at some point in the near future.

By all means if you want to take that task and come up with something, please do so. As I’ve said before it amazes me how many versions of Song of the South and OT Star Wars we have. Yet almost nothing for Fantasia.

IMO this is the perfect Fantasia:

Blu Ray footage
Sunflower scenes from HD 35mm inserted in
LD Audio for most of the footage (including Deems where available)
DVD audio or 90s CD soundtrack audio for the Sunflower scenes where missing from LD audio
DVD audio dub for missing Deems voice

This basically restores Fantasia to the 1940 as much as possible using all the best available elements today.

SilverWook said:

The PCM audio capture is done. I just need to finish listening to it to make sure it’s good. If my internet gets upgraded next week as scheduled, I can try uploading it as I should have better speeds that I get with DSL, which is being phased out around here.

Will try to get to the video capture soon as I get the other player hooked back up to the DVD recorder.

You’re the best!

Any updates from anyone?

Does anyone have the Soundtrack CD that came out in the 90s? This uses the same mix as the laserdisc and the Pastoral track can actually be used to fill in the missing gaps of the LD audio (due to the censored bits). Perhaps someone can rip a HQ wav file from the CD.

SilverWook said:

Hopefully this month. I’ve been dealing with health issues, and we’re getting one storm after another out here in California. The last one caused some blackouts, which finally killed the battery on my UPS/surge protector for my vintage gear. I need to replace that or move stuff around and hook things up elsewhere.
The replacement batteries are so pricey, it’s actually cheaper just to buy a new unit.

Ok. Get well. Looking forward to it.

SilverWook, any kind time frame as to when you can get us LD audio rip? Thanks.

Thanks all for the support. We’ll wait for SilverWook and if he can’t get to it for whatever reason nice to know there are fall backs.

I am hoping 2019 finally gives us the “perfect” fantasia. Baffles me that with all the might and wisdom of the Internet that still does not exist.

dbear said:

I have the CAV laserdisc, bought one cheap, still-sealed, mainly for the collectible swag that came with it. Not sure if the discs suffer from laser rot. I’d be happy to loan it unless the CLV is sufficient/reliable enough for a capture.

The double VHS set actually has better swag than the CAV LD. (though LDs look nicer than VHS). I thought of buying it but then I thought do I really need more stuff.

Doctor M said:

The Sunflower scenes need someone with skill at color correcting and cleaning up a raw film scan. Any idea what the source was?

From what I was told, this: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Fantasia/id/17872/page/1

Oh I get what you mean now. Interesting, never thought of it that way.

Why would anyone want to erase Mickey or even crop something further? Rather have the thing as complete as possible.

SilverWook said:

Depends on the player. There can be video gremlins CLV doesn’t get. CAV is only 30 minutes (or less) per side, so more fuss doing a capture. The digital audio capture would be separate from the video. I run the optical output into a CD recorder, and the end result is a CD-R with the untouched PCM LD audio.
I capture on different players as the one with digital sound processes the video too much. It’s impossible to turn all the processing off completely. My oldest machine, (now over 30 years old!) is as close to raw video output as I can get, also less prone to video anomalies like laser rot, but only has analog sound output. The video will have the analog tracks with CX noise reduction though. Video is captured into a JVC DVD recorder at the highest quality settings and one disc per LD side. The audio is recorded as PCM.

You seem to know best when it comes to this, so I’ll leave all this LD capturing process up to you. I guess the LD audio in best quality possible is the priority here. Whenever you get to it will be awesome! Thanks!

Impressive that your 30+ year old LD player still works!

Also, it would be good to have the full LD transfer “as is”

SilverWook said:

Both editions are the same 1990 theatrical reissue version with Deems intact. The only difference is the box set is in CAV format (which allows frame by frame access) and has supplemental extras.

Ok thought Deems wasn’t intact on that one. CAV is generally better quality, isn’t it? That CAV release is real cheap on ebay if we need to get it.

SilverWook said:

I have the CLV edition.
https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/03732/1132-AS/Fantasia
I can rip the digital tracks. It might be a few weeks before I can get around to it though.

Do you plan to edit down the Deems Taylor scenes, as the extra narration was lost, which prompted the complete redub in the first place?

Correct me if I’m mistaken, but this edition does not have Deems, does it?

I’m in communication with someone else regarding this, personally I think shorter scenes with Deems is enough. He thinks there should be a complete narration (in which case we can use LD for Deems and DVD audio for the rest).

But that is thinking too far ahead. Right now we need LD audio in usable digital form.

BenjaminG said:

Very interested in your project class316 - I was considering doing something myself there too as I’d just got a hold of the 35mm sunflower footage. I’m a bit of a novice though.

I wonder who has the full 35mm footage cause that’d be interesting to have.

Song of the South has so many different variations. LD copy, 35mm HD, BBC HD, hybrids of the above. Star Wars has 5 million different variations. Even THX-1138 has a few different versions out.

All these are wonderful don’t get me wrong. But it amazes me that Fantasia doesn’t get this kind of love.

The only thing I’ve seen (besides direct DVD and blu ray rips) is on myspleen. It’s the DVD video and audio with VHS quality Sunflower scenes inserted (though inserted VERY well).

For those interested in HD Sunflower (and a couple of other Disney things) check out my post: https://originaltrilogy.com/topic/Disney-goodies-Three-Little-Pigs-The-Castaway-Fantasia-Sunflower-in-HD/id/64877

I am on a mission to craft the “perfect” edition of Fantasia. For most of the video, there’s blu ray. For the Sunflower scenes, I got an HD film transfer. This can be inserted in the blu ray footage.

This leaves audio. The best edition for audio is this release: https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/03733/1236-CS/Fantasia:-Special-Edition

Not only does it feature Deems Taylor’s voice, but the LD audio is closer to Fantasound than the DVD (blu ray audio mix completely destroyed it)

Is there anyone here with the ability to get me that? Would appreciate this so much. Thanks!

Yes I noticed. Maybe I should have kept a shot of the palace at the end of the youtube footage. But then the transition might look worse unrestored palace then restored palace. Also, on the DVD the end of the sound of Orko disappearance shows up on the shot of the palace. Overall it’s not too bad. I was shocked with how well the transition worked out in the beginning.

Here is a VHS rip of that episode, 100% complete: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vdmgkpygxdxl83q/Diamond Ray of Disappearance.m4v?dl=0

I didn’t use that footage as it looks rough, but you can compare how this is to mine.

Anyone is encouraged to improve this.

The Masters of the Universe episode “Diamond Ray of Disappearance” is actually missing almost 50 seconds of footage in all DVD releases. As a result all torrent, youtube, and other online releases of this are missing that footage. Check out this youtube video for the info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ-lxlMsHI&t=17s

What I did was take that youtube footage and insert it into the DVD rip I made of this episode. And thus I’ve got the complete version!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lhiJ8g9jvi9CSfStBfhKTDf_pert55_n/view

Here’s some stuff for everyone.

First off, The Three Little Pigs with completely uncensored Jewish disguise and original dialog. To be clear the US Silly Symphonies DVD release has censored footage and altered dialog, whereas the European version restore the footage but still retains the altered dialog. This version is a European DVD rip with the original wolf dialog (complete with a Yiddish accent) restored!

For those who don’t know:

original dialog: “I’m the fuller brush man, I’m giving away free sample”

altered dialog: “I’m the fuller brush man, I’m working my way through college”

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1qvFCW6mS8xJlgTOClkJW4xhzwW6tjiEC

Next up, Mickey Mouse The Castaway. This was released in the 2004 Disney Treasures release “Mickey Mouse in Black and White” volume 2. About two minutes into the short, it has a few seconds of footage missing showing a box washing ashore. The missing footage’s audio is still present, hereby desynching the rest of the short.

I had a HQ mpeg of an unrestored version of the short that I obtained years ago. The missing footage from this mpeg was inserted into the DVD version. Sadly the unrestored footage is cropped. Due to this, when it transitions from the unrestored footage to the restored DVD footage, the box appears to shift to the right.

The audio in this fix is 100% DVD audio since as mentioned, the missing footage’s audio is still present in the DVD. Also, the audio is now fully synched in this fix.

I have included the unrestored mpeg if anyone wants to try and improve the release. Even better if someone has a better source to replace it with.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1h0KgtYwKDGosJ4Kr3tU9kJGAmx_6xOng

And finally, this censored Sunflower scenes in HD! I can’t believe I managed to obtain these from someone. Didn’t even know they existed in this quality. Anyone is encouraged to try and clean them up and re insert them in Fantasia.

REDACTED

Tatder said:

No, European 2000 DVD (UK included) had shortened Deems Taylor intro but with Corey Burton redub !

Somebody can send me a MP for the Uncut Fantasia of Myspleen ?

Damn. You sure?

What is MP?

Go on my spleen and search “fantasia” it’s the fourth result you can’t miss it

From what I can gather it’s basically the 2000 US dvd but with the censored scenes restored.

If it had the shorter intros with Deems voice it’d be the perfect release.

Hello. I was the one that sent him that. For the record I don’t have any Disney laserdiscs. I only have DVDs that were copied from some LDs. In this case I had a MMM DVD that was copied from the Japanese laserdisc. So I clipped that scene and sent it to him to see if that could be inserted into his version. I also happily retired my Japanese LD copy after discovering the Doctor M restoration. I’ll be using that MMM and the R2 UK DVD of Melody Time till Disney releases them uncensored on blu ray.

I want to add that for a recorded VHS the scenes look mighty fine.

On the topic of Fantasia, myspleen has a version that restored the Pastoral scenes but still has Deems Taylor dubbed. Sadly I can’t find anyone who can get Deems out of this laserdisc: https://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/03733/1236-CS/Fantasia:-Special-Edition

I’d honestly be willing to purchase that off of ebay if anyone can help.

If Deems can be put into that restored version on myspleen, it would be the “perfect” Fantasia. Here is the description of the one on myspleen:

This was my attempt some years back at restoring the cut shots of Sunflower to Fantasia. The dual-layer DVD result as seen here incorporates those shots into the main film as taken from the original late-2000 DVD release. Full chapters, menus, bonus features, two audio commentaries and the end credits that were added for the earlier Laserdisc release are all included here. The main elements of the film – the audio tracks and 99% of the video were – if I’m recalling my work on this correctly – NOT REENCODED OR COMPRESSED in any way shape or form… thus the dual layer nature of the beast. Fantasia is one of my favorite films of all time and I wanted to keep the quality as high as possible to provide myself with something I could watch on a regular basis without being pissed off at the censorship.

UPDATE! Wow I just discovered something by accident. The 2000 UK DVD actually has original Deems Taylor intro, according to this: http://www.ign.com/articles/2000/11/17/fantasia-anthology