Doctor M

Okay, I still need to proof read this when I'm rested, but I have completed a "definitive" best releases list for Disney films.

Maybe not definitive, but if nothing else complete.  It starts with Snow White, ends with Wreck-It Ralph and includes all animated feature films and live action-animated combo films.

I've combed the net and I've tried to be as accurate as possible, provide links, report all issues with censorship, reanimation, etc.  I also recommend preservation where they exist.

My question is where should I post it?  I can put it here since it would be pertinent.  It'll also be buried on page 20.

I could post it on AntcuFaalb's Disney's Theatrical Animated Features Best Sources List, but it is lightly followed and is AntcuFaalb's list.

I could also start a new thread, since I do want to encourage debate to keep the list accurate and up to date.  That's assuming we need yet another Disney discussion thread.

Thanks, that was bugging me.

I can't say about the stain.  It really doesn't look like anything to me one way or the other.

As far as MVK vs BD, I have no preference.  I do most of my HD watching on a PC for the moment and burn to DVD5 or DVD9 as needed.  I can understand people wanting maximum useful bitrate on something like this though.

I don't know how prevalent BD burners are.

Stupid question at this point but what does OTV stand for?

That said, is anyone sharing the LDrip of Beauty and the Beast anywhere?

Is there a planned release format?

Agreed, the CD is the original version of the Arabian Nights song.  You could probably just use ADM's Aladdin DVD audio track to sync to the BD.  It also includes the 'good kitty' line.

As far as Little Mermaid, the stereo mix isn't on any DVD AFAIK, the 1997 theatrical re-release 5.1 mix is available on the 2000 DVD and my preservation DVD.

Btw, the 2000 DVD had a limited DTS release as well, which would be the BEST version of the '97 mix for now.

Odds are super high that the upcoming Diamond Edition of Little Mermaid will include the original theatrical mixes, because up until now ALL Diamond Editions have.

Edit: For those looking, the Non-Lowry Cinderella torrent is dead.  :-(

I'm finding myself confused by Peter Pan.

A quick catch up, there is the 1991 LD transfer, the 1997 LD/1999 Limited Edition DVD transfer, the 2002 Special Edition, the 2007 Platinum Edition, and the 2013 Diamond Edition.

Anyway...

I noticed AntcuFaalb said the 1999 Limited Edition is the last/best edition, but I can't find any screenshots or reviews that back that up.  What I've seen is the Limited Edition's quality referred to as shaky.

While each newer release gets a more enthusiastic review, screenshots have led me to the conclusion that the 2002 Special Edition is the last good version.

The '02 SE even with the haloing looks to be an improvement over the '97/'99 transfer with very similar to slightly improved colors(?)  And the colors definitely look better and more natural than the 2007 Platinum and 2013 Diamond.

Even more surprising is that the '02 Special Edition looks much sharper than newer versions (even the BD), like they once again overscrubbed the film for the '07 restoration.

Can anyone give me further info on the Limited Issue?  I don't have enough info to call the LE the clear winner.

Here I've got some comparison screenshots (that aren't mine):

In order we have the 1991 LD, what is either the 1997 LD or a really soft 1999 LE DVD, 2002 SE DVD and 2007 PE DVD.

The 1991 LD has some surprising color detail not found in subsequent releases.  I don't know whether to call it the best for color or just an error in capturing an analog interlaced source.

Is the Limited Edition really that soft or is that another LD cap (the original poster was unclear)?

Discuss.

It wouldn't be much more than an a camera panning over the graphic novel in sync to the table read Ken Burns style.

I'll probably sweeten the sound mix with bits from the series and do some other tweaking (like the bit where the uMaster fades in on the screen).

Yes, I'm reviving a dead thread that I might still be the only one to have read.

A semi-official version of the table read was released a little while back.  The audio quality is a huge improvement over what I originally used for my custom disc 5.

Anyway, I started thinking about this again.  I toyed with several programs, including After Effects, which I am COMPLETELY and UTTERLY incompetent with.

Finally I ended up with an edited audio clip (removing Javi's commentary), a bunch of edited images (using GIMP), and then stuffed it gracelessly into Canopus Imaginate.

What an awful, clunky piece of... software.  No way to change the transition style, no way to set an image to fit the size of the window, heck no way to set the size of the window you want to work with.

Several hours of my life I can't get back later, and I give you this glittering jewel of imperfection:

The actual render from the program I managed to get in Lagarith 720p with lossless audio.  That was a surprise at least.

This is an SD re-encoding in a manageable 1.86mb: http://www.mediafire.com/?119vqauxp7xsso3

I'm open to suggestions on a more efficient way to do this.  Later pages will probably be mostly panning shots, but the fading of aligned images seemed more appropriate for the first page of the comic.

This is pretty much proof that Imaginate is probably the wrong program for the job.

poita said:

There seems to be two CAV versions, are they different?

 

 

According to LDDB

This edition was discontinued, probably due to technical problems or a newly remastered edition.

They don't even have a street date for that one.  Does it have a copyright or are those pics from an auction?

Poita, if you can do a good transfer, YES there is interest.

I wasted an hour today trying some color correction and non-edge detail sharpening on the Lowry stuff.  Waste of time.

What they ended up with seems to have little correlation to previous transfers.

Sorry, misfire in the brain for a moment.  Obviously there is no 5.1 mix that would match the Kostal soundtrack.  Although it could probably upmix with DPL2 fairly well if it's Dolby Surround.

I got confused by the first post.  Do you plan on putting Deems into both the '41 and the '82 soundtrack?

I really just started following your project here, and I'm glad you're taking it on... You should probably update your first post with more technical details.

Btw, reading your first post, if it hasn't been pointed out, there is no need to decompress to avi or to even re-encode the video.

I kind of wish you would restore Pastoral.  Frankly, I more opposed to the nudity removal than anything else.  I recall someone having an iOffer thing going with a DVD cap of the VHS (IIRC).

Anyway, regarding the audio.  I know you're pretty far along, but I have a suggestion.

Use the newer 5.1 (7.1? However many tracks they've got now.) for the bulk of the film.  Since it is apparent that Deems' narration is spread across the front 3 channels when upmixed/prologic-ed, but Corey is center channel only, do this:

For the existing Deems 2-channel segments, mix the channels together 50% to make a mono track.

Separate the 5.1 mix, drop out the center channel and sync the new Deems mono track as the center.

This will give you a strong modern sounding surround field, and the center channel, which is going to be largely dialog only will have Deems and not spread across more speakers than Corey.

It'll provide consistency between the dialog portions and provide the best sounding track overall.

@Molly - I was surprised there was no prior Gold Edition of Cinderella before Lowry's film destruction.

Painful that there's no good version.  Please keep us posted.

I had one of these as a kid: http://www.retroland.com/fisher-price-movie-viewer/  (The one you hold up to your eye).

The cartridges used film.  Now I don't believe for a second there was any serious attempts for color accuracy in these things, but I remember the Pinocchio looking like the Laserdisc screenshots do (and not to far from the old DVD).

Being film and not a home video transfer, they might seriously be closer to original intent... I DO know they looked nothing at all like the Diamond BD.

I also had Cinderella, Bambi and Lonesome Ghosts.  Now yeah I was a kid, but I have no recollection of them looking significantly different from when I'd watch them in the theater.

I want to toss out a question here.  I've been going through a list of Disney animated features and comparing old releases and new 'restored' releases.

While colors are frequently an issue, the biggest head scratcher to me is that in a lot of the old releases Gold Editions, LD, etc. the whites are WHITE.  Like white as this text you are reading.

The restored releases make them a light grey or with a touch of color.  The new versions seems better... if you had never seen the originals.  I've seen it on almost all new restorations (I remember seeing this as far back as the Platinum Little Mermaid (which didn't seem right at the time)).

The thing is I then saw some screen shots of the (awful) Pinocchio restoration.  This is one for some reason I remember how it looks in theaters, and there really was white.

I guess my question is, why is Disney killing the whites?  (Take that quote out of context...)

Example: Cinderella: http://www.dvdizzy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16200&highlight=cinderella+comparison

Btw, Molly, how goes your Cinderella project?

Edit: Speaking of, does anyone have a Platinum/Diamond screenshot comparison for Cinderella?  I can only find LD versus Platinum.  I have no idea how the new transfer looks.

Edit 2: Okay, reading further it looks like the Diamond edition did nothing to correct the over scrubbed detail and messed up colors.

I'm very sad.  I just watched Snow White tonight with the DVD release that corresponds to the Diamond Edition, and I'm not sure what I think of it.

The colors are good, the image is largely sharp, but all that cleaning up highlights the flaws.

Now I see colors that shift during shots, blurred and missing frames, unnatural motion, and stuff like this:

All these years I watched inferior(?) versions with lots of grain that helped cover the short comings... and tonight it was all I saw.  It distracted me from the movie.

I was actually forced to turn up my TV's dejudder and motion smoothing just to make the animation less nausea inducing.

Is this really the best version of Snow White or was the Diamond restoration just abusive of the material?

I'm trying to decide if I need to get the Platinum Edition for comparison.  As far as I know there's nothing older than that.

Has anyone else had a similar experience with this?

Oops.

I realized my previous question wasn't concise.  I meant to ask if there was a difference between the 2001 Platinum Edition of Snow White and the 2009 release.

I had assumed the 2009 Diamond edition was BD only, but evidently there is a DVD 2-disc Limited Edition non-Diamond release that came out at the same time.

Reviews of the '09 release are generally good, but I think I saw some people complaining the colors were over bright (that would be a shocker.) :-\

Edit: Answering my own question.

Platinum:

Diamond:

According to DVDizzy.com (formerly UltimateDisney.com):

The transfer features a more subdued color scheme that fits with reports of the filmmakers not wanting this to be too colorful as they weren't sure how long the human eye can sustain watching animation.

Has anyone done a preservation of the Pinocchio laserdisc then?

As far as Snow White, I guess were stuck until someone undertakes a color correction project.

I was just getting ready to straighten out my Disney collection in earnest and realized we really need a database keeping track of the films.

Anyone want to take this on and start either a new thread or at least a post here that we keep up to date with best versions?

And my question:
From my searching of this thread, is it correct that both the 2001 DVD and Diamond BD of Snow White are considered fairly accurate (and similar to each other)?

Also, I think most people agree the 1999 DVD of Pinocchio is the better of the releases?

Btw, this is interesting: Pinocchio (R1 Old vs. Platinum vs. Blu-ray) http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews44/pinocchio_blu-ray.htm

Is there cover art for this?

poita said:

BTW, does anyone have the Disney Singalong Songs Laserdisc that has the SOTS clip on it?

 

The Singalongs are on the 2nd disc of the Bre'r Preservation Edition if you want it that way.

Edit: I've always liked the way the fft3dfilter/fft3dgpu filters work for denoising.  Very tweakable.

bkev said:

Nope.  That was fixed even as far back as the first Blu-Ray, but I believe the DVD issue theatrical cut did have those mistakes.  You're referring to how the castle's spruced up, ie mirrors are no longer shattered etc. yeah?

I can't recall all the changes, but didn't they have a bit of the spruced castle and then have add sounds of the Beast wrecking the castle so later scenes could be dingy?

I honestly can't keep track of all the Dune edits any longer.

I have the Fanfiltration, which I assumed would be the last one I'd ever need... and then I saw the Third Stage, which has some nice improvements.

So now the Alternative Edition Redux is the one I should be watching?  I'm starting to have real trouble keeping track on the differences.

Actually that's only the left eye of a long lost 3D version.