mvd24

I don't know if this has been mentioned anywhere in this thread. But I would like to add to the first post that the first Region2 dvd of Fantasia (released around 2000) contains the short edit of the film (same as the 1990 VHS) with all the original Deems Taylor voice over narration. And not the long version that was released overseas and where Deems Taylor was dubbed over, even on the segments of his narration that have survived.

I also got hold of a Chinese dvd of the film. This one surprisingly contains one full introduction, where we actually see Deems Taylor talking on screen. The rest is the same as the R2 dvd (voice over intros). I would suppose this is his actual voice that we are hearing.

The R2 dvd and blu ray that have come out in Europe since are the same as the US ones.   

nirbateman said:

@mvd24

Check out AMPS, and you will see that there is a discussion regarding Cinderella and The Lion King.

Thank you, I will check it out.

Also, I extracted the WIP from the BD, and it is on AMPS as well.

 That's great, looking forward to see it!

I have no idea if you would take requests, or if something like this has been done by someone else already, but being a Disney fan, I have a few other Disney movies in mind that, in my opinion, would merit a similar fan restoration effort.

Apart from the before mentioned Cinderella, (that really has been tampered with too much for it's dvd and blu ray release) the first one in line is The Lion King.

The original theatrical version has never been released on dvd or blu ray. Although, in my opinion, it doesn't suffer from major colour/contrast issues like BATB did. Still certain scenes were re-animated for the IMAX release and are present as such on the dvd (crocodiles, waterfalls, SFX removed from the dust cloud) Also the original blue castle logo at the beginning was replaced by the black/golden "special edition" one.
On blu ray, on top of these changes, some rolling clouds are missing in one scene, possibly due to a mistake. 

Anyway enough to merit a restoration of the original theatrical version, possibly from the laserdisc.
I am not a technical expert, but because TLK doesn't suffer as much from major colour/contrast issues on dvd and blu ray, would it be possible to only cut and paste the changed scenes into the dvd or blu ray?

Another one that I have been looking for is the so called "work in progress" version of BATB.
This was released on laserdisc and later announced as a viewing option on the platinum dvd. What ended up being on the dvd was actually not the original "work in progress" version, but merely one that jumped back and forth by means of seamless branching between the movie and some pencil animated or story boarded scenes.
Then on blu ray "work in progress" was again a viewing option. This time by means of Picture in Picture, so you watch the movie and see the work in progress on a small screen within the screen.
This time it seems that Disney used the original "work in progress"-print for the PiP.
Is there any way to take the "work in progress" out of the little screen of the Blu Ray? And make it full screen? 

Finally finished downloading this, and took time to watch the movie.

Thank you so much for all the work and effort you put into this project. And for making it available!

This is, in my opinion, the only acceptable version of Beauty and the Beast available on a digital format today.

For years now I've been annoyed by the way Disney has presented this film, first on dvd and later on blu ray. The blu ray was a bit better, but still suffered from alterations and, most important, the general look/color of the film felt off, to the extent that I could hardly ever make myself watch the movie, although I actually like it.

This hasn't happened to me with any of the other Disney films created with the CAPS system, and subsequently released on dvd direct from the digital source. Even though some have been altered more or less, they still look like the originals.

In fact the only film I have similar issues with on dvd is Cinderella. 
I have the vault breakers preservation of the laserdisc, and this is my default playing option when watching this movie.

Maybe it's not a coincidence that both BATB and Cinderella have more Direct To Video sequels then most of the other films. And it's possible that some people at Disney were afraid the originals looked too different from their (cheap) sequels. And decided to go for a more equal look.

We might never know. 

Fact is that BATB was brand new when it was released to laserdisc.
Where one might argue that over the years we have gotten used to old, dirty and worn out transfers of some of Disney's older classics, and therefore need to get used to the cleaner, more colourful look of their restorations. We can assume that Beauty and the Beast's transfer, used for the laserdisc was top notch, and therefore closest to what was seen in theatres in 1992. 

For years I have been trying to find a rip of the BATB laserdisc. I eventually purchased one myself (although I don't have a laserdisc player) with the idea of transferring it myself one day.
This project is more then I ever expected to come across. 
It looks and sounds wonderful. It is amazing to see the video quality you managed to get, knowing the laserdisc is the source.
Most importantly it preserves the original feel and look of the movie. 
For the first time in years I will be able to watch BATB and enjoy it!

I wonder if mistakes like the tree and such, occur because they created a 3D version of this film. Therefore they are cutting up scenes, and then misplace certain parts and sometimes forget certain things, like the clouds in The Lion King.