Alice in Wonderland (Masterpiece Edition) (1 Viewer)

[ScottR]

Something seems off to me about the colors on this dvd set. Alice's hair is never really a yellowish blonde. In fact, she always looks to be in shadows, as if a pencil were smudged over her image. It is distracting in some scenes. Everything else seems correct.

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

That's disconcerting to hear, as I've been tempted to pick this up, one of my favorite Disney animated classics. I'm currently making do with an ancient laserdisc.

 

[SteveCallas]

I picked this up on sale last week but haven't watched it yet. I'll try to take a look tonight - currently my Oppo is having a hard time reading older Buena Vista Disney dvds.

 

[SteveCallas]

I fired this up tonight and you are correct that her hair and skin does seem a little dark and not as vibrant as it should be. I started reading some reviews of this disc and came across this screenshot comparison.

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=9451

Although the reviewer says it looks much better, to me, although a lot of the background was lightened up to show more information, it looks like a grey filter was added and a lot of the color was washed out.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

This is a tough call, and it all depends on how your system is calibrated as to which looks "right".

In my system, it seems that the older DVD had punched-up contrast, and that the newer disc is more accurate with better grayscale tracking and shadow detail.

BTW, many older films were "punched up" in this way for video. The old Willy Wonka VHS/LD (before the DVD) and others...then when they do a "faithful" film-tape transfer the new version looks "dark" in comparison.

I'd love to hear some conclusive remarks about this one, but I seem to remember industry folks familar with the title feeling that the new DVD of Alice was the more correct.

What bothers me most on the new DVD is the (minor) edge enhancement.

 

[ScottR]

The only thing that bothers me is Alice. I've always thought her hair was a bright yellow. But in this version, it is muddy and brownish. The entire character is dark.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I haven't viewed this disc since going front-projection so let me check it out tonight on the BenQ and see what it looks like now that I've just recalibrated with my new DVD player and AVIA....

 

[SteveCallas]

Exactly. From the 20 minutes or so I watched ast night, I was pleased with most of the colors and the overall picture. But Alice herself seems too dark - the hair looks like it is blonde mixed with a grey/brown and the skin tone looks like grey was added as well.

I'm not saying the first release looked better, as I haven't seen it, I'm just saying the color of Alice's hair and skin in that screenshot of the older version appears more correct to me.

 

[Carlo_M]

Well if you're happy with all the other colors but not with her hair, maybe it's your expectations or a preconceived notion of how the character should look that is the problem?

Because if there really was a color problem on the DVD it should affect all of the image and not just Alice, right?

I could understand the color timing being messed up on a transfer, but only on one character of an animated film? That just doesn't seem likely...

 

[ScottR]

Maybe, although all of the trailers on the dvd look correct...but those could be wrong as well.

 

[SteveCallas]

Well that is what I was originally going to post yesterday - what do we have to compare her hair to to know what it is supposed to look like? Since the version most of us have seen up until this Masterpiece Edition release was what the first dvd was based on, all expectations would be for Alice's blonde hair to actually be blonde, not shadow blonde.

If you look at the screenshot comparison, all the colors in the older version seemed more lively. By adding that grey filter or whatever they did, it doesn't affect the blues, greens, or reds too much, but the yellow hair and her skin tone really took a hit. On the other hand, whites have improved.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

There's no "gray filter"...the contrast simply isn't as pumped in the new version which reveals more natural grayscale tracking and better shadow detail...but this does give the impression of a darker-cast to the new version. However, this may be the way the film (artwork) really looks. I'd love to know for sure.

BTW, checked and compared last night. While the color of the old version certainly is more punchy...I can't help but feel that the new version looks more accurate. Also, the blond hair and skin tone of Alice looks just like the princess in the new Sleeping Beauty DVD...so there is some consistency accross titles here (both have blond hair).

The only problem I have with the Alice DVD is the edge-ringing, which also bothers me on Sleeping Beauty.

Now, keep in mind I don't have original artwork in my hand to compare...I'm making the assumption that the Lowry Digital team got their color check right...since that's a large part of what they do.

 

[SteveCallas]

Don't get me wrong, I'm not the kind of guy who will say this is unacceptable and ruins the whole film - frankly, if it wasn't pointed out, I probably wouldn't have even noticed. I care more about dvd audio.