Yes, I believe it is differential shrinkage. Warner Home Video's DVD contains various glaring examples of Technicolor misregistration - regrettable for a film as beloved and enjoyed around the world as Anchors Aweigh. But WB seems to have fallen behind the times of late where their classic film library is concerned. Other films like That Midnight Kiss, The Great Caruso, The Harvey Girls, The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Dodge City, Bathing Beauty, National Velvet and Showboat - all worthy contenders for 1080p upgrades, have either gone the way of MOD DVD or vanished entirely from their catalogue output.
We keep getting promises from WB that they are doing the best they can. And in truth, their catalogue is so vast and in a state of deterioration from decades of neglect, that I suppose they are doing the best they can, given current resources and time. But I believe its about time the studio should face facts - and the singular glaring fact is that too many great films are being short shrifted simply because time and money are in equally short supply. Farming out some of these restorations to smaller companies might be the route to go, or banding with The Film Foundation and the AFI to ensure at least some of these titles get restored as well as preserved for future generations.
This is not to say that WB hasn't done some very fine work on catalogue titles. But they do tend to be limiting their best efforts to the really BIG titles like Gone With The Wind, Citizen Kane, Ben-Hur, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, et al. Rightly so. These are beloved treasures in American cinema and deserving of restoration and preservation. But films like Anchors Aweigh and the other aforementioned titles, are just as deserving of their efforts. I fear, however, they're not even in line for consideration - and that's more than a pity - its a miscarriage of artistic justice!
We keep getting promises from WB that they are doing the best they can. And in truth, their catalogue is so vast and in a state of deterioration from decades of neglect, that I suppose they are doing the best they can, given current resources and time. But I believe its about time the studio should face facts - and the singular glaring fact is that too many great films are being short shrifted simply because time and money are in equally short supply. Farming out some of these restorations to smaller companies might be the route to go, or banding with The Film Foundation and the AFI to ensure at least some of these titles get restored as well as preserved for future generations.
This is not to say that WB hasn't done some very fine work on catalogue titles. But they do tend to be limiting their best efforts to the really BIG titles like Gone With The Wind, Citizen Kane, Ben-Hur, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, et al. Rightly so. These are beloved treasures in American cinema and deserving of restoration and preservation. But films like Anchors Aweigh and the other aforementioned titles, are just as deserving of their efforts. I fear, however, they're not even in line for consideration - and that's more than a pity - its a miscarriage of artistic justice!