Disney releases colorized classic.... (1 Viewer)

[soop.spoon]

The upcoming Absent Minded Professor will be colorized. I had hoped this wouldnt be true, but I got confirmation from the back of the packaging.
Oh yeah... it's fullframe too.
What the hell is wrong with Disney these days?!

 

[JohnDMoore]

Whaaaaaaaa?
Disney makes great films, but their Home Video department is really starting to irk me.

 

[george kaplan]

Fuck you Disney
I can't believe they are putting this out colorized only, without a black & white version. What morons.

 

[Patrick McCart]

I know this sounds silly, but have you checked the actual disc? I'm hoping that it might have both versions.

If not, Disney has really done a bad thing. First we get censored-only versions, now a colorized-only version? It's hard to imagine this is the same studio who put out Snow White: Platinum Edition.

 

[Tony-B]

Oh my. This is horrible. A double whammy to people like us. Disney can take their colorized and cropped crap back.

 

[george kaplan]

Someone had a picture of it in another thread, which I saw before I posted my rant. Unfortunately, that back cover showed colorized only. :frowning:

 

[Rick Blaine]

Maybe this is just a marketing test by Disney? I'm sure the people making these decisions have something in mind besides irking the people on this forum.
By the way -
Is Colorizing any better that making a pseudo 5.1 track from a mono or stereo source????
Rick B

 

[Jeffrey Gray]

As I stated in the other thread, maybe it's fake; the back is IDENTICAL to the VHS release, and I don't think any Disney classic DVDs use the red-banner look the VHS classic releases use...

 

[Jean-Michel]

As I stated in the other thread, maybe it's fake; the back is IDENTICAL to the VHS release, and I don't think any Disney classic DVDs use the red-banner look the VHS classic releases use...

DVD Empire has cover art up that not only shows the "Disney DVD" logo on both the front and the back but also has the distinctive "PULL" label along the upper edge, indicating that it's an actual scan and not pre-supplied art. So it's highly unlikely that it's fake.

 

[jonathan_little]

The Disney Video site says the DVD contains the COLORIZED version with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, as well as having "Dolby Digital Surround" audio.
Sad news indeed. This is another Disney full screen abomination that I won't have to buy.

 

[LukeB]

Their press release specified Black & White. I don't much trust either their packages or their press releases, though.
If it is colorized, bummer.

 

[Kajs]

Can I just turn the color off on my TV?

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Can I just not buy the disc?

 

[MatthewA]

Well, so much for me buying this one.

This is one that should have been a Vault Disney release anyway.

 

[BrianP]

I cancelled my order for the Absent Minded Professor along with the Computer Wore Tennis Shoes because of some issues involving OAR presentation. Hearing it is now colorized makes me have fewer regrets that I cancelled.

 

[Adam_S]

I hate to say it, but with Disney you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sure its callous, and no movie deserves the treatment absent-minded professor is getting on dvd, but that won't stop me from buying the releases they make for the collectors. I have all the disney treasures and all the vault disney, and am working my way into the collectors editions. I hardly bother with their bare bones releases, unless the film is a huge favorite (like Swing Kids). I dare anyone to find a studio the size of Disney (or at least with equivalent vault size) that is not releasing pan and scan bare bones products. DVD is spreading like wildfire, the studios have been under pressure from enthusiasts for beginnning six solid years for more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more,more, more, more, more, more, more, MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE, MORE!!!! dvd releases, and suddenly releasing dvds is like printing money, we're riding the crest of a wave right now, studios are dumping vhs transfers made in the eighties onto dvd and rushing product out (disney has been doing this and I expect that ABP is the same as Journey of Natty Gann). Right now they are being stupid and glutting the market, in eighteen months time I bet the tide of releasese will have slowed and the ratio of truly quality releases to truly bad releases will diminish.

However aren't some of you overreacting? this is one (well including disney's other january releases about ten) release of I would guess more than 400 this month alone. I'm dispointed and won't buy it, and I'm sure the rest of you will as well, but we sure love to complain don't we.

My guess to this release is that it was a requested title in Disney surveys, it wasn't on their upcoming list of titles in production, so they just dumped the vhs transfer onto dvd to rush it out while dvd is hot hot hot, and tehy figure that the people that like it will buy the first edition and any eventual special edition as well, doubling their profits (faulty logic, but I like it sounds like the sort of marketing reasoning that leads to so many wonderful movie trailers with mr voice or spoil all the best jokes). This doesn't seem like a Disney DVD team decision to me, it smells of a marketing decision to take advantage of dvd's popularity. Even the slip shod recycled VHS cover art makes this seem even more so, the requisate dvd related labels were slapped on, but it seems that the dvd department had little else to do with this release. Remember that the people that make those wonderful quality special editions we enjoy so much are probably bigger movie freaks and gear heads then we are.

I'll sit out the glut of upcoming dvd releases and hope for special editions of the good movies that get passed by in the rush sometime down the road.

Adam

Adam

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

No, it is not any better.

I think that Disney should shove their colorized, and pan & scan DVDs in their "vault" and lock them up for good.

 

[David Lambert]

Just to show everyone what is being discussed, it's right under the symbol for Region 1, and next to the running time:

If it wasn't for the word "colorized" so obviously there, I'd question whether or not it was just the pics on the box that were colorized (who markets a black-and-white box for a "kid's title"?). But I agree that it's gonna be a colorized DVD. :frowning:
And for the contingent that sometimes mentions that Disney films are all 1.33:1 even into the 60's, all I can say is that the IMDB shows this one at 1.75:1 in theaters. Yeah, the IMDB might be wrong, but then again they may be right. Its a moot point if this thing is colorized.
As for the possibility of multiple versions on one disc: I doubt it at this price point (should be $15-ish on the street), without publicity stating that it is so.
All-in-all, with the realization that this title is not in its original theatrical presentation, it's now a clean sweep: I'll be buying NONE of this Disney classic releases this coming Tuesday. Don't expect them in the Roundup, either.

 

[Joe Caps]

Its sad also that they are continualy stereo mixing these things - Disney has no stereo premixes to work with- most of their music tracks from this period are mono! Later films do have some stereo tracks that I would love to hear - Third Man on the Mountain and In Search of the castaways has stereo music tracks that could be used for remixing the film - so does the disney musicals summer Magic and One and Only Family Band - both movies I would love to have on DVD. Disney released ALL of their Hayley Mills films on Laserdisc except for Summer Magic.
Yes, almost all of Disneys films after 1953 are projected in 1.70. They are shot like Vistavision, with way too much headroom so they can be matted in theaters. The first film that Disney did for 1.85 is Mary Poppins.

 

[Jay E]

There's nothing like seeing the words "This film has been modified from it's original version, it has been formatted to fit your TV" and "Colorized" on the back of a DVD cover. I'm off to cancel my pre-order.