DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Sleeping Beauty SE (Disney) --VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! (1 Viewer)

[BBbrowd]

Great review, Dave! I'm looking forward to this DVD even more now. The pillow that came with your set sounds beautiful.

Yes, Sleeping Beauty was presented in stereo from the very beginning. In the Disney Records' CD soundtrack, there are some interesting booklet notes on the "score which marked the innovation of the first truly stereo soundtrack recording". "The year was 1957, and to make the most out of this new technology, the entire score was recorded in Germany, where the best recording equipment was available."

Dave, I'm kind of sorry to hear that there is not much bass in the soundtrack of the film. That is one of the things that I always missed on the LD which was completely void of bass. I was hoping that the DVD would have been better in that regard. Especially since the CD soundtrack has such wonderful bass.

For those who don't own the CD soundtrack of Disney's "Sleeping Beauty", it's well worth picking up! The sound is absolutely amazing. It sounds like it was recorded recently instead of in the 50's. Just gorgeous. The booklet that accompanies it is quite beautiful as well.

 

[Michael Caicedo]

This is a no-brainer for me. Where do we get that cool pillow? I'll have to check out the pre-order package at Disney store.

 

[Adam_S]

Fantastic review. I for one would prefer screenshots, especially if you can do a comparison between the LD and the DVD. Two or three moderatelly sized shots would be more than fine, just some pleasing eye candy that gets you even more excited for the DVD IMO.

Too Bad Disney didn't use the vintage poster Peter Kline posted, I hope that's the artwork Chris Elder uses for the Sleeping Beauty installment of the greatest cover series ever!

Adam

 

[Ruz-El]

I can't wait for this either! I hope the cropping issues don't interfere too much with the presentation. Seeing as I'm not projecting this, I don't expect to have any problems (and rarely do on my modest set up.)

Great review!

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Well, I'm getting this. Thanks for the review.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Adam,

I would *love* to do screen shots. Task number one is to get a DVD drive for my PC. But then to do laserdisc screen-caps I'd also need a video-capture card. But at any rate...if I could at least get the DVD drive...then when Adam (Fox reviewer) get his server space set up, I could share costs with him to host the pictures.

Stay tuned... It will happen eventually...

Russell,

regarding the cropping issue: Without having anything to compare against, the image on the DVD looks just fine to my eyes. RAH has the luxury to work with film-elements for many films and is familiar with the projected image of many more...so he generally has a very exacting expertise on matters like this; he's likely to find something problematic that other viewers would never notice (not suggesting that cropping issues aren't important or valid, just trying to put them in context for your expectations). Of course it's folks like him that help keep the bar as high as it can be which ultimately improves the DVD product for us all...so even when we may think that the DVD is just "fine" it's great to have folks like him around to let the studios know there's room for improvement.

In any case, I'm certianly very eager to compare the DVD to the LD to see how the framing compares (as I did with Hello Dolly) and hopefully RAH will share some more detailed insights when he has a chance to really sit down with the DVD and take some time.

When I do I'll update my review and let everyone know!

 

[Vlad D]

Excellent review David!

I had already decided to pick this one up, but now I'm even more excited.

 

[MatthewA]

Another must-have for me. Man this hobby is expensive!

 

[Ruz-El]

I' m a pretty big beleiver in what RAH says when it comes to transfers, and would never doubt his opinion. That said, I also pretty much grew up in a video store, so years of watching VHS has made me pretty forgiving on allot of the problems that plauge some DVDs. I'm not going to lose sleep if we are missing a little info on the bottom, and from your review (wonderfully detailed I may add) it doesn't sound like it affects the movie (not missing critical info that results in losing story information/humor element etc.)

That said, I wish there wasn't an issue, and would prefer a corrected version. I'm a sucker for cartoons, so I have to get this.:b

Now, is the cropping missing info from the 70mm, or is it a properly framed transfer from the 35mm? Or is it presented as it is supposed to be matted? Or is it a complete muck up? The ratio chart that RAH posted on the Digital Bits makes my eye hurt, so if anyone has an answer, I'd love to know. Not that it's going to affect my purchase, it sounds like the best presentation we ever had of this film.

And I can't wait to get this disk in my grubby paws!

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I've got mine pre-ordered @ the Disney Store. September 9 is too far away! I've been waiting for this since it was announced on Beauty & the Beast.

 

[Josh Sieg]

sweet! I loved this movie as a kid, and I'd love to revisit it in widescreen! Awesome review!

 

[Aaryn Chan]

I only wish Disney released Beauty and the Beast as a Special Edition instead of Platinum Edition.

:frowning:

 

[Roy Batty]

Well, besides a *possible* slight bit of EE (I'll report back later on that once I see this projected), the one thing I know folks will point out once they get the disc is how at times the film seems to “pulse” slightly with dark/light contrast. This is because the film medium is a chemical substance that changes with age, and some of the film-frames have faded at slightly different rates. Every care was taken by the restoration team to adjust each frame contrast to match it to those close by to give the film a consistent look, but there are still times when some “pulsing” will be visible. This is an unavoidable consequence of watching a 50 year old film and should not be cause for alarm or criticism of the “transfer”.

Well, I have to say that this excerpt from your thorough review (thanks, Dave!) has got me quite worried, because I have watched the French release and that "pulsing" effect was very, VERY noticeable and annoying (so much so, in fact, that when it was not mentioned on the DVD File review I took it as a clear sign of Disney having fixed it for the USA release, just as I was hoping they would).

And I really do not mean this as a criticism but a sincere question: how come you find this "an unavoidable consequence of watching a 50 year old film" when such a problem was not present on the almost 70 year old SNOW WHITE transfer?

Maybe we are not talking about the same visual glitch, because it was closer to a "throbbing" on the French release, with a distinct "rythm" to it. I mean, it went up and down, up and down, instead of appearing randomly throughout the film. And it seemed to get worse whenever there was horizontal camera movement following the action, to the point of almost becoming a whitish haze.

As I've said before, quite annoying indeed.

:frowning:

 

[TonyDale]

Quick question.
Was SLEEPING BEAUTY, like LADY AND THE TRAMP, animated twice, once for widescreen and one flat? (If so, the 4:3 isn't really a pan-and-scan, correct?)

 

[Joe Fisher]

Was on the fence about this one until I read the review. Count me in as one getting this on Tuesday. This will be another movie I will me seeing in its OAR for the first time.

Thanks David for a great review.

Joe

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Tony, I thought the same thing.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I only wish Disney released Beauty and the Beast as a Special Edition instead of Platinum Edition.

Why?

 

[Aaryn Chan]

Beaucause it seems.. that this Special Edition is much better than the 2002 Platinum Edition title. I hope Lion King saves the day.

I'll buy this, it's soo cheap.

 

[TedD]

Sleeping Beauty was originally released in 70mm with 6 track stereophonic sound, configured with 5 front full range channels and a mono surround channel.

There was never much bass, even in the original theatrical showings. I was working at the Queen Theater in Hawaii, which had 70mm and a new screen installed specifically for the Sleeping Beauty engagement.

Grand Canyon was presented in 35mm Scope with 4 channel mag sound.

Ted

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Quick question.
Was SLEEPING BEAUTY, like LADY AND THE TRAMP, animated twice, once for widescreen and one flat? (If so, the 4:3 isn't really a pan-and-scan, correct?)

Nope, sorry. By 1959, the vast majority of theatres had converted to being able to play CinemaScope, so a second "flat" version would have been unnecessary. The only formats SB was released in were CS and Technirama 70.