MARY POPPINS 40th Anniversary Edition DVD is sure to please (1 Viewer)

[Ernest Rister]

The vast majority of pre-1985 Disney animated titles have their original RKO or Buena Vista opening distribution cards, only Snow White and Saludos Amigos buck the trend on DVD. As for the live action features, it is more hit and miss. It is a little odd that the last two Mary Poppins DVDs had the BV card and Kostal fanfare, and this new edition doesn't. Whose decision was that? We don't know.

As for the Buena Vista logo, judging by the amount of mentions here, things like that ARE important to alot of people.

I can see your point, however, to be frank, it's not quite like Peter Pan or Cinderella, where the music during the distribution title card was actually part of the opening Main Titles. There were earlier home video editions of those with the distribution title cards snipped, and hence, the opening notes of the Main Title were gone, resulting in a quick fade in of the music. This is not quite the same thing, but I see your point and understand it. It does seem weird that these first 4-5 seconds were cut from the film.

And why are there two Mary Poppins threads, with all the moderators around here?

This one is the general discussion thread of the film, the other is part of a series of disc reviews by Robert Harris. There is about to be a third thread, when HTF's DaViD Boulet reviews the film on Monday.

 

[Ernest Rister]

"Maybe in a couple thousand years when Disney finally stops getting copyright law extended to keep hold on some old black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons that nobody cares about anymore anyway, they can spend an extra 5 bucks and make a DVD without 20 minutes of ads, and with the original opening as seen in theatres."

a) There are several Disney DVDs that don't feature any ads at all, and there are several that have a single spot promoting the film series they are a part of (like the Walt Disney Treasures, the Vault Disney series, and the Live Action Classics).

b) Of the pre-1985 Disney animated features, only Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Saludos Amigos are missing their original opening logos. In the case of Snow White, Walt Disney himself shot a new opening using Buena Vista titles, and the original RKO titles are included as a supplement. In the case of Saludos Amigos, the original RKO title card has been replaced by a Buena Vista card, most likely on the order of Uncle Walt himself.

 

[Joe Caps]

Someone wanted to know what I thought was used for the isolated music track on the laser of Mary Poppins. Probably NOT raw session tracks - it takes too much time to do so. Diansy has used on severallasers (Pater Pan, Alice in Wonderland, cinderella, Snow White and probably Poppins) a music and effects track made for foreign dubing.. Many of these do not have vocals so that national ssingers can dub these into their own language.

 

[Jeff Koch]

Disney also removed the Buena Vista logo from the dvd of "Old Yeller." Thankfully the fanfare (composed specifically for the BV logo) is still there but the BV logo has been replaced with that Disney castle logo. I wish this revisionist nonsense would stop. I always equated that beautiful blue BV logo with Disney and Technicolor. I'm keeping my old dvd of Mary Poppins just because it's got the BV logo. If anyone from Disney is reading this, please stop removing the BV logos. Despite what Disney Home Video may think, it does matter.

Jeff

 

[Ernest Rister]

"Disney also removed the Buena Vista logo from the dvd of "Old Yeller." Thankfully the fanfare (composed specifically for the BV logo) is still there but the BV logo has been replaced with that Disney castle logo. I wish this revisionist nonsense would stop. I always equated that beautiful blue BV logo with Disney and Technicolor. I'm keeping my old dvd of Mary Poppins just because it's got the BV logo. If anyone from Disney is reading this, please stop removing the BV logos. Despite what Disney Home Video may think, it does matter."

Some of the Disney films that received theatrical re-issue in the late 80's and early 90's (like 101 Dalmatians) have both...the WDP opening *and* the original Buena Vista title card. Who knows why they are so hit and miss with the live-action titles...

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Please forgive me folks for taking so long to get this review posted. I've been working steadily on this review since last week! The problem is that there are some aspects of this DVD presentation that give me cause for concern...and I don't want to just jump to extremes with my first or second impression...I'm spending several days revisiting the disc...both picture and sound...to make sure that I'm seeing and hearing things in manner that's consistent each time I view. Don't get too worried by the dark tone of those comments...the disc by and large is beautiful...but there *are* a few things that cause some discomfort...besides the missing BV logo.


This is the first such thing that gives me cause for concern. I'll go into detail on this and all my other thoughts in the review I hope to have posted by this evening...but just for a teaser, this is a case where the 1.66:1 DVD image has CLEARLY merely been CROPPED (unlike Mulan, which opened up the top/bottom of the frame) on the left/right from the 1.85:1 image on the former DVD and archive-edition laserdisc. Since this film was created in the states, and since it was intended for american audiences as well as overseas, I have a very, very hard time believing that 1.66:1 is the "original" aspect ratio as claimed on the packaging. I think that Disney video technicians have gotten themselves into a 1.66:1 rut, and can't get the concept of a 1.85:1 16x9 aspect ratio any longer...they've spend too much time with all that 1.66:1 animation and now they're just locked in. It's incredibly silly to project a 1.66:1 image of a 1.85:1-filmed movie on your 16x9 screen and know that there's actual picture information covered up on the left/right pillarboxing that was filmed for you to see but for some reason the DVD producer decided to cover it up. Just seems odd...

 

[dpippel]

This is distressing news David. If you're correct, here's yet ANOTHER example of Disney's dismal grasp of DVD-related issues and technologies. If they've screwed up Mary Poppins, well, how much worse can it get? :frowning:

I remember the deservedly high esteem Disney was held in when I was growing up in the sixties, and watching the Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night. This company should be leading the way in home video technology and quality. Instead they seem to operate at the level of a back-alley production facility that happens to have a world-class marketing department. I can only imagine what Walt would say if he were alive today.

 

[RobertSiegel]

It's sad that there is probably image material missing from Mary Poppins. I remember the import version of Mary Poppins on laserdisc was 2:35:1, obviously the picture was cropped to create that aspect, I think I still have that laserdisc. But that could have been someone in Japan at Disney making it wider. This is the country the film was released, and it's sad we are not getting the correct aspect ratio. I don't think there were theatrical issues from Disney that were 1:66:1 around 1964. I will have to call my friend who has been a projectionist in Minneapolis since the mid 50's,and remembers each film well as movies are his life....and when I get a response I'll post it here. Nonetheless, with that wonderful stereo original Vista logo gone, it wouldn't surprise me that they screwed up the aspect ratio. It's obvious they are not very worried about restoring what was originaly seen in the movies theatrical presentation.

 

[Joe Caps]

A person in Disney Tech who used to be a projectionist told me that most Disney flat films were made o be shown in 1:70 soft matte. Mary Poppins was the first film he ran that was 1:85 hard matte. Let the arguments begin.
BTW - I also have the old Japanese widescreen Mary Poppins and it looks like 1.85 to me - hardly 2.35.
It also looks like it was literally taken from a print they had lying around.
So far, my favorite Poppins trasnfer is the Disney Archive laserdisc with the white cover. It had the best color and the best sound.
the restored version on laser and the last dvd had a lot of dirt cleaned up but the colors seemed off and the sound had been equalixed so that it sounded very harsh nd brittle.
the new dvd will at least be good for all the extras. Too bad the aspect ration seems off.

 

[Ernest Rister]

BTW - I also have the old Japanese widescreen Mary Poppins and it looks like 1.85 to me - hardly 2.35.

Poppins was defintely not shot in scope. There are only a handful of classic live action Walt films shot in scope, and they include 20,000 Leagues, Westward Ho! the Wagons, Swiss Family Robinson, Grand Canyon, and The Great Locomotive Chase. Aspect ratios for the other live-action Disney films are notoriously hard to nail down.

"I can only imagine what Walt would say if he were alive today."

I think he would take one look at Cinderella 2 and the upcoming Bambi 2, and then walk through the corporate offices with a baseball bat.

 

[RobertSiegel]

Joe, which Japanese laserdisc version do you have? Mine is definately 2:35:1. I was not saying the film was correctly done as far as aspect ratio, so hopefully no one things I am saying that the film was indeed 2:35:1, I know it wasn't...but my laserdisc is definately in that aspect ratio. I remember at the time as well that I figured this was the entire film, and later realized the film never had a 2:35:1 aspect so it was chopped at the top and bottom. I just watched some of it , this disc is 2:35:1 as displayed on my 11ht Sony projector, also on my player upstairs.

Also, the last laserdisc release,the 2 disc set that had the music-only score and the ac-3 track, says "Mary Poppins is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of approximately 1:85:1."

 

[Ernest Rister]

If you have a 2.35:1 edition of Mary Poppins, something is defintely wrong. It was not shot in scope. It would have to be stretched or severely cropped to fit that aspect ratio.

 

[RobertSiegel]

ok guys I just watched the import laserdisc at 2:35:1. That's definately the aspect on it and yes, some of the picture is missing from the top and bottom. I realized shortly after I bought this back in the 80's (I think) that it was wrong.

 

[Ernest Rister]

That's bizarre.

I'd crack up if it had an intermission.

 

[RobertR]

It sounds like the thread title is somewhat questionable now.

 

[BBbrowd]

That's really sad to hear that there was picture information that could have been used and wasn't. With the news that this new release was to be 1.66:1, which is what the Archive Collection Laser disc (white cover) is in, I was encouraged because when I view that laser disc there is more picture information on the top and bottom when compared with the first Mary Poppins DVDs. At least I thought we'd get that additional picture on top and bottom.

That was one of the things I disliked about the old Mary Poppins DVDs. They were over-cropped on the top and bottom. It really effected certain scenes, particularly the one where she flies in for the first time. The top of her umbrella is cut off. Not so on the Archive Laser disc. There is space above the umbrella.

Man. I thought I was upset when I heard that the Buena Vista fanfare had been cut out. This is new cause to be disappointed. Why would Disney go through all they went through to give us a Mega release of Poppins and then screw up things like this??

 

[BBbrowd]

David, have you seen the review of Poppins at Ultimate Disney? There are screen shots posted which compare the Gold Collection DVD with the new Special 40th Edition DVD. There is a bit more picture information on the bottom of the screen on the new print.

The review by Ultimate Disney on Mary Poppins 40th Edition with screen caps can be seen here:

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/marypoppins.html

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Chris,

thanks for pointing out that review.

Great screen-caps!

I trust the screen-caps of course, because they are digitally extracted from both DVDs with no overscan issues to contend with. When I did my projected comparison I compared the former DVD and older archive-edition LD (which was from an older master before the last laserdisc and DVD release) and the vertical information seemed pretty much the same "on the screen" as the new DVD. I might have been paying more attention to the laserdisc so tonight I'll do a double-check to make sure I don't generalize anything mistakingly.

In any case, good that we get a sliver of more picture top/bottom on the new release...but we really *are* missing picture on the sides! I did *many* scene-by-scene comparisons. Granted it's not a *lot* of picture...only as much as the narrow pillarboxing bars utilize on the left/right of the picture...and viewers who don't see those bars wouldn't have seen the picture info anyway due to overscan. However, on my front-projection system (and on any other display calibrated for minimal overscan) it just seems stupid to see those black bars on the left/right of the image when all they are doing is covering up active picture area that you would have seen projected theatrically...

hmmm...

Golly this review is taking forever...but I WILL get it done tonight even if I have to stay up until the weeee hours finishing it!

-dave

 

[DaViD Boulet]

BTW, just a point of interest...it's amazing we ever watched those laserdiscs and thought they were "great".

laserdisc is one thing on a small NTSC television...and some 1.33:1 laserdiscs (especially B&W movies) still can hold up "ok" when projected...but even your above-average laserdisc really shocks with just how bad the video artifacts can be when magnified to 106". Anybody remember the days when reference home theaters were using $50K CRT projectors and $20K Faroudja line-quadruplers and...gasp...laserdisc as the source signal?

The beauty of this new DVD really does show us just how far we've come (the few issues aside)...though the BEST a/b comaprison is with the THX Aladdin laserdisc comparing to the new DVD...that's a real eye-opener!

-dave

 

[Doug Bull]

DaVid,
I look forward with much anticipation to your review which I know will be well worth the wait.

When I started this thread I was full of excitment after giving the DVD a quick run through.
At first sight the Disc seemed to be a huge step up in quality over all former video releases of Mary Poppins.

Don't be too worried though because it is still the best looking and sounding version of Mary Poppins to date, but like DaVid I have since found several things that now worry me a little.

Color Inconsistency, Edge Enhancement, Missing Logo and Original AR are now my cause for concern.

If you do not see, or are not worried about these issues then you are certain to enjoy this otherwise Fabulous 2 Disc Set

Perhaps my thread title should now read,
"MARY POPPINS 40th Anniversary Edition is sure to please
a lot of People, but unfortunately not everyone"



I will never part with the Laserdisc, as the Isolated Music and Effects Track is priceless and may never be available again.