**** Official Review thread: Snow White Initial Impression (1 Viewer)

[Ken_McAlinden]

I watched the whole film last night and was equally impressed by the audio and video as most others who posted here. I'm not sure how it compares to how it must have looked in 1937, but it is certainly more consistent in appearance than my laserdisc was.
Disc two has a lot of good stuff on it. There is a cool section on camera tests narrated by film restorationist Scott MacQueen. It shows how they experimented with different filters when photographing the original artwork to achieve different effects. Without expressly saying it, this also makes a case for why the original artwork is not sufficient reference to get the appearance of the film "right". One would also have to know when and what types of filters were used (among other things).
The galleries of production art are implemented very cleverly. Select galleries and pieces of artwork have audio narration to accompany them and explain their significance.
The presentation of the various trailers is also innovative. You can either watch them individually or in the context of a narrative history of the Walt Disney Company. It works pretty well, but since it is Disney presenting its own history, there will be a few omissions and rose-tintings. I guess I didn't expect the word "Katzenberg" to appear in the documentary, but it would have been a pleasant surprise if they were gracious enough to mention his contributions in the 80s & early 90s.
This is probably the best presentation of special edition content I have ever seen.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[Peter Kline]

Patrick,
There are not two versions of Snow White. What you have are sets from two different replicators. Since Disney put in an order for 4 million sets, they obviously used at least two manufacturers to make them. This is not unusual nor do you have a defective version.
Enjoy the film!

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[Douglas Bailey]

Add me to the list of Forum members whose jaws simply dropped when viewing this disc.
Beautiful picture, beautiful sound, and tons and tons of well-presented extras... all of which only serve to enhance the wonder of the film itself. I haven't seen Snow White straight through in twenty-five years, but last night I was just as captivated as I was when I was five.
(I was so enraptured, in fact, that I didn't even get around to watching the Godfather discs. Those'll have to wait until tonight.)
Disney have proven -- again -- that they know how to do a Special Edition that's really special. What a fantastic present for any film lover.
doug
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"How can it be the same movie if they've changed my character from a
tightly-wound convenience-store clerk to a jittery Eskimo
firefighter?... uh huh... uh huh... uh huh. Well, that's actually a
pretty good explanation..."
--James Woods, on The Simpsons

 

[Gordon Moore]

Initial Impression: BLOWN AWAY!
Easily the best disc in my collection. Snow White was restored with such care, it's very great to know that these Platinum Editions are a must-have every fall. Well worth the wait.
I love their menu layout. The magic mirror as a guide is fantastic (my 2 year old wants to watch the mirror all the time and is interested in nothing else).
Infini-Film could take a lesson from this(I not a big fan of their format). I simply love Snow White's menus and formatting (mind you, they have more space to work with, but the presentation is very well laid out and logical).
Congrats Disney!
You've done DVD a great service!
Keep it up!

 

[Craig Beam]

I've been home sick for the past two days with a wicked throat infection, but I did manage to sneak out to the Disney store to fetch my SNOW WHITE (along with my LADY AND THE TRAMP freebie). I spent much of yesterday immersed (hee hee) in the extras, and I was just plain floored (I felt the same way with the FANTASIA and TOY STORY boxes). I watched a few minutes of the actual feature, just to get a glimpse of the real thing, and the restoration is truly remarkable. The 5.1 sound mix isn't gimmicky or obnoxious.... just fuller with better imaging. I haven't even touched the mono track yet, but I'm sure it'll be great too.
All in all, a practically perfect package. I'm still a big proponent of using original poster art on the covers, but since Disney NEVER does this, I wasn't really expecting it. Bring on the other nine Platinums!
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My collection:
http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...=Kriegersaurus

 

[bill lopez]

Anybody notice some scenes go soft focus, like when the old hag starts running thru the woods in the rain?

 

[Brian Kidd]

I, too, have greatly enjoyed the features on the disc that I've had time to browse. My one beef, and it is a small one, is that the documentary sections surrounding the trailers have very little to do with SNOW WHITE and end up sounding like a promotional video made for stockholders. Shamelessly corporate!

The movie looks and sounds great, though, and that's what matters!

 

[Michael Caicedo]

Does anyone have a Disney DVD contact e-mail address? I want to send a thank you letter.
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Michael Caicedo
Winter Park, FL
- At my signal, unleash hell...

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Anybody notice some scenes go soft focus, like when the old hag starts running thru the woods in the rain?

It sometimes looks like you can actually see the change in the image quality when the camera is zoomed in closer or farther from the cels and backgrounds. I'm sure that some shots were created from older generational materials due to damage to the O-neg, too.
Regards,
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Ken McAlinden
Livonia, MI USA

 

[george kaplan]

I sure as heck hope the studios notice that the Home Theater Forum crowd 'can' be satisfied!

Of course, Joe Caps hasn't put in his two cents yet.
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13-time NBA world champion Lakers: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1972, 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001

 

[Lafe F]

The Streisand song was tastefully done with images from the movie transitioning with CGI sparkles. Barbara didn't show her face once! It could've been worse - with her dressed in a Snow White costume on some cheap set.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I picked up my copy at Best Buy last night, along with the GF box, and am astonished at how they're practically giving the thing away.
Okay, we start at a mere $17.99, for a superb 2 disk SE, which is dirt cheap to begin with, plus you get another free DVD (well, with $1.99 postage), PLUS if you own the video (which I do) they'll rebate $5 to you? Talk about an offer you can't refuse!!!
For all the crap people on HTF give Disney, I don't see any of the fair haired studios like Fox and Warner giving me a rebate if I owned the old version and upgraded.

Well done!!!!
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"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."

 

[Bill Catherall]

I got to watch it with my wife and kids last night (kids are ages 3 and 5). My kids have never seen it before but were very excited to watch it even before I brought it home. My daughter almost completely emptied out the video cabinet looking for it. We all loved it! My daughter (a big fan of all the Disney princesses) just sat there completely involved in the whole thing. I only had time to watch the feature and the "making-of" video. The feature looked and sounded incredible. I did notice a few moments where some of the animation seemed to go soft for a second. I couldn't tell if it was from the original elements or from the restoration.
I also experienced one glitch that I couldn't get to repeat. It was during the change from chapter 11 to chapter 12 (when Snow White and the animals are going up the stairs after cleaning the cottage). Some text to what looked like a sing-along suddenly popped up over the image. The video continued to run but the text didn't go away. I had to hit Stop then Play to get it to clear up. When the movie was over I went back to see if I could get it to do it again and it didn't happen. It could have just been a temporary player glitch (I have a Sony DVP-S3000) or some dirt that confused the player. If it happens again then I'll report it.
I'll spend some more time tonight sifting through more of the suppliments.
I got The Little Mermaid as my freebie and the disc was floating around off the spindle inside the package. Grrrr! Haven't had a chance to watch it yet.
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Bill

 

[Peter Kline]

Suncoast had its biggest sales day of the year. Snow White led the pack with Godfather in second place (!).
Here's a press release from Disney on total sales for opening day:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/011010/law076_1.html

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[Jay Villero]

Has anyone received their Snow White DVD through the disneystore.com yet? My wife just called to tell me that it didn't show up today.

 

[Patrick McCart]

Is anything on the DVD censored?
No phony zooms or digital erasing? you know...that "Disney magic" ?
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P.S.: There's no P.S.

 

[John Berggren]

I got both of my Disneystore.com packages yesterday. The one I orderred, and the one my sister sent as an early birthday present.
What to do, what to do...
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Rationality is not a commodity which is evenly distributed.
Thank you Sci-Fi channel for Season 6 of Stargate SG-1
View SpaceDog's DVD Collection

 

[Aaron Ulmer]

Jay, I haven't received mine yet. My wife told me the same thing again today. No movie in the mail. Drat!
They sent a confirmation stating it was shipped out on 10/2/01. Sure hope it gets here soon.

 

[GaryEA]

My Disneystore.com order arrived on Tuesday. I'm so pleased that I even like the box they shipped it in (makes a good box to save previous lithos in)
Gary

 

[SpenceJT]

Mark Zimmer said -

Okay, we start at a mere $17.99, for a superb 2 disk SE, which is dirt cheap to begin with, plus you get another free DVD (well, with $1.99 postage), PLUS if you own the video (which I do) they'll rebate $5 to you? Talk about an offer you can't refuse!!!

Well mark? I was at Madison's West side Best Buy two weeks ago when I decided to purchase their Snow White "reservation" package for $5. This also included a free Disney DVD for the cost of $1.99 shipping.
When stopping at Best Buy last night to pick up my reserved copy, I was stunned to see the sale price ring up at $17.99, as I handed the checkout person my "$5" reservation certificate. I don't know if the woman behind the counter goes for 39 year old married men, but she proceeded to manually punch in a $10 discount!
Do the math here. $17.99 less $5.00 (as the $10 discount included my $5 payment to reserve my copy), makes my Snow White DVD $12.99!? I'll add in the $1.99 for the free DVD, and average the cost to $7.49 each, for two new DVDs!
A great DVD and an unbelievable deal to boot! Thank you Best Buy, and THANK YOU DISNEY!
Spence
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SpenceJT
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"...now what's all this crud about no movie tonight!"
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