Yet more pan and scan from good ol' DISNEY...

#1

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3/5/04 at 10:00pm

Dick
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THE GNOME MOBILE and MISADVENTURES OF MERLIN JONES are both coming to us cropped. I know, I know... what's the point of complaining. No one at Disney listens. Still no word on aspect ratio of SON OF FLUBBER...and God help us when it comes to DARBY O'GILL and THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA, etc. etc.

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#2

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3/6/04 at 8:13am

Kenny Goldin
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\"We make it hard...the easy way.\"

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#3

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3/6/04 at 9:01am

Joshua Clinard
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Darby O'Gill is going to be widescreen. I don't know about the others. I do HOPE that Flight of the Navigator is Widescreen. I have been wanting to own this for years. Call disney at 800-72-Disney to voice your concerns.

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#4

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3/6/04 at 10:01am

Ernest Rister
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Disney live action titles are all over the map. The forgotten gem, Those Calloways, is presented in its OAR, and enhanced for wide-screen TVs. What's the message here? Certain titles are good enough for wide-screen, certain titles aren't? Or maybe Those Calloways appeals primarily to adults, hence the wide-screen transfer, while they assume Merlin Jones and Gnome Mobile appeal primarily to children, hence the full screen.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Steven Spielberg\'s Overlooked, Misunderstood Masterpiece
by
Adam S, Mike Carswell, and Ernest Rister
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183531

#5

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3/6/04 at 10:42pm

Dick
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Quote:

Darby O'Gill is going to be widescreen

Your source, Joshua?

#6

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3/7/04 at 7:46am

Aaron_Brez
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This trend is really starting to disturb me. First family titles... are adult titles going the same route?

Noises Off! is coming out May 4, and there is "No technical information available"-- generally a sign, I've noticed in the past, that pan & scan is on the horizon. If it's going to be widescreen BVHV crows it in the streets like it's a special feature or something, but if it's going to be "full frame" the aspect ratio is just not mentioned.

It was bad enough when I couldn't buy Snowball Express for my wife or a new copy of Midnight Madness for myself. Now one of the last of my VHS-replacement titles looks to be headed in the same direction. And I *won't* give Disney my money for a non-OAR bastardization.

The one thing you used to be able to count on from Buena Vista was widescreen on adult titles; it might not be anamorphic, but at least it was OAR... (maybe I'm showing my age-- that was 1998...)

#7

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3/7/04 at 9:34am

Dan Rudolph
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Noises Off better not be full frame. I've waited years for this movie and they'd best not mess it up now.

My Collection

#8

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3/7/04 at 11:43am

Patrick Soucy
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ARG.... I wanted the Gnome Mobile DVD...

Sorry, but no sale... I have it pan & Scan on an old VHS, no need to upgrade since it's not in widescreen. Thanks Disney for saving my bucks!

#9

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3/7/04 at 12:54pm

Ernest Rister
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Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I was going to pick up Gnome Mobile, but not now. Guess Disney is going to wait until every TV in the country is a big rectangle shape before they stop making these pan and scan titles. "Well, our market research told us that the children in our Disney households liked the whole screen filled up. They did not like the black bars cutting off the picture." I see, so you make your company decisions based on the input of idiots and children? Ooops, forgot who's running the joint...

EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Steven Spielberg\'s Overlooked, Misunderstood Masterpiece
by
Adam S, Mike Carswell, and Ernest Rister
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183531

#10

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3/8/04 at 8:07am

Mark Zimmer
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Still boycotting Blackbeard's Ghost here too...will add Gnome Mobile to the list.

"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."

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#11

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3/8/04 at 9:26am

DaViD Boulet
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Be sure to call that toll free # and let Disney know how important 16x9 WS OAR is to you regarding each and every one of these titles.

Be sure to tell them that it's important to you *and* your ***family***.

Be an Original Aspect Ratio Advocate

Supporter of 1080p24 video and lossless 24 bit audio.

#12

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3/8/04 at 10:02am

Patrick Soucy
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Well, when all of us will have a 16/9 TV, the pan & Scan will be movies in 2.35:1 zoomed in 1.78:1 "for fit your TV...."

Disney is probably the worse studio concerning the OAR...

#13

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3/9/04 at 12:30am

DaveB
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I'm really disappointed with Disney's lack of respect for these wonderful films. I was really looking forward to the Gnome-Mobile, but as is: NO SALE.

I hope you're right about Darby O'Gill, Joshua!

#14

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3/9/04 at 7:35am

Matt Rexer
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Quote:

Well, when all of us will have a 16/9 TV, the pan & Scan will be movies in 2.35:1 zoomed in 1.78:1 "for fit your TV...."

And 4:3 movies will be tilt & scanned to "fit your TV" as well. We'll never win the OAR battle, I don't think.

I'm gonna scream bloody murder if Disney chops up Darby O'Gill, I tell yah. I've been waiting too long for that DVD...

~sometimes my arms bend back~

#15

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3/9/04 at 8:51am

Ernest Rister
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Well, make of this what you will:

--from DVDFILE...

"Just dying for some more Buena Vista catalog classics to complete your collection? Then the house of mouse has something for you over the next few months, as the studio will release 50-plus favorites, many for the first time on DVD. Among the lineup are many reissues of titles that were previously released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, as well as some special editions and budget-priced movie-only cheapies. Full specs for the titles have not yet been released, but all will be presented in their original aspect ratios and remastered in anamorphic widescreen when appropriate.

Due on June 1st are: A Far Off Place, Ernest Goes to School, A Saintly Switch, Candleshoe, Flight of the Navigator, The Happiest Millionaire (Roadshow Edition) and a new special edition of the original 1976 Freaky Friday.

Up next on August 3rd: The Black Hole, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Oliver Twist, Unidentified Flying Oddball, The Watcher in the Woods, The Shaggy DA, Paradise, Darby O'Gill And The Little People and Map of the Human Heart.

Finally, September 7th will see the release of: Hans Brinker of the Silver Skates, One Little Indian, The Christmas Star, Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, Never Cry Wolf, Last Flight of Noah's Ark, Tex, Tiger Town and a 30th Anniversary Edition of The Island at the Top of the World and a 50th Anniversary Edition of the live-action Davy Crockett. Stay tuned for full specs and pricing soon."

EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Steven Spielberg\'s Overlooked, Misunderstood Masterpiece
by
Adam S, Mike Carswell, and Ernest Rister
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183531

#16

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3/9/04 at 9:07am

Aaron_Brez
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It's hard to make anything of that, unfortunately, Ernest.
DVDFile has had to retract statements on aspect ratio a number of times when their information turned out to be in error.

Certainly their record with regard to catalog releases previously sold by Anchor Bay is not spotless (the aforementioned Midnight Madness, for example) when it comes to fixing aspect ratio.

I'm holding out hope for you guys and Darby O'Gill, as it's obvious it's something you really want, but I'm prepping myself to be disappointed on Noises Off!-- the cover art has been released and nowhere do I see the word "widescreen". That's not enitirely definitive, but it is suggestive.

#17

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3/9/04 at 10:19am

george kaplan
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Earlier the word was the the Shaggy Dog was coming, and now it's the Shaggy DA, which makes me doubt the certainty of the OAR only statement, though I would love for it to be true.

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#18

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3/9/04 at 10:36am

LukeB
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Quote:

Earlier the word was the the Shaggy Dog was coming, and now it's the Shaggy DA, which makes me doubt the certainty of the OAR only statement, though I would love for it to be true.

Both are coming, and a whole lot more DVDFile didn't mention.

UltimateDisney.com:
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#19

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3/9/04 at 11:24am

Joe_Pinney
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As mentioned in this review of The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, it's not always clear what the aspect ratios were of some of the 60s-era Disney live action films (OAR of the negative for the 1963 animated The Sword in the Stone, for example, is actually 1.37:1, as I understand it, although the intended AR is 1.75:1), so it's very likely that a 1.33:1 AR on the DVD is actually not inappropriate for certain titles (some may actually be open matte). Oftentimes at Disney it was unclear even during production whether some of these titles would be originally shown on TV or released theatrically, so they were framed for TV just in case. The thing we need to be very vigilant about is not EVERY title made post-1953, but the titles that are KNOWN to be widescreen with OARs above (or below, however you figure it) 1.37:1, particularly if they were shot with anamorphic lenses. (The OAR for The Island at the Top of the World is 1.75:1, for example, so a widescreen anamorphic DVD can be expected, and if we don't get one, THEN we can bitch and moan.)

#20

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3/10/04 at 3:18pm

Josh L
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After e-mailing Disney urging for widescreen on Flight of the Navigator I got this response today:

Quote:

Josh,

Thank you for your e-mail regarding FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR. We appreciate your interest.

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR has a tentative release date of 06/01/04. No further information is known at this time.

However, we appreciate hearing the opinions of our viewers, and we will forward your comments to our Marketing Department.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us. Please do not hesitate to contact us again if you have other questions concerning our videos and DVD's.

You may contact us by e-mail or by calling 800 723-4763 or our Canadian toll-free number 888 877-2843.

Regards,

BVHE Consumer Relations
US and Canada

www.vintage-sierra.com

#21

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3/10/04 at 3:28pm

Aaron_Brez
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No further information is known at this time.

Yes, I got the same thing after my Noises Off! inquiry.

I find it dubious to claim that no information is known at this time-- Noises Off! is less than two months from release, and no one knows which aspect ratio it is being encoded in? I have to be skeptical of such claims.

Especially since they said the same thing about Midnight Madness until the week before its release.

#22

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3/12/04 at 6:16pm

Dustin James
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.

#23

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3/12/04 at 7:42pm

CraigF
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Quote:

I find it dubious to claim that no information is known at this time

Agree with Dustin. Yesterday I spent some time trying to trace info about some recently released discs (last 2 weeks), from two large distributors, and unfortunately getting larger after gobbling up other "studios", both IMO of poor repute for DVD. These discs are not even listed on their sites, even though they have even more recent releases listed. And maybe I know why: these WS OAR 2003 films were released to disc in P&S, and I unknowingly bought them -> my very first anal probes

#24

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3/12/04 at 9:31pm

Jonathan Dagmar
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Disney sucks. plains and simple. I am so fed up with that companey. Even their a-list releases are screwed up by forced trailers, and in Canada, a stupid ugly "french" cirlce on the box, that coule easilly be a removable sticker, but isnt.

#25

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3/12/04 at 9:47pm

Ernest Rister
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Other companies use forced trailers. In disney's defense, all you have to do to bypass Disney trailers is hit the "menu" button or the chapter skip button. That elevates Disney over, say, Universal, which doesn't even give you those options. For some titles, you have no choice but to sit there and endure their promotions. Disney has included a "menu-skip" option for their trailers since mid-2000.

And last time I checked, some people liked trailers on their dvds, just so long as they were able to skip them. I must have watched the trailer for Dinosaur 20 times on the old Tarzan: CE DVD...too bad the trailer was better than the movie.

By the way, just going to use this for another excuse to recommend the bare-bones DVD for Those Calloways -- it is a wonderful mid-60's studio film, and something Frank Capra would have been proud to make. I just showed it to my niece only yesterday, and she was enthralled from start to finish. She loved it. I love it. Disney buffs will love it. Go get it.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Steven Spielberg\'s Overlooked, Misunderstood Masterpiece
by
Adam S, Mike Carswell, and Ernest Rister
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183531

#26

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3/12/04 at 9:54pm

Dick
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I will! THOSE CALLOWAYS is a lovely film and is given 1.66:1 treatment on DVD. Too bad D isney doesn't do isolated scores - this beaut is the sole Max Steiner score for a Disney film, and has never been available commercially.

GNOME MOBILE, on the other hand, is pan and scan.

#27

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3/12/04 at 10:10pm

Ernest Rister
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The score for Those Calloways is marvelous, pure "lietmotif" the whole way through. Too bad this was Steiner's only score for a Disney film. His score was an asset to the film, and a true beauty (heard on the DVD in 5.1, no less).

EMPIRE OF THE SUN: Steven Spielberg\'s Overlooked, Misunderstood Masterpiece
by
Adam S, Mike Carswell, and Ernest Rister
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=183531

#28

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3/15/04 at 5:49am

DaViD Boulet
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Ernest,

going to pick up the Calloways given your great recommendation. Sadly...I never received a screener copy

so I'll actually have to (gasp!) *buy* a Disney DVD!

Be an Original Aspect Ratio Advocate

Supporter of 1080p24 video and lossless 24 bit audio.

#29

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3/15/04 at 9:44am

Brian McHale
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I don't suppose anyone out there knows the OAR for Miracle of the White Stallions (1963)? This just got released as 1.33:1, but I have no idea if this is pan 'n' scan or one of those TV friendly Disney live action films that were shot to be shown at any ratio from 1.33:1 to 1.85:1.

My wife is into horses, so we have to own just about every horse movie out there. Movies like this are never going to be big sellers and will probably never be revisited. If it was open matte, I could simply treat it like a non-anamorphic widescreen release and zoom in on it to get something close to OAR. If it's pan 'n' scan (like Return to Snowy River), I just can't bring myself to consider buying it.

IMDb lists the following technical specs, but I'm not smart enough to know what this might tell me with regards to OAR:

Laboratory: Technicolor
Film negative format (mm/video inches): 35 mm
Printed film format: 35 mm

Anyone?

Brian

#30

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3/15/04 at 6:54pm

Jonathan Dagmar
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QUOTE]And last time I checked, some people liked trailers on their dvds, just so long as they were able to skip them. I must have watched the trailer for Dinosaur 20 times on the old Tarzan: CE DVD...too bad the trailer was better than the movie.[/quote]

I Like trailers on my DVDs, so long as they are accssed from a menu, and aren't stuck on the begining of the DVD reminding me of the dark days of VHS. It cheapens the product. Much the same way having ads in movie theaters cheapens the product. I know it seems silly, but I really miss having the lights dim and the curtains part just as the movie starts. That's doesn't happen anymore.

I know Universal is worse, but that doesn't excuse Disney.

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