The Prince & the Pauper: Walt Disney Animation Collection Volume 3
Directed by George Scribner et al
Studio: Disney
Year: 1933-1990
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Running Time: 54 minutes
Rating: NR
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo, mono English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
MSRP: $ 19.99
Release Date: April 7, 2009
Review Date: April 6, 2009
The Program
3/5
After having released a vast quantity of its vault material in various DVD releases over the last decade, the Walt Disney Company is continuing its usual trend of recycling material in various compendium sets organizing the cartoon shorts around certain themes. All of the films in Volume 3 of this Walt Disney Animation Collection take place during the Middle Ages casting Mickey, Goofy, and various others from the Disney universe in tales both familiar and unfamiliar. None of the shorts in this collection are especially noteworthy, but all are fun in spots and show the changes that the studio’s animation department endured during its many decades in operation (black and white to color, mono sound to stereo, changing styles in animation, etc.)
The Prince and the Pauper (25 ½ minutes), the title of this collection, gets the top spot, and it’s certainly the most substantial in terms of length and the number of Disney favorites which have been worked into the story. Based on Mark Twain’s novel of the same name, this 1990 version of The Prince and the Pauper takes Twain’s story and strips it to its basics: a prince and a look-alike beggar switch roles. While living on the street, the prince gets to observe the reality of his kingdom’s dire environmental conditions which, once he resumes the throne, he can do something about. Of course, there is an evil knight looking to prevent the prince’s return to power, but he’s thwarted when the prince’s twin and his friends do all in their power to defeat him.
The Pied Piper (7 ½ minutes) is the first of two Silly Symphony cartoons in this collection, both from 1933. This one tells the famous tale of the piper hired by the people of Hamelin to drive the rats from the city but who balk at paying once they’re rid of them. The Piper then must resort to drastic measures to teach the people a lesson about going back on their promises. Old King Cole (7 ½ minutes) is the other Silly Symphony in the collection, a rather delightful gathering of famous nursery rhyme characters (Old Mother Hubbard, Little Jack Horner, Ten Little Indians, Three Blind Mice) who are invited to King Cole’s castle to have a party.
Both Silly Symphony cartoons are done in the operetta style the shorts were known for (The Pied Piper even has a song “Joyland” which is a very close variation on Victor Herbert’s “Toyland“) and were filmed in Technicolor which gives them an added allure.
Mickey Mouse makes another appearance in 1933’s Ye Olden Days (8 ½ minutes) which finds an unenthusiastic Minnie Mouse engaged to Dippy Dawg (an early incarnation of Goofy) when along comes appealing minstrel Mickey to steal away her heart. This short likewise sports an operetta-style score for the characters to warble and was filmed in black and white, the only short in this collection not in color.
The set concludes with 1946’s A Knight for a Day, a Goofy cartoon which finds the dimwitted dog inadvertently the substitute in a jousting contest with the current champion Sir Cumference for the hand of the Lady Esmeralda. It’s a pleasant diversion but can’t hold a candle to the series of Goofy “How To” shorts which were often fall down funny.
Video Quality
3.5/5
All five shorts have been framed at 1.33:1. The Prince and the Pauper is by far the best looking of the cartoons with film grain giving it a real movie feel and clean, bright colors with no blooming. All of the other cartoons have minor dirt issues though it’s obvious that some clean-up has been done on them, and the Technicolor is often very striking. There is some flicker on The Pied Piper in the early going but that doesn’t last long. The grayscale for Ye Olden Days is quite pleasing with good contrast and nice black levels. There is no banding to be seen on any of the shorts.
Audio Quality
3/5
Once again, The Prince and the Pauper has the best quality to offer, a nicely ingratiating Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo audio track that features good use of the right and left channels and even some effective bass, too. Of the older cartoons, Ye Olden Days has the weakest mono track with some buzzing to be heard at one juncture. Otherwise, they’re very typical mono tracks for their eras.
Special Features
½ /5
The package contains a reduced lithograph print (about the size of a post card). Otherwise there are no bonus features of note.
The disc contains previews of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Princess and the Frog, Up, Bedtime Stories, The Black Cauldron, and Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, among others.
In Conclusion
3/5 (not an average)
For those who didn’t spring for those Disney collectible tins over the past few years, these new Walt Disney Animation Collections may be an inexpensive way to add a few of the more famous shorts to your animation collection. Volume 3 offers one recent Disney short and four older titles, all pleasant but none which I would call must-haves except possibly for completists.
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
