HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended - Page 5

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

David, how do you think the image compare to the LD? With a good player. Thanks.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

what now?

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

ha, just checked my dvd and you're right

i thought it's a deht luckily it's not

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

I will greatly miss reading David's reviews here. Hopefully, the new gig will allow for the usual, wondrously insane level of detailed analysis Good luck, we'll miss you!!

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Can someone please tell me if this edition contains the original end credits with the Part of Your World instrumental (with chorus) or the re-release version with a reprise of Jodi's solo and Dolby Digital credit. If you watch the original dvd with the French or Spanish, you can hear the original version.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Thanks for the reviews, David!
Hope you still pop in with your thoughts on current DVDs...


d

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

can someone fill me in please

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Tony:

Just go back a few pages!

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Hello? Can someone answer my simple question if you have the disc? Thanks.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Ok, I finally watched the Little Mermaid (which I picked up because I heard much praise about the xtras, and everyone was right, GREAT extras disc.

I agree with some of the posters here. The mix sounds way too "clean." If this is their idea of "digital sound" I'll take Analog anyday. Theres a big difference from the first dvd. It sounds as if they took the separate tracks (voice, sound effects,ect) and remixed them to such an extent that I don't even really hear the orchestral invisible sound field, which was very prevelant on older classics in stereo. So many sounds are way too much right or left and completely isolated. The mix on the first dvd was a pleasure. This one sounds to me like every time there is an instrument or sound effect, it's isolated instead of giving a "mixed and full sound." I am totally against the Disney Home Theater mix and was appauled at their HTmix for Mary Poppins. But at least with that disc, they gave us the original soundtrack, unfortunately in Dolby Surround and not 3.0 or 4.0, whichever it was originally. As I said before in an earlier post, I lost my respect for Disney when they released all those classic live-action films in pan and scan. Take ONE AND ONLY GENUINE ORIGINAL FAMILY BAND> They went to the trouble of an audio commentary, yet didn't release the film in its original aspect ratio. Aside from that, the transfer is awful. And since it is a musical, if it wasn't released in stereo originally (Joe Caps said it wasn't) then why not remix at least the songs for stereo. It has a great Sherman Brothers score. Then there was the Happiest Millionaire. The first edition on Anchor Bay was beautiful (even if not enhanced for 16:9). No edge enhancement and a full sounding sound. Then Disney released it with so much edge enhancement it's almost unwatchable, and the soundtrack sounds terrible. The same is true for MOST of the live-action Disney classics. That's why I never bought any of them.

I don't find the picture of Little Mermaid as bad as some have said. I do see the softness though. It's better than the original picture. It's just sad to see Disney doing this to their most beloved titles. Why only a home theater mix? I am making a complaint on the phone number provided in an earlier post and I urge everyone to do the same. We all know they will do nothing, but maybe the responses will stick in their minds (though I doubt it) when they release the next classic. I hope we don't have to suffer through their mixes for the high def versions.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Thanks David

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

I hope that if I do call Disney they won't tag me as "the nutcase who called about The Golden Girls a few months ago claiming two episodes were edited". Sometimes I wonder if that hotline has any effect.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

I'm glad to see threads like this, even if I've already purchased the product.

This reminds me a bit of the snafu with the first Tarzan disc where the surrounds were reversed (unless I'm getting that mixed-up).

I watched the 1-disc DVD version, never noticed, and only read about it later.

Then recently, I purchased another used Tarzan as a gift for nephew.

Comparing the boxes, I realized that the recent purchase was the new Tarzan SE (with fixed 5.1 sound).

Guess which copy my nephew got?

So, maybe the future will hold a better version of Mermaid me as well.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

This is the first I've heard of any audio problems on Tarzan. Exactly which DVD was affected? I have the original 2-disc special edition (with the sparse "sketch" art on the cover). Does this release have an audio problem?

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

I believe the problem was restricted to the single disc release (which was the very first 16:9 enhanced disc that Disney ever released.)

As I recall, the problem was that the left front channel was reproduced in the left rear on the included DD 5.1 track. I think the original 2-disc didn't have this problem, but the mix was just DD 5.0.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Now that you mention it, I do remember hearing about this issue. Since the 2-disc release that I had was unaffected, I let it slip from my memory.

Thanks for the information.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Well, I just did my own comparison of 5 different Little Mermaid soundtracks. I used the same scene in all of them, the "Part of Your World" reprise with Ariel on the rock. I was looking for which mix best represented the vocals. I also used the title sequence to see which had the best orchestral sound field.

Here are my results, from best to worst:

THX LD PCM: Yup, this was a clear winner in the powerful vocals department. The orchestra sounds simply delightful as well, and sound really fills the room without ever sounding gimmicky.

Original LD PCM: Believe it or not, this came in at number two. The orchestra didn't sound quite as warm, but the vocals were spot on. The orchestra in the title sequence actually almost sounded better than all the other mixes. The cymbal crashes have so much more power and presence towards the end, and they are tuned way down in every other mix. Alas, the whole soundtrack is mixed too hot, and frequently clips. If it hadn't been for that, this track would have won the contest hands down. It sounds exactly like the mix I heard in 1989 (and yes, I do remember. When you here something 5 times a day, 5 days a week, for 6 weeks straight, you remember what it sounds like forever!).

Original DVD 5.1: I believe this might be the same sound mix as the 5.1 laserdisc, but the higher bitrate DVD affords allowed for there to be less high-frequency roll-off. Most of the mix sounds nearly identical between the two, except for the lack of highs. I liked this mix a lot, but there is something a little wrong with the vocals. There is a tinge of harshness to them, a sort of shrill quality. I didn't hear it on the PCM tracks. Otherwise, this 5.1 track is a lot of fun. Definitely the best multi-channel version.

THX LD 5.1: This mix is made from the 1997 re-release Dolby Digital soundtrack heard in theaters. It's an active fun track like the DVD counterpart, but in Ariel's singing there is quite obviously some high-frequency roll-off. Otherwise, this mix holds up well. It's not a bad 5.1 mix by any stretch, but doesn't hold a candle to the PCM 2 track mix found on the same disc.

New DVD 5.1: What the hell happened here?!? Ariel's vocals have been completely destroyed. It's more than just high-frequency roll-off. There is almost a nasal quality to the singing now, as if Ariel had a clothespin on her nose. That and the fact that it sounds like someone threw a wet towel over the microphone while it was being recorded. Just sad. The picture quality problems that some have complained about I did not see, however. This looked really good, certainly much better than either laser incarnation. But I don't think I'll watch it much.

The Little Mermaid is, first and foremost to me, a musical. As such, the accurate reproduction of the singing performances is key, and most of the 5.1 tracks do not measure up at all.

-Lyle J.P.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

You have that one. The wide-screen LD with AC3 sound was THX certified. The original LD he refers to would be the full frame. I've net-flixed the new DVD (you can bet I don't want to give Disney any money directly for this one) and it should come in the mail tomorrow so I will hear for myself how really bad it sounds.

David, glad to hear you will be sticking around for discussion, even though you won't be reviewing anymore. Good luck!

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

I didn't know there was a CLV AC-3 disc, but I'm sure it's identical to the CAV disc I was using. And yes, the other laserdisc reviewed is the CAV full-frame disc released in 1990 or 1991. In both cases I used the PCM tracks. I did not review the CX analog tracks on the original disc. I'm sure there won't be anything revealing there.

-Lyle J.P.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Well, today I finally had the chance to try this disc in my player.

I have not a fancy, high-end set-up, but a modest Yamaha receiver hooked to JBL speakers all around. And I have not the previous DVD edition, either.

But I really do not need any back-to-back comparisons to clearly hear EXACTLY what David and others have described here. I am not sound-engineering savvy, so I can not guess what's the cause, but this soundtrack sounds flat, flat, FLAT, specially in the voice department. Singing is rendered emotionless, robotic, almost electronically generated. It sounds... well, inhuman. It does not resonate, it lacks –for lack of a better term– "body".

Spatiality is everywhere, mind you (even too everywhere, although that is more of a subjective appreciation) but the characters' voices are dull, lifeless. Dull not as in too low-range –quite the opposite, they sound somewhat harsh, too– but as in a guitar made of cold steel instead of warm wood.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Just received my disc and checked this for you. The English track now seems to contain the original end credits, starting out with "Under the Sea" and then playing the Part of Your World instrumental with chorus.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

Thanks, Christian..I appreciate you taking the time to check this for me. Too bad the sound is so bad, because I prefer this ending music.

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

can someone list the scenes that were taken out of this dvd when compared to the vhs?

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

did someone say scenes were removed on this dvd

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

ursala's death scene is had stuff taken out of it and somethings missig from the wedding scene also

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

your the first i've heard of this

did you read that somewere

Re: HTF REVIEW: The Little Mermaid - Disappointingly NOT Recommended

The only thing missing from the wedding scene that I know of is the minister's knee. Oddly enough, a clip in the bonus features shows the original unaltered scene.