Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad / Fun and Fancy Free (Blu-ray) Preorder (1 Viewer)

[dana martin]

so you can tell how long it as been since I have been there by the changing rides, but man that was a great ride

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I watched The Reluctant Dragon while I ate my lunch this afternoon. It is in pristine condition and even though it is the ONLY extra on this set, it's certainly a valuable one for Disney fans.

I won't have the full review for the set until tomorrow, but that was a wonderful way to start my work on this release!

Actually, the DVD versions of the films include some of the extras from the original DVDs. Most importantly, the "Fun and Fancy Free" behind the scenes featurette appears on that disc...

 

[Mark-P]

With all the negativity over that other Disney release, it sure is refreshing to hear about the nice surprises in this release. I'd love to see more of the material from the Walt Disney Treasures series released in HD as extras on future Blu-rays!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Agreed! The Disney Treasures are among my most prized DVDs. I wish they could just do a straight-up upgrade to Blu on those. I'd love to have all the Donald cartoons in HD. Goofy too!

 

[ThadK]

Unfortunately—and unless I hear otherwise from a legitimate source, it's all rumors—I was under the impression that the majority of the Disney Treasures material was only mastered in standard definition. So unlike with the WB cartoons (which post-2004 were remastered strictly in HD), a straight to BD port isn't happening.

 

[DanH1972]

Unfortunately—and unless I hear otherwise from a legitimate source, it's all rumors—I was under the impression that the majority of the Disney Treasures material was only mastered in standard definition. So unlike with the WB cartoons (which post-2004 were remastered strictly in HD), a straight to BD port isn't happening.

Correct. More than a few didn't look all that great either. Substantial restoration work would need to be done. The Mickey Mouse suits may not want to pony up the money to save their own legacy.

 

[JoHud]

Correct. More than a few didn't look all that great either. Substantial restoration work would need to be done. The Mickey Mouse suits may not want to pony up the money to save their own legacy.

Disney tried to get away with doing absolutely zero restoration work during one of the waves (the one that had Donald Duck Vol 2 and a Pluto set) but fan backlash was so great that they decided to spend the extra money to do restoration on future waves. However, they never redid that one wave so most of the animated shorts released on those discs look quite lousy.

Unfortunately—and unless I hear otherwise from a legitimate source, it's all rumors—I was under the impression that the majority of the Disney Treasures material was only mastered in standard definition. So unlike with the WB cartoons (which post-2004 were remastered strictly in HD), a straight to BD port isn't happening.

Also, as I'm sure you've pointed out in the past, what they have restored in HD (animation-wise) has been terribly botched, in the same way they botched the blu-ray of Mickey's Christmas Carol.

 

[LouA]

Agreed! The Disney Treasures are among my most prized DVDs. I wish they could just do a straight-up upgrade to Blu on those. I'd love to have all the Donald cartoons in HD. Goofy too!

While it would be nice to have the Disney Treasure series on BD, I think it would be better yet to have the series be revived even if it's only on DVD. They stopped while there were so many "treasures" that still needed to be released.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

While it would be nice to have the Disney Treasure series on BD, I think it would be better yet to have the series be revived even if it's only on DVD. They stopped while there were so many "treasures" that still needed to be released.

Clicking "like" doesn't express how much I agree with that sentiment - the Treasures sets I have are my favorite Disney DVD releases, period.

 

[LeoA]

Since there was a fair bit of discussion in this topic about censoring scenes that portray characters smoking tobacco in classic Disney productions, I wonder if anyone would care to take a crack at sending an e-mail to a news site that has recently published letters from a student group that's blasting Disney for such scenes in their classic animated classics?


http://northcountrynow.com/letters/smoking-kids-movies-influences-teens-smoke-earlier-0137042


http://northcountrynow.com/letters/heuvelton-youth-says-movies-containing-smoking-should-be-rated-r-0137038


The e-mail for responses is [email protected]


So far, only one response has been published that was only complimentary. Yet these are obviously full of holes and it deserves a differing viewpoint in response. But I don't feel like I could personally do full justice to it even though this news source is in my neck of the woods (Especially if my response is to be short and concise enough to stand a chance at being published... brevity isn't my strong suit as this post demonstrates).


For some starting thoughts, they're not rereleased to theaters these days and the vast majority of buyers of these on home video are adults. So not only would rating a classic such as Dumbo with an R rating, which is a nonsensical suggestion if there ever was one, not even be needed or accomplish anything, but the ratings system isn't going to keep sensible parents from showing harmless animated classics at home.


Not only that, but the very thought that something like the minor bits and pieces for something such as the Disney release that's the subject of this topic, could ever influence a young child to start smoking, is of very questionable value.


Would be worth setting them straight that the target they need to concern themselves with is primarily their peers. It's peer pressure that's the problem, not harmless classic movies and shorts from many decades ago.


Rather than censorship, I would think such a thing could present a learning opportunity for the responsible parent that accomplishes the exact opposite of what these allege to be the case. They're a product of their times and should be viewed as such, rather than be modified decades after the fact or worse yet, be kept hidden from view.

 

[Ejanss]

Since there was a fair bit of discussion in this topic about censoring scenes that portray characters smoking tobacco in classic Disney productions, I wonder if anyone would care to take a crack at sending an e-mail to a news site that has recently published a letter from a student group that's blasting Disney for such scenes in their classic animated classics?


http://northcountrynow.com/letters/smoking-kids-movies-influences-teens-smoke-earlier-0137042


http://northcountrynow.com/letters/heuvelton-youth-says-movies-containing-smoking-should-be-rated-r-0137038

Think that the sixth and seventh graders will find most of the grownups are complaining about smoking scenes missing from Disney films where they should normally be there. (Goofy, Pecos Bill, etc.)

("There was a smoking scene in Little Mermaid, they could replace it with a lollipop" What, the pipe, you mean?)


In scenes where they can't be removed, they've begun pretty much default using that one PSA they created for Pinocchio's cigars, even though it's now pretty much used across the board, even for Cruella DeVille's cigarette holder.


(sigh) I hate Internet school projects.

 

[MatthewA]

They could always use Walt as an example.

 

[LeoA]

(sigh) I hate Internet school projects.

They're even on the radio here with claims like 80% of students are exposed to tobacco advertising on their way to school each day, despite bans that started in the early 1970s that have for all practical purposes, eliminated such marketing entirely (Unsure if there's some limited circumstances that in some way, could be construed as advertising. Edit: There's still a bit of genuine advertising that's allowed, it appears, including magazine ads.).


Sadly, as I see it, the teacher that I assume leads this school group can't seem to see the forest for the trees. But hopefully it's at least having a positive effect among the students themselves to encourage each other to avoid this dangerous habit, so I give them that much even if I feel their attempts to do something about it have been misdirected and counterproductive to their campaign.