Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 (Special Edition Combo Pack) (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Originally Posted by bigshot
Precisely.
If you want a vivid example of the degree of manipulation check out how many different sets of colors the orange fairy sports in the bluray of Sleeping Beauty.... And none of them are orange!

I've got this one. I'll check it out, tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[SilverWook]

Is the Laserdisc of Bambi closer to the original colors?

 

[MatthewA]

Originally Posted by SilverWook
Is the Laserdisc of Bambi closer to the original colors?

If you mean the 55th anniversary one, not by a country mile. That was just about the worst video representation of a Disney film I have seen, keeping in mind the limitations of telecine technology during the Ron Miller era (pre-1984).

 

[bigshot]

THe laserdisc of Bambi was the first time Disney used its intrusive technique of rotoscoping the characters off the background, cleaning them up separately, and then comping them back together. They neglected to clean up every frame of the character when they went into holds, resulting in terrible looking video freezes.. They replaced sound effects in the dog and fire sequence with modern stereo effects. The greens and oranges were exaggerated like crazy in this transfer. It's probably the worst of the worst.

 

[Charles Smith]

Jesus. I have that one, and the Platinum DVD, but have yet to watch either one of them. How depressing.

 

[DeeF]

About Fantasia:

The new BD is fantastic, the best this movie has ever looked and sounded. I have seen it many times in the theater, starting in the late 60s, and this is better than every other release of the film.

I wish the real extras were included, but I have retained the old DVD set.

As to Deems Taylor, like Glenn Erickson (DVD Savant) I think I might have preferred that Deems' original voice be retained wherever possible, and the new dub be a "mismatch," so that I know when it is him and when it is the dubber. But this isn't a big issue for me.

This movie is art. Even Picasso admired Disney's animated films.

 

[bigshot]

Picasso? I've never heard that? What did he say? I can't imagine Picasso liking Disney at all.

 

[DeeF]

Picasso wasn't impressed by the "style" of drawing in animation — very 19th century. But he wrote to Disney, saying that, for the first time, an artist could "go inside the canvas, turn left or right, and see what's in there."

I believe he wrote this in a letter to Disney, in the 60s. I read it in the Picasso biography.

 

[bigshot]

That sounds like a reference to Disneyland.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I have to agree that they went a bit too far on digital clean-up of FANTASIA. The film contains so many scenes where detailed brush strokes are part of the overall feel of the film. It and PINOCCHIO are unlike any other films made by Disney. For some reason, PINOCCHIO, to my eyes at least, has been able to keep much of the texture of the paint whilst playing down the heavy grain of the film stock used at that time. It works. FANTASIA looks as if it has been scrubbed. It actually looks less-detailed in places. It's a minor nitpick of a transfer of which I'm generally quite pleased.

 

[bigshot]

Pinocchio has a different set of problems, primarily dealing with color balances. The first laserdisc release appeared to have been transferred from an original Technicolor print. The colors were very accurate and warm. The bluray has a greenish tint to some scenes, like Geppetto's workshop that was originally a warm orange glow. Also, some effects, like the ripple glass depicting heat rising on the fireplace were smoothed over a lot. Certain primary colors were over emphasized too.
The most accurate transfer of a Disney feature that I've seen is the Mexican bluray of Dumbo. But that has an absolutely horrible 7:1 soundtrack and no original mono alternative. You can't win for losing with Disney animated features.

 

[GMpasqua]

Okay this might be a very stupid question , but I pressed the 7.1 channel sound of the 1940 version and the soundtrack was mono - I am I missing something? The menu was stereo but the film wasn't - ????

 

[Craig Beam]

I just finally got my 5.1 system hooked up yesterday (after moving several months ago), and the first blu-ray I tried was Fantasia.... I had sound in all 5 speakers. I would assume you've got a setting off someplace, mate.

Speaking of the Fantasia blu-ray, the doc/promo pieces on the Disney Family Museum and the Schultheis Notebook blew my mind. I've been meaning to visit San Francisco again for several years... looks like I have yet another reason. Have any of you seen the museum/Schultheis notebook in person?

 

[Brandon Conway]

I've been to the Museum and it is excellent. Very much a museum and not a theme park, so I would not take kids under 12 unless they are very arts / education oriented. My family spent a good 4-5 hours walking through and we read "only" 50-60% of the displays.

Some of the highlights were the awards room in the lobby (the only place you can take pictures - I got one of the cabinet with many of the Oscars, including the Special Oscar for Snow White), one original drawing from McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur, the train from his estate (complete with picture of Dali riding it), a model of Disneyland c. 1967 (with moving parts!), and just the general design of the museum itself, which changes depending on the era being depicted. The room with all the newspaper strips / tribute cartoons at his death was especially moving.

Highly, highly recommended.

 

[garyrc]

 I am so glad you are saying it today. A few weeks ago, some members from this forum treated me like some idiot for asking for an alternative Kostal soundtrack. All I wanted is to have the chance to hear the best hi-fi sound along with the hi definition picture.  Besides, you must be talking about the 1982 re-recording instead of 1977.  Thanks for this review.

That alternative soundtrack never synced very well. The old (1940) one had a frame by frame sync, since it was drawn to music already recorded. I saw the Kostal alternative repeatedly at the Northpoint theater in San Francisco, and while the sound was better, I get a better effect from the old (1940) soundtrack which, for all it's huffing and puffing and hissing, filled me with awe and wonder that they could produce a soundtrack that good back then.
See the old Scientific American article by Peck on Fantasound (1940 or '41)