Blu-ray Review HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: Pinocchio: 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition (1 Viewer)

[Edwin-S]

Well, you make some pretty good points; although I'm not sure what you are referring to when you use the term "film layer". That sounds vaguely like a euphemism for grain. If it is then I would like to know why grain removal on old live action films is unacceptable: yet, grain removal on old animation classics is just the opposite. The cels were transferred to film, so why is it suddenly okay to remove the "film layer"?

 

[Brian Borst]

Well, the grain removal is a tricky subject. Yes, I'd rather have that they just leave the grain intact. But Lowry (they did the restoration, didn't they?) has found a way to remove grain with keeping the details intact. And it looks way better than, for example Patton or The Longest Day look on Blu-Ray.

 

[BCGHR2]

I was able to get an advance copy of the Blu-ray disc and it is stunning. Once again the team at Disney has got it right (along with the wizards at Lowry). This just leaps off the screen - and I am so happy that they found the RKO logo. I hear that the head of that group has also restored the SNOW WHITE opening cards as well as those for DUMBO

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I would hesitate to rely on screencaps when it comes to line detail and quality. You need to see the movie in motion to make that judgment.

 

[Paul Arnette]

Especially compressed screencaps.

 

[RDarrylR]

I picked my copy up this morning and am very impressed with this. I really like the packaging as well.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

We're not allowed to promote external websites from HTF so I won't mention any particulars about the site, but I go into detail on this very subject in my thoughts on this Blu-ray Disc title in my review.

Bottom line of my synopsis (not proving anything, just my opinion naturaly) is that what is the "original art work" is open to debate with animation. With animation, we have the ability to move one step closer past the film negative to the "original" if you will by using the painted art as the reference rather than the photograph of it.

Does that alter the look of the result so that it looks less like film than the release print? Yes. Is it controversial? Yes. Does it reveal with even greater purity the appearance of the hand-painted, hand-drawn artwork? Yes.

Is it possible to both support the preservation of fine film grain structure with live-action motion pictures and at the same time appreciate what Disney has done with the breathtaking images of Pinocchio? Yes.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

All painted image contours are 100% preserved. This is not the case of WB noise-reduction.

Trust those of us who've seen the disc.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I use digital copies primarily to have a portable SD version of the film that I can watch on TVs when I am away from my Blu-Ray player (traveling in the car with kids, visiting the in-laws, etc.). If I have a DVD copy, I do not need that.

Regards,

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Exactly. My daughter was thrilled that HSM 3 came with DC, because she could transfer it to her media player and watch the movie on the go. She's 14, and not as much of fan of classic Disney animation as she used to be (if she's anything like me, she'll come around in her later teens), so no DC of Pinocchio is not a deal breaker.

 

[RobertR]

Just got this in the mail, and immediately played it on my 123" CRT projection system. I don't know what the colors, etc. should look like, but I have to say this is the most gorgeous rendition of this all-time classic (I think it's the greatest of the Disney animated films) I've ever seen. Detail, color purity...it's all there. Just magnificent.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Robert,

A projection system with real black level... sigh...

do you have a 9" CRT? Just curious what type of system you have given the 123" screen size. Do you drive the CRT at 1080p60 or at 1080i60 with the analog output direct from the BD player?

Glad you think the disc looks so beautiful. Seeing this I can rest easy with knowing how Disney will handle their animated library.

 

[RobertR]

David,

I have an 8" projector (NEC XG135LC). I play BDs at 1080i60, using the Moome HDMI card (which greatly relieved one of my worries about how I could best take advantage of HD with a CRT), so it's HDMI all the way into the projector. And yes, blacks are deep....so deep you can't see your hand (or the screen) in front of your face when a scene fades to black.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Keith: it's not DNR; what you're seeing is the fact that the top of all the eyes in this movie have a sort of "eyeliner" paint effect that was intended to give depth and shading to their eyes. It just doesn't show up well in that screencap. That "eyeliner" effect also tends to (intentionally) obscure or otherwise undelineate the tops of everyone's eyes. It's apparent throughout the movie and looks very natural and clever.

A few other things:

1.) There's possibly a word missing from the soundtrack! In "Give a Little Whistle," the old dvd's soundtrack goes like this:

Jiminy: "And when your whistle's weak, yell!"

Pinocchio: "Jiminy Cricket?"

Jiminy: "Right!"

Jiminy's callback "Right!" is missing on the BluRay. The BR has two audio channels: one a modern "stereo" remix and one supposedly the original mono. I checked: the word is missing from both. The word exists on the old dvd, and also the original vhs tape, (from circa 1985). I think the exclusion or inclusion of that word depends on whatever source material they used to remaster this song. The word doesn't exist on old Disneyland records soundtracks. I've only ever heard it uttered on older home video versions of the film. (Not sure if it's on the more recent CD soundtrack recordings, but I'll check later). I'll leave it to the experts to tell us whether the word is even supposed[/i/] to really be in the movie: that is, whether it existed in the original film prints or not.

2.) There's some notable tape hiss during the opening credit score, better known as "When You Wish Upon A Star." I notice that they must have jacked up the chorus part, which had been horribly obscured and buried under other noise in all other home video releases thus far. Now, you can hear the chorus very well, but their first line which is "Ahhhhhhhh..." now sounds like "Ahhhhhhh" combined with "SSSSSSSSSSSSsssss!!!!" It's not as bad as I'm making it sound, but there it is. The hiss probably came about because they turned the volume up on the chorus (so that we can finally hear them) and the hiss was natural to that track. Probably nothing the audio engineers could do about it. The better part is that later in the song when they come in with "Fate is kind..." you can actually understand, probably for the first time in history, what they are saying! Couldn't hear any other audio defects throughout the rest of the movie (except for the missing "Right!")

3.) Didn't notice and DNR or EE issues throughout the movie. None whatsoever.

4.) The only weirdness in terms of color that I noticed is that when the Blue Fairy drops by, the front of Pinocchio's pants turn pink. However, the inseam of his pants is still red. The pinkness didn't exist in the old dvds. I think it's supposed to be because there's a big glare around her and that whites out the colors in the room?? The pants drop back to red when she's gone. So...uh...??

5.) The "Disneybars" were just clumsy and stupid. One big problem with them is that they're of a much sharper image than the actual film. And when the camera moves it looks like you're looking through a window. It's just weird and unnecessary. Don't turn it on.

6.) As for people pre-complaining about bad color saturation, etc.---you are all crazy! Watch the movie! It looks perfect! No, I do not know what exact colors you should be seeing. I was not in a theater in 1940 nor have I an original print of the film. But it looks exactly the way it should. Vague though that may sound, I can't be any clearer than that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the movie looks the way I always thought it should look. Now, you compare THIS to the original dvd and it's night and day. The old dvd was a total crapfest. It was unwatchable even when it came out. Colors were totally washed out, the sound was bad, focus was bad, edging was impossible. It looked like they transferred it from the 1980s video master. It was BAD. The BluRay is GOOD. Beyond good.

 

[RomanSohor]

I thought the PQ on this was amazing. Period. No room for discussion - perfection.

I watched it with the Disneyview "bars" turned on.

Most of the time they were unobtrusive, but there were times when there was fast cutting (the climax of the Pleasure Island scene" and the bars changed very quickly too - then they became noticeable and distracting.

 

[Nelson Au]

I picked up the disc yesterday and will enjoy it this weekend!

Thought I'd mention something a little off-topic. I'm obviously not a huge Disney fan. But I have the TV on and tuned to The View which is broadcasting from the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank and ABC is owned by The Walt Disney company as you know. Whoopie Goldberg did a segment where she got access to the Disney Archives and they have in there all the costumes and props from all the history of Disney. They showed the prop book used for filming the titles to Sleeping Beauty with the original art inside. The costume the child actor wore for doing the reference work for Pinnochio was shown. The model of the Nautilus was in there too. It was very cool to see. Like the Lucas archives at ILM.

The Chairman was also on and talked about D23, a new quarterly fan magazine that looks pretty slick! But this is stuff for a Disney thread.

 

[Reagan]

Just an amazing release. Last night, I sampled the movie, watched the entire documentary, and watched about half of the video commentary. It was all great.

I think the disney bars are an amusing curiousity. They're fun to play with for a while, but then they get old. I don't object to their presence - as long as they are optional and the disc is set to default to "no disney bars", as is the case here.

But the real star is the film itself - and how good it looks. Looking forward to Snow White in the fall.

-R

 

[Mike Frezon]

Amazon deal on Pinocchio & Sleeping Beauty BDs!

A poster over at SlickDeals is reporting that if you buy BOTH the Blu-ray releases of Pinocchio & Sleeping Beauty @ amazon.com they'll take $10 off EACH TITLE...dropping the total price by $20!

Here's a capture of his order page:

 

[DeeF]

I'll describe what I think I can see, using the pictures of Stromboli patting Pinocchio's head from the DVDBeaver site.

Stromboli is standing between a dark space (the theater) and a light space (the stage).

In the original DVD image, Stromboli's blouse and pants reflect this, with the color lightest on his right arm patting Pinocchio, and darkest on his left side, the side to the dark "audience."

There is some definite contrast in the handpainted color, reflecting natural light and lack of light.

The new DVD and BD show none of this contrast. The colors have been made uniform, perhaps because they were repainted digitally.

Although I have bought the BD and look forward to watching it, I do wish the people at Disney would simply restore the negative and then scan it, rather than redoing everything in the digital domain.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

That deal's not coming up for me. Judging from the SlickDeals thread, it seems pretty random as to who gets it.