Roger Rabbit Vista Series review up............. (1 Viewer)

[Bob Movies]

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that this "2 disc" special edition devotes one entire disc to a pan and scan copy of the movie? This has happened on a few discs that I own, and it's pretty dumb. A vista series, or collector's edition, should automatically have the original aspect ratio and nothing else. A pan and scan transfer hardly counts as an 'extra' in my book.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Is anyone else bothered by the fact that this "2 disc" special edition devotes one entire disc to a pan and scan copy of the movie?

No it doesn't. From the review:

Disc One's menu options include Movie Theatre, Valiant's Office, ACME Warehouse, Ink & Paint Club, and Maroon Cartoon Studio. The Movie Theatre section leads to a modified 1.33:1 presentation of the movie (with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio). Valiant's Office offers access to audio and subtitle set-up. ACME Warehouse leads to the three long sought-after "Roger Rabbit" animated shorts that were produced following the original movie production: "Tummy Trouble" (shown theatrically with "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids" in 1989), "Roller Coaster Rabbit" ("Dick Tracy" in 1990), and "Trail Mix-Up (1993; "A Far Off Place"). The shorts are presented in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1. Also included in the ACME Warehouse section are an eleven-minute "Who Made Roger Rabbit" featurette hosted by voice talent artist Charles Fleischer and a "Trouble In Toontown" game which includes hidden content. The Ink & Paint Club is nothing more than bonus trailers for "Schoolhouse Rock" and "Ultimate X" (in widescreen, even though the "Ultimate X" DVD is scheduled to be full screen) and the Maroon Cartoon Studio instructs viewers to go to Disc Two for additional bonus material.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Hey, I'm just glad Anamorphic Widescreen and DTS will be on a disc. Do I care a bit about the Fullscreen Disc? No, but I'm not going to complain that it's on there. There are too many movies that aren't avaliable in OAR that I'm not going to complain if P&S is on a disc. Come on people. At least it's coming to DVD unlike many other movies we love.

 

[Michael Coate]

Jeffrey Gray wrote:

Why not wait until a review with PICTURES? Don't jump to conclusions because of ONE review from an often biased source...

Jeffrey,
Since when does a review require pictures for it to be useful or to have any value to a reader? I realize many Web sites incorporate images into their DVD reviews, but that alone doesn't really mean a thing to me. And do you actually think the comments in the review regarding the touched-up frames were made up? You make it sound as though the review staff at Widescreen Review never even watched the disc or never compared it to earlier video versions. If that is the case, it is *you* who is jumping to conclusions. I can assure you the disc was watched and that the information included in the review pertaining to the altered frames is correct. I should know seeing that I was among those who have seen the disc and contributed to the review.

The issue surrounding the touched up frames was not meant to be a focal point of the review. WSR's approach has been to focus on picture and sound presentation as those are the primary things the home theater enthusiast is concerned with. It is not the reviewer's job to tell a consumer what to consume. The reference to which version was present on the disc was provided simply as a piece of information that many readers might be interested in knowing or curious about.

 

[Nigel McN]

I must admit I will have to think long and hard about buying this DVD if they haven't put the original version of the film on it. Especially since I have the previous release.

 

[ScottR]

censored=no sale...unfortunately

 

[TonyD]

this is scheduled for hbo-hd on sat at noon. and is listed as true hd on hbo site.

but it was listed that way the other day and someone posted in another thread that it was only shown in 4x3 not wide or hi def.

 

[Tim RH]

I hate to break it to you guys, but this cut of this film accurately represents the director's original vision. If Bob Zemeckis didn't want those frames in the movie, then you shouldn't want them either. I'll be buying it anyway... The good far outways the bad in the this case.

 

[Chris T. Kennedy]

I could see how not having certain scenes would be bothersome....but why on God's green earth would you not purchase a GREAT movie because of different frames of animation? To "prove a point" to Touchstone or whoever? To get them to release it with the censored stuff back in? Why not just get it on another medium (for saying you have it so you can "bust it out" when you have friends over and explain a little WFRR history) as well as the new DVD with its remastered, ultra-cool awesome-rad-narly-bad DTS track. (Not that I have heard it or anything)

Ahh well, cheers to what is hopefully great audio/video treatment of an entertaining film.

- Chris

 

[rutger_s]

I hate to break it to you guys, but this cut of this film accurately represents the director's original vision. If Bob Zemeckis didn't want those frames in the movie, then you shouldn't want them either. I'll be buying it anyway... The good far outways the bad in the this case.

Actually, Robert Zemekis was upset when he found out about the Baby Herman edit to his film. It was not Zemekis who decided to do this, it was Disney. If Zemekis did approve of the cut then it would surely have been much smoother.

 

[Mark Cappelletty]

I'll be picking this up, no matter what (as he sheepishly admits that he has a copy of the unedited CAV laser). I want those Roger Rabbit shorts!

 

[Stephen Orr]

It's interesting that everyone is spun up by the missing Baby Herman frames, but we hear nary a peep about the very first frame-snipping from WFRR... A 1-2 frame removal of Bettie Boop's breasts popping out during the club scene. This was also in the theatrical release, and even made it into the tapes that were sent to Navy ships when it was released for the close-circuit TV system. I've seen both bits of removed frames, and say that the Bettie Boop removal is a greater loss, if you're looking for "naughty" content.

Will the removal of any of these frames keep me from buying the new disc set? No, because I think their removal speaks more to the intergrity of the folks making the decision to censor, rather than to the integrity and enjoyment of the film itself. And besides, the removal of the Bettie Boop frames has not kept anyone from buying an altered version of the film in the first place.

 

[Brian Sallot]

I will also buy it after skipping on the previous release for the censorship involved. I do not at all approve of their changing what is known as a classic as it shows bad taste on their part. I will also be writing them an E-mail to let them know how I feel about this, I do not expect it to change anything but at least they will know that censorship for any reason is not acceptable at least in my opinion.

I will be adding it to my collection I juts hope when it is eventually re-released(Most likely on a new format such as HD-DVD) That they finally do the right thing and release the version I remember seeing at theaters.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Although it contains animated characters, I wouldn't say it's target audience it children. The Baby Herman moment isn't the only piece of adult humor in this film or the shorts.

That's what puzzles me the most about all this. It's true that a few frames from that scene aren't going to make that much of a difference, but it's still weird.

I passed on the previous DVD, mainly because I heard about the lousy transfer, so I've actually never seen the Baby Herman edit. The original version is extremely brief, though, so I guess it's absence is not that much of a loss, but again, why bother? The bit was not that much more offensive than some of the other material in the film, and it's a lot less exposed.

At any rate, I will be buying this; this is one of my favorite movies, and one of the ones that really sparked my interest in filmmaking. The censorship bothers me, but not enough to keep me from buying it.

Looks like it has some pretty nifty extra features, too. I really hope the trailer is, in fact, on it. That's been bugging me about Disney lately; need to write them, I guess.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

It is very disappointing that the release will be censored.

I would like to know, definitively, whether or not Zemickis approved of these cuts. Is it possible that these snippets were put in by "rogue animators" without his knowledge?

Whatever.

THE BOTTOM LINE is this new Vista Edition is worth the money just for the shorts and multitude of special features.

My big question is whether or not the original trailer will be included with this release. It was advertised as being part of the first release to DVD (it even states that it's included on the back of that release), but was pulled at the last second.

 

[Peter Kline]

I llike the film, with or without the few seconds of baby Herman gooseing the nurse with a cigar. It will not stop me from buying it, as that is my right as well. We all have to make decisions in life and this is mine.

 

[george kaplan]

It's certainly quite possible that Zemekis didn't know about the frames when Jessica flies out of the cab, since you really can't see that at normal play. But the scene with Baby Herman is noticeable at normal play, and it seems far-fetched to think that Zemekis didn't know about (and hence approve) that.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Disney seems to be the only company that pulls stuff like this. I can see changing the part where Jessica gets thrown out of the cab, as that likely was sneaked in there. According to the imdb, the part with Betty Boop was an animation mistake with her top being drawn too low, making her appear topless. Baby Herman's infamous scene definitely was intentional, though.

 

[Jean-Michel]

PEOPLE WE'RE FORGETTING THE REAL ISSUE HERE

 

[Tony Whalen]

Folks, if you want to blame anyone, blame the anal-retentive north-american society.
(SARCASM)
This movie contains animated characters. Therefore it MUST be meant for children. (/SARCASM)
:rolleyes
Sad, but that seems to be how North America views ANYTHING that is animated, or contains animation.
Therefore, as it is considered to be a "childrens movie", OF COURSE they are not going to put these few seconds in. Can you imagine the uproar from millions of J6P's who buy this movie "for the kids" and see Baby Herman doing his thing? Or their kid pauses at JUST that right moment for Jessica? Returns and/or lawsuits galore!!!
Don't get me wrong... I'd like to see it in it's original form as well... but with today's lawsuit-happy society, why on earth would Disney open themselves up to problems of that magnitude? (I may not agree with their practices most of the time... but I sure understand this instance.)
What I don't understand is folks refusing to purchase this film because it's missing 10 frames. But that being said, I know a lot of people think I'm weird for reprinting a bunch of my DVD cover art. To each their own...
... personally, I can hardly wait to have this. Last version of WFRR I had (and still have locked away) was on frickin' BETA!!!!!!!!