Disney's Alice in Wonderland 2-Disc SE specs! (1 Viewer)

PaulP · Oct 10, 2003

I quoteth UltimateDisney.com thus:

Technical Specifications: 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, French & Spanish Tracks. Bonus Features: Disc 1 - Virtual Wonderland Party, "The Unbirthday Song" Sing-Along Song, "All in the Golden Afternoon" Sing-Along Song, "Adventures in Wonderland" Set-Top Game, Unused song - "I'm Odd", Animated Short - "Through the Mirror" (1936). Disc 2 - "One Hour in Wonderland" Special, An Alice Comedy: Alice's Wonderland, Theatrical Trailers (hurray - they're including them!), Walt Disney Introductions (1954 and 1964), "Operation Wonderland" (which was on the Gold Collection DVD, as well), "The Fred Waring Show", Abandoned Content: "From Wonderland to Neverland", Deleted Storyboard Concept: "Alice Daydreams in the Park", Song Demos: "Beware the Jabberwock", "Everything Has a Useness", "So They Say", "Beautiful Soup", "Dream Caravan", "If You'll Believe in Me", Art Galleries "and more."

No sign of audio commentary that was on the LD but I'm sure that's just omitted as was the case with Sleeping Beauty and Lion King SEs. I'm especially ecstatic to see an inclusion of the silent Disney short "Alice's Wonderland"! Perhaps a Treasure set of these pre-Mickey shorts later on?

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Scott Weinberg · Oct 11, 2003

Sold!

And am I the only one beginning to ignore the different Disney "banners" (Platinum, Collector's, etc.)? I think the Sleeping Beauty DVD blows away the Lion King DVD in just about every area.

As far as Alice in Wonderland goes, that one wasn't as popular during my childhood as say Snow White or Cinderella or The Jungle Book...or heck even The Aristocats... but Disney consistently delivers something special with the DVDs of their original classics. So this one's a semi-blind buy for me.

(I'm wondering if my sister and I grew up on other Disney classics and not this one due to those staggered re-release patterns that Disney employed throughout the 70s and 80s. Perhaps the fine folks at UltimateDisney

have info on those re-release dates.)

Joe Caps · Oct 11, 2003

Alice didn't really have a staggered release pattern as it was always shown on Disneys tv show.
Someone here mentions a laser commentary track. I have all of the Alice in Wonderland laserdiscs and I do not find a commentary track anywhere.

Tom_Bechet · Oct 11, 2003

when is this supposed to come out??

Brian Kidd · Oct 11, 2003

For those with the LD box set, hold on to it! Once again, Disney has left off some of the content; tons of song demos in this case. That LD box was spectacular! I'll get the DVD for the (hopefully) better picture, but I'm glad I have the LD.

Patrick McCart · Oct 11, 2003

I might be getting this just because the inclusion of that Alice comedy.

PaulP · Oct 11, 2003

For those with the LD box set, hold on to it! Once again, Disney has left off some of the content; tons of song demos in this case. That LD box was spectacular! I'll get the DVD for the (hopefully) better picture, but I'm glad I have the LD.

Well maybe not. The specs do say "and more", so that can mean anything.

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Thomas Hart · Oct 11, 2003

I have the laserdisc of Alice also, and all of the audio supplements on the anolog left were 35 song demos (which some, if not all?, has been listed on the DVD's upcoming specs). The anolog right though consisted of 2 radio broadcasts: An hour long BBC broadcast of "Alice in Wonderland" w/ Disney and Beaumont, and a BBC Xmas radio broadcast also with Disney and Beaumont. Hopefully these will be ported over also to the DVD.

So far, Disney has been very good at transferring most/all of Special Editions/Exclusive Archive Collections Laserdisc supplements over to DVD. The ONLY omission I can think of off the top of my head would be the deletion of "Operation Undersea" from the DVD of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" which was on the laser.

MatthewLouwrens · Oct 11, 2003

An Alice comedy? Cool.

I have the one-disc, but I will double dip on this title. The books were my favourite books as a kid, ad I really enjoy the film, even if it is one of the weaker classic Disneys.

Adam_S · Oct 11, 2003

this just jumped from a maybe purchase to a definite. now I'll just have to decide if Mary Poppins will be my second double dip ever (I don't consider fotr and ttt double dips

)! delighted to see an alice comedy, I wonder if disney is getting the rights to them and perhaps we['ll eventually see a treasures release.

Adam

MatthewLouwrens · Oct 12, 2003

delighted to see an alice comedy, I wonder if disney is getting the rights to them and perhaps we['ll eventually see a treasures release.

Why wouldn't they have the rights to them? Disney did make them.

They would be perfect for a Disney Treasures set - they were, after all, the start of DIsney's career.

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James Reader · Oct 12, 2003

But the company Disney made them with went bankrupt.

AFAIK these are public domain (probably wouldn't be if Disney did keep the rights - see Mickey Mouse and copyright law) but they are now Public Domain and Disney lost the rights before the Disney Company was founded.

However Disney does hold some of these film's negatives in their vaults (I think they subsequently bought them) and some of these shorts are lost forever.

Dan Rudolph · Oct 12, 2003

If they're public domain, how could there be rights problems?

Brian W. · Oct 12, 2003

I'm wondering if my sister and I grew up on other Disney classics and not this one due to those staggered re-release patterns that Disney employed throughout the 70s and 80s.

I don't know about the 70s and 80s, but I'm fairly sure "Alice in Wonderland" never had a theatrical re-release until 1974 (which is when I saw it -- I was in third grade).

EDIT: According to the Walt Disney Feature Animation Fansite, it was re-released in '74 and '81.

According to the book "The Art of Walt Disney," the film was considered an artistic failure at the time of its release, even by Walt, who reportedly said it lacked "heart." The book suggests it is "probably his weakest film."

As I recall, it says "Alice" was shown at a film festival in the early seventies, and soon requests for rentals began pouring in from all over the country, so it was re-released in 1974.

I don't remember any other theatrical release after that one, but that doesn't mean anything. Alice and Dumbo have always kind of been the "expendable" Disney titles... the ones shown on television, and the first two Disney animated features to be released on home video. (Pinocchio is often quoted as the first, but that's incorrect.)

EDIT: According to the same Disney site quoted above, Alice and Dumbo were originally released on home video in 1981, Pinocchio in 1985.

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James Reader · Oct 13, 2003

If they're public domain, how could there be rights problems?

No rights problems, but sourcing a decent transfer may be hard. Again, AFAIK Disney only holds a small number of the original negatives, and some of the shorts are now lost 'forever' (or until rediscovered somewhere). I don't know the number of surviving shorts, but probably not enought for a 2 disc Treasures set.

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Lars Vermundsberget · Oct 13, 2003

From the filmography in "Walt In Wonderland" (by R. Merritt and J.B. Kaufman) I gather the following: Of the 90 or so pre-Mickey Disney films it seems that 50-60 are known to exist today, so I guess there could be enough material for a "Treasures" set.

Steven Wesley · Oct 13, 2003

Funny this came up... I was just thinking to myself the other day, "a Treasures set with the Alice comedies would be interesting." I've never seen one, sans the small clips you see in other documentaries.

PaulP · Oct 13, 2003

Lars, if your information is correct, I would absolutely kill for a Treasures set of Alice Comedies, and any other pre-Mickey shorts produced by Disney. I'm not sure it would be a big seller at WalMart, but die-hard Disney fans and animation aficianados in general should snap it up without question.

Patrick McCart · Oct 13, 2003

If they're public domain, how could there be rights problems?

Disney owns the restorations.

Sorry if this is a repeat...

http://www.talkdisney.com/forums/sho...threadid=20189 mentions song demos.

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MatthewLouwrens · Oct 13, 2003

Lars, if your information is correct, I would absolutely kill for a Treasures set of Alice Comedies, and any other pre-Mickey shorts produced by Disney. I'm not sure it would be a big seller at WalMart, but die-hard Disney fans and animation aficianados in general should snap it up without question.

Which, as I understand it, is the intended market for the Treasures sets.

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