Full Details: Disney's "Aladdin"! (1 Viewer)

Buena Vista Home Entertainment uncorks the genie bottle on October 5th with the first-ever DVD release of Aladdin.

The two-disc Platinum Series set will boast a newly restored anamorphic video transfer and a Dolby Digital 5.1 enhanced home theater sound mix. According to Disney, more than 20% of the original artwork has been enhanced for the new digital transfer, with some characters redrawn to add more facial detail and backgrounds and starfields touched up for color and detail.

Bonus materials are set to include two audio commentary tracks, a making-of documentary, a pop-up trivia subtitle track, design and still galleries, deleted sequences (including the musical number "Proud of Your Boy" by Oscar-winning songwriters Howard Ashman and Alan Menken with newly completed animation), storyboards, pencil tests, a virtual carpet ride, a 3D tour of Genie's lamp, sing-along songs, set-top games, musical postcards, "A Whole New World" music video by Disney Channel stars, trailers, DVD-ROM material and more.

Retail will be $29.99.

Paraphrased = More than 20% of the movie has been changed.

Who am I kidding? I'll still buy it.

What happened to the IMAX release? I vividly remember the preview before I saw the Lion King in IMAX. Did Disney decide to shelve it in favor of The Young Black Stallion?

Disney enhanced for HT mix. Count me in. I don't suppose their is any cover artwork yet?

Not yet.

Perhaps Disney could finally release the restored version of "The Thief and the Cobbler" to DVD now that they're releasing the remake.



Zig-Zag would be most pleased.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the new song, which was edited out of the final version. Also looking forward to the pencil tests - which I believe are of Aladdin's mother Patrick? I wouldn't know personally...

Phooey, I got all excited when I saw a news release about this this morning because I thought I could come announce it here...but Patrick beat me to it. Ah well.

Still, I'm going to post the link anyway because there are a few more details (including info on the pencil test you mentioned, Tom -- it is indeed of Aladdin's mother).

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...ilm_aladdin_dc

Sounds like they're going to do a decent job with it, although I am not sure I like this 20% redrawn business. We'll see....

cheers,
Phil

They did the same "enhancements" to both Beauty and the Beast and, to a lesser extent, The Lion King. Very few people ever noticed (I know there was a thread with some discussion on the changes to TLK). For the most part this was done to background characters that were badly off model and inconsistant with the rest of the film. Remember, all three of these films were enhanced because of IMAX releases (though Aladdin won't get an IMAX release because Disney found it unprofitable), and on the large IMAX screen such inconsistant work would have been too greatly noticeable.

Actually, I just wondered something else -- are they going to go back to the original vocal track in the opening song, or cave in and keep the (very obvious) changed lyric? Ten bucks says it's the latter.

cheers,
Phil

In that instance I doubt they'd restore the original lyrics.

Well, it's good to know that I should hang onto my laserdisc.

20% redrawn? That has to be a new record for them.

And according to rumours, Pocahontas had already been altered to such an extent (it was being prepped for a potential IMAX release), to it looks like the Masterpeice release of this will be altered too.

Can't wait to reveiw this disc. The CAV laserdisc set I own has been spun many times...

I had been hoping for a DTS enhanced mix...but I'll manage to get buy with a DD enhanced mix if forced to accept it.

This should be the reference DVD of the year (hopefully compression artifacts will be minimal).

DaViD:

Me, I'm hoping that ROTK:EE or the Star Wars discs will be THE reference discs of the year, but I can definitely say I'd be really happy about a great-looking "Aladdin".

Re: the compression artifacts: I surely hope so. I'm not at all happy with the way "Beauty and the Beast" looks because of its digital artifacts. (But that was because they crammed three versions of the film on one disc, right? No such problem with "Aladdin", right? Right?)

cheers,
Phil

Maybe we'll have a win-win-win and it will a tie with *three* reference discs!

Hey, I could go for that.

cheers,
Phil

I haven't seen Aladdin since I saw it in the theatre. I'm really looking forward to October!

No sale here- didn't buy the laserdisc because of the changed lyrics, and won't buy it with another 20% changed. Michael Eisner doesn't deserve my money anyways.

"Beauty and the Beast" is highly overcompressed because of three versions of the film on disc one.

"Monster's Inc." is overcompressed because of two versions of the film on disc one.

"Finding Nemo" is overcompressed because of TONS of supplements on disc one.

"The Lion King" is also overcompressed.

None of these discs are reference quality (though most people won't notice, especially on the last three). So I won't be holding my breath.