We may have to hang on to our BEAUTY AND THE BEAST DVD's... (1 Viewer)

The latest issue of Rolling Stone has a very flattering review of the Disney Blu-ray, but mentions, "Unless it's hidden, the early "work in progress" version that appeared on that previous DVD set is a notable omission."
 
Surely it must be on there somewhere....? If not, I'll have to buy back the previous set and add the first disc from it into this set. I had to do that with SLEEPING BEAUTY when I discovered the DVD and Blu editions had different commentary tracks. I should have learned from that!

It's there, but only in PiP form. You have to put in the DVD from the set to watch it fullscreen.

Originally Posted by Joseph J.D
PiP? Well that just sucks then. I see I'm going to have to keep the DVD then just for that extra alone.

Click to expand...

I could be wrong but I think Brian is saying that the DVD is included along with the Blu-ray.

That's correct, at least according to the people who already own it. Honestly, I don't really care. It's still there (on both discs, even) and this way it won't take away much from the disc space a complete version of the workprint would.

It's something that might play better as a PIP anyway, IMO.

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
It's something that might play better as a PIP anyway, IMO.

Click to expand...

This. I never did buy the DVD, so the Blu will be new to me, if I decide to buy it. That said, PIP should be good enough, I couldn't imagine watching an unfinished line drawing all the way through.

IIRC the DVD was authored so that both versions were a multi-angle stream which shared the video bitrate and made the visual quality absolutely horrendous - a flurry of mosquito noise. I saw the DVD once and shelved it; it was unwatchable on my setup. Looking forward to the upgrade.

The Work-in-Progress version isn't "an unfinished line drawing all the way through"; only some scenes are presented as unfinished line drawings. I agree that picture-in-picture functionality is useful for this sort of thing, allowing the viewer to compare the work-in-progress version to the finished picture. At the same time, the Work-in-Progress is the version of Beauty and the Beast that originally premiered, isn't it? As such, I think it should be preserved on disc. Add to this the fact that is was included as a complete version of the film unto itself on laserdisc and DVD, and omitting it from the Blu-ray is a definite downgrade. I agree that it was implemented poorly (with regard to image quality) on DVD, but the solution is to do it right this time around, not to ditch it altogether.

my first home-video experience with B&tB was the laserdisc Workprint. Which was... surprising. Not just the heart tattooed on the Beast's rump, but that even though it skipped from finished form to pencil test to clean-line drawing, to photographed story-board -- it was perfectly watchable. Not as in, "I can stand to watch this," but in some ways just as real and valid a "show" as was the fully animated form I saw later.
 
Leo

I am not entirely sure, but I think that the Work In Progress presented on the DVD is not only a different version than the one on the laserdisc, but is also framed incorrectly/differently. I have never seen the dvd version, but own the laserdisc.

But is the true original theatrical cut on there? What was on the first DVD still had the redone IMAX scenes in it.

I wouldn't expect the animation fixes to ever be changed back to the older version.

Originally Posted by Brandon Conway
I wouldn't expect the animation fixes to ever be changed back to the older version.

Click to expand...

According to that guy on UltimateDisney who already has it, all of the changes are reversed for the theatrical version. So you in fact get the original version, apart from the opening logo. That has been replaced by the current Castle logo, and the Animation Studios one right after it. A bit of a shame.

Wow, really? That's great (and unexpected) news! Gives me hope for The Lion King...

I just checked a couple of scenes from the BD and it appears that the theatrical version is indeed the theatrical version.

Does that include the audio? Specifically, the crashing sounds over the beast's "howl" when Belle leaves the castle? Even if they went out of their way to put all the animation changes back the way they were, I can imagine them overlooking the audio. Any word on whether or not that's the case?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cafink
Does that include the audio? Specifically, the crashing sounds over the beast's "howl" when Belle leaves the castle? Even if they went out of their way to put all the animation changes back the way they were, I can imagine them overlooking the audio. Any word on whether or not that's the case?

Click to expand...

There are crashing sounds over the beast's howl in the SE version that aren't in the theatrical cut. There is also some stuttering when the beast wants to show Belle to her room. It sounds like "You wanna you wanna stay in the tower".

You're saying that those two scenes differ between the two versions on the Blu-ray? That's great news! It sounds like the "theatrical version" really is the theatrical version this time. I didn't think it'd ever be released again, honestly. Great job, Disney!

Originally Posted by cafink
You're saying that those two scenes differ between the two versions on the Blu-ray? That's great news! It sounds like the "theatrical version" really is the theatrical version this time. I didn't think it'd ever be released again, honestly. Great job, Disney!

Click to expand...

The scene with the beast' howl sounds different between the two versions. The stuttering is in both versions. It was fixed on the old dvd, iirc.

That's interesting. It's my understanding that there's actually some debate as to whether the stutter was intentional, or the result of an audio error.
 
The Special Edition was originally released in theaters, wasn't it? Does anyone know whether or not that release included the stutter? In other words, should the correction of the stutter be considered one of the Special Edition changes (in which case, the Blu-ray's Special Edition is not completely faithful to its original release), or is it just a separate issue that was addressed especially for the previous DVD release?