- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,397
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Kudos to the Disney organization.
They could have attempted to hide the fact that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a wonderful, historically significant, still moving, and slightly old-fashioned experiment in taking the animated film past the 8 minute mark, and into the feature film category.
They didn't.
As with a number of their feature animated Classics (and in this case the capital C is warranted), The folks at Disney have given Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the grand treatment. This isn't sending the original negative to a spa for the afternoon. This is the big time.
What has exited the other side is something that we have never seen before. But neither had Mr. Disney and those that created the film. Technicolor in 1937 was notoriously soft and lacking in definition and detail. And I would presume because of that, that there is little in Snow White. Facial details are nil. Outlines rule. The famous Disney "everything in the frame is moving at the same time" isn't there. While the central focus of the frame has movement (2 frames per move, ie 12 different frames per second) the backgrounds and those elements at the sides, stay frozen for all time.
The multi-plane camera, which was totally new, is used to beautiful effect.
But taking this 75 year old film, and running it through modern devices at 4k resolution, and then having Lowry Digital work their magic upon it removing grain, has yielded an image that while beautiful, has opened every flaw to the naked eye.
I would wager than one person out of 10,000 will view this gorgeous Blu-ray -- and it is gorgeous -- and not be enthralled by the art of early animation. Allow me to make a point here for the uninitiated.
This is Early Disney animation.
While unbelievably rich and detailed for its time, this is not your father's Disney animated feature. This is your grandfather's animated feature. The extraordinary details found in the likes of Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp -- not to go near or even mention those films about the pretty girl and the hairy animal or that undersea film -- are nowhere to be found.
There is no getting around that this film is an extremely historically important. This is a document that has been passed down, and has been beautifully preserved and restored. But in 2009, it also may have a bit of an archaic look to the modern audience. You're not going to find this in Disney production even just a few years hence, and this speaks volumes as to the technological achievements going on at the studio during those years.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that anyone should pass on purchasing this film.
It is essential to any serious collection.
But, Please...
please...
look upon it for what it is.
A grand experiment at taking the animated film to the next level.
That worked!
And the Blu-ray is gorgeous.
To interesting specifics:
Those with "eagle eyes" will note that certain frames, now exposed for all to see, go out of focus.
This is not an error of the crack Disney team led by archivist Theo Gluck.
What we're seeing for the very first time via these extremely high resolution scans, are either damaged or mis-placed cells within the multi-plane camera, that for a single frame are out of focus, or otherwise affected. I've never noted this before, and it shows up the care with which the original elements were scanned and processed.
You're seeing everything.
I personally find this extremely interesting, as neither Mr. Disney (as I noted above) nor anyone during the production would have seen these points because of the overall lack of resolution in the Technicolor process. References were made by the restoration team, digested, and occasional fixes made, where possible, and with absolute and proper reverence.
While I'm a bit torn between the exposure of the early animation techniques by the high resolution scanning and grain removal without loss of resolution, plus the brilliant color, the end result on Blu-ray is a film that will thrill (or frighten) the young, exhilarate those in between and cause those with an eye toward the consummate history of Disney and animation to take a cool, crisp and knowing look at one of the greatest achievements in animation history.
This is not Snow White without clothes. This is a Snow White that allows everything to be seen by the modern audience, with no apologies spoken or necessary. A 75 year old classic meets modern technology, and the Disney organization has given the audience far more than their money's worth.
I should make one point here as to packaging, as there may be confusion. For whatever reason, Disney has returned to standard size and color SD DVD packaging for this Blu-ray. I had to look twice to figure out what it was, and then proceeded to load the SD disc in error.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is Highly Recommended.
RAH
They could have attempted to hide the fact that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a wonderful, historically significant, still moving, and slightly old-fashioned experiment in taking the animated film past the 8 minute mark, and into the feature film category.
They didn't.
As with a number of their feature animated Classics (and in this case the capital C is warranted), The folks at Disney have given Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the grand treatment. This isn't sending the original negative to a spa for the afternoon. This is the big time.
What has exited the other side is something that we have never seen before. But neither had Mr. Disney and those that created the film. Technicolor in 1937 was notoriously soft and lacking in definition and detail. And I would presume because of that, that there is little in Snow White. Facial details are nil. Outlines rule. The famous Disney "everything in the frame is moving at the same time" isn't there. While the central focus of the frame has movement (2 frames per move, ie 12 different frames per second) the backgrounds and those elements at the sides, stay frozen for all time.
The multi-plane camera, which was totally new, is used to beautiful effect.
But taking this 75 year old film, and running it through modern devices at 4k resolution, and then having Lowry Digital work their magic upon it removing grain, has yielded an image that while beautiful, has opened every flaw to the naked eye.
I would wager than one person out of 10,000 will view this gorgeous Blu-ray -- and it is gorgeous -- and not be enthralled by the art of early animation. Allow me to make a point here for the uninitiated.
This is Early Disney animation.
While unbelievably rich and detailed for its time, this is not your father's Disney animated feature. This is your grandfather's animated feature. The extraordinary details found in the likes of Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp -- not to go near or even mention those films about the pretty girl and the hairy animal or that undersea film -- are nowhere to be found.
There is no getting around that this film is an extremely historically important. This is a document that has been passed down, and has been beautifully preserved and restored. But in 2009, it also may have a bit of an archaic look to the modern audience. You're not going to find this in Disney production even just a few years hence, and this speaks volumes as to the technological achievements going on at the studio during those years.
I'm not suggesting for a moment that anyone should pass on purchasing this film.
It is essential to any serious collection.
But, Please...
please...
look upon it for what it is.
A grand experiment at taking the animated film to the next level.
That worked!
And the Blu-ray is gorgeous.
To interesting specifics:
Those with "eagle eyes" will note that certain frames, now exposed for all to see, go out of focus.
This is not an error of the crack Disney team led by archivist Theo Gluck.
What we're seeing for the very first time via these extremely high resolution scans, are either damaged or mis-placed cells within the multi-plane camera, that for a single frame are out of focus, or otherwise affected. I've never noted this before, and it shows up the care with which the original elements were scanned and processed.
You're seeing everything.
I personally find this extremely interesting, as neither Mr. Disney (as I noted above) nor anyone during the production would have seen these points because of the overall lack of resolution in the Technicolor process. References were made by the restoration team, digested, and occasional fixes made, where possible, and with absolute and proper reverence.
While I'm a bit torn between the exposure of the early animation techniques by the high resolution scanning and grain removal without loss of resolution, plus the brilliant color, the end result on Blu-ray is a film that will thrill (or frighten) the young, exhilarate those in between and cause those with an eye toward the consummate history of Disney and animation to take a cool, crisp and knowing look at one of the greatest achievements in animation history.
This is not Snow White without clothes. This is a Snow White that allows everything to be seen by the modern audience, with no apologies spoken or necessary. A 75 year old classic meets modern technology, and the Disney organization has given the audience far more than their money's worth.
I should make one point here as to packaging, as there may be confusion. For whatever reason, Disney has returned to standard size and color SD DVD packaging for this Blu-ray. I had to look twice to figure out what it was, and then proceeded to load the SD disc in error.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is Highly Recommended.
RAH
