DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Cinderella - 2 disc Platinum Edition - ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECOMMENDED!!! (1 Viewer)

[Lars Vermundsberget]

The word Platinum doesn't mean that a non-Platinum DVD (Sleeping Beauty) can't be just as good.

 

[Brendon]

David,

Another sterling review! I took a chance on Bambi sight unseen at the time, partially down to your review. My posts here were tetimony to just how hard that film bowled me over.

Even prior to your review, I'd pre-ordered Cinderella. To my shame it's another Disney classic I've never seen. Sure, I know all the songs and the story but have not yet seen the film.

Unsuprsingly it would seem that the only obsticle to enjoying the film itself will only be the film itself. For all of Disney's (the company) faults, lacklustre presentation of their animated films is not amongst them. I'm hoping that Cinderella will sit proudly alongside Snow White, Bambi, Fantasia Anthology and others on my DVD shelf. Having just seen Howl's Moving Castle at the cinema and bought the 10th Anniv. Toy Story disc, this is proving to be a good year for animation!

BTW I've seen less articulately written reviews invested with less enthusiasm by better known, highly respected critics. Your reviews of the Pixar/Disney DVDs to date should be archived for posterity!

Brendon

 

[Chris S]

Just wanted to add my thanks for the amazing review!!

 

[TonyD]

the last time a saw cinderella was about 30 years ago on a screen at K&A in kensington philly in a theater called MIDWAY.

it was close to being shut down and was a dump at the time but it was great to see movies in such a huge theater.
including the balcony it had nearly 3000 seats.

i probably saw this on a saturday matinee for a quarter.

cant wait to see it again.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I've updated the special features to inlcude (some) play-time info. This was more-or-less taken by faith from the "hover time" that displays when you highlight the feature in the menu...a nice menu touch I appreciate Disney offering.

The 9 old men feature clocks around 22 minutes.

Also, I perused the still image galleries and didn't find anything that looked like photos of Disneyland...other than some poster art. When you guys get the disc I'd love to hear a nice comparison to the laserdisc still galleries.

thanks to everyone for their participation in the thread!

 

[ScottR]

I wonder why Disney is starting to replace the RKO logos that were present on the previously "restored" versions?

 

[TonyD]

i didnt know about the rko logo.
until i read this.
today i watched dumbo and noticed it had the rko logo on the front of the feature.

 

[Brendon]

Just received my Canadian R1 copy of the film here at work, and it looks jolly super on my PowerBook here. Have to wait until I get home to watch and appreciate it fully though.

One thing that did hit me immediately though is the lack of THX certification & Optimizer. Not that this has made a blind bit of difference to the presentation itself, but was noticed due to the absence of the descending chord trailer.

Does this mark a new policy of Disney/Buena Vista with repesct to the Platinum and/or regular Disney animated DVD lines ?

Outside of Lucasfilm Disney, and by association Pixar, were/are pretty much the last people to routinely use THX certification as a selling point.

(I'm aware of the sentiment regarding the "relationship" of disc certification and AV quality - just more interested in a potential shift in Disney policy).

Brendon

 

[JoeJ]

I read that review a little while back and I'd like to say thank you for it, as it is a good one. Cinderella was the first film that I ever saw in a cinema and I watched the video countless times as a kid. I have the gift set on order and I can't wait for it. Whilst it is true that the lack of audio commentary is disappointing, it otherwise seems a decent release and better than the 2 disc releases of Brother Bear, Alice in Wonderland, Mulan and The Lion King (although the former three were very good discs, I must say, and The Lion King would have joined them if it weren't for all the messy menus). And I have to profess that the restoration looks like the best thing in the release. Look at this older screencap from a laserdisc (or maybe a video) and compare it to the screencap from the DVD (taken from DVD Talk's review). I know that the shots are minorly different, but needless to say, just look at the difference!

http://disney.jbug.net/Gallery/c12/p21.jpg
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/image...1128030247.jpg

 

[JoeJ]

Are you sure? In the DVD Talk review (which all the mentioning from me must make me sound like some traitor ), there is mention of the THX Optimizer. Perhaps this is a Canadian thing?

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

The colours, the whole mood is different. This isn't just a question of "quality" - these look like two quite different versions of the film.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

I can attest that the colors on the DVD when projected feel absolutely "right"...not a case of pumped colors for the "home video" market...I think that the LDI folks took great care to match colors to the intended originals...and very often they are quite subdued.

It feels right. My bet is that this version of Cinderella has the colors right, and it's the LD that was skewed.

 

[Brendon]

Could be. Does anyone with the US region 1 disc care to weigh in ?

Brendon

 

[BrettB]

No THX on R1.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

The transfer is indeed one of the best from Disney so far, with none of the edge enhancement and ribbing on fleshtones that so badly marred Pocahontas. It helps that an RSDL disc was used for a fairly short movie, so they were able to make the most of the bit rate. It looks gorgeous.

And no THX optimizer on my US copy either.

 

[MatthewA]

I don't know. Bambi, on the DVD, had a "Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Co, Inc." credit at the restoration credits. Does this film have anything like that?

Over the past 15 years Disney has actively kept original logos for RKO, Buena Vista, etc on its video releaes, but lately I've seen the trend shift in the other way. Catalog releases still have them.

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Note: This is my opinion only and has nothing to do with any other opinion stated on this thread.

Unfortunately, this is not the Cinderella that I held so close to my childhood memories, both at the theater and even on VHS.:frowning:

It was like watching a modern cartoon, voiding the artistic genius of the original artists.

Brilliant colors standing out like a comic book or like one of those new sequels that uses a classic title's name in the hopes it will sell. Looks like a cheap IMITATION! (Couldn't bring myself to finish the movie.)

I feel that Disney has robbed me of the original artwork atmosphere: colors, pastels and shadows, that I remember so well and that was an intricate part of the painting of the story of "Walt Disney's Cinderella"; that I loved. Until it was gone, I didn't realize what I missed.

I want to see the original classic on DVD.:rolleyes
A duplicate picture of the original art that was created on film, not changed by some impulse or whim.

Paul

 

[Oleg]

From what I remember Disney started rotoscoping for his feature films with Snow White where Marjorie Belcher was rotoscoped for Snow White, and a male model was rotoscoped for the Prince. This is out of Mosley's "Disney's World" biography, which I read a while back so is by no means the definitive word on the subject.

 

[Paul D G]

C'mon, really. Would you rather Singin in the Rain be released as a faded, washed out print because that's the way you first saw it years ago? Should the clean xfers of Night of the Living Dead be pulled and the blurry unstable version be reinstated because that's how most of us first saw it?

I'm teasing, but, c'mon, that's a little extreme.

-paul

 

[ScottR]

From stills I have seen of the film, the new dvd looks faithful to the film.