Mary Poppins to be remastered 16x9 Anamorphic and New Pinocchio transfer??? (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

check out http://www.thebigpicturedvd.com/bignews.shtml
and scroll down to Thrusday Nov. 7th.
There they talk about the amazing digital wonders of LDI's "restoration" process in regards to Sunset Blvd. which digitally cleans up video images for DVD and HD (though not technically a true film restoration process at these resolutions). In any case...read the following bit of text quoted from the site and see if you don't see a rather interesting side-note:

You're probably familiar with LDI's restoration of DR. ZHIVAGO, CITIZEN KANE, SNOW WHITE, PETER PAN, the recent release of SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and soon, PINOCCHIO, which Lowry promises will delight fans of the beloved Disney classic. The quality should be outstanding. They're also working on MARY POPPINS, and a few other titles we can't reveal -- yet.

Hmmm. So Dinsney's remastering Mary Poppins. Well...does anyone else find this as exciting as I do? It almost assuredly indicates that not only will we be getting a new stellar Mary Poppins DVD, but that the disc will most likely be 16x9 since it will require a new transfer. I find it interesting that Pinocchio is also referenced as receiving the LDI treatment...
thoughts???

p.s. yes, we can harp back and forth about film-grain vs these "cleaned" images on home-video. I for one enjoy the effect of film-grain that was present for artistic purposes, but as long as true image detail isn't sacrificed, I also find it pleasing to see the "window like" image quality gained from LDI's process on poor-quality surviving prints and source material.
In any case...the strong possibility a 16x9 Mary Poppins is worth getting excited about!

 

[TonyD]

will this be the third version of mary poppins?

 

[Kajs]

So my theory is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Mary Poppins, and The Love Bug will the titles in the next batch of Vault Disney DVDs.

 

[Jeff_HR]

I'm a big fan of these two titles, so I'm very pleased.

 

[MatthewA]

Will Pinocchio be an SE? I'm very excited about that one. There are numerous extras on the CAV LD box set that didn't make the first DVD.

 

[James Reader]

In any case...the strong possibility a 16x9 Mary Poppins is worth getting excited about!

The European release is 16:9 enhanced already. True, it won't be using the new remeastered transfer but worth noting for anyone who's interested.

 

[Jedrek]

I wish they would make a Platinum Edition for Pinnochio - its my favorite Disney film to date and deserves this treatment. Unfortunately, I doubt it'll happen.

 

[DeeF]

I was under the impression that Singin' in the Rain wasn't done using the same technique.

Hmm...

 

[Patrick McCart]

I'm surprised Peter Pan and Singin' In The Rain were done by LDI.

Pincchio really needs remastering. While the current DVD has excellent color, it seems to be DVNR-ized slightly and is very grainy. Other than that, it's a fine transfer. If the remaster looks anything like Snow White, it's another double dip for me (I'd especially like some supplements like another John Canemaker commentary like on Dumbo)

A few of the titles LDI will likely be working on (according to WB) are Swing Time, King Kong, and Top Hat.

 

[Rain]

As long as they don't go overboard in the "digital restoration," I'm down for a re-buy for both.

 

[Joe Caps]

Pinochio has a very clean transfer but the color is bland and incorrect. The Laser box set included a technicolro trailer that shower all of the detail and colors we are missing. Disney has done Peter Pan twice on DVD - the second time was better but the colors are still not right. - the first laser has the right colors but was transferred very soft and never looked in focus.
I wish they would include the original mono tracks instead of these bad fake stereo things. Pinochio has never been release to home video with the original mono track - Peter pan had mono just once - on the last laser cav set which had the worst tranfer!! Wish they would do everything as good as the snow White DVD. The current Mary Poppins is pretty bad. Disney spent a lot of money to do a digital cleanup because of all the dirt in the optical work. The current Mary Popping DVD is clean as a whistle - and the colors are now very bland - they remixed the sound (this is not the 1964 mix) and the sound is very bright, harsh and peaky. The best Mary Poppins on video is the two disc laser with the white cover - best color and best sound.
All Mary Poppins transfers are missing two things used in the original New York showings - the pre screen overture (on black film before the film starts) and the intermission music (comes at the end of the song "Stay Awake")
If they do Poppins again on DVD - how about including these - finally!!

 

[SteveP]

Going back to '64, never saw MARY POPPINS presented with overture or intermission, including '73 re-release at Radio City Music Hall. Was this only used at the Chinese Theatre premiere engagement?
It would be great if Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke did a commentary track..Ms. Andrews is recently working alot at Disney again.

 

[Kenneth Cummings]

Good thing I didn't pick either title yet. I heard Pinocchio had a bad transfrer a while back, so this is good news indeed. By the way, for a minute there, I thought you said Pocahatas for some reason.

 

[Rob T]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Mary Poppins!
2003 will be quite a year, I think.

 

[LukeB]

Two of my all-time favorites, and two of the films in my collection most in need of Special Editions!

I hadn't heard anything specific about either of these (other than some word that Mary Poppins MIGHT be considered for a Vault Disney release - though most likely not for next May) and Pinocchio seems like a prime candidate for a re-release, since it's OOP and has less extras than the VHS.

Good find.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Mary Poppins deserves only the best. She is, after all, practically perfect in every way! (If only we could get the same company to do a new transfer of Sound of Music!)
Mary Poppins was nominated for 13 Academy Awards in 1964.
It WON five for: Best Actess (Julie Andrews), Best Song (Chim Chim Cheree) and Best Music Scoring (both the Sherman Brothers), Best Special Visual Effects, and Best Film Editing.
It was also nominated for: Best Picture (lost to My Fair Lady), Best Director (lost to George Cukor for MFL), Best Writing, Best Art/Set Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Sound.
Just a couple of tid-bits. Richard Sherman says he and his brother Robert used to go to Walt Disney's office weekly to play for him his favorite song--Feed The Birds. And, The animated "Jolly Holiday" sequence boasted the talents of five of Walt Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men" -- Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery, Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball, and Eric Larson.
Oh. And, Pinocchio is another favorite, too! Jiminy Cricket is one of the best animated characters of all time!

 

[Kajs]

Well, if they put out the word they are working on Mary Poppins, and it would be most likely a "Vault Disney" title, I would expect it in the next May 2003 batch as opposed to the May 2004 batch.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

The current Mary Poppins is pretty bad. Disney spent a lot of money to do a digital cleanup because of all the dirt in the optical work. The current Mary Popping DVD is clean as a whistle - and the colors are now very bland - they remixed the sound (this is not the 1964 mix) and the sound is very bright, harsh and peaky. The best Mary Poppins on video is the two disc laser with the white cover - best color and best sound.
All Mary Poppins transfers are missing two things used in the original New York showings - the pre screen overture (on black film before the film starts) and the intermission music (comes at the end of the song "Stay Awake")
If they do Poppins again on DVD - how about including these - finally!!

Wow. thanks for all that info on M.P.! I've enjoyed this film ever since I was a child and it was the first LP I ever picked out to buy (read the "book" that came with the LP and stared at the pictures on the cover for HOURS and HOURS while that record played).

Speaking of great movies in the same vein that deserve the very best...MGM oh MGM...when are you going to give us a 16x9 OAR Chitty Chitty Bang Bang????

 

[Brian Kidd]

I'm glad to see both of these titles being revisited. That being said, I do think that the SNOW WHITE video restoration no longer looks like film. It's just so frickin' clean and steady that it looks like it was all animated in a computer. I'm not saying it isn't pretty, it is. It just doesn't look like film anymore.

As for POPPINS, bring it on! I've always been amazed that Disney hadn't truly revisited the title yet. This title screams for a truly special edition.

 

[Douglas R]

Going back to '64, never saw MARY POPPINS presented with overture or intermission, including '73 re-release at Radio City Music Hall. Was this only used at the Chinese Theatre premiere engagement?

Never knew this had an Intermission. I saw it when it had its UK premiere in London and there was no Overture or Intermission then.