TCM brings back Vault Disney (1 Viewer)

[Rodney]

I only caught the Brave Little Tailor, and thought that looked very good indeed!
I'll watch the rest of them later.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched The Sign of Zorro this afternoon. Ancient SD transfer with lots of dirt and damage. Disappointing.

 

[Darby67]

I watched The Sign of Zorro this afternoon. Ancient SD transfer with lots of dirt and damage. Disappointing.

Agreed, Matt; it did look in rather poor shape. I emailed the Disney Movie Club numerous times over the years to release many live-action Walt-era films including The Sign of Zorro and Zorro the Avenger as DMC Exclusives but to no avail . The best opportunity for Disney to have released them was probably as extras on the Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro Seasons One and Two DVD releases on November 3, 2009.

Although Disney did release the two Davy Crockett theatrical compilation films (Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates) first on DVD on September 7, 2004 and then on Blu-ray on November 10, 2015 after having first released the complete 5-episode television series as Walt Disney Treasures release on December 4, 2001, I don't see them doing a similar release for the two Zorro theatrical compilation films in the current environment .

 

[Darby67]

Live-action recommendations for future Vault Disney programming blocks on TCM:

1. The three-episode The Scarecrow of Romney March television series or at least the Dr. Syn, alias the Scarecrow theatrical release.
2. The three-episode The Prince and the Pauper television series or at least The Prince and the Pauper theatrical release
3. Zorro the Avenger theatrical release
4. The three-episode Willie and the Yank television series or at least the Mosby's Marauders theatrical release
5. The three-episode The Secret of Boyne Castle television series or at least the Guns in the Heather theatrical release
6. The Light in the Forest

An don't even get me started on The Tales of Texas John Slaughter, The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca, The Swamp Fox, The Saga of Andy Burnett, Daniel Boone (starring Dewey Martin), The New Adventures of Davy Crockett, Gallegher, etc.

 

[Matt Hough]

I'd love to see them present The Moon Spinners.

 

[Mike Frezon]

We watched Toby Tyler tonight. First time we had ever seen it.

The 4:3 AR isn't right (Mark said it was open matte and that an HD widescreen transfer is available)? That's too bad.

 

[Mike Frezon]

By the way, the actor who played Harry Tupper, the concessions seller in Toby Tyler looked and sounded awfully familiar to me, but I didn't know him from any of his screen credits on IMDB: Bob Sweeney

He must just remind me of someone else.

 

[Mark-P]

We watched Toby Tyler tonight. First time we had ever seen it.

The 4:3 AR isn't right (Mark said it was open matte and that an HD widescreen transfer is available)? That's too bad.

That's right. It really makes no sense that TCM pulls an old DVD transfer when there is a much newer one in the correct ratio available. Mike, one of these days you're just going to have to bite the bullet and explore the treasure trove of Disney movies that are available in the "Wonderful World" of digital downloads, since the die appears to be cast regarding Disney and disc releases of deep catalog fare.

I'd love to see them present The Moon Spinners.

If you get tired of waiting for TCM, you can always buy or rent from iTunes in HD widescreen.

 

[Matt Hough]

If you get tired of waiting for TCM, you can always buy or rent from iTunes in HD widescreen.

That's great to know. I had no idea it was available.

 

[Rodney]

I have to agree with others on the quality of the films this time around, though I still enjoyed watching them and hope that TCM continues Treasures from the Disney Vault in 2018.

I thought Tricks of Our Trade looked nice, and Toby Tyler being open matte didn't bother me. The Story of Robin Hood and Sign of Zorro sure needed a better restoration job than we were shown. I haven't yet viewed Pete's Dragon or Fuzzbucket.

 

[MatthewA]

Fuzzbucket was a late 1980s TV production from the shoot-on-film-edit-on-tape era, and Disney started doing that around the Disney Sunday Movie era, so to remaster it for HD might require more than just a simple negative scan.

Actually, regarding Toby Tyler, which is one of the titles that has an HD master available on the usual sites participating in DMA, there's a day-for-night scene with Toby and Henry Calvin's character riding on the stagecoach that looked kind of oddly colored, almost as if Walt saw South Pacific and decided to try some of their color effects out! At least that's how it looked on the DVD which is the only place I've actually seen the movie.

You'd think they'd want to use this to show off the new transfers where available. They don't come cheap, of course, but then they'd genuinely be able to say "restored and remastered" in the advertising. Either that or they're trying to squeeze as much mileage out of the 1990s SD masters as possible. I think we have reached that point.

If Pete's Dragon is different from what's on Blu-ray now, and it probably won't be, that will be the surprise. Perhaps someday Disney will find "the other slipper", as Cinderella might have put it since people on my YouTube page have claimed it aired on HBO uncut before they settled on 128 minutes as the default running time. But good luck keeping the musical reconstructions we actually did get!

 

[Randy Korstick]

In case anybody was wondering about last night's installment, you didn't miss anything. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and The Sign of Zorro were the same old standard definition masters from the DVDs. Even worse they showed the open-matte Toby Tyler (probably SD as well) rather the the HD widescreen master that is available on iTunes.

Yes I was disappointed that they weren't HD remasters as they had been on previous Vault Disneys and that Mark of Zorro and Toby Tyler were not 1.66:1 like Disney has been doing for their widescreen films.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Actually, regarding Toby Tyler, which is one of the titles that has an HD master available on the usual sites participating in DMA, there's a day-for-night scene with Toby and Henry Calvin's character riding on the stagecoach that looked kind of oddly colored, almost as if Walt saw South Pacific and decided to try some of their color effects out! At least that's how it looked on the DVD which is the only place I've actually seen the movie.

The blue pall cast over that seen was readily evident during the TCM broadcast. It was ludicrously odd. I rarely think much about day-for-night trickery...but this was in-your-face.

 

[Mark-P]

The blue pall cast over that seen was readily evident during the TCM broadcast. It was ludicrously odd. I rarely think much about day-for-night trickery...but this was in-your-face.

I actually like the blue filtered look of the scene much better because it looks a lot more realistic (to me) than most of the day-for-night photography used in old movies which look exactly like what they are: underexposed broad daylight.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Blue moon you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
Blue moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

 

[Darby67]

Three more recommendations for future Vault Disney programming blocks on TCM:

Complete/unedited versions of:

1. Make Mine Music (with complete version of the Martins and Coys segment)
2. Melody Time (with complete Pecos Bill segment intact i.e. without the cigarette edits)
3. Saludos Amigos (this is on the Walt and El Grupo DVD as a bonus feature)

It's interesting that Disney has released The Brave Little Tailor complete and unedited (with the Giant smoking) multiple times on DVD (Mickey Mouse in Living Color, The Sword in the Stone, The Sword in the Stone - 45th Anniversary Special Edition),The Sword in the Stone - 50th Anniversary Edition, It's a Small World of Fun - Volume 2, Walt Disney Animation Collection - Volume 1: Mickey and the Beanstalk), but the complete unedited Melody Time (with Pecos Bill smoking) has not been released in Region 1 on DVD and Saludos Amigos (with Goofy smoking) wasn't released in its complete and unedited form until it appeared as a special feature on the Walt and El Grupo DVD; its previous Region 1 appearances on DVD (the Disney Gold Classic Collection release on May 2, 2000 and the Classic Caballeros Collection release on April 29, 2008) both had the smoking sequence edited out.

 

[Garysb]

"Tricks of Our Trade" was originally on Disneyland and broadcast by ABC in B&W, I think it also was broadcast later on NBC on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. It obviously was shot in color. Was there a period on the Disneyland TV show on ABC where the programs were filmed in color ? I know they were all broadcast in B&W. Or was it that some were in color and some were not. Davy Crockett was produced in color I know. The hour Zorro episodes on Disneyland after the 1/2 hour show went off the air were in B&W I believe.

I have another similar question. Where did this color version of the opening of the 1950's Mickey Mouse Club come from? Taken from youtube.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I'd love to see additional episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club serials and Disneyland multipart programs that were released in incomplete versions on the Walt Disney Treasures lines - additional Hardy Boys and Spin & Marty from MM Club, and additional Elfego Baca and Swamp Fox episodes from Disneyland.

 

[Gary16]

"

I have another similar question. Where did this color version of the opening of the 1950's Mickey Mouse Club come from? Taken from youtube.

It was included in one of the Disney Treasures releases. They had made it in color; it was not “colorized” later.

 

[B-ROLL]

"Tricks of Our Trade" was originally on Disneyland and broadcast by ABC in B&W, I think it also was broadcast later on NBC on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. It obviously was shot in color. Was there a period on the Disneyland TV show on ABC where the programs were filmed in color ? I know they were all broadcast in B&W. Or was it that some were in color and some were not. Davy Crockett was produced in color I know. The hour Zorro episodes on Disneyland after the 1/2 hour show went off the air were in B&W I believe.

I have another similar question. Where did this color version of the opening of the 1950's Mickey Mouse Club come from? Taken from youtube.

It was from the Disney Treasure MMC first week edition.

Walt saw the advent of color television and had reshot the cels created for the B&W MMC open in color (they were painted in color originally) ... I think when they were syndicated in the late 70s they originally used the color openings but then switched back to the B&W version later to keep the shows consistent with the B&W show content ...