The 4 "Vault Disneys"--Outstanding extras but very disappointing transfers. (1 Viewer)

[Thomas Hart]

Hear Hear Jack, very well said.
My ONLY complaint of these 4 Vault Disney DVD releases would be that the "Pollyana" opening credits were a tad tight/cropped on the sides. Probably window-boxing the opening titles should have been in order?
But this is just a minor quibble I have on only one title out of the four Vault Disney releases. I personally believe Disney should be highly commended on these DVDs (especially after seeing many of their lackluster efforts on previous and upcoming releases). The picture (widescreen!), sound (5.1), and extras (2 discs worth!) are more than I would EVER expect from Disney. If you have seen these films better than on these DVDs, please, let me know where. (and don't tell me they could have been done better, because I believe they have).
If you have a complaint, save it for the upcoming PAN & SCAN bare-bone version of Disney's "Blackbeard's Ghost"!!!!!!

 

[Adam_S]

I have all four, and I think the picture quality on all is jaw droppingly outstanding, of course I also used the THX optimizer on old yeller and pollyanna to tweak my set up since I haven't ever properly calibrated it with another calibration disc, only used a thx optimizer. Of course it doesn't look like gladiator, darn, few dvds look that good.

In fact I came here tonight to trumpet that the ten minute restoration demonstration is the single finest restoration demonstration I've ever seen. Not only does it blow away Criterion's paltry and bland demonstrations that only consist of text explaining that this or that bit of dust was removed, it also has an extensive interview with Disney's head of resotration, and a history of color film up to a single color negative with very lucid and understandable explanations about so many technical terms I have seen thrown around HTF as if they were common vernacular. I now understand what a sep master is, and I was astounded to find out that they made sep masters back when the origianl color negative was struck, I thought it was a process used only recently for modern restorations. I also got to see what a telecine (pronounced tel-e-cin-e) looks like, and got to drool at the enormous vaults of disney films.

Just this extra alone was worth buying Pollyanna. FYI I almost didn't buy Pollyanna, because I had only seen it once long ago and couldn't remember much about it. The other Vault Disney's were all some of my all time favorite childhood films and I was ecstatic to get them. However, after viewing all the films, I have to say that Pollyanna is my single favorite film out of all four. I didn't find it saccarine at all, but uplifting, touching, and delicously funny! It is not manipulation, this is a film that engages the mind and touches the heart, It really does deserve the term masterpiece.

btw all of the documentary's are incredible! simply outstanding, a new baseline for extras!

Adam

 

[LeeL]

I just grabbed Swiss Family Robinson, and thought the transfer was great. Everything seemed rather solid, and not too shabby artifact-wise.

What I thought was odd, though, was that the opening cartoon, "Sea Salts", was in pretty bad shape. Lots of loose hairs, artifacts, etc. If they put thatmuch effort into the feature, why not into the cartoons as well? Or are they saving that for the inevitable "Complete Donald" Disney Treasure down the road?

 

[Jefferson]

I was really impressed with the presentation/format of these discs, especially the extras. Of the four, I thought that Swiss Family Robinson looked the best, and Pollyanna the worst, but all four looked better than any other transfer I've ever seen, including the LD's. There are indeed some "dupe" looking sections, as mentioned above. In Pollyanna, during one of the cool scenes with Agnes Moorehead, there was a long section that looked pretty grainy and bad, and then cleared up.

 

[Andrew Hintz]

I only have The Parent Trap, but I was pretty impressed with the quality of the transfer. No doubt - I've seen old movies look better then this, but this is only The Parent Trap. I really had absolutely no complaints about the transfer quality.

Now, add to that the ton of extras they've added, and the fact that these were OAR, enhanced for 16x9, DD5.1 - I'll take releases like this any day of the week. Keep those Vault Disney releases coming! This is the way DVD should be done.

--Andrew

 

[Matthew_Millheiser]

I've picked up both Swiss Family Robinson and Pollyanna, two films that are both 42 years old and look as wonderful as I've ever seen them, and I've seen them a lot.
Not to mention the staggering amount of extras on both discs.
I have no idea why anyone would want to complain about them, but then again that's what the Internet's for, aint it?
Seriously though, these are two of the best releases of the year, and based on the strength of these I am going out this weekend (10% off sale, thanks Best Buy!) to pick up Old Yeller and The Parent Trap -- two films I had no interest in purchasing but, due to the superb quality of the aforementioned Vault Disney titles, I can't wait to get my grubby little mitts on!
And what exactly is a grubby mitt?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

They certainly do not look the same. I would rank them as follows in terms of video quality from best to worst:
1) Swiss Family Robinson
2) Pollyanna
3) Parent Trap
4) Old Yeller
This seems to be consistent with Colin's post above. With that in mind, they are all more than acceptable. Disney's approach to Technicolor live action in the 50s and 60s did not involve the super-saturated colors that many associate with Technicolor. They had cartoons for that. I am glad they did not waste too much CPU time severely de-graining the images, though. Over-processing tends to suck the life out of the image comparable to the way over-filtering analog tape hiss tends to ruin audio tracks by lopping off too much high-end. Unfortunately, it sounds to me like they are guilty of this audio sin on all four releases.
I am on-board with Adam in that the Scott MacQueen restoration featurette on Pollyanna was a real eye-opener. The O-neg had severe yellow layer fading and the separation protection masters were created incorrectly back in 1960. The solution was fairly creative and thank heavens it worked. The Magenta layer of the O-neg was in sufficiently good shape that they were able to re-create the missing green separation master from the faded O-neg. If the blue sep master had been the one missing, they would have had a much longer (and largely digital) row to hoe.
Regards,

 

[Rob T]

Swiss Family Robinson looks pretty good after about 42 years.
and I'm still looking for The Parent Trap. :frowning:

 

[DaViD Boulet]

They all have a very dim look to them. The contrast is low. The color is very weak and has a faded look to it. The image is very soft. Something really went wrong on these transfers. The worst is The Parent Trap. The vibrant, beautiful color of the original has turned into a dingy, drap pastel that makes your heart ache when you know what it's supposed to look like.

I have to agree 100% with Will here, at least for the Parent Trap (the only one I've seen yet).

I had the same sinking feeling when it came on. for a moment I thought the color had gone on my TV or the contrast had been adjusted by someone without my knowing. Only when I put on the extras did I see that wonderful, saturated color that makes these films beautiful to watch.

It was as if the entire movie was taking place on a dingy stormy day! And everything looked way to filtered...very little in the way of resolution or detail. I think THX did a "heathers" here and filtered (or told Disney to filter) the crap out of Parent Trap to minimize the grain.

Better than no DVD. And I'm happy for the 16x9 OAR and the extras. But it's sad to see the film looking so incredibly dull, soft-focus, and dark.

I can't imagine that this is the way the film was meant to be seen.

Funny but the same is true with Mary Poppins. I have the old archive laserdisc which has *gorgeous* color. The new LD and the DVD look like everything is overcast with rain...everything's dark and dingy and muted looking.

Warner did something similar with the first DVD of Willy Wonka. The old LD was BEAUTIFUL with all its rich color. then the next LD and DVD looked dull, dark, and lifeless (so did the print that circulated the theaters at that time). The new DVD improves these things quite a bit, but still doesn't have the "life" of the original LD. Odd.

-dave

 

[Brian W]

Disregarding variation in equipment, devices, calibration, I am amazed the difference in opinion on the Parent Trap. After I saw it I expected to see enthusiastic reviews (you may have caught the thread I started).

Not trying to debate anyone here, but I do see a rather unfiltered, filmic image (I see grain), vibrant colors (though not overly saturated, but true to the original quality of the film, very much that early 60's look), sharp and detailed throughout EXCEPT where split screen or blue screen were used (and these scenes couldn't have ever looked better due to the process used -these scenes are what they are).

I'm viewing this using the RP91 prog. scan, Elite 510 and this transfer exceeded my expectations in every way. If I had any complaint it would be that the sound is a little boomy, actually had to turn my SW down. But the 5.1 is nice and clear, mostly center weighted and a nice remastering of a mono soundtrack.

Sorry, I just had to put in my 2 cents once again because I really think this transfer is worth raving about and I don't understand the polarity on this one.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Brain,

interesting. I'm using the panny rp91 going 480P into my 16x9 34" direct-view.

On my calibrated set, the image just seems so a little too dark, dull, and faded compared to the average DVD. Did you compare the dvd film image to the clips in the "extras" disc? they are perhaps a bit overly saturated in terms of color...but they look like they are filmed in actualy day-light and look gorgeous. The scene in the park looks like a sunny day and the grass is a brilliant green. Switch back to the actual film disc and you'll see what I mean by faded...the park scene looks like it's overscast and the grass is a dingy green-brown color that lacks the lush saturated hue of the clip in the "extras" section.

 

[Brian W]

David-

I hadn't noticed but I will do a comparison check tonight! I did view most of the bonus disc and the clips and really didn't notice except that naturally the clips are of an unformatted video transfer quality. I think any dramatic differences would have jumped out at me. I viewed the bonus disc prior to the movie and remember thinking if the clips look this OK, then hopefully the transfer of the film will be fabulous. During my first viewing of the movie I just marveled at how good the transfer looks. But I will look at the clips again. If you are referring to the scene in the park with mother and daughter, that is a scene where blue screen was used. If you listen to the director's commentary on this scene (during the film and in one of the bonus clips) he expresses his regret of using the process for that scene rather than location, and dislikes the crude look. Most of the the other outdoor scenes, the camp looked right on target to me.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

In the useless trivia department, the bluescreen/rear projection (or whatever kooky but superior Ub Iwerks process they used) walk in the park scene is the "representative sample" scene at the end of the THX Optimode video test signals. I thought this was a strange choice.

Regards,

 

[Brian W]

Ken-

I forgot to mention that! Caught that myself. Kind of defeats the purpose in illustrating the point of their "Optimode"! My choice would have been one of the close ups of Maureen O Hara, like when she pops Brian Keith in the eye. That would have been a good example of how good a scene can look when properly calibrated, has the nice flesh tones, her rich hair color, green eyes, his crystal blue eyes and the backgrounds, textures of the furnitures...the fight sequence at the dance would have been an excellent choice too where you can see the double's eyes next to Hayley (both covered in cake looking up from the floor), and detect their different shade in eye colors...