The Official Disney Movie Club Blu-ray Exclusives Thread (2 Viewers)

[Mark-P]

there is a 20KLUTS va the Disney Club. that's where I got mine, but it wasn't a restored or updated edition...but it's still nice, expecting less is the Mouses' moto!!! The BDs you are seeing on eBay and elsewhere are those thatbought via the Disney club @ $18.99 0rless and by bumping up the price to make $$$. They did the same with Something Wicked this Way Comes BD. It too was in dire need of a restoration...no new print or bonus features!! Very Disappointing on both counts!!!

While I can’t speak for Something Wicked this Way Comes, to call 20,000 Leagues “unrestored” is a gross mischaracterization. The Blu-ray is pristine from fully restored elements.

 

[richardburton84]

While I can’t speak for Something Wicked this Way Comes, to call 20,000 Leagues “unrestored” is a gross mischaracterization. The Blu-ray is pristine from fully restored elements.

Didn’t that transfer also have some sort of “tinkering,” for want of a better word, done to the elements to eliminate the “CinemaScope mumps?” I seem to recall reading that when the transfer was first made prior to the Blu-ray

 

[Randy Korstick]

While I can’t speak for Something Wicked this Way Comes, to call 20,000 Leagues “unrestored” is a gross mischaracterization. The Blu-ray is pristine from fully restored elements.

Agreed the Blu Ray looks very nice and was definitely restored.

 

[Capt D McMars]

While I can’t speak for Something Wicked this Way Comes, to call 20,000 Leagues “unrestored” is a gross mischaracterization. The Blu-ray is pristine from fully restored elements.

Sorry but this was not restored for the blu ray release. Nowhere on the bd jacket ids there any mention of restoration or any tech magic (see photo). If it had been restored for the anniversary edition, one would imagin some mention of all the work that went into these major upgrades.
No, the only difference between 20K Leages and Something Wicked is the condition of the exsisting fim=lm elements. 20 Thousand Leages has cleaner exsisting elements to work from.

Didn’t that transfer also have some sort of “tinkering,” for want of a better word, done to the elements to eliminate the “CinemaScope mumps?” I seem to recall reading that when the transfer was first made prior to the Blu-ray

While I can’t speak for Something Wicked this Way Comes, to call 20,000 Leagues “unrestored” is a gross mischaracterization. The Blu-ray is pristine from fully restored elements.

Sorry to disapoint you, but this was not restored. If it had been, there would be some mention of it on the BD case, right, see photos? Disney Inc is all about self praising and promotion...if they had spent money to restore any of thier catalog you would here about it!!! A good example is the new 4K realease of Cinderella.

Looking at the version that I bought thru the DVC there is no mention of Restoration or upgrades of any kind, keeping with the tradition seen on titles like Something Wicked This Way Comes and Darby O'Gill and the Little People (see photos). The only difference here is that the exsisting film and audio elements are moer pristine!!

 

[richardburton84]

I’m pretty sure the Blu-ray was restored. The transfer used had been floating around for a few years before Disney finally decided to put out a Blu-ray (the same transfer was even aired on TCM a few years prior to the Blu-ray when Leonard Maltin was still hosting Treasures from the Disney Vault).

One thing I’ve recently taken to wondering after revisiting Lady and the Tramp and looking at a few clips of the Academy Ratio version of that film is whether or not Disney did an Academy Ratio version of 20,000 Leagues or whether it was always just CinemaScope. If there was an Academy Ratio version of 20,000 Leagues, does anyone know if that still survives?

Edit: One more note of addition is that the Blu-ray transfer of Darby O’Gill had also premiered on TCM as part of Treasures from the Disney Vault (albeit using the redubbed audio instead of the original).

 

[Capt D McMars]

I’m pretty sure the Blu-ray was restored. The transfer used had been floating around for a few years before Disney finally decided to put out a Blu-ray (the same transfer was even aired on TCM a few years prior to the Blu-ray when Leonard Maltin was still hosting Treasures from the Disney Vault).

One thing I’ve recently taken to wondering after revisiting Lady and the Tramp and looking at a few clips of the Academy Ratio version of that film is whether or not Disney did an Academy Ratio version of 20,000 Leagues or whether it was always just CinemaScope. If there was an Academy Ratio version of 20,000 Leagues, does anyone know if that still survives?

Edit: One more note of addition is that the Blu-ray transfer of Darby O’Gill had also premiered on TCM as part of Treasures from the Disney Vault (albeit using the redubbed audio instead of the original).

Please, if you can find the press release or data showing that 20kLUTS was restored, I'd love it...I couldn't find anything that confirmed any kind of restoration...again, there was nothing was on the packaging on this DVC release.

 

[richardburton84]

From CineSavant’s review of the Blu-ray:

The Disney Movie Club’s Blu-ray of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a handsome encoding of a restoration performed a full eight years ago. We’ve been impatient for a Blu-ray ever since. The holdup reportedly happened because Disney had notions of a 20,000 Leagues remake in the works. The show has never looked better on a home movie screen — those special effects by Peter Ellenshaw, Albert Whitlock and the Brothers Lydecker are truly magnificent.

On August 19, 2011 the new restoration was premiered at the AMIA’s The Reel Thingpresentation in Hollywood, and Grover Crisp graciously allowed me to attend. That screening was the last time I saw the late Rick Mitchell, a noted editor. I wrote up the occasion up for the DVD Savant Column:

“A quick report on the opening night of this year’s technical symposium The Reel Thing here in Hollywood, mounted by the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA):

The first night’s opening screening, provided by Disney, was the world premiere of a 4K digital restoration of their CinemaScope blockbuster 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Disney executives gave a brief explanation of what had been done to maximize the film’s colors; they also said that no grain management or sharpness enhancement had been applied to the picture. They presented the film exactly as it had been premiered for Christmas of 1954, preceded by a CinemaScope Donald Duck cartoon, Grand Canyonscope.

The execs explained very clearly the improvements made to the picture. 20,000 originally contained numerous shots plagued by the CinemaScope Mumps — actors in close-up (or tight two-shots) have always looked horizontally squashed. It was an early flaw of the anamorphic process. By scanning the original negatives, Disney reclaimed more image ‘real estate’ on the horizontal axis. Bits of image area to the extreme left and right had always been unused because it was covered by magnetic soundtracks. For the shots with Mumps, the extra width allowed the digital compositors to squeeze the image slightly — without blowing it up — putting Captain Nemo’s face back into its proper proportions. It really helps.

I’m not sure, but I think that something similar was done to Warners’ remasterings of A Star Is Born and Love Me Or Leave Me, both of which no longer seem to have squashed-head close-ups in new DVD and Blu-ray versions.

Two other notes. We were told that the density (and slight softness) of original Technicolor prints effectively hid the many wires used to manipulate the giant squid’s arms in the stormy battle scene. When scanned at 4k, the sharpness and less-dense blacks revealed more wires. So Disney painted them out, as they weren’t originally visible.

I also heard the film expert Rick Mitchell say something after the show that immediately got my attention. When the bomb goes off, one view of the exploding island with the sub in the foreground was filmed flat, and allowed to stretch out horizontally. That’s apparently been fixed as well. I was looking for it and thought I missed it; the sharp-eyed Mitchell pointed it out.”

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea | Trailers From Hell

Hidden behind the membership-only barrier of The Disney Movie Club is a long-delayed, long-missed key feature from The Mouse, Walt's masterful super-production of the timeless Jules Verne classic. Despite the funny songs and an annoyingly 'ork-ork'-ing sea lion, the lavishly filmed show embraces...

trailersfromhell.com

CineSavant’s writing also confirms what I wrote earlier about some changes made to eliminate CinemaScope Mumps.

 

[Capt D McMars]

From CineSavant’s review of the Blu-ray:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea | Trailers From Hell

Hidden behind the membership-only barrier of The Disney Movie Club is a long-delayed, long-missed key feature from The Mouse, Walt's masterful super-production of the timeless Jules Verne classic. Despite the funny songs and an annoyingly 'ork-ork'-ing sea lion, the lavishly filmed show embraces...

trailersfromhell.com

CineSavant’s writing also confirms what I wrote earlier about some changes made to eliminate CinemaScope Mumps.

nice, then my question is why is there no data to that effect on the Blu ray edition from Disney? It's very unDisney to not add the Restoration info that was done to 20,000 LUTS??
And Why so lazy with the rest of thier catalog? Something wicked This Way Comes and Darby O'Gill and the Little People were atrocious!! Too Dark, Bad and inconsistent color scale...I did like the 20K LUTS, but far from a 4K scan...but glad that they did somthing!!! Now how about the other titles...

Maybe this deal with Mill Creek we'll see the Guy Williams Zorro series back in stores?

 

[Brian L]

From CineSavant’s review of the Blu-ray:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea | Trailers From Hell

Hidden behind the membership-only barrier of The Disney Movie Club is a long-delayed, long-missed key feature from The Mouse, Walt's masterful super-production of the timeless Jules Verne classic. Despite the funny songs and an annoyingly 'ork-ork'-ing sea lion, the lavishly filmed show embraces...

trailersfromhell.com

CineSavant’s writing also confirms what I wrote earlier about some changes made to eliminate CinemaScope Mumps.

That was a great read. I have loved 20K since I was a kid.

Not to go too far OT, but the article mentions a Nautilus at Tokyo Disneyland. In fact, it is located in Mysterious Island at Tokyo Disney Sea. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, it is highly recommended. Also, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Fransisco has a display of Harper Goff's original Nautilus model and other artifacts from the production.

 

[Randy Korstick]

nice, then my question is why is there no data to that effect on the Blu ray edition from Disney? It's very unDisney to not add the Restoration info that was done to 20,000 LUTS??
And Why so lazy with the rest of thier catalog? Something wicked This Way Comes and Darby O'Gill and the Little People were atrocious!! Too Dark, Bad and inconsistent color scale...I did like the 20K LUTS, but far from a 4K scan...but glad that they did somthing!!! Now how about the other titles...

Maybe this deal with Mill Creek we'll see the Guy Williams Zorro series back in stores?

Lots and lots of Blu Rays do not mention a restoration on the case. It seems to depend on the studio whether they do that regularly or not. Disney rarely mentions that expect for their Animated classics.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

nice, then my question is why is there no data to that effect on the Blu ray edition from Disney? It's very unDisney to not add the Restoration info that was done to 20,000 LUTS??
And Why so lazy with the rest of thier catalog? Something wicked This Way Comes and Darby O'Gill and the Little People were atrocious!! Too Dark, Bad and inconsistent color scale...I did like the 20K LUTS, but far from a 4K scan...but glad that they did somthing!!! Now how about the other titles...

Maybe this deal with Mill Creek we'll see the Guy Williams Zorro series back in stores?

Lots and lots of Blu Rays do not mention a restoration on the case. It seems to depend on the studio whether they do that regularly or not. Disney rarely mentions that expect for their Animated classics.

Also, consider the audience here. The DMC exclusives are for people who are die-hard Disney fans, and the likelihood someone who buys this disc already knows about the resotration is high.

 

[John Sparks]

That was a great read. I have loved 20K since I was a kid.

Not to go too far OT, but the article mentions a Nautilus at Tokyo Disneyland. In fact, it is located in Mysterious Island at Tokyo Disney Sea. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, it is highly recommended. Also, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Fransisco has a display of Harper Goff's original Nautilus model and other artifacts from the production.

I remember as a kid back in the 60's when the sub along with other props was on display at Disneyland.

 

[Paul Penna]

From CineSavant’s review of the Blu-ray:

20,000 Leagues Under The Sea | Trailers From Hell

Hidden behind the membership-only barrier of The Disney Movie Club is a long-delayed, long-missed key feature from The Mouse, Walt's masterful super-production of the timeless Jules Verne classic. Despite the funny songs and an annoyingly 'ork-ork'-ing sea lion, the lavishly filmed show embraces...

trailersfromhell.com

CineSavant’s writing also confirms what I wrote earlier about some changes made to eliminate CinemaScope Mumps.

That and dealing with the squid's wires were good things, in my opinion.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I remember as a kid back in the 60's when the sub along with other props was on display at Disneyland.

Yes, I remember that. It was a walkthrough attraction and we were told the the interiors of the sub were original and the giant squid was the prop used in the film. To my young eyes that squid looked great.

 

[John Sparks]

Yeah, the interior of the sub with organ and everything.

Thanks for jogging the memory on that one Johnny!

 

[Brian L]

I remember as a kid back in the 60's when the sub along with other props was on display at Disneyland.

The core of the organ with some modifications currently exists in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ball room.

Pipe Organ

The Pipe Organ is an item found within the Haunted Mansion. The pipe-organ is a fairly large organ with 12 pipes. It has a headboard in the shape of a black bat with outstretched wings and it is lit by two candelabras. The idea for the grand-eloquent pipe-organ played by an undead, disappearing...

hauntedmansion.fandom.com

 

[Paul Penna]

I remember as a kid back in the 60's when the sub along with other props was on display at Disneyland.

The core of the organ with some modifications currently exists in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion ball room.

Back in 1965 I took this Kodachrome slide of the organ in Disneyland's 20000 Leagues Under the Sea walk-thru. (Click to enlarge.)

 

[Capt D McMars]

Disneyland 1961

 

[John Sparks]

I used to go almost once a month thru my paper route abck in the early 60's.

 

[Capt D McMars]

I used to go almost once a month thru my paper route abck in the early 60's.

The fm would go at least twice a year with my sister and my boirthdays, even more with friends and relitives woiuld come to Calaiforian to visit...Disneyland or Knotts Berry Farm.