Yet more pan and scan from good ol' DISNEY... (1 Viewer)

[Dick]

THE GNOME MOBILE and MISADVENTURES OF MERLIN JONES are both coming to us cropped. I know, I know... what's the point of complaining. No one at Disney listens. Still no word on aspect ratio of SON OF FLUBBER...and God help us when it comes to DARBY O'GILL and THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA, etc. etc.

http://www.ultimatedisney.com/

 

[Kenny Goldin]

 

[Joshua Clinard]

Darby O'Gill is going to be widescreen. I don't know about the others. I do HOPE that Flight of the Navigator is Widescreen. I have been wanting to own this for years. Call disney at 800-72-Disney to voice your concerns.

 

[Ernest Rister]

Disney live action titles are all over the map. The forgotten gem, Those Calloways, is presented in its OAR, and enhanced for wide-screen TVs. What's the message here? Certain titles are good enough for wide-screen, certain titles aren't? Or maybe Those Calloways appeals primarily to adults, hence the wide-screen transfer, while they assume Merlin Jones and Gnome Mobile appeal primarily to children, hence the full screen.

 

[Dick]

Your source, Joshua?

 

[Aaron_Brez]

This trend is really starting to disturb me. First family titles... are adult titles going the same route?

Noises Off! is coming out May 4, and there is "No technical information available"-- generally a sign, I've noticed in the past, that pan & scan is on the horizon. If it's going to be widescreen BVHV crows it in the streets like it's a special feature or something, but if it's going to be "full frame" the aspect ratio is just not mentioned.

It was bad enough when I couldn't buy Snowball Express for my wife or a new copy of Midnight Madness for myself. Now one of the last of my VHS-replacement titles looks to be headed in the same direction. And I *won't* give Disney my money for a non-OAR bastardization.

The one thing you used to be able to count on from Buena Vista was widescreen on adult titles; it might not be anamorphic, but at least it was OAR... (maybe I'm showing my age-- that was 1998...)

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Noises Off better not be full frame. I've waited years for this movie and they'd best not mess it up now.

 

[Patrick Soucy]

ARG.... I wanted the Gnome Mobile DVD...

Sorry, but no sale... I have it pan & Scan on an old VHS, no need to upgrade since it's not in widescreen. Thanks Disney for saving my bucks! :frowning:

 

[Ernest Rister]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I was going to pick up Gnome Mobile, but not now. Guess Disney is going to wait until every TV in the country is a big rectangle shape before they stop making these pan and scan titles. "Well, our market research told us that the children in our Disney households liked the whole screen filled up. They did not like the black bars cutting off the picture." I see, so you make your company decisions based on the input of idiots and children? Ooops, forgot who's running the joint...

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Still boycotting Blackbeard's Ghost here too...will add Gnome Mobile to the list.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Be sure to call that toll free # and let Disney know how important 16x9 WS OAR is to you regarding each and every one of these titles.

Be sure to tell them that it's important to you *and* your ***family***.

 

[Patrick Soucy]

Well, when all of us will have a 16/9 TV, the pan & Scan will be movies in 2.35:1 zoomed in 1.78:1 "for fit your TV...."

Disney is probably the worse studio concerning the OAR...

 

[DaveB]

I'm really disappointed with Disney's lack of respect for these wonderful films. I was really looking forward to the Gnome-Mobile, but as is: NO SALE.

I hope you're right about Darby O'Gill, Joshua!

 

[Matt Rexer]

And 4:3 movies will be tilt & scanned to "fit your TV" as well. We'll never win the OAR battle, I don't think.

I'm gonna scream bloody murder if Disney chops up Darby O'Gill, I tell yah. I've been waiting too long for that DVD...

 

[Ernest Rister]

Well, make of this what you will:

--from DVDFILE...

"Just dying for some more Buena Vista catalog classics to complete your collection? Then the house of mouse has something for you over the next few months, as the studio will release 50-plus favorites, many for the first time on DVD. Among the lineup are many reissues of titles that were previously released by Anchor Bay Entertainment, as well as some special editions and budget-priced movie-only cheapies. Full specs for the titles have not yet been released, but all will be presented in their original aspect ratios and remastered in anamorphic widescreen when appropriate.

Due on June 1st are: A Far Off Place, Ernest Goes to School, A Saintly Switch, Candleshoe, Flight of the Navigator, The Happiest Millionaire (Roadshow Edition) and a new special edition of the original 1976 Freaky Friday.

Up next on August 3rd: The Black Hole, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Oliver Twist, Unidentified Flying Oddball, The Watcher in the Woods, The Shaggy DA, Paradise, Darby O'Gill And The Little People and Map of the Human Heart.

Finally, September 7th will see the release of: Hans Brinker of the Silver Skates, One Little Indian, The Christmas Star, Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, Never Cry Wolf, Last Flight of Noah's Ark, Tex, Tiger Town and a 30th Anniversary Edition of The Island at the Top of the World and a 50th Anniversary Edition of the live-action Davy Crockett. Stay tuned for full specs and pricing soon."

 

[Aaron_Brez]

It's hard to make anything of that, unfortunately, Ernest.
DVDFile has had to retract statements on aspect ratio a number of times when their information turned out to be in error.

Certainly their record with regard to catalog releases previously sold by Anchor Bay is not spotless (the aforementioned Midnight Madness, for example) when it comes to fixing aspect ratio.

I'm holding out hope for you guys and Darby O'Gill, as it's obvious it's something you really want, but I'm prepping myself to be disappointed on Noises Off!-- the cover art has been released and nowhere do I see the word "widescreen". That's not enitirely definitive, but it is suggestive.

 

[george kaplan]

Earlier the word was the the Shaggy Dog was coming, and now it's the Shaggy DA, which makes me doubt the certainty of the OAR only statement, though I would love for it to be true.

 

[LukeB]

Both are coming, and a whole lot more DVDFile didn't mention.

 

[Joe_Pinney]

As mentioned in this review of The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, it's not always clear what the aspect ratios were of some of the 60s-era Disney live action films (OAR of the negative for the 1963 animated The Sword in the Stone, for example, is actually 1.37:1, as I understand it, although the intended AR is 1.75:1), so it's very likely that a 1.33:1 AR on the DVD is actually not inappropriate for certain titles (some may actually be open matte). Oftentimes at Disney it was unclear even during production whether some of these titles would be originally shown on TV or released theatrically, so they were framed for TV just in case. The thing we need to be very vigilant about is not EVERY title made post-1953, but the titles that are KNOWN to be widescreen with OARs above (or below, however you figure it) 1.37:1, particularly if they were shot with anamorphic lenses. (The OAR for The Island at the Top of the World is 1.75:1, for example, so a widescreen anamorphic DVD can be expected, and if we don't get one, THEN we can bitch and moan.)

 

[Josh L]

After e-mailing Disney urging for widescreen on Flight of the Navigator I got this response today: