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Best Disney films?

Started by Sir Perceval of Daventry, August 02, 2011, 04:12:48 PM

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KatieHal

I'll just say the way the Black Cauldron is dealt with in the actual books is much better, and highly recommend you read them. Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander!

Ah, Maleficient--the honey badger of the Disney world!

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

Big C from Cauney island

All dogs go to heaven! classic.  I will also have to pick up the last unicorn. And Katie, I couldn't agree more abouth the black cauldron.... The whole chronicles of Prydain series was phenomenal! I still have my 5th grade summer book reports on the whole series from like 20 years ago.  Incredible. The black cauldron movie was ok, but nothing at all compared to the books. not even close. The sierra game was cool too.

Who framed roger rabbit also awesome.  Man, I know this thread is disney, but so many good ones not disney!!
Man, keep this coming, it's an old school movie reunion!!! This should almost be in the 90s thread, since I saw most of these classics in the 80s and 90s.

I'm going to build a time machine to go back to all the cool stuff. Whose coming with me?

DawsonJ

Quote from: MikPal on August 23, 2011, 04:53:37 AM
Quote from: DawsonJ on August 23, 2011, 02:31:43 AM
Speaking of Blu-Ray versions, has anyone seen any of the EARLY Disnely movies, like Pinochio or Snow White, on Blu-Ray? It seems to me that the video quality wouldn't be any different than a DVD. I don't see how any old set of film can be up-converted to Blu-Ray standards. It's like a friend of mine says, "You can't polish a turd; you can only roll it in glitter."

Well... DVD had a resolution of 720X576 (PAL) and BluRay can go up to 1920X1080. Those old Disney films were shot and distributed on film which doesn't have a resolution. Most of the old films that have been transferred to digital forms for preservation usually use 2K, 4K or 8K resolutions that you can show on the white screen without a loss of quality. So, you really don't up-convert anything.

Unless you convert stuff from media with lower quality like VHS, Beta or Laserdisk.

Good point about DVD vs Blu-Ray resolution; I didn't know about that difference. But, when you watch a video on Blu-Ray, it's a whole different feeling and experience than, say, DVD or any of the previous media. Is the Blu-Ray 'effect' totally lost on Disney's older films when they are released in the new format? I haven't seen any, so I don't know.

The perfect example of the aforementioned "Blu-Ray Effect" is the demo commercial for Transformers that is often seen in stores such as BestBuy and Sears. Although the demo of Avatar seems appropriate, too.

Sir Perceval of Daventry

Maybe it's just me, but on the Disney DVDs for a lot of the old films (like Snow White; even newer ones like Beauty and the Beast), the art seems...idk..touched up somehow. Maybe I just miss the old grit that VHS grain brought. But the films just look newer than I remember looking as a kid.

KatieHal

That is generally what the phrase "digitally remastered" means.

Katie Hallahan
~Designer, PR Director~

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." Christina Baldwin

I have a blog!

DawsonJ

Quote from: KatieHal on August 25, 2011, 08:14:18 AM
That is generally what the phrase "digitally remastered" means.

In some of the television commercials for the DVDs, they actually show the comparison of the original version vs the Digitally Remastered version. It's quite a difference. Although, the commercial examples don't seem any different between DVD and Blu-Ray.

MikPal

Quote from: Sir Perceval of Daventry on August 25, 2011, 07:38:16 AM
Maybe I just miss the old grit that VHS grain brought. But the films just look newer than I remember looking as a kid.

What you saw from VHS or an old CRT TV was a much more softer image than the one you can see in a theater or on a modern HDTV. Less details and usually a much more smaller screen making the image a bit more blurry. To see a comparison of different formats, mr. Herranen has done an amazing page for just that.

Quote from: KatieHal on August 25, 2011, 08:14:18 AM
That is generally what the phrase "digitally remastered" means.

Yeah, films have the same problem as every other material: They get worse the more they age and the oldest usually just rot away. That's why preserving them in digital format is a good idea if you also want to give people the chance to see it. Becauser of the damage to the original film, they're usually digitally repaired to look like what they originally did back in theaters. They'll remove the dust particles (the white or black spots), scratches (the black lines) and color correct the whole thing to boost up the faded colors. Usually Disney does this the best, though some seem to want the version they saw back on VHS.

Heh, this reminds me that I once worked on a film restoration. A silent film from the 1910s' originally hidden from the Soviet invaders and recently re-discovered in milk cans. The whole thing was scanned and you just remove dust and scratches by wiping out a piece of the frame to reveal the lower layer that was usually the frame two or three frames before or after. Save and repeat for about 86 400 times at least on a 60 minute film. You can do the same thing easily in After Effects 7 or Photoshop CS 5.5. Sometimes the frames looked like they were beyond repair and usually it's better to leave them be instead of screwing up the original frame. But sometimes you feel like taking on the world and just do your best. The frame underneath this text is my best.



Now that's frigging art!

Quote from: DawsonJ on August 26, 2011, 09:51:19 PM
Although, the commercial examples don't seem any different between DVD and Blu-Ray.

DVD had a resolution of 720X576 interlaced with a bitrate of 8mbps at best quality, Blu-Ray can play video with resolution up to 1080x1920 progressive at 27mbps. Chack the page by mr. Herranen I linked earlier and you can see a visual comparison of the two. Now, if you're a cynical b****** like myself who just wants to skip this Blu-ray thing, 'cause I already have a closet full of DVDs and no interrest in buying them again in Blu-ray, there is something much much better on the horisont than a mere HDTV. Last date I heard was 2015, but we'll see.

DawsonJ

Now, I'm definitely pro-DVD, but I'm impressed with Blu-Ray technology. But, personally, I think it's a complete waste - except for higher resolutions - to transfer an 80-year-old animated movie onto Blu-Ray. I just don't see a reason to do that. Yes, Disney has made some definite quality improvements through Digital Remastering. But, it can only be Remastered to a point, so it'll never be up to par when compared to new movies that are recorded in high def with the intention of releasing it on Blu-Ray. To me, it would be like taking an audio recording from 1920 and putting it onto an SACD in (emulated) 5.1 surround sound. Or, like building a $250,000 house in a neighborhood of $5,000,000 houses - it'll never be comparable.

MikPal

Quote from: DawsonJ on September 12, 2011, 01:11:38 AM
But, personally, I think it's a complete waste - except for higher resolutions - to transfer an 80-year-old animated movie onto Blu-Ray.

The quality of that 80-year old animated movie was way much better than what we today call HD. In the movie theaters you could sometimes see the texture of the paper it was painted on or the shadows of the inks on a cell. DVD or VHS didn't have a resolution good enough to show them in full glory. A passable glory yes, but not in full. Even old films were better in quality than HD. Old black and white films used to have shades of grays and clarity that are missing from modern film stocks. What you see on TV is nothing compared to what it looked like in the theater.

Cez

I have a soft spot for Alice in Wonderland (probably one reason why I like KQ7)

Other than that....
Robin Hood.
The Sword in the Stone
Sleeping Beauty
Mary Poppins
The Little Mermaid
101 Dalmatians
Tron
Aladdin

I also used to really like Return to Oz as a kid. It was one of those movies that scared the crap out of me, and I could never watch by myself, sort of like Temple of Doom :)


Cesar Bittar
CEO
Phoenix Online
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Blackthorne

Return to Oz is freaky as hell!  I've got it on DVD now, and it still freaks me out.  Mombi is freaky, what with all of her heads!  The wheelers.... man, that movie is just freakishly awesome.  Scared the bejesus out of me as a kid!


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

DawsonJ

#51
Quote from: Cez on September 18, 2011, 11:58:18 PM
I have a soft spot for Alice in Wonderland (probably one reason why I like KQ7)

I really liked the DVD release of Alice in Wonderland. They had a new video composition, and a new recording, for a long-lost song entitled, "I'm Odd" by the Cheshire (?) Cat. But, Sterling Holloway was long passed at the time of the recording, so they had Jim Cummings (the voice actor who took over for Sterling Holloway - Winnie the Pooh, Kaa the snake, Cheshire (?) Cat, etc. - when he retired) sing the newly released song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hb0iFH0AHk

Klitos

Lion King. Such an absolute brilliant movie.
Adriana: You were saying she's got a nice ass!
Christopher: I was trying to say something positive because she is your friend.

MangoMercury

Aladdin
The Lion King
Beauty and the Beast
Pinocchio
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Countess of Tyrol and Maid of Honour to the Queen

MusicallyInspired

Aladdin is the best and my favourite. Hercules isn't bad either. I'm trying hard to think of others I really enjoyed. Lion King was great, but not my favourite. Princess and the Frog I really liked.

Oh yes, The Rescuers Down Under!!

LadyTerra

I would like to amend my list by adding Nightmare Before Christmas.  I remember tears welling up in my eyes when I first saw him shot down.
I have my cake and eat it too, until it's gone.  Then I can't do either.


Aww!  You have the Sword of Hugging +3!  All of your attacks deal affectionate damage!

Blackthorne

Nightmare Before Christmas is barely a Disney Film.  They merely had the story rights, which forced them to be a producer on the flick.  They didn't even have faith in it - they released it under the "Touchstone" banner originally, and when it became a cult hit, they suddenly wanted their name on the DVD releases.


Bt
"You've got to keep one eye looking over your shoulder
you know it's going to get harder and harder as you
get older - but in the end you'll pack up, fly down south, hide your head in the sand.  Just another sad old man, all alone and dying of cancer." - Dogs, Pink Floyd.

Allronix

Disney gets a bad rap for bowdlerizing fairy tales. Truth is, it's nothing that the Victorians didn't already do!  Remember the era Mr. Disney would have grown up in, with their insular cult on "innocence" and "family" - those were the versions he was likely to hear.

1) Snow White: The animation is about 80 years old and STILL gorgeous. In fact, it's one of the prettiest movies ever made! The costumes, the singing, the style. Oh, and the chase scene at the end holds up amazingly well. Grimhilde (the Queen) was also inspiration for one of my all-time favorite villains. 

2) Beauty in the Beast: Oh, the voice acting alone. Robbie Benson gets typecast as the good princes because he's THAT good at it. Add in David Ogden Stiers playing the fussiness for all it's worth, Jerry Orbach playing against type to flirt up a storm, Angela Lansbury flaunting that Broadway voice...And animation that is WORTH IT.

3) Fox & the Hound: It turns me into a blubbering wreck every time. It has nothing to do with the source material, which is pretty much a nature guide. What it becomes is a high tragedy of when the powers of friendship and love are NOT enough to conquer a nasty reality. There's no happy ending, just "carrying on."

4) The Little Mermaid: The original is beautiful, operatic, and depressing as hell (Andersen was likely gay, definitely suffering from clinical depression, and usually in a state of creator breakdown). Disney's take is plain fun. Ariel is not a passive woobie, Eric pulls out a couple awesome moments, Ursula has a delightful Villain Song. And it was their return to actually springing for top-notch animation!

5) Winnie The Pooh: The voice acting was wonderful. The animation was deliberately sketchy, just like the books. And the whole tone was gently comedic. Sometimes, you don't need something over the top to be good!

Honorable mention?

The Tron movies: People forget this one's Disney. Hell, Disney spent the better part of the 80's and 90's trying to forget they ever bankrolled it in the first place! It grossed less than expected, the video games based on it made more cash, and a lot of critics and theater goers frankly did not understand it.  A few funny things happened, though...one of them was the Internet. Another was Pixar. A third strike was Square-Enix cooking up Kingdom Hearts and saying "We wanna turn THAT into a level!" A surprised Disney company blinked hard and said "What?!"

Cheesy? You bet! Strange? Oh, yeah.  Had a lot of moments that made you blink and go "how the hell did they fly THAT one past the censors?" Check.  Word to the wise, though, re-watching the first after you've seen the second is like chugging tonic water - the bitter aftertaste is going to linger.     
Old Adventure Gamers never die - they've always saved first.

DawsonJ

@Allronix- Which Winnie the Pooh are you referring to in number 5? Do you mean one of the movies in particular, or a series - like The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which marked the end of Sterling Holloway's "Pooh" & Paul Winchell's "Tigger", and the beginning of Jim Cummings' career as both characters?

(Also, "Beauty AND The Beast", not "in".)