The Fox and the Hound: 25th Anniversary Ed. DVD - Fact Sheet

[goofystitch]

Well, I was completely set on not getting this today due to the lack of extras and the fact that I already own it on DVD, but I was at Target and that shiny slipcover caught my eye and I picked it up and was looking at it and before I knew it, I was in my Jeep with it in my bag thinking "What have I done?" lol. Anyways, I'm actually glad I got it. Even though "Passing the Baton" is brief, it was very entertaining and I've actually watched it twice now. I also LOVED the gallery. Especially the live action production photos (man Sandy Duncan looked weird during production) and the pictures of the main street windows at Disneyland. They sure have come along way in terms of how well they do the window displays nowadays. As for the film itself, "The Fox and the Hound" was never one of my favorites, but I really loved this movie while watching it today. I don't know if it's the fact that I've lived through a similar experience with loosing a best friend due to social issues that made me connect with it or what, but I found that I almost cried at the end when Copper lays down and closes his eyes and you hear the dialogue of the two from their childhood saying "We'll always be friends forever" and the camera pans back to show Tod and Vixie on the hill looking down at Copper. Very touching. As a kid, this film didn't appeal to me because it was so realistic and had no big memorable songs that I would watch weekly on my many sing along songs videos. Like "Bambi," I would usually turn the TV off after the puppy play days of the film were over. Anyways, after watching the film today and falling in love with it, it has deffinatley moved up on my list of favorites. Still not top 10 status, but it now holds a special place in my heart. I really hope it gets a 2-disc treatment the next time it gets re-released, probably in 5 years for it's 30th aniversary or sometime around then. By that time, it will probably be on blueray which holds more info, so maybe a 1 disc blue ray set, but the equivalent of a DVD 2-disc set. Anyways, if you don't own this film, I now put it on my highly reccomended list and if you own the gold collection, only upgrade if you feel a need to. By the way, I watched it on a high definition tv with a DVD player that upconverts it, but I thought the restoration was pretty good. It seemed better than the GC and I didn't notice any scratches or bubbles. Just excess grain in a few shots, the opening in particular.

[Finchx0rz]

After twelve years* and about a hundred viewings, tonight I found myself STILL sobbing hysterically during "Goodbye May Seem Forever."

* I missed out on the '88 re-release and I didn't see TF&tH until I pestered my mother to blind-buy the black diamond VHS in '94

[buffalobill]

Got it today but haven't watched any of it yet. I did get upset to see it worded the same way as the Gold Collection inside the slipcover "modified to fit your television." Well Disney, I have a Widescreen dlp tv & you darn well didn't modify it to fit my screen. Why just this animated classic movie???

[Escapay]

I was at Target and that shiny slipcover caught my eye and I picked it up and was looking at it and before I knew it, I was in my Jeep with it in my bag thinking "What have I done?" lol.

Ah-ha!!! Proof that the cursed slipcover has subliminal messages printed on them that make people buy the product!!!

Escapay

[goofystitch]

buffalobill wrote:

Got it today but haven't watched any of it yet. I did get upset to see it worded the same way as the Gold Collection inside the slipcover "modified to fit your television." Well Disney, I have a Widescreen dlp tv & you darn well didn't modify it to fit my screen. Why just this animated classic movie???

Same here. While I don't really mind watching it stretched, it's still annoying because it is almost for certain this film was released in widescreen, wether it was filmed that way or not. Their ignorance is getting old.

Escapay wrote:

goofystitch wrote:

I was at Target and that shiny slipcover caught my eye and I picked it up and was looking at it and before I knew it, I was in my Jeep with it in my bag thinking "What have I done?" lol.

Ah-ha!!! Proof that the cursed slipcover has subliminal messages printed on them that make people buy the product!!! Razz

Escapay

I felt like Dory being attracted to the shiny cover. I honestly only picked it up to look at it and didn't think about it, checked out, thought "why was that so expensive?" looked in the bag and was like "damn... oh well."

[BambiFan87]

Yea I went to best buy yesterday and bought the fox and the hound...along w/ donald duck volume one mickey mouse in living color mickey mouse in black and white volume 2 and disney rarities...and a impulse buy of the brave little toaster.. all for only 140 bucks hehehe im such a dummy but I couldnt help it!!!

[jeremy88]

So I got the Fox and The Hound today and I'm pretty excited, since this is the first time I'm actually owning this movie. Im probably going to watch it tonight and check out the Bonus features, I was happy that Lambert the Sheepish Lion was on the special features since I've always liked that short movie since I was a small kid. The Disc art sure is better then The Little Mermaid PE discs.

[Zero X Marquis]

Has anyone ever considered that while this was released after the Rescuers, it was started before it - at a time where 1:33 was still the norm. Or even possibly, that this project wasn't originally intended for theatrical exhibition? Not saying the above is the case, but it would explain a lot...

[Escapay]

Has anyone ever considered that while this was released after the Rescuers, it was started before it - at a time where 1:33 was still the norm. Or even possibly, that this project wasn't originally intended for theatrical exhibition? Not saying the above is the case, but it would explain a lot...

Rescuers was released in 1977.

Fox and the Hound in 1981.

It normally takes 3-4 years to fully develop and animate a film (unless it's called The Black Cauldron, then it takes 13-15 years), so it's doubtful that this film would be at the final animation stages (in 1.33:1) before Rescuers' release in 1977, then be held up for 4 long years.

Escapay

[Zero X Marquis]

It wouldn't be the first time a movie was placed on hiatus.

I mean, they could have started, thought it to be a waste of time, and then decided to revive it later.

[Escapay]

It wouldn't be the first time a movie was placed on hiatus.

I mean, they could have started, thought it to be a waste of time, and then decided to revive it later.

Maybe, but Disney is rarely known for shelving a movie halfway through production. The only instance I know is when Ichabod and Mr. Toad were actually separate stories (before being combined). Both were already storyboarded and animated, but fell flat, so the decision was made to trim them and make it the last of the package features.

Plus, if F&H had been shelved/on hiatus for a specific amount of time, it'd be reported/known in various Disney books. (Lars, where are you when I need you?)

Escapay

[Zero X Marquis]

Plus, if F&H had been shelved/on hiatus for a specific amount of time, it'd be reported/known in various Disney books. (Lars, where are you when I need you?)

Escapay

Ah... just like the correct aspect ratio would be reported in said books, eh?

[goofystitch]

As an owner of the DVD with the new making of, it is very clear that this film was NOT in production before "The Rescuers." The making of is all about how this film was the last to be supervised by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson and how they "passed the baton" to the new animators. Frank and Ollie got the project started in the "late 70's" (yes, it is stated in the featurette) and selected new talents to animated the scenes. The gave pep talks to the new guys telling them that they will go on to make much better things and they will probably create films that will overshaddow their work. There is your proof, Zero X Marquis. "The Fox and the Hound" was put into production after "The Rescuers" was completed. Still want more proof? When a film is animated, the voice tracks are created first. Cory Feldman, the voice of young Copper, would not have been old enough to have voiced the puppy if it had been put into production prior to 1977, nor would they have sought him out and re-dubbed another actor's voice due to his star status, becasue this was years before he would become famous. If you buy the DVD, there are plenty of production photos of the animators and voice cast, as well as the making of, all of which make it very clear that this film was made AFTER "The Rescuers." Not before, or during, but after. End of debate.

As for the widescreen issue, filming "The Rescuers" in widescreen would have added to the production cost and if it wasn't as successful as they had hoped (I know nothing about how well "The Rescuers" did in it's initial theatrical run), they could have decided to cut costs on their next feature, "The Fox and the Hound," and filmed it in fullscreen with the probable intention of matting it for widescreen. And if it wasn't in widescreen in it's original 1981 release, it certainly would have been in it's 1988 re-release. It would be nice if Disney would come out and say wether it should or shouldn't be matted, but it is pretty obvious framing wise that this isn't a pan and scan version. I would just like for Disney to acknowledge it and release a version with both fullscreen and widescreen versions (or just widescreen, as I already have the fullscreen... twice).

[Escapay]

It would be nice if Disney would come out and say wether it should or shouldn't be matted, but it is pretty obvious framing wise that this isn't a pan and scan version. I would just like for Disney to acknowledge it and release a version with both fullscreen and widescreen versions (or just widescreen, as I already have the fullscreen... twice).

Hmm...


Main frame: 25th AE cap from lighthouse mike
Boxed frames: GC cap from my DVD, superimposed in appropriate areas
Side frame: Publicity Still from IGN, accidentally mis-aligned by me...

Regardless of the fact that it's a publicity still, it's proof that there's more beyond the animated frames we get on VHS and DVD. And why else would Disney go out of their way to provide *more* image in a publicity still than in the actual film cel?

Escapay

[MichaeLeah]

As for the widescreen issue, filming "The Rescuers" in widescreen would have added to the production cost and if it wasn't as successful as they had hoped (I know nothing about how well "The Rescuers" did in it's initial theatrical run).

It did very well.

[ichabod]

(I know nothing about how well "The Rescuers" did in it's initial theatrical run)

In it's original 1977 release it became the highest grossing animated film in history!

[goofystitch]

I stand corrected. Yeah. That is very weird about the publicity still showing so much image, but it also shows a clarity and brightness that the film doesn't. It almost makes me wonder if Disney re-created the image and extend it, but why go through that trouble? And why submit a widescreen photo for publicity purposes for a movie that is fullscreen? So much mystery. "Knights of Columbus, this is INTENSE!!!" Just kidding, but I want to know and if it was made in widescreen and the DVD is a cropped version, Disney's got some 'splainin' ta' do.

That's awesome about how well "The Rescuers" did. I guess that throws my theory of cost being an issue out the door. lol.

[MichaeLeah]

Okay, I have also agonized for years over the aspect ratio of Fox and the Hound. I believe today I have come to the conclusion that the DVD is an open matte presentation of the film. Here is why.

1) Every animated feature has always been put on DVD in the original aspect ratio.

2) The Small One (1978) and Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983) were both made in the Academy Ratio and matted for theatrical exhibition, yet both have been offered on DVD in 1.33:1. (Christmas Carol has been offered in both a matted 1.66:1 ratio and a 1.33:1 ratio.)

3) The promotional photos cannot be assumed to be screen caps from the film itself. Furthermore, Escapay's picture can't be complete because it only measures to about 1.5:1 (no offense intended).

4) I watched Fox and the Hound today on my tv. I used the zoom function to make it about 1.55:1. After overscan is considered, I believe this makes the frame about 1.66:1. The picture looked great this way. I have zoomed FatH all the way to 1.78:1 before (with overscan this makes it about 1.85:1) and it cut too much off. It is possible FatH was made in 1.33:1 and matted to 1.66:1 because Mickey's Christmas Carol was done that way. (We don't have to assume the film would have been matted all the way down to 1.75:1 like some other animated films because of Mickey's Christmas Carol.)

I have reached the conclusion (although I am not absolutely certain) that this DVD is an open matte presentation of the film. I am going to give Disney the benefit of the doubt because (despite their treatment of live-action films) they have always treated their animated films right on DVD. Furthermore, they see no problem with making sequels in the 1.78:1 ratio.

[PixarFan2006]

I got my copy Tuesday night and I thought that it was an outrage that it was 19.99. I still have not watched the movie itself yet, but i watched most of the features, which were interesting.

[akhenaten]

would anyone be kind enuff to post more screencaps comparison between the GC and new edition? i really need to weigh judgment bfr i make a fatal mistake.

thanks