Mickey Mouse or Silly Symphonies

[george321]

Hello, I would like to know which Treasure Tin is better: Mickey Mouse in Living Color Vol.1, or Silly Symphonies vol.1. I need help deciding. Thanks

P.S. Oh, is the Fantasia Anthology Set a better set than these, or should I just stick to a treasures tin.

[banjoboy]

George, that's a question which doesn't seem to have a simple answer. I have all three sets that you mention, and if I had to choose ... I would pick all three. Serieously, the Fantasia set is a vital part of any Animated Classics collection, if you're into that. Out of the two Treasures, I probably enjoyed Silly Symphonies more, but to me they're equal in both quality and historical significance. Thats my two cents. Good luck in making your selection!

[Mr. Toad]

I am with Banjo all three are essential to a Disney collection.

The quality of relase as well as the original content are incredible for all three. If I had three Disney releases to choose those would likely be the three at the top.

[goofystitch]

Both sets are great and every Disney fan should have both, but I feel a little more partial to the Silly Symphonies set due to it's variety. After 2 hours of straight Mickey Mouse, I get restless, whereas I originally watched both discs of the SS set in one day and never got bored with it. I highly reccomend both, but if money is tight right now, I'd go for the SS set.

[george321]

Thanks for your help guys. I checked Amazon.com today and there was a choice of a NEW DVD Treasure Tin (either Mickey or Silly Symphones) or a Used-Very Good Fantasia Anthology. Again I need your help to decide which to get.
Thanks again

-George321

[goofystitch]

Hmmm... that's tough. "Fantasia" will be re-release in a 2-disc Platinum Edition within the next 3-4 years and it is highly probable that "Fantasia 2000" will be re-released around this time, most likely in a 2-disc set as well. On the other hand, the Treasures aren't assured to ever be re-released and most likely won't be on DVD. Possibly on the next format, but who knows how long it could be before you could own all of the Mickey Mouse cartoons or Silly Symphonies again? I would personally seek out the discontinued Treasures since the likelihood of them being re-released anytime soon aren't very great, but we are assured a re-release of "Fantasia," possibly, but not probably, completely uncut and uneditied.

[MK Sharp]

My goodness, those Wave 1 sets - even without tins - are going for silly money on Amazon.com. If only I'd known, I would have invested in a couple of extra sets...

Meanwhile, at Amazon.co.uk, the R2 versions are still at £5.97 (that's about $11 US). It's a shame that most of you guys in the States can't play PAL DVDs - that would be a really good (=cheap) solution to the problem.

[george321]

Thanks again, guys. I think I'll go with a Treasure Tin than. Thanks.

George321

[lapniappe]

i think I'm really going to invest in a region free dvd player. they don't last as long - but it would be worth the hassle. I have no idea if my laptop wuld play both PAL and NSTC, but to get Disney treasures for like 12 pounds, instead of 80 dollars cdn.

[TM2-Megatron]

i think I'm really going to invest in a region free dvd player. they don't last as long - but it would be worth the hassle. I have no idea if my laptop wuld play both PAL and NSTC, but to get Disney treasures for like 12 pounds, instead of 80 dollars cdn.

I'd imagine any computer would be capable of PAL or NTSC playback, but your software DVD player (Power DVD, Intervideo, etc.) probably needs to have this ability as well. I haven't heard anything about region-free players not lasting as long, though, and it sounds odd to me. The hardware is identical, just the software on a certain chip that's different. Also, many normal DVD players can be set to Region 0 by pressing a certain combination on the remote. I did this to both the DVD players in my house (a Magnosonic DVD808-2, and a Toshiba). Only one of our TVs can handle PAL signals, though, but the other player and TV are very useful for watching imported Japanese DVDs, of which I have several.

As far as PAL goes, ignoring the price differences between the Treasures, I usually prefer watching content in its original format. I don't believe the conversion always makes a differences, especially nowadways with all the digital video standards coming up. However, for stuff like the Treasures, I'd imagine it would be best to avoid the PAL sped-up versions... isn't the pitch of the soundtrack raised slightly by the conversion process? I'd think that would be noticeable (and annoying).

[Lars Vermundsberget]

No question, you definitely "need" to have them all! Seriously, on the other hand, if that's not an option right now, no single one of them would be a wrong choice, either.

I don't quite see what's the thing with region-free players: Isn't that just a slight modification of a player that would otherwise not be region-free...? That's the case with mine, at least. And, besides, I've had it for six and a half years now.

[lapniappe]

after looking at the list, I think i would want Silly Symphonies, Mickey Mouse in Color, and Chonological Donald.

[MK Sharp]

As far as PAL goes, ignoring the price differences between the Treasures, I usually prefer watching content in its original format.

So do I, which is why I always buy my Treasures from the USA. It has the added benefit of making it harder for you guys to find a copy...

I don't believe the conversion always makes a differences, especially nowadways with all the digital video standards coming up. However, for stuff like the Treasures, I'd imagine it would be best to avoid the PAL sped-up versions... isn't the pitch of the soundtrack raised slightly by the conversion process? I'd think that would be noticeable (and annoying).

The pitch is raised slightly, but to be honest I'm hard pressed to notice the difference.

Except...

On the MMiLC1 and SS discs, the menu music is excerpted from the soundtracks. Now, the films themselves have been sped up by 4% so that they remain frame-coherent in PAL; but the menu audio still runs at the same speed as the NTSC versions. So if you happen to watch, say, Magician Mickey (which is the most obvious case, since the menu music is the opening music of the short), the music in the film does sound noticeably sharp, but only by contrast with the menu music.

If I was played a short at random, without any visual clues, I think I'd be unable to pick whether it was PAL or NTSC by the audio pitch alone. Possibly I might make a reasonable stab if it was something I was very familiar with (like Woodland Cafe, which I've watched more times than any sane person ought).

I've heard people complain that the PAL speed-up makes actors sound like Mickey Mouse. At least on these discs that isn't a so much of a problem.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I'll have to admit that I've never really noticed a pitch-problem with PAL discs, although I have experienced by comparing directly that there is a definite difference. For the sake of the principle, though, I prefer NTSC discs for the most part.

[ohmahaaha]

If this helps your decision:

"Silly Symphonies vol. 1" is great to watch to see the way the Disney animators progressed over the first 10 or 11 years of the Studio's lifetime, from the earliest Black & White days up thru the "Snow White" era. The set is also chock-a-block thru of Easter Eggs that are personal introductions to some of the shorts by Walt Disney himself from old Disneyland TV shows.

"Mickey in Living Color vol. 1" is a collection of the very best Mickey Mouse shorts - in fact, all of the color shorts up thru 1939 I think, which takes you right up to "Sorcerer's Apprentice" (which is on Mickey in Color vol. 2).

I don't know about the Fantasia set because I don't have that, BUT - I think the original "Fantasia" is planned as a future "Platinum" edition, so if you could hold off a couple of years and get 1 of the Treasures now.

Hope that helps your decision; if it were me I'd get BOTH of the Treasures!