Best Restoration

[Beastboyravenz]

People have probably posted similar posts like this in the past, but I'm not about to look through all 188 pages to find out. So, I just wanted to list the films that have had the best restorations. I'm listing them by the one's that managed to look their best without losing their originality.

The list is of the best IMO.

Snow White
Sleeping Beauty
Lady and The Tramp
Bambi
Alice in Wonderland
Aladdin
Pocahontas
The Little Mermaid
The Lion King

I would have put Beauty and The Beast And Cinderella. Both these looked really good but didn't look as they should, color wise. They were both a little too exaggerated. I probably left many out, just couldn't think of anymore. I would really like to know what you guys think .

[Escapay]

People have probably posted similar posts like this in the past, but I'm not about to look through all 188 pages to find out.

Which is why we have a wonderful Search option that customizes searching for threads without having to go page by page...

So, I just wanted to list the films that have had the best restorations. I'm listing them by the one's that managed to look their best without losing their originality.

If we're keeping the "without losing their originality" factor, I'd remove the rest of the Fab 4 entirely (TLM, Aladdin, TLK). Like BATB, Aladdin and TLK are presented in their IMAX versions (read: brighter colors, more detail, and in TLK's case, changed animation) while the TLM is a mixed bag.

Of the restorations I've seen and compared (either via caps here and/or my DVDs and VHS copies), the best would definitely go to Bambi and Alice in Wonderland.

Escapay

[Flanger-Hanger]

My favourite will always be Sleeping Beauty's restoration

[Wonderlicious]

My favourites would probably go to Bambi and Alice in Wonderland. They're very good, with good colours, and were nice mediums in terms of still retaining the feel of a nirate/film-based source, not getting anywhere near as messy as parts of Dumbo or completely grainless all the time like Cinderella did. And I also quite liked the new video quality for The Great Mouse Detective (which was supposedly restored).

I must say that I can't judge the picture of the The Little Mermaid yet as I still haven't got it yet (I'm going to wait and see how the November 5th released Region 2 UK DVD stands compared to the Region 1 DVD before I go anywhere). I don't consider the Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan etc transfers "restorations" as they were actually just direct-digital transfers.

[Simba3]

My favorites and the ones I thought looked the best after restoration were Bambi and Cinderella. I thought both films looked really good after the restoration process. I also enjoyed The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast too, I really enjoyed the added scenes. I think in both cases the songs fit into the movie very well and offer a cool new feature. Plus, if you want to watch the movie in its original version, you still can.

[Pyoko]

I don't think Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Lion King etc. should be on the list since they were all-digital to begin with. There's nothing to restore really, at least not in the film restoration sense as with the other ones.

As for which one of them I thought was best, I'm not sure, as there were good things and bad things with almost all of them. The LDI restored Cinderella and Lady of the Tramp were clean, but almost too clean for my tastes, they looked like they had been digitally repainted. Bambi and Snow White suffered from some smearing due to grain-reduction, TLM had ghosting/colour issues and so on...

In the end I'd probably choose one of the better looking colour shorts on the Walt Disney Treasures sets. Those had some great restorations done and since they didn't expect the sets to sell in the millions like the PEs they never bothered to reduce the grain or otherwise "enhance" (read: destroy) the picture.

[Beastboyravenz]

I think it's weird that Disney would write that Aladdin and The Lion King were digitally restored if some of you have stated they were all digital to begin with. So is it falsely stated?

[Pyoko]

In my opinion it is weird and incorrect. A couple of quotes from M-W about the word "restoration": "a bringing back to a former position or condition" or "a representation or reconstruction of the original form". But since these films were stored digitally to begin with, meaning they didn't degrade over time, there was no previous condition to bring it back to, it was always the same, the original form.

But at the same time I'm annoyed over their use of the word when it comes to the older movies as well. As my quotes from M-W says, a restoration brings something back to the way it was originally. But there is really no chance that Cinderella or Lady and the Tramp looked anywhere near the way they do on the PE DVDs originally, so I think using the term restoration there is wrong as well. If they're going to manipulate and tweak the picture as much as they have in those, and many others, they should leave off that they're "restored" and just say that they're "digitally enhanced" or something similar.

[The Little Merman]

I'd say Alice has one of the best so far. I was just watching the film earlier today and I still can't believe how magnificent it looks!

*tlm

[Beastboyravenz]

Pyoko, you are right they should just say they enhanced it instead of "restoring" it.

[Disneykid]

My favourites would probably go to Bambi and Alice in Wonderland. They're very good, with good colours, and were nice mediums in terms of still retaining the feel of a nirate/film-based source, not getting anywhere near as messy as parts of Dumbo or completely grainless all the time like Cinderella did. And I also quite liked the new video quality for The Great Mouse Detective (which was supposedly restored).

You summed up my thoughts perfectly. I've been pleased with all of Disney's transfers, but they each have their share of problems:

Snow White: A little soft on occasion
Dumbo: Film artifacts randomly popping up in scenes
Cinderella: Questionable color palette change
Sleeping Beauty: Flickering in some scenes
The Little Mermaid: Slightly soft and dark

Bambi, Alice in Wonderland, and Lady and the Tramp are the only ones I'd deem as practically perfect. Before anyone acuses me of being anal, the flaws in the restorations I mentioned above don't actually bother me (well, Dumbo's kind of do). I think Alice may be my all-time favorite Disney restoration, and not just because it's my favorite film, either. It manages to be completely clean and bring out backgrounds not seen in decades without overhauling the film's look. Bambi and Lady, on the other hand, look pretty similar to past versions and don't quite have the jaw-dropping effect that Alice does.

I'm really looking forward to Peter Pan's new restoration. I just hope it was by Lowry before they split with Disney and not by Technicolor (which did a solid job on Little Mermaid, but still could've gone a step or two further).

[Simba3]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention Lady and the Tramp, that one must have slipped my mind. I think the restoration on it looks really great. I'll be anxious to see how Peter Pan's restoration looks.

[Beastboyravenz]

You guy's I was just watching Sleeping Beauty and I just think it's amazing! It's restoration is well executed and just looks phenomenal. I hope when Disney releases Cinderella and Lady in the tramp in the future (that is if blu-ray is sucessfull) that they'll use Sleeping Beauty as a model of the best restored film. Disney should start reading these posts, so they can know what true Disney fans really want for their favorite Classics, which is nothing but the best.

[Josh]

My favourite Restoration is DEFINATELY Lady and the Tramp! I remember the first time I watched the Platinum Edition, I honestly forgot what movie I was watching as I was so amazed by the picture quality, what made it even more incredible was the fact that the film was 56 years old! IMO this was the restoration done to perfection.
Alice in Wonderland is also an amazing example of successful restorations, seeing the scene where Alice meets the Cheshire cat, I thought this film had the most bold, vibrant and captivating colors I'd ever seen!
Also, Pocahontas's 10 A.E dvd had great picture quality, which wasn't hard to beat when you compare it to the Gold Collection.

[MerXAN]

Alice.

[jeremy88]

I think Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin have the best restorations.

[Beastboyravenz]

After much research and comparing and contrasting I have come to my new opinion of which Disney films have gotten the "Best Restoration". I have read many different opinions on every Disney Film dvd's. For instance ,some state that Cinderella's "restoration" looks "beautiful" others say it was "ruined"; I'm mostly leaning to the "ruined" category. Some people who have reviewed these films other than UD, have no idea what they're talking about. Some simply say "the restoration is beautiful and looks like it was made yesterday", but they don't imform the consumer on the technical issues many of these films posses (In my opinion UD does a very fine job explaining technical issues). I have also read other reviews where they give an in-depth explanation of everything that went on into restoring these films. Before I didn't know any better, I thought all Disney restorations looked amazing and perfect, today I know far more and have learned soo much. I know every Disney dvd have various flaws, but if you have the eye, you'll know when a restoration has been done justice. For example, the first time I saw Bambi on dvd I said to myself "Disney has really done a great job!", in fact it was a great job, but after seeing it numerous times today my love for it has drastically changed (for the restoration, not the film). Bambi's restoration gives me mixed feelings. When it starts it looks as if it hasn't lost a lot if not any of it's originality and integrity, but there are other scenes that give it the "Cinderella Restoration look", which I really hate. The backgrounds look highlighted and bright, they don't look as dramatic as before, the mood they set for the movie was sort of compromised. I know the colors were re-registered but the original color pallete I'm afraid I feel was lost. The films restoration lies between Snow White and Cinderella. To get to the point I no longer feel Lady and The Tramp, Bambi and The Little Mermaid have the best restorations.

Movies that I truly feel have the most stunning and groundbreaking restorations are Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. I haven't researched and compared and contrasted Alice in Wonderland, but I will definately get on it. Both Sleeping Beauty and Snow White aren't perfectly restored, but I am extremely satisfied by both. Sleeping Beauty as I've mentioned in several threads to me is perfection and was not "vandalized" artistically in my eyes. The films color palette is the most accurate I've seen so far. I have compared the dvd to the vhs, I know for a fact the it's not the most reliable method, but I do trust vhs's color palettes. I don't have that many compliants for Snow White. The backgrounds are not neon like, it still has it's vintage look and feel. The only thing that bothers me is that the apple almost looks like a tomato with that super bright red that almost looks orange. The color of the apple in the dvd definately did not translate to the vhs's color ( when it's in motion). But I can overlook that. Both these films do not look artificially sharp, edge enhanced, or give you perspective of them being made today. I wish I could say the same thing about Bambi, but there are too many elements that make me dislike it's restoration. None the less I adore all Disney Classic films, but what I do not adore are these horrific restorations that make the films lose their "Originality". Grain, artefacts, and film maker mistakes are what make these "Old" Classic films complete, they're not suppose to look new. I'm glad Disney managed to save some films from ending up like Cinderella.

I probably have a lot more to learn about technology and technical issues that contribute to ruining Classic films. Although, I personally feel I've come a long way from the naive person I once was, to a person who is more educated in the subject and actually knows what he's talking about.

[Beastboyravenz]

I was reading an old thread I created and thought it would be fun to list your favorite shorts that you feel recieved good restorations. If any at all.

I really thought Birds of spring looked really nice. Toy Hospital was one of my favorites. The shorts aren't perfect but these restorations really made them look better. I actually finished watching the set and forgot some of the names. I put it away so I have dig it out and I really don't feel like it right now.

So what do you guys think? I would really love to know.

[jeremy88]

Well the way I see it is that its okay to remove the grain, artifacts, noise because there not intended to be in the film at all in the first place they just end up there over time and the way it was shot on film.
Yeah it shows the films age or makes it "classic" but isnt the general movie itself already classic? So why not see it in the best original quality it came in before, I think thats the best way to view a classic film.

I do agree that changing the original colors is completely unnecessary, now that kind of makes it lose its originality because thats not how the film was intended to be.

Nonetheless I don't think any of the resorations made any of the Disney Animated films lose their originality or classic status. Because their beautiful story's, great music and amazing animation are what make them classic using the tradiontional technique that has been around for years.

[Beastboyravenz]

I wish I were like you jeremy88, but i just can't overloook these thing. It bugs me I just can't be like many people here and say "ohwell what can you do?" You're not gonna believe this but I don't watch Cinderella, Bambi, and Lady and The Tramp and the so-called "fab four" for the same reasons. I do feel their originality was compromised, it's the same movie as you say but to me part of the movie is the art work that I once greatly appreciated, a movie isn't the same if one tampers with it. Don't get me wrong I love the art to this day, but changes to the movies is just too much for me, I can't comprehend why Disney does this things. You probably think I'm closed minded, but I will not give into accepting the way these wonderful films were Artistically buthchered. The only movies I can sit through watching are Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and the rest of the Platinum aren't worth my time. Everytime I have watched them, the thought that they're not the same kills me. I can only hope Pinnochio, Peter Pan, Fantasia and The Jungle Book won't be huge dissapointments aswell. I'll always hope Disney restores these films to they're "Original Brilliance" with all the artists mistakes and true color palettes, but who knows it's hard since a lot of people are still in awed with the treatment these films have recieved.