Brother Bear - March 30, 2004 - Full Specs

[Loomis]

DVDTimes.co.uk have announced the full specs and release date for BB. Looks good....

Walt Disney Home Entertainment have announced the Region 1 DVD release of their latest animated adventure, Brother Bear, for 30th March 2004 with a retail price of $29.99. The film follows the incredible adventures of a young man named Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) who is transformed into a bear. From his new perspective, Kenai discovers the world through the eyes of another as he is befriended by a bear cub named Koda (Jeremy Suarez), encounters a pair of misguided moose (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas), and finds himself pursued by his own human sibling.

This two-disc DVD features what are listed as both Full Frame and Widescreen presentations of the film, though the aspect ratios of both are actually Widescreen (1.66:1 or 2.35:1) with Anamorphic Enhancement. Those features in full...

Disc One:
Full Frame 1.66:1 (formatted 16x9) presentation
English DD5.1 and DTS 5.1 Surround
French and Spanish language tracks
Koda's Outtakes
"Look Through My Eyes" Music Video
"Find Your Totem" Set-Top Game
"Bone Puzzle" Set-Top Game
Rutt & Tuke's Commentary - Hilarious feature-length commentary from the comic moose duo
Bear Legends
Making Noise: The Art of Foley
Art Review
"On My Way" Sing Along Song
Disc Two:
Widescreen (2.35:1, formatted 16x9) presentation
English DD5.1 and DTS 5.1 Surround
French and Spanish language tracks
Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear - A look at the amazing creative process that goes into a Disney Animated Feature Film. Explore story origins, character designs, production art, filmmaker inspirations, how the music, songs and score are created, how the voices are cast, and more.
Never-before-heard song: "Fishing Song"
Deleted Scenes - Includes filmmaker introductions before each scene.
"Transformation" Sing Along Song

[Luke]

Okay, beat to the punch by the Loom. But how do they figure that 1.66:1 is full frame? What does that mean? Did they animate it for both ratios maybe? That's certainly odd.

Other than that, the set looks good, though an audio commentary seems noticeably absent.

[Loomis]

Okay, beat to the punch by the Loom. But how do they figure that 1.66:1 is full frame? What does that mean? Did they animate it for both ratios maybe? That's certainly odd.

Other than that, the set looks good, though an audio commentary seems noticeably absent.

But yours was all official and stuff...

I did read in the Disney Magazine that the movies pushes out into a 2.35:1 ratio once he has turned into a bear, so perhaps that is what they are getting at...

[Luke]

Okay, beat to the punch by the Loom. But how do they figure that 1.66:1 is full frame? What does that mean? Did they animate it for both ratios maybe? That's certainly odd.

Other than that, the set looks good, though an audio commentary seems noticeably absent.

But yours was all official and stuff...

I did read in the Disney Magazine that the movies pushes out into a 2.35:1 ratio once he has turned into a bear, so perhaps that is what they are getting at...

Yes, it goes from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 but I don't think the whole thing was matted like Super 35 or anything. That'd be a lot of work to not show in theaters.

[2099net]

It does seem odd. I'm sure the 1.66:1 transfer will be full frame for the 1.85:1 segment, then pan and scaned for the rest.

[Uncle Remus]

so Brother Bear is going to be a 2-disc set when it comes out? why didnt they make 2-disc sets for the other animated movies that came out?

[indianajdp]

so Brother Bear is going to be a 2-disc set when it comes out? why didnt they make 2-disc sets for the other animated movies that came out?

ahhhh...the $64,000 question.

I (like many here I'm sure) was one that preferred the Collector's Editions over the standard releases about 90% of the time. I enjoy getting so much more of the behind-the-scenes and making-of stuff that I was willing to pay a bit extra for that 2nd disc. I guess this wasn't as profitable a business practice for BVHE to justify a continuation of these separate production runs, though.

[Billy Moon]

The 1.66:1 version is probably a pan&scan of the 2.35:1 and, being anamorphic, it is full screen in 16:9 TVs. That's why they're calling it "full frame".
Wouldn't it be fun if the Transformation sing-along was the Inuit version? (Though it probably isn't.)