Disney's Widescreen and Fullscreen Issue Explained

TonyWDA · Post by **TonyWDA** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:23 am

blackcauldron85 wrote:I have a question:
"The Lion King" was made with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, right? http://www.lionking.org/homevideo.html says that the VHS releases have a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. I don't know how to use the VCR the way it's plugged in, so I can't check- but, are the VHS releases really in pan & scan? I find that hard to believe. Are any other Disney VHS tapes in pan & scan (I know that "Sleeping Beauty" offered both?), where the DVD is in the correct aspect ratio?

I think almost every Disney movie on VHS - except Sleeping Beauty at some point - is in pan and scan. But the reason for this escapes me.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:30 am

Hmmm...thanks, TonyWDA. Why? That makes no sense! When I watch a movie, except for the very beginning, I don't notice whether or not it's in fullscreen or widecreen (I always buy widescreen when possible, though; I get caught up in the movie and I just don't always notice, I guess)- we had some friends come over to watch "Chicken Little", and one friend had to adjust our DVD player because it was playing it in fullscreen instead of widescreen- and, even though I noticed (I think it was me) it was playing FS instead of WS, I wouldn't have known that it was possible to adjust the settings...so, what I'm saying, too, is, even if I knew how to use the VCR, I may not have it set up right/notice...

I'm so interested now whether Disney's VHS's are all in FS, and why...

TonyWDA · Post by **TonyWDA** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:35 am

blackcauldron85 wrote:Hmmm...thanks, TonyWDA. Why? That makes no sense! When I watch a movie, except for the very beginning, I don't notice whether or not it's in fullscreen or widecreen (I always buy widescreen when possible, though; I get caught up in the movie and I just don't always notice, I guess)- we had some friends come over to watch "Chicken Little", and one friend had to adjust our DVD player because it was playing it in fullscreen instead of widescreen- and, even though I noticed (I think it was me) it was playing FS instead of WS, I wouldn't have known that it was possible to adjust the settings...so, what I'm saying, too, is, even if I knew how to use the VCR, I may not have it set up right/notice...

I'm so interested now whether Disney's VHS's are all in FS, and why...

Hmm...really? Does the picture look stretched? Well, try this:

Go to the DVD settings and go to the screen settings. These are some possible options:

16:9
4:3 Letterbox
Pan and Scan

If there's any setting that looks like 4:3 Letterbox or something like that, choose that. The picture of Chicken Little should have black bars at the top and bottom.

blackcauldron85 · Post by **blackcauldron85** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 9:53 am

Yeah, I think my friend did that- he went under settings and did something (I don't know how to use technology like that)...after he changed the settings, CL was in widescreen.

Disneykid · Post by **Disneykid** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 10:08 am

Yeah, all of Disney's VHS tapes were pan and scan except for Lady and the Tramp and Sleeping Beauty (both of which were available in separate widescreen and P&S versions). I think the reason for this is because VHS was bought by all average Joes who didn't care about aspect ratios or anything like that. Even non-Disney films were usually P&S. When laserdisc came around, it was a big deal for movie aficionados because they could finally see films in the original ratios. Unfortunately, the amount of average Joes in the world are far greater than the amount of movie buffs, so laserdisc never became as popular as VHS, even with the advantage of widescreen and bonus materials. DVDs, now, cater to both groups, but stupid companies like Sony sometimes still release family films like Matilda and Annie in P&S.

goofystitch · Post by **goofystitch** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 1:50 pm

I have a quick question about Mary Poppins. Was that film matted into widescreen, or was it filmed in widescreen and pan & scanned for home video? I just watched it and the framing seemed correct for most of it, but there were some scenes where everything felt zoomed in a little to far. I watched it on the 40th Anniversary 2-disc edition. During "I Love to Laugh," I had the strange feeling that when I used to watch it as a kid, I could see more of the ceiling and floor.

Escapay · Post by **Escapay** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 5:52 pm

The Mary Poppins aspect ratio has been a topic of much debate here at good ole UD.

What <IS> Poppins OAR??

and this post in that thread is of great interest...

deathie's long-ass-but-quite-informative comparisons of three versions of the film: Japanese Laserdisc vs. Gold Collection DVD vs. 40th Anniversary DVD

And at the end of the thread, Joe Carioca led us to an article with a great many comparisons of the three Poppins DVDs, the first release, the Gold Collection, and the 40th Anniversary Edition.

Escapay

TheSequelOfDisney · Post by **TheSequelOfDisney** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:48 pm

Straight from MP's 40thAE DVD Guide:

"Enjoy the unique combination of live action and animation in this landmark film as it was originally intended to be seen - fully restored to its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio!"

I guess that solves the question.

Escapay · Post by **Escapay** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:52 pm

TheSequelofDisney wrote:Straight from MP's 40thAE DVD Guide:

"Enjoy the unique combination of live action and animation in this landmark film as it was originally intended to be seen - fully restored to its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio!"

I guess that solves the question.

Yes, but Disney inserts have been wrong before. All I need to say is "The Aristocats: Special Edition on March 27", or "The Fox and the Hound: 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio"

And it still doesn't explain why the film's slightly framed differently in its various laserdisc and DVD versions. Is it even probable that they've been misframing the film for the past 20-odd years on VHS, laserdisc, and DVD before getting it right in 2004?

Escapay

TheSequelOfDisney · Post by **TheSequelOfDisney** » Sun Feb 11, 2007 6:55 pm

Escapay wrote:Yes, but Disney inserts have been wrong before. All I need to say is "The Aristocats: Special Edition on March 27", or "The Fox and the Hound: 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio"

Escapay

I guess you could possibly be correct.

goofystitch · Post by **goofystitch** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:15 pm

Thanks Escapay and Sequel of Disney. That pretty much answered my question. I guess this all goes towards this topic of what is better? Everything that was filmed vs. the way it was intended to be seen vs. the way Disney actually releases it. I'm all for the way the creators intended to be seen and apparantly the 40th Anniversary is closer to the "Supercalifragilistic Ratio" used only for "Mary Poppins." It's a good thing I kept my Gold Collection version.

danfrandes · Post by **danfrandes** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:22 am

TonyWDA, how did you remaster Robin Hood in widescreen?

And what video recording system do you use to remaster films in widescreen?

memnv · Post by **memnv** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:39 am

danfrandes wrote:TonyWDA, how did you remaster Robin Hood in widescreen?

And what video recording system do you use to remaster films in widescreen?

I say we take a vote and rename you The boy of a 1000 questions

ichabod · Post by **ichabod** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:44 am

memnv wrote:I say we take a vote and rename you The boy of a 1000 questions

Well that's nicer than the name I was thinking of!

danfrandes · Post by **danfrandes** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 6:54 am

It was just a question to TonyWDA.

reyquila · Post by **reyquila** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:34 am

="Julian CarterReyquila, is it telepathy or something ... but whenever you're mentioned in a post, you immediately reply. Do you keep track of us?

Okays ... that was off topic ...

Of course!!

TonyWDA · Post by **TonyWDA** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:29 am

danfrandes wrote:TonyWDA, how did you remaster Robin Hood in widescreen?

And what video recording system do you use to remaster films in widescreen?

Are you going to take this idea like you did last time?

Just Myself · Post by **Just Myself** » Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:37 pm

reyquila wrote:
Julian Carter wrote:Reyquila, is it telepathy or something ... but whenever you're mentioned in a post, you immediately reply. Do you keep track of us?

Okays ... that was off topic ...
Of course!!

Dan Frandes has just officially been booted from the number one spot of 'Creepiest Member w/Grammar Issues'....

JM

TonyWDA · Post by **TonyWDA** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 8:04 pm

Would any of you like to see Fantasia matted? The Disney company did that to it in the 1956 re-issue.

deathie mouse · Post by **deathie mouse** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:06 pm

blackcauldron85 wrote:I have a question:
"The Lion King" was made with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio, right?

CAPS renders are something more like 1.50-1.60.

The prints had a printed image area of about 13mm x 22mm of which 11.33mm x 21mm (1.85) was projected.

TheSequelofDisney wrote:Straight from MP's 40thAE DVD Guide:

"Enjoy the unique combination of live action and animation in this landmark film as it was originally intended to be seen - fully restored to its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio!"

I guess that solves the question.

Don't believe everything you read.

(And specially after you have photographic evidence in front of your eyes (previous UD links))

TonyWDA wrote:Would any of you like to see Fantasia matted?

No, because that is not the composed for OAR.

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