Anyone familiar with Disney laserdiscs?

Dr.Mirakle32 · Post by **Dr.Mirakle32** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 12:46 pm

Now this is a pretty obscure format question. Since I was late in the game as far as getting into Disney DVDs, I'm pretty much at a point of waiting for the bluray just to get a "definitive" digital version. However, a couple of weeks ago, I went to a local Half Price bookstore and picked up the laserdiscs of Bambi, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. I hadn't seen them in a while, and they were pretty cheap, so I said, what the hell and caved in. My LD player needed a work out any way. (I also bought the CAV box set of Fantasia earlier, but while the discs and extras were okay, the box was bashed and pealed to crap. It was only ten bucks, so I didn't really care at the time.)

The album style artwork is really nice and is esentially a larger scale version of the old Classics and Masterpiece Collection VHS box art. While the picture quality is no where near the awesomeness of bluray, it's just short of DVD and considerably sharper and clearer than VHS. They're a great way to hold me over until the bluray comes out and I'm also really happy to have them for collectible purposes.

Does any one else here own any Disney LDs, and maybe recommend any specific titles? Box sets aren't neccessarily a must as long as the LD has the proper aspect ratio and looks decent enough (unfortunately I got the P&S version of B&TB and am seriously considering getting the letterbox version.)

Thanks.

zackisthewalrus · Post by **zackisthewalrus** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:16 pm

Me me me me me!!! I bought a Laserdisc player on eBay in January. Haha. I have a few discs. I love the artwork on the discs as well! Haha.

As far as recommending titles goes, I don't really know what to recommend. Haha. Definitely get the CAV version of B&B since it's in widescreen. It also comes with a behind-the-scenes featurette that's not on the Platinum DVD. There's also a Work-In-Progress B&B LD which is pretty nice.

PeterPanfan · Post by **PeterPanfan** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 2:16 pm

Laserdiscs and Special Features

What Disney Laserdiscs Do You Own?

[url=ttp://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/viewtopic. ... laserdiscs]disney laserdiscs[/url]

Dr.Mirakle32 · Post by **Dr.Mirakle32** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 4:44 pm

Thanks! I'm definitely considering getting the widescreen CAV disc of Beauty and the Beast. As nice as the movie was, it was a chore to watch the pan and scan version on a 16x9 widescreen TV. Also, is it true that the last DVD had altered colors and the LD is the truest to the original theatrical version?

ajmrowland · Post by **ajmrowland** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 5:50 pm

Don't star THAT again.

Dr.Mirakle32 · Post by **Dr.Mirakle32** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:05 pm

PeterPanfan · Post by **PeterPanfan** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:38 pm

ajmrowland wrote:Don't star THAT again.

Um, what?

Escapay · Post by **Escapay** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 9:22 pm

Dr.Mirakle32 wrote:Also, is it true that the last DVD had altered colors and the LD is the truest to the original theatrical version?

Whenever the subject of "Beauty and the Beast: Laserdisc/VHS colours versus DVD colours" comes up...it gets really ugly. Because there's one camp who believes the laserdisc is the true colours and the DVD colours were tweaked for IMAX, while the other camp believes the DVD is a direct port of the CAPS files (rather than an X-generation film print transferred to laserdisc/VHS). And both camps will argue till the cows come home, posting old screen caps ad nauseum and saying "Do you see the difference? Do you? Do you? DO YOU?!?" or "You're sentimentally clinging to old memories and old technology that does not recreate the original look as accurately as DVD and Blu-Ray does!"

albert

Dr.Mirakle32 · Post by **Dr.Mirakle32** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 11:26 am

I just saw the massive thread dedicated to the B&TB debate. I'm definitely gonna go with the widescreen LD version. The darker colors seem more natural and suit the gothic subject matter, in addition to the DVD having additional cropping.

Let's hope the upcoming bluray takes a page from the LD and releases something similar, but in HD.

The_Iceflash · Post by **The_Iceflash** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:18 pm

I got a few laserdiscs for decorative purposes. (I have Cinderella, Robin Hood, and Beauty and the Beast). I framed them up on my wall. Speaking of colors, many talk about the Cinderella's (Platinum Edition) colors being too bright and not the original colors. I have no reason to believe that the platinum edition release doesn't have the correct colors. In my opinion the Platinum Edition restoration is as close as we have gotten to Cinderella's look. Sure we all have gotten used to the way it looked on older home video releases and I truly believe that what we see in the current one is how we're supposed to see it. I'm not sure what to think in terms of BATB yet.

littlefuzzy · Post by **littlefuzzy** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:12 pm

A couple of LDs to look out for:
The Santa Clause (contains the censored "1-900-Spank-Me" scene, cut from the DVD)
Honey I Blew Up the Kid (Widescreen) - the other "Honey" movies may be this way as well.

mvealf · Post by **mvealf** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:31 pm

Of course, there is Song of the South, Make Mine Music & Melody Time (the only uncensored versions available). Then there is Saludos Amigos uncensored, Lady and the Tramp Academy Ratio version (not pan and scan), The Disneyland Anthology box set with Wonderful World of Disney TV shows not released anywhere else, Toy Story with the uncensored Pixar short "Knick Knack". Plus the many box sets with TONS of extras that never made it to DVD: Alice in Wonderland, Fantasia, Pocahontas, Hunchback, Nightmare Before Christmas, etc. Also, The Three Little Pigs original Jewish version, Fantasia with the original Deems Taylor narration (re-dubbed for DVD), and the untampered with versions of Little Mermaid, Lion King, Aladdin & Bambi.

Don't forget the uncut Roger Rabbit Laserdisc with the middle-finger of Baby Herman, and The Rescuers with the naked woman. Plus all of the Japanese laserdiscs that were never released here, or with completely different sets of extras (too many to mention).

zackisthewalrus · Post by **zackisthewalrus** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:33 pm

What was tampered with in Bambi?

ajmrowland · Post by **ajmrowland** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:38 pm

Unfortunately, I just don't have the money to buy all those.

mvealf · Post by **mvealf** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 10:53 pm

zackisthewalrus wrote:What was tampered with in Bambi?

On 3 or 4 different scenes, they fixed some of the animation flaws that were part of the original animation.

I also forgot to mention Mary Poppins, the widest version available.

Dr.Mirakle32 · Post by **Dr.Mirakle32** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 10:16 am

I know an unused Imax print was the basis for the Aladdin DVD release, but how drastically different is it from the LD? I'm a huge Aladdin buff and want to know if it's worth the investment.

The_Iceflash · Post by **The_Iceflash** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 11:01 am

mvealf wrote:
zackisthewalrus wrote:What was tampered with in Bambi?
On 3 or 4 different scenes, they fixed some of the animation flaws that were part of the original animation.

I also forgot to mention Mary Poppins, the widest version available.

Which scenes? This is the first I heard of tampering of Bambi..

ajmrowland · Post by **ajmrowland** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 12:52 pm

Dr.Mirakle32 wrote:I know an unused Imax print was the basis for the Aladdin DVD release, but how drastically different is it from the LD? I'm a huge Aladdin buff and want to know if it's worth the investment.

Apparently, it's not nearly as drastic as B&TB. They changed a lyric in "Arabian Nights" and took out a line that people became rather defensive over, but that seems to be about it.

mvealf · Post by **mvealf** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:04 pm

The_Iceflash wrote:
mvealf wrote: On 3 or 4 different scenes, they fixed some of the animation flaws that were part of the original animation.

I also forgot to mention Mary Poppins, the widest version available.
Which scenes? This is the first I heard of tampering of Bambi..

The 2 I can remember offhand are:

A scene in the woods when Bambi's mother is emerging from the bushes, in the original version, she seems to just appear suddenly. They have now fixed it so that she gradually moves through the fog.

The scene at the end, after the fire, and you see the animals walking out of the water onto dry land, a mother raccoon is carrying two of her young in her mouth and lets them down on the ground. In the original, a third young raccoon appears suddenly with the other 2. In the new version, they have digitally erased the 3rd young raccoon.

There were a couple of other animation mistakes that were fixed, but they weren't as dramatic. The Cinderella DVD also fixed some of these types of animation mistakes, but again, they weren't as noticeable.

The laserdisc is also the only version of Bambi to have the original RKO opening.

mvealf · Post by **mvealf** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:21 pm

Dr.Mirakle32 wrote:I know an unused Imax print was the basis for the Aladdin DVD release, but how drastically different is it from the LD? I'm a huge Aladdin buff and want to know if it's worth the investment.

The dialog that some people thought sounded like "teenagers take off your clothes" has been altered on the DVD.

DVDizzy Forum

Latest Movie Reviews

🎬 DVDizzy Top Stories️️

Anyone familiar with Disney laserdiscs?

Anyone familiar with Disney laserdiscs?