Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition (October 5th!)

[ajmrowland]

Now that I finished everything on the Blu-ray, I have to say I found the Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition supplements to be unsatisfying. I’ve never watched any of the Platinum Edition extras, any documentaries on the movie or read any books on the making of the movie and yet I feel like I learned nothing from the entire Beyond Beauty experience. IDK, it just felt like they left a lot out (I didn’t see David Ogden Stiers anywhere).

the documentary on the pe is nice.

[Cordy_Biddle]

I agree. The documentary on the P.E. is still quite good; cuts through all the superflous stuff and gives you a clearer look at the behind-the-scenes of the movie.

[jpanimation]

So without any prior knowledge on the making of the film...you already knew how they made the film? I'm confused. I can understand if it's something like "Alan Menken's told the 'Streisand it up and say aLARming' story a million times", but you think the entirety of supplements offered nothing you didn't already know?

I have to correct myself on two things: I watched the short 20/20 special that Disney posted on their YouTube page before buying the Diamond Edition and everything on The Purdum Reel was new to me (one of the few things that I didn't know about). I really think this just goes to show you how little content is actually discussed in the documentary, as it almost seems like the 20/20 special with a ton of fluff around it.

I also didn't like how they repeated features across discs by merely renaming them and putting them in different sections. It only makes me feel even more cheated and adds to the whole fluff feel. I enjoy the Silly Symphonies and Laugh-O-Grams but they really have nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast (as evident by the fact they they repeated a short from the Snow White Diamond Edition). In addition, I have no idea why The Story Behind the Story was ported over, or why it was even made in the first place. It's a complete waste of time, randomly hearing brief summaries on a few DACs, and has nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast. This is a case where I would've taken quality over quantity.

Lastly, the inability to fast forward or rewind during the Beyond Beauty features was really annoying. I'm not saying they dropped the ball with this release as I'm grateful they didn't just give us a barebones disc, but since I rented this release specifically for the supplements, I was disappointed to say the least.

(I didn’t see David Ogden Stiers anywhere).

I was annoyed at that too. There were several crew members I would have loved to have seen interviewed as well, but they weren't featured either. Some of it may be understandable (Chris Sanders noticeably absent), but when they've got Brenda Chapman one building away (well, one town away since Pixar is in Emeryville) directing Brave, surely they could have scheduled an hour of her time to interview her.

Exactly, I wanted to hear from them too (maybe something more from Tony Bancroft or Randy Cartwright or any archival footage from Joe Ranft) and as much as people seem to hate Eisner, he should've been included. In addition, you know me, I would've liked them to touch on the publicity for and reaction to this movie a bit more.

Now since people seem to think the documentary that was included on the Platinum Edition is so great, and it appears to have been taken down from YouTube, can someone point me in the right direction (just PM me)?

[Wonderlicious]

Well, obviously he's talking rubbish. And let me tell you why.

So now Don Hahn, a guy who has worked in animation for years, along with Kirk Wise and Gary Trousedale, the directors of three major Disney animated films, don't know about the colours on the film they made. Obviously that's why they don't come on here; like me, they have no right discussing the classics!

They had a lot of experience in making these animated classics. In the Little Mermaid they experimented with many different shades of red for Ariel's hair, and they were perfectly capable of getting the right shades of red they wanted for each scene. From apple red to dark red.

I don't think you've got what Hahn was saying. This was one of the first films made using the CAPS process (the second after The Rescuers Down Under). They probably still didn't have the knack of it all, and I'm getting the impression from the article that they originally used actual film (as in 35mm) in post-production; essentially, they'd already be using copies of the original material to plaster their film together (as opposed to an original negative as with something like The Little Mermaid, which was hand painted and shot directly to film). I could go on, but it's late here, and I think I'll go to bed instead. Nighty night!

[blackcauldron85]

Menken Still Enchanted By Beauty Of 'Beast'
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest-ID-75510.asp


Creating the Beast, an interview with Glen Keane
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest-ID-75548.asp


I haven't had time to keep up with this thread, unfortunately, but it seems like the DVD is worth having, along with keeping the PE DVD, right? I mean, for the Alternate Opening and Deleted Scenes alone, it seems worth having.

[Cordy_Biddle]

Menken Still Enchanted By Beauty Of 'Beast'
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest-ID-75510.asp


Creating the Beast, an interview with Glen Keane
http://www.laughingplace.com/Latest-ID-75548.asp


I haven't had time to keep up with this thread, unfortunately, but it seems like the DVD is worth having, along with keeping the PE DVD, right? I mean, for the Alternate Opening and Deleted Scenes alone, it seems worth having.

I'll be hanging onto my old P.E., purely for the old documentary.

[TacoBravo]

I myself can hardly wait for that day and the releases it will bring...

Id buy 10 copies. Till then the laserdisc is the best version.

But seriously, what else are the people behind the restorations suppose to say "Oh yeah you guys caught us, we changed the colors for the kiddies but you should buy it anyways."
Of course theyre gonna tell you what you wanna hear "Oh no really, these are the colors we originally wanted see. We were THAT inept with the original equipment thats why it looked so different."

Revisionist history fail.

[rodis]

Why are people so quick to get rid of their old editions once a new one is out? It's worth just a few bucks on eBay. And I love to have multiple editions of one movie. Am I alone in this?

[JustOneBite87]

Here's a thought.

Rescuers Downer Under was the first CAPS film from Disney.

Let's compare its VHS/Laserdisc colors to those of the Gold Collection DVD.

Well, that is if the RDU DVD was sourced from CAPS and not a film print.

Seeing as that was the first CAPS transferred to film, then transferred to VHS/Laserdisc release, in theory the colors should be just as far off from the CAPS files for THAT film as they are for B&TB.

Why are people so quick to get rid of their old editions once a new one is out? It's worth just a few bucks on eBay. And I love to have multiple editions of one movie. Am I alone in this?

No, you definitely are not. Most keep their old editions because they don't want to go through the trouble of re-sell if not just for the excluded bonus features. Even the Platinum titles currently unavailable don't go for much over their original release prices online. Heck, if I could sell my old Beauty &TB DVD and make a 15 dollar profit I would have done so long ago...

[blackcauldron85]

So, I had started reading Aaron's review when it was posted, and just finished glancing through it. Will there be a DVD review that includes disc 2? Is the 2-disc DVD even out yet? Why am I so confused?!

[rexcrk]

^^ there probably will be. Disney just likes to push Blu-ray so they release the Blu-ray with just a single disc DVD before the two-disc DVD.

[blackcauldron85]

^ Thanks! Had I clicked on the Animated Classics page here at UD before posting what I posted, I would have seen that on November 23rd, the 2-disc DVD is coming out. My bad. If someone knows of where to find what will be on Disc 2, if it is known, and it's probably in this thread buried somewhere, if someone can post where to find the info, or just post a quick checklist of what will be on it, that'd be awesome. I'm more awake than I was last night, so I will search the thread again!

*edit* Aaron's review says this:

The bonus features and menus are absurdly sparse

But the Backstage Disney section seems worth it enough...wait, as I'm reading through, on Disc 2, there's a 4-hour documentary, holy crap! Obviously that won't be on the DVD, though...But I'd double-dip if the 3 Disc 1 Backstage Disney bonus features were on the 2-disc DVD...

[filmmusic]

Sorry to bring this up again , But I couldn't help myself!
(addressing to those that think the bluray is the trully original form of the film, or as it was intented to be originally etc.).

(please look at 3rd column of screenshots)
yes, Sure! I agree!! We all know that books have PINK pages (as in bluray), and not WHITE (as in original theatrical version, VHS, laserdisc).

[jpanimation]

^Notice how it actually looks like light coming through the window. The bottom image is just too dark and color boosted.

With that said, Don Hahn single handedly ended any color debate with one statement. He said the original theatrical colors are wrong and that all of the subsequence home releases have been wrong. According to him, only he and a hand full of colleagues even know the intended colors and that the original CAPS source has been tweaked for this release (apparently that didn't reflect the intended colors either).

That was probably a smart move in the long run as it gave him the freedom to make the colors whatever he wanted (since no one has ever seen them to argue against them). Beast could be green, Belle purple and you can't argue against that since the goal is the "intended" colors, not original theatrical colors.

With that said, I still prefer the original theatrical colors as I feel all their second guessing since then has only made things worse.

[filmmusic]

^Notice how it actually looks like light coming through the window. The bottom image is just too dark and color boosted.

yes! I love that light in the original version which is evident in most scenes of the "Belle" sequence.
Notice also that all the browns of the top row, have earned a green saturation in the bottom row (the clothes of the librarian, the windows of the library, the walls of the library, the sheep)

[stitchje1981]

^Notice how it actually looks like light coming through the window. The bottom image is just too dark and color boosted.

Notice also that all the browns of the top row, have earned a green saturation in the bottom row (the clothes of the librarian, the windows of the library, the walls of the library, the sheep)

yeah i' ve noticed it to.... It just doesn't look very natural

[KubrickFan]

^Notice how it actually looks like light coming through the window. The bottom image is just too dark and color boosted.

With that said, Don Hahn single handedly ended any color debate with one statement. He said the original theatrical colors are wrong and that all of the subsequence home releases have been wrong. According to him, only he and a hand full of colleagues even know the intended colors and that the original CAPS source has been tweaked for this release (apparently that didn't reflect the intended colors either).

That was probably a smart move in the long run as it gave him the freedom to make the colors whatever he wanted (since no one has ever seen them to argue against them). Beast could be green, Belle purple and you can't argue against that since the goal is the "intended" colors, not original theatrical colors.

With that said, I still prefer the original theatrical colors as I feel all their second guessing since then has only made things worse.

I thought you wanted the movie to be darker, since that was apparently how they are supposed to be? And if Don Hanh's words can't reassure you, what can? Then you've already convinced yourself that what you say by definition is right, and nothing else can change it.

[rodis]

Whatever Don Hann's excuses are, the VHS/Laserdisc colors are still superior to the drab flat new colors.

[HappyUnicorn101]

Yeah, that coloring issue in the beginning of the movie kind of annoyed me too. In my VHS version of the film, it seemed like it was in the morning (which would make sense).

But the lighting in the blu ray seems as if it were taking place in the late afternoon / near sunset. Which is extremely odd given the context. (everyone starting their daily routines.)

[Disneykid]

Well, the Blu-ray's PiP storyboard version features the original Work-in-Progress version of the film. By original, I mean that all of the finished film clips are the VHS/laserdisc colors; they haven't been replaced by the new transfer the way the storyboard version on the DVD has. So technically, you guys have got half of the so-called original version on Blu-ray...just in a PiP window.