Which DVDs make the grade???

[Coolmanio]

Mulan Report Card:

Presentation: B
Film: A-
Video: A
Audio: A
Extras: B

Overall Grade: B+ (82.2%)

Scoreboard:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A (93.4%)
2. Beauty and the Beast: A-(88%)
3. Pocahontas A- (84.3%)
4. Bambi A- (83.6%)
5. Dumbo B+ (82.4%)
6. Mulan B+ (82.2%)
7. Princess and the Frog B+ (81.8%)
8. Peter Pan: B+ (78.4%)

Im gonna change it up a little here, instead of just DACs......

Lion King 2: Simba's Pride Special Edition

[SmartAleck25]

Presentation: A-
Decent. Not bad, not great cover art.

Film: A-
A rehash of the Lion King, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Great music.

Can't comment on the others, don't own it and haven't rented it. I watched this on VHS when I was a kid.

[Marce82]

Seriously? Lion King 2?

WHo gives a ...hoot? Its a cheap-quel. Cant we stick to the classics?

[Coolmanio]

Scratch the Lion King II.

Scoreboard:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A (93.4%)
2. Beauty and the Beast: A-(88%)
3. Pocahontas A- (84.3%)
4. Bambi A- (83.6%)
5. Dumbo B+ (82.4%)
6. Mulan B+ (82.2%)
7. Princess and the Frog B+ (81.8%)
8. Peter Pan: B+ (78.4%)

The Lion King Platinum Edition:

[Escapay]

The Lion King: Platinum Edition

Film: n/a
I dislike the film for a variety of reasons (and being contrarian to the majority is not one of them). Don't care to discuss the why-for, and I won't skew the average by giving it a grade.

Video/Audio: A
I'm sure it looks fine. Been years since I saw it, though.

Extras: C-
Been years since I watched them, but they're easy to describe because they're so memorably bad in concept. Stupid menu system, repetitive content within the continents, and short choppy featurettes with more style than substance. No trailers, no voice cast interviews, and unlike other Platinums, no all-purpose making-of documentary (instead you get five "journey" options that may or may not satisfy you).

Ironically, the Sleeping Beauty: Special Edition came out a month before this one and I felt it had better supplements, despite most of it being either re-used material from the laserdisc or archival television programs. The audio commentary hosted by Jeff Kurtti far exceeds the Deja/Lasseter/Maltin chatter on the 2008 Platinum Edition.

albert

[Wonderlicious]

Film:B+
Wow. Really sad. Really really really sad. Mufasa = . Scar = Scar kills Mufasa = , wow Scar, you're a right wanker. Scar dies = serves him right for being such a dork.

Rant over. Aside from the horrifying sad part, it is a modern classic. I don't think that it's as wonderful as some people find it, but I like it just the same, and it probably has left a larger emotional impression on me as an adult than as a child (I liked it when I was younger, it just never really moved me). Brilliant characters, a moving story and excellent songs, not to mention the token glorious animation and art direction. It does go a bit slow between "Circle of Life" and "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", but it generally takes off after that. Plus, I think that the use of the Lebo M music really gives the film a taste of Africa. And as horrible as he is, Scar is easily one of the best Disney villains.

Video/Audio: A
It's been a while since I last saw it, but good.

Cover Art: A
I actually love the cover art. It really presented the spirit of the film well, better than the VHS covers from the 90s (both the UK and US versions), and the shot of Simba reminded me of the original more adult poster and the image on the 1994 soundtrack - aka one that shows him as an adult who has yet to find his real place in life.

Extras: C
The whole package sums up what was wrong with Disney circa 2003, before Roy Disney unleashed the Save Disney war. Changed animation, clunky long-winded menus, confusing bonus features, silly games, little that wasn't promotional, you name it. Now, there were some interesting things within the bonus features, and more than a lot of one disc editions. But compared to Snow White, Aladdin and many more, all the bonuses were not worthy of the ultimate collection they were pimping the Platinum line out to be. I do expect that the Diamond Edition will be far better, though, especially seeing that they did a better job on Beauty and the Beast this time round (which would probably get a B+ for the Platinum).

[Marce82]

First off, thanks for dismissing Lion King 2.

Lion King Report Card:

Presentation: D

What is it with the overly orange cover? The characters are somewhat off-model...again...floating heads...but the reason this cover isn't very good is cause the original video cover is, in my opinion, one of Disney's best ever. All the characters WERE on model,. great composition, and it depicted the scene that had become the iconic staple of the film.
Now why F? The menus are terrible. Bland...boring...Zazu's comments make me want to shoot my own tv, and the whole CG flyover is terrible. Whatever happened to good taste?

Film: A-

This film has always been a weird thing with me. Didn't love it in theaters...but eventually grew on me. For some reason its not my favorite, but here is the troubling part: I find no flaws in it. The animation is great, the songs are great, the story is great, the pacing is great...everything about it is great. And yet...something about it doesn't make my heart soar.

Video: A
Film looks freakin great.

Audio: B
Films sounds powerful. But where is the spanish dub?

Extras: D

How dare they call this a Platinum?? All the segments are in snippets, the menus are hard to navigate...where is the GREAT making-of from the VHS/laserdisc? How come there is no involvement from ANY of the voice actors? Why is there so much info about the Broadway show? (ahem...shameless promotion).

And whats with the navigating through the continents? Could they be more self-congratulatory? "uh, look everyone! Look how international we are..." THis release has about 10% of the material the Aladdin dvd had the year before.

[SmartAleck25]

What's with all the Lion King hate?

Presentation: A
A very nice cover art, captures the spirit of the movie very well. I still prefer the original poster art to this though, it's much more majestic.

Film: A+
The best DAC/Disney film of all time for me, I've never found any other movie more enchanting, beautiful, and epic than The Lion King (TS3 came close). It may very well be my most favorite movie of all time. Everything in this film is perfect for me, especially the music and the memorable characters. The African setting is absolutely jaw-dropping, and the haunting score captures the spirit of the Savannah even more (This Land being the best). The death of Mufasa is one of the most heartbreaking Disney moments to me. I love Timon and Pumbaa, they never annoy me, and their jokes don't bother me at all (I know that some forum members don't like their "bathroom humor"). Can You Feel the Love Tonight and Circle of Life give me chills every time. The ending is extremely satisfying, and even though it's not "technically" the most original Disney movie, it's to me their greatest.

Video: B
I grew up with the gray crocodiles and Morning Reportless VHS. The green crocodiles and the musical number make me feel like I'm watching the sequel. Sigh...

Audio: A
Nothing wrong that I can detect (if you don't count Morning Report). Loving the music.

Extras: A
Now before you try to counter my decision, I must say that I find featurettes rather boring. I've never had a problem with the menus, and I loved the Virtual Safaris. Good enough for a Platinum for me.

THis release has about 10% of the material the Aladdin dvd had the year before.

Uh, Aladdin's PE was released after TLK's...

[Scarred4life]

Presentation: B
This cover art is alright. I'm not a big fan of Pride Rock seeming to come out from no where. I liked the design of the VHS cover better, even though the characters were pretty off-model.
Film: c+
Much like Escapay, I am not going to go into it, but I will say this. Timon and Pumbaa's jokes are ridiculous, Simba is so whiny, it's almost unbearable. And these are just the annoyances on the surface, I haven't even gotten into the plotline yet. Although, Jeremy Irons as Scar is the high point for me, he basically lies around all the time. But I havr to give him credit, even with all of these flaws, he is still pretty cool.

Video: B
Can't complain. Wish they'd cut out Morning Report.

Audio: A
Ditto.

Extras: A
Meh. The safari thing was entertaining for the first three minutes, but then got pretty boring.

[Coolmanio]

Lion King Report Card

Presentation: B
Film: B+
Video: A-
Audio: A-
Extras: B-

Overall Grade: B+ (78.2%)

Scoreboard:

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: A (93.4%)
2. Beauty and the Beast Platinum: A-(88%)
3. Pocahontas A- (84.3%)
4. Bambi A- (83.6%)
5. Dumbo B+ (82.4%)
6. Mulan B+ (82.2%)
7. Princess and the Frog B+ (81.8%)
8. Peter Pan: B+ (78.4%)
9. Lion King: B- (78.2%)

Since we just had a new release of it, I switched the previeous BatB into Platinum, we will now review.....

Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition

[jpanimation]

Beauty and the Beast - Diamond Edition (Blu-ray)

Presentation: C+
The cover and disc art is just alright, but the menu is horrible. The CGI castle looks like crap, the menu takes forever to navigate/load, and the Jeff Bennett voiced Lumiere is annoying as hell (why isn't their an option to turn him off?). They also claim we're getting the original theatrical version and yet they include the transition from the Special Edition instead during the "Something There" number (I didn't know where else to doc points off for this complaint).

This part is me just being picky but I prefer my Blu-ray cases to have the classier engraved logo (the security sticker pulled off the logo on the last case that wasn't engraved and it just looks cheap).

Film: B
This was apparently my favorite movie as a child that I'm not as fond of anymore as an adult. The story is good (my favorite telling of it), the characters are mostly well developed and likable, the songs are all fantastic, the animation can range from stunning to extremely frustrating. My main beef is the pacing of the whole thing. Of all the films made during the Renaissance, this one has one of the longest amount of total runtime devoted to songs (around 23 of the 84 minutes) that just feel too close together with no room to breath (out done only by the other Gary Trousdale/Kirk Wise directed feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame). I wouldn't cut any songs but add another 10 minutes as cushion between songs that could've also smoothened the developing relationship between Belle and Beast (which would bring it closer to the standard 90 minute runtime, as it feels to rushed to begin with). Unfortunately, when they went back into it, they did the opposite of what I would've done and added another song (3 in a row, with the new one being nearly 5 minutes in length).

For the record, in my favorite Disney Renaissance film Aladdin, only 13 of the 90 minute runtime is devoted to songs.

Video: A+
Direct digital transfer from the original CAPS source in a more open aspect ratio. Looks better then ever. Any argument about color preference is not a fault with this gorgeous transfer.

Audio: A
Sounded good to me. I don't know exactly what the original source was like but I can't imagine it sounding much better then it does here.

Extra's: B-
A little underwhelmed in this department. The documentary wasn't as extensive as I thought it would be, with many key players left out and parts of production not given a mention. For some reason they disabled the ability to fast forward or rewind during the Beyond Beauty segments, which was REALLY annoying. Also, while the Silly Symphonies and Laugh-O-Grams are nice, they say nothing about Beauty and the Beast. The Story Behind the Story feature is also giant waste of time, as is just summarized random Disney movies that have nothing to do with Beauty and the Beast, and I'm not sure why it was put of the Platinum Edition in the first place. The complete lack of promotional material galleries, something even the shunned films get, is something to note. I also disliked how they just repeated features across discs and in different areas of the same disc, merely renaming them to make it look like there was more content then there really was. I feel they took the quantity over quality route here.

[Goliath]

I'm sorry, but people who get HOURS and HOURS of bonus features EXCLUSIVE to BluRay and STILL complain, get an angry look from me!

*looks angry at jpanimation*

[TheSequelOfDisney]

Beauty and the Beast - Diamond Edition (Blu-ray)

Presentation: B+
Eh, the coverart's simply okay (better than the DVD version, though). The disc art was nothing special either. Everything looked nice, even the slipcover, although that was a bit too sparkly for my liking.

Film: A
It's a wonderful film. What else is there to say? Did it deserve the Best Picture nod? Maybe it did, maybe it didn't. It's still a great film that is truly one of the Renaissance's best.

Video: A+
FANTASTIC! I've only seen the film once in high-def, but it's truly wonderous. The colors (albeit, I don't really care what they are) look much more natural and less pastely than the Platinum Edition. It was practically perfect.

Audio: A
Nothing too special here, but the soundtrack was pretty nice. To be honest, I don't really pay that much attention to the sound because I'm too busy looking at the backgrounds and animation. I do focus on it though when anyone sings a song (one of the best aspects of the film).

Extra's: A-
After watching Beyond Beauty, there really wasn't too much stuff that was really that spectacular. A lot of the features were ported over, and even though they were great, I would have liked to see some other featurettes about the varying aspects that the documentary barely touched upon. Overall it's a nice package, but it doesn't seem to be that grand. At least I have both DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film so if anything wasn't ported over from the Platinum Edition, I'll certainly have it to watch (or listen, as is the case with some of the audio commentaries in the gallery).

[AladdinFan]

Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition
Presentation: A-
Film: A+
Video: A+
Audio: A+
Extras: A-

[jpanimation]

I'm sorry, but people who get HOURS and HOURS of bonus features EXCLUSIVE to BluRay and STILL complain, get an angry look from me!

*looks angry at jpanimation*

Actually, I got through all the extras in about 2.5 hours, with about 75-80 of those minutes being junk unrelated to Beauty and the Beast (the shorts and Story Behind the Story crap). If you get the DVD, you're not missing out on anything important (a decent gallery and some worthless shorts that will eventually be released in their own set). Seriously, it looks like there is a lot but many of the features are just repeats that were renamed ("Alternate Opening" is the same things as "The Purdum Reel" and so on and so forth).

The whole release is disappointing, which is why I only rented it from the library.

[ajmrowland]

p-A
F-A+
V-A+
A-A+
E-A-

the documentary was encoded as an interactive feature.

[Lazario]

I'm sorry, but people who get HOURS and HOURS of bonus features EXCLUSIVE to BluRay and STILL complain, get an angry look from me!

*looks angry at jpanimation*

HOLY... SHT!!!

Funniest thing I've read on here in at least 3 months!!

[Escapay]

If you get the DVD, you're not missing out on anything important (a decent gallery and some worthless shorts that will eventually be released in their own set).

The eight "Character Development" featurettes are quite important, IMO. They're only found in the galleries and are about 26 minutes of material. They act very much as an extension of "Act IV: Casting a Spell" and are quite informative.

Also, of the other four ancillary featurettes (fairy tale, broadway, Ashman, animation), the Howard Ashman one feels important too. It's like how Alan Menken gets his own career overview on Aladdin, or how everyone chats up Mary Blair on Cinderella. The only featurette that I feel didn't need to be included was the animation history one. It was informative, but could've been put on any animated movie's Blu-Ray or DVD.

Seriously, it looks like there is a lot but many of the features are just repeats that were renamed ("Alternate Opening" is the same things as "The Purdum Reel" and so on and so forth).

The only overlap between the two discs were the deleted materials. The "Alternate Opening/Purdum Reel" and "Belle in the Library" were on Disc 1 and in "Beyond Beauty" while "Be Our Guest" and "Human Again" were on "Beyond Beauty" and "Classic DVD Features". I wouldn't consider four deleted scenes as "many of the features.

And adding up all the running times, and not including the overlap for Deleted Scenes...

New Documentaries (Blu & DVD): 90 minutes
New Deleted Material (Blu & DVD): 28 minutes
New Featurettes (Blu Only): 71 minutes
Classic DVD Features minus SBTS (Blu & DVD): 48 minutes
Work-In-Progress Version (Blu & DVD): 84 minutes
Special Edition Commentary (Blu & DVD): 90 minutes
Total (New): 189 minutes
Total (New & Old): 411 minutes
Total (New & Old minus WiP & Commentary): 237 minutes

versus

Laugh-o-Grams, Silly Symphonies, & Doorknob Clip (all Blu) plus "Story Behind The Story" (Blu & DVD): 80 minutes



albert

[Goliath]

Actually, I got through all the extras in about 2.5 hours, with about 75-80 of those minutes being junk unrelated to Beauty and the Beast (the shorts and Story Behind the Story crap). If you get the DVD, you're not missing out on anything important (a decent gallery and some worthless shorts that will eventually be released in their own set). Seriously, it looks like there is a lot but many of the features are just repeats that were renamed ("Alternate Opening" is the same things as "The Purdum Reel" and so on and so forth).

The whole release is disappointing, which is why I only rented it from the library.

Aren't people satisfied with *anything* anymore?! I mean, I would kill to own those Laugh O'Grams on DVD. (Well, maybe not kill... although... depends on whom I had to kill, but...) What's 'junk' to one man may mean the world to someone else. If Disney put THAT much bonus material on the sets of The Black Cauldron or The Great Mouse Detective, you would have seen me dancing in the streets. Now you get them on BatB and you go: "meh..."

[jpanimation]

^I've only ever owned the VHS, so all the supplements were new to me, and I'm still not impressed. Maybe if they put the entire Donald Duck Disney Treasures set as part of the extras on The Black Cauldron, people would kill to get that set to? I personally just want material relating to the release.

Now hopefully people are done whining about my disappointment and are willing to give their own thoughts in the form of a report card.