Aladdin - Diamond Edition

[kbehm29]

In this new release is there a booklet saying which will the next year's releases be? Does it mention anything about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ?

No, there's no booklet. There only two leaflets, one for the Digital Copy code and another for the Disney Movie Club. There's no mention of Snow White, Pinocchio or the next Diamond Edition.[/quote]

Well that's really disappointing!

[tlc38tlc38]

It doesn't really surprise me ANY that they didn't have an ad for the next big release in this set. They kinda quit doing ads a while back....and when they did, they had them wrong.

[gamer51]

re: aladdin II & III combo pack.


Is it not great that this is coming out??

[Sotiris]

Disney Myths Debunked by Ron Clements and John Musker
http://eonline.com/news/706200/disney-m ... d-hercules

[Pasta67]

I finally had some time to dive into this Diamond Edition and do a full comparison to 2004's Platinum Edition, and I figured I might as well post some of the things I've discovered. As far as I can tell, nobody's mentioned some of these things yet.

Okay, so first of all, here's a list of everything that DID NOT make it to the new Diamond Edition.

Backstage Disney
- "The Art Of Aladdin" Galleries (254 Stills)
- Pop-Up Fun Facts
- Publicity Gallery (35 Stills)

"A Diamond In The Rough: The Making Of Aladdin" Segments
- Leonard Maltin's Introduction (1:14)
- The Producers (11:56)
- The Music (6:54)
- The Animators (13:29)
- The Voice Talent (6:28)

Games & Activities
- Aladdin's Magic Carpet Adventure: A Disney Virtual Ride
- "Inside The Genie's Lamp" Self-Guided Tour
- Three Wishes Game: Your Fortune Revealed

Other
- Disc One's "Disc Two Preview" (1:03)
- The Genie's "Make-A-Wish" Foundation Promo (0:34)
- Original "The Return Of Jafar" Trailer #1 (0:33)

So we lose the Pop-Up Fun Facts, two galleries with almost 300 combined images, and a decent chunk of the "Diamond In The Rough" documentary. As a result, Leonard Maltin, who served as host of the entire piece, doesn't get to speak on the blu-ray until the final segment! I'm not sure what the reason for this exclusion was, but I think we can all agree that it's beyond unnecessary. It's a catastrophic oversight, especially when Disney themselves advertised that "all" of the Platinum Edition's bonus features would be ported over.

Some people might not lament the loss of the old "Games & Activities" from the Platinum Edition, but I do. Let's not forget that members of Aladdin's original voice cast (Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Frank Welker, Jonathan Freeman, and Gilbert Gottfried, in this case) participated in all of the games provided. So the absence of these "activities" is a greater loss than usual. The "Disc Two Preview" is no big loss, but it's very saddening to lose that "Make-A-Wish" promo (which featured some great WDAS animation of Genie).

Here are some other discoveries I've made.

Discovery #1: The 5.1 "Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix" version of Clay Aiken's "Proud Of Your Boy" music video is dropped. Only the 2.0 stereo version remains.

Discovery #2: The vintage "Original Return Of Jafar Trailer" on the blu-ray is completely different from the one on the Platinum Edition! The Platinum Edition's trailer ran for 33 seconds and featured different narration, footage, and even a picture of the old VHS cover. The Diamond Edition's trailer runs for 43 seconds with different narration, footage, and no cover. They're both old "vintage" trailers, so it's great to have them both, but... why are they completely different between releases? Which Disney Home Entertainment employee went through the archives and dug up an entirely different trailer for the blu-ray? And why can't we have both trailers on the same disc?

Discovery #3: Oddly, some of the Platinum Edition's bonus features are... "enhanced" on the Diamond Edition. I'm not really sure how else to put it. Some edits have been made, but nothing has been cut or removed. Here's what I mean: Some of the scene transitions in the "Diamond In The Rough" documentary have been changed. Go watch "Green Room / Take 3" to see an example of what I'm talking about. On the Platinum Edition, once Gilbert Gottfried's interview with Randy Cartwright ends, there's a "screen swipe" transition into the next interview. On the Diamond Edition, instead of the "swipe" transition, the Genie's hands come on-screen, followed by an audio clip of Genie saying "What are you gonna do next?!" from the film, which transitions into the next interview. I have no idea who was paid to do this. It's beyond random and invites so many questions. Who did this? Why did they do it? Were the bonus features on the Platinum Edition "unfinished" or something? Did somebody just feel like George-Lucas-ing some of the featurettes? What is going on?

Lastly, here's a list of what's been added to the Diamond Edition.

- Aladdin: Creating Broadway Magic (18:53)
- Deleted Song: "My Finest Hour" (DMA Exclusive, 8:25)
- Genie 101 (3:59)
- The Genie Outtakes (8:53)
- Original "The Return Of Jafar" Trailer #2 (0:43)
- Ron & Jon: You Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me (5:36)
- Unboxing Aladdin (4:40)

If anyone has additional questions or needs further clarification on something, I'll be happy to help!

[blackcauldron85]

^Thank you for that! I've been waiting for a detailed comparison like that. Just confirms that I won't feel bad not upgrading.

[DisneyVillains]

Thanks for all the info, Pasta! Would you mind summarizing what actually made from the "Diamond in the Rough" documentary? It seems like a large chunk was taken out from the looks of the list you gave us.

[Pasta67]

Thanks for all the info, Pasta! Would you mind summarizing what actually made from the "Diamond in the Rough" documentary? It seems like a large chunk was taken out from the looks of the list you gave us.

First of all, you're welcome!

Secondly, yeah, here's a list of which "Diamond In The Rough" segments ARE ported over to the Diamond Edition.

- From Arabian Nights To The Silver Screen (2:43)
- Reflections On Black Friday (3:23)
- Keane's Team: Redesigning The Lead Character (4:29)
- Rough Stuff #1: Progression Reel (1:54)
- Rough Stuff #2: An Animator Checks His Work (1:12)
- Green Room / Take 1 (1:33)

- "A Whole New World" – The Recording Sessions (4:25)
- Rough Stuff #3: Work In Progress "Prince Ali" (1:06)
- Green Room / Take 2 (1:07)

- Pencil + Computer: Creating The Magic Carpet (3:10)
- Master Of The Line: The Art Of Al Hirschfeld (4:30)
- Designing Jasmine (2:41)
- Designing Jafar (2:08)
- Unsung Heroes Of The Clean-Up Department (2:24)
- Jafar Goes To The Birds (3:11)
- Rough Stuff #4: When Live Action Meets Animation (2:41)
- Green Room / Take 3 (2:08)

- You Talkin' To Me? The Voices Of Aladdin (10:09)
- Gilbert Gottfried: Up Close And Aggravated (2:24)
- Behind The Microphone (1:48)
- Extended Interview: Scott Weinger (1:23)
- Extended Interview: Linda Larkin (1:42)
- Extended Interview: Douglas Seale (1:36)
- Extended Interview: Jonathan Freeman (1:58)
- Green Room / Take 4 (1:08)

- Made You Look (3:46)

With the exception of "Made You Look" (which acts as the documentary's conclusion), all of these featurettes are meant to compliment the four main segments of the documentary. Those four segments are...

- The Producers (11:56)
- The Music (6:54)
- The Animators (13:29)
- The Voice Talent (6:28)

... all of which ARE NOT ported over to the Diamond Edition. Without these segments, the documentary loses all of its structure and continuity. Now we've just got a bunch of random featurettes (which is still nice, don't get me wrong). They just lose a teensy bit of their purpose / focus on the new blu-ray as compared to the old DVD.

Hopefully that helps!

[Gabrielkat]

A little late, but here's the Blu-ray.com review for the Diamond Edition of Aladdin: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Aladdin-B ... 57/#Review

For those wondering, the original Walt Disney Pictures blue castle logo has been replaced with the modern CGI castle logo, which was also the case for Hercules, as well as the European Blu-ray releases of this film.

I know that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King were also plastered with the CGI castle logo for their Diamond Edition Blu-ray releases, due to their 3D theatrical re-releases, though it doesn't make sense for the original logos on Aladdin and Hercules to be plastered, since those two films were not converted to 3D.

And also, as with the European Blu-rays, the film is presented in its 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, as opposed to the 1.66:1 ratio on its Platinum Edition DVD.

[disneyboy20022]

Just Watched The Genie outakes and felt there could have been more effort put into these. Don't get me wrong, The Genie and Robin Williams are great and I loved his out takes that were there but I would have liked to seen these animated fully.

Though I do like the Genie 101. Some of the impressions he did I wasn't sure who he was doing until now. Found it very interesting. Never realized Arsenio Hall was one of them or Robert De Niro. It was cute. Wish it would have been longer though. I feel they dropped the magic lamp on this one to be honest bonus feature wise.

Now as for Aladdin the movie itself on Blu ray...



I've never seen Aladdin look this good on a home release. I mean Oh my gosh. It's beautiful!! I mean just gorgeous. I mean The Cave of Wonders scene intro just even though Disney struck out on bonus feature wise, the picture of the movie itself is worth the $20 to drop on this release.

[DisneyFan09]

For those wondering, the original Walt Disney Pictures blue castle logo has been replaced with the modern CGI castle logo, which was also the case for Hercules, as well as the European Blu-ray releases of this film.

I know that The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King were also plastered with the CGI castle logo for their Diamond Edition Blu-ray releases, due to their 3D theatrical re-releases, though it doesn't make sense for the original logos on Aladdin and Hercules to be plastered, since those two films were not converted to 3D.

And also, as with the European Blu-rays, the film is presented in its 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, as opposed to the 1.66:1 ratio on its Platinum Edition DVD.

It really irks me that those were replaced with the current logo and certainly "The Lion King". I cringed when I saw the logo when I got the blu ray and the theatrical 3D release! At least they've could've had the logo without the music, like they've done previously. I know that I've previously ranted about my dislike with the CGI logo which Disney has used about almost a decade! But why having the exact same logo? And why converting their former classics with the new logo? At least the films from the early 2000's had some creative variations. So I'm glad that at least "Pocahontas", "Hunchback", "Mulan" and "Tarzan" had their initial logos.

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't mind the 3D logo, but I wish they'd leave the logo the films were released with at the beginning of their old films. Perhaps they could have the 3D logo when you first put the disc in, just before the previews, and have the old logo shown when you select 'Play Film'? But I guess that would be asking too much.

[DisneyFan09]

I don't mind the 3D logo, but I wish they'd leave the logo the films were released with at the beginning of their old films. Perhaps they could have the 3D logo when you first put the disc in, just before the previews, and have the old logo shown when you select 'Play Film'? But I guess that would be asking too much.

Indeed Kidding

I did like the 3D logo initially, but grew tired of it because Disney has always used it since.

[Kyle]

What I don't get is the inconsistency. Its like, if you're going to ruin a number of movies anyway, why not ruin them all?

[blackcauldron85]

Aladdin as a '90s Sitcom
http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/20 ... 3|omd|box3

[DisneyJedi]

They put the "Good teenagers, take off your clothes"/"Good kitty, take off and go" line back in! I am laughing so hard!!

[MeerkatKombat]

Is it worth upgrading? I own the UK Bluray but Aladdin is my absolute favourite. Does it have bookmarks? The UK one doesn't and it drives me nuts if I have to stop the film halfway through.
It looks like a bit more effort has been put into this release than Sleeping Beauty.

[blackcauldron85]

They put the "Good teenagers, take off your clothes"/"Good kitty, take off and go" line back in! I am laughing so hard!!

In the Blu-ray, or in the '90s sitcom video??!

[Pasta67]

Aladdin as a '90s Sitcom
http://blogs.disney.com/oh-my-disney/20 ... 3|omd|box3

This was especially funny on Facebook. Their original post said "What would Aladdin be like as a 90s TV show?" Nearly every response in the comments was "Aladdin WAS a 90s TV show! Release it on DVD already!" It was so bad that Disney went back and edited the post to say "What would Aladdin be like as a 90s TV song?"

I mean, c'mon, Disney. You can see that your fans want it. Quit pretending it doesn't exist.

In the Blu-ray, or in the '90s sitcom video??!

On the blu-ray. The original "Good kitty, take off and go" line is restored. It's so crystal clear, in fact, that I wonder how anyone could possibly mistake it for something inappropriate.

[blackcauldron85]

On the blu-ray. The original "Good kitty, take off and go" line is restored. It's so crystal clear, in fact, that I wonder how anyone could possibly mistake it for something inappropriate.

I think that that's a good thing. I'm not big on tampering with the movies, but I'm sure so many of us heard that part on our VHS tapes when we were kids and, even if we couldn't quite make out what was being said, it was confusing as to why there was an extra voice going on.