Walt Disney Comparisons - The Little Mermaid: 8 Different Releases

[VanessaFan]

Did you know that The Little Mermaid has been released 8 times to Home Video?

The 1990 Walt Disney Classics VHS.
The 1990 Walt Disney Classics Laserdisc.
The 1998 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS.
The 1998 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Laserdisc.
The 1999 Walt Disney Limited Issue DVD.
The 2006 Walt Disney Platinum Edition DVD.
The 2013 Walt Disney Diamond Edition Blu-Ray.
The 2019 Walt Disney Signature Collection Blu-Ray.

I know that the movie has been released on DVD and Blu-ray a few more times, (DVD Diamond and DVD Signature as well as a VHS release for the Platinum Edition.)
But below you will see a comparison image of the 8 releases listed above, of Ariel, Flounder and Scuttle. Now I'd like to know, what screencapture do you think looks best color-wise? And which one do you think looks the worst? And which screencapture do you think is the most faithful? I don't know if any of you have the Read-Along Book of the movie or maybe the Art of The Little Mermaid book? Or maybe you can look up a production cel for this image?



If you want to see other comparison images from The Little Mermaid, you can see over 90 images here:

https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/walt-disne ... on-blu-ray

[Sotiris]

I've checked the Fanpop link you posted and wow, you've done a tremendous amount of work. It was very interesting to discover all the changes made with each release. Your commentary where you point them out really helps too. This is a great resource!

[VanessaFan]

I've checked the Fanpop link you posted and wow, you've done a lot of work. It was very interesting to discover all the changes made with each release. Your commentary where you point them out really helps too. This is a great resource!

Thank you! Yeah, I forgot to add in the first post, that the first 36 images are changes made to the movie in the various releases. I have had the movie transfered from the US VHS and the US Laserdisc to a file on my computer. Not for free, but it was worth it as I love to make these comparison images. I'm also thinking about doing one for Cinderella, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp as well. But those might not be up before January next year, as it's christmas next month, so I can't spend too much money on Disney there, even though I want to.

[Farerb]

Hey VanessaFan,
It's great to have you here

My personal favorite is the Signature Collection on UHD.

In terms of accuracy, it's hard for me to determine, but I think the 1999 DVD is the most accurate, but it has poor video quality.

[Marce82]

My personal preference for what I would consider to be the right palette is the Diamond blu ray...

That said, the general comparisons are unfair: every release up to the platinum dvd was intended to be watched on a TUBE TV (ie: 20th century tvs, standard def), and was color corrected accordingly. This really modifies the colors from what you are seeing now on your computer screen NOW. They would not be so washed out, and the contrast would be better.

I have tried watching my Alice in Wonderland blu ray on a tube tv, and the colors look INSANE. Almost neon.

[rodrigo_ca]

This is the kind of content it really makes my internet bill feel worth it. I just love these kinds of comparisions but would never have the patience to do them myself . Thank you for sharing!

[VanessaFan]

Thank you guys I'm glad that you all like the comparison screencaps I made I does take a long time, but it's totally worth it in the end, both for myself, as I enjoy to make them but also for me to be able to share them with other Disney Fans around the world.

@Farerb, you're right with The Limited Issue about the video quality. The quality is the worst. I don't know which ones is the worst of The 1998 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS (way too bright), The 1998 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection Laserdisc or The 1999 Walt Disney Limited Issue DVD (way too gainy).

My personal favorite is The 1990 Walt Disney Classics Laserdisc, closely followed by The 2013 Walt Disney Diamond Edition Blu-Ray. It's funny 'cos back in 2006, I LOVED the Platinum Edition DVD transfer and for years I thought "We don't need to movie on Blu-ray, this transfer is the best it will ever look." How times and thoughts change.

@Marce82, you're 100% right! I do think when Disney made the 1998 transfer, they made it with the TVs at the time in mind. Disney said themselfs, at the time, the movie is "FULLY RESTORED" and in its press release for the 1997 theatrical re-release, Disney wrote that the movie had been "digitally restored so that it looks and sounds better than ever before." So I'm sure if we went back and watched the Masterpiece Collection VHS on a TV from back then, the colors would look fine.

@rodrigo_ca, thank you for your comment And you're most welcome

[Disney Duster]

This is incredible, crazy good and super duper awesome. Great, great, good work, thanks for going to all the trouble to do this! I like that we now see Ursula was always meant to be purple and not blue or gray.

I would love if you did even just a few comparisons like this for Cinderella.

Flounder looks sleepy in the comparison in this thread lol.

[VanessaFan]

I would love if you did even just a few comparisons like this for Cinderella.

No worries, I already have the 1988 Walt Disney Classics VHS and the 1988 LaserDisc made into two files on my computer, I only need to have the 1995 Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection VHS and LaserDisc converted and I'm all set with the Cinderella comparison screencaps as I already have the Platinum Edition DVD and the Diamond Edition Blu-ray. Question is, should I include the Platinum Edition caps or just use the Diamond Edition caps, as they're just the same, just the Diamond is in HD? Also, it's a shame Disney didn't make a new transfer for the Signature Collection Blu-ray.

[Disney Duster]

I would say you just have to use the Diamond Edition screencaps. And yeah, I was so disappointed they didn't do a new transfer for the Signature Edition because Don Hahn had said he thought we might get a new transfer since he became aware how bad the Platinum transfer was.

[VanessaFan]

I would say you just have to use the Diamond Edition screencaps. And yeah, I was so disappointed they didn't do a new transfer for the Signature Edition because Don Hahn had said he thought we might get a new transfer since he became aware how bad the Platinum transfer was.

Okay, I'll just use the Diamond Edition Blu-ray caps then. Regarding a new transfer for the Signature Edition of Cinderella, it kind of was the same with the Aladdin: Diamond Edition US Blu-ray. I remember getting the EU danish Blu-ray release of Aladdin in 2013, and was a little disappointed with the transfer. But then news of a 2015 Diamond Edition Blu-ray for the US came, and I thought to myself: Surely, Disney will have updated the transfer for this US Diamond Edition as it's released 2 years later than the EU release. But once again, I was wrong.

[Disney's Divinity]

Best: I liked the 1990 laserdisc and the Signature the best, but the Diamond is good, too. I never really thought the Platinum looked that good, I was just grateful to have a DVD version at all at the time.
Worst: The Masterpiece and Platinum versions are both pretty bad.

FanPop doesn't load easily for me--and these comparisons are huge anyway--so it may take a while, but I definitely will check it out.

[Vlad]

Wow VanessaFan, those images you provided and those on the Fanpop link are fantastic. That must have been a lot of work for you, and you did a wonderful job. My favorite would have to be the 4K Signature Collection. Back when the Platinum Edition came out in 2006, I used to think the restoration was fantastic, but now I see that it's not the best, especially compared to the other versions. The line-art is almost missing in those frames you've provided.

Question, are you the user who uploaded those screencaps from various Disney movies on Fanpop, but with more vibrant colors? I love those, I used some of them as wallpapers on my macbook.

[VanessaFan]

Wow VanessaFan, those images you provided and those on the Fanpop link are fantastic. That must have been a lot of work for you, and you did a wonderful job. My favorite would have to be the 4K Signature Collection. Back when the Platinum Edition came out in 2006, I used to think the restoration was fantastic, but now I see that it's not the best, especially compared to the other versions. The line-art is almost missing in those frames you've provided.

Question, are you the user who uploaded those screencaps from various Disney movies on Fanpop, but with more vibrant colors? I love those, I used some of them as wallpapers on my macbook.

Thank you so much Yeah, I feel the exact same about the Platinum Edition

And yeah, I'm PrueFever on Fanpop. And thank you for the comment on my screencaps I love to make them. It takes a long time and some effort, but I love to make them.

[Farerb]

I thought it might interest people here:

Water:
35mm - blue.
Diamond - washed out grey.
Signature - bluer.

[Vlad]

Wow, cool. Where did you get the 35mm from?

[Farerb]

Someone sent me the photos, I think they are from a trailer like this one:
https://youtu.be/qvodRqJfipo

[VanessaFan]

Wow Farerb, those 35mm caps looks great! Wish we could see more caps from that transfer. Sadly, I don't have that 35mm version. But I do own the 35mm version of Lady and the Tramp.

Here is the frames from my comparison:

[Farerb]

I looked at the screenshot comparison on caps-a-holic:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=3&x=40 ... 0&i=4&go=1

I found it interesting that besides the water being blue on the Signature Collection instead of grey in the Diamond Edition, we can also see that the lines in her hair are more defined on the Signature Collection.

Another image I found interesting:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0 ... 4&i=12&l=0

I like the shade of blue of the sky, it gives a bit more contrast with the clouds. I also like that Ariel isn't as pale, she kind of look like a ghost in the Diamond Edition.

[Farerb]

Another thing I noticed is how Ariel's veil is more transparent in the Signature and more white in the Diamond:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=3&x=57 ... &i=12&go=1