Aladdin Trilogy Comments

[2099net]

These are comment on the UK Aladdin Trilogy Digipack.

Firslty, the package itself if weak. Nowhere on the outer packaging or on the inside are the special features listed (or even mentioned). Shocking.

Interesting to note that according to the packaging the films are presented as so:

Aladdin: Widescreen 1.66:1
Return of Jafar: Full Screen 1.33:1
King of Thieves: Widescreen 1.85:1

All films come with Audio Descriptive soundtracks for the visually impaired.

Return of Jafar comes with a "game" and Disneypedia. King of Theives has two "games". Both also have Disney Song Selection, allowing the songs to be viewed with subtitles.

An interesting note is Disney UK appear to be promoting Bambi as the 55th Aniversary Limited Edition (according to the coverart in the standard UK Aladdin package)

[ichabod]

I thought the trilogy was fantastic! I still haven't watched the two sequels yet but i had a look at their bonus features, not really much exciting! Although i am happy Aladdin and the King of theives is 1:85:1 widescreen (It looks as if the US release will be fullscreen, according to the press release anyway! hee hee!) Aladdin's bonus features are great, and as i've mentioned in another topic, this is the first time i've actually seen Aladdin and it didn't really appeal to me! Although i think with time it will.

An interesting note is Disney UK appear to be promoting Bambi as the 55th Aniversary Limited Edition (according to the coverart in the standard UK Aladdin package)

Yes that is confusing! Perhaps it's just temporary after all it looks like the cover from the US VHS!

I was happy trailers for Alice in Wonderland and Bambi were included, and it also looks a sthough we will have to wait until December for Mulan!

Also on the Sequel DVD Incredibles is being advertised as coming to DVD, when it hasn't even been released in theatres!
Probably because the DVDs will be released seperately next year, and the don't want to reprint them!

[2099net]

Hi. When I say package is weak, I mean the fact that it doesn't mention the contents. I don't mean the actual DVD content is weak.

[ichabod]

Sorry, I completely misread the question!

Yes i completely agree, i do not like the package at all!

I would have preferred it to be like the star wars or lion king trilogy! 3 amaray cases inside another box!

[ajay]

I really don't like the packaging I also wish it was 3 amaray cases in a box rather than the cardboard digipak thing with horrible cover art on the inside as well as out. aside from that the discs are cool
aladdin was amazing....
the return of jafar picture quality is great the colours are vivid. Its all very crisp and sharp. and i love the song selction
king of theives- i found the picture quality to be acceptable but it could of been cleaned up more not as sharp but its in wide screen so can't compain

[Mickey_DownUnder]

I really don't like the packaging I also wish it was 3 amaray cases in a box rather than the cardboard digipak thing with horrible cover art on the inside as well as out. aside from that the discs are cool

That what i thought weak meant.
I'm just a bit worried that the packaging might fall apart at the hands of little kids. This is the only thing turning me off buying the trilogy.
If it's released seperately here in Australia, i'll buy them seperately.
Otherwise, it's going to be "Don't touch that... let daddy do it!"

Mike.

[Luke]

Has anyone watched <i>King of Thieves</i> or at least popped it in to confirm that it really is presented in widescreen? Seems odd that it'd get 16x9 treatment in the UK now, but not in the US. I'd be surprised if Disney was animating direct-to-video features in widescreen in 1996, but stranger things have happened, I'm sure.

[2099net]

Yes, it is widescreen, but to be fair, it could just be 1.66:1. The previous UK DVD release was full frame. I doubt it was made with CAPS though.

[ajay]

I mean the fact that it doesn't mention the contents

thats funny my aladdin trilogy had an insert. with all the new releases inside and on the back just the chapter selection for 'aladdin' this annoyed me as it advertises the return of jafar and king of theives as seperate dvds coming soon in january 2005, i probaly would of waited to get these 2 although its nice buying all 3 movies at once to save money but i feel cheated through the box

[deathie mouse]

Has anyone watched King of Thieves or at least popped it in to confirm that it really is presented in widescreen? Seems odd that it'd get 16x9 treatment in the UK now, but not in the US. I'd be surprised if Disney was animating direct-to-video features in widescreen in 1996, but stranger things have happened, I'm sure.

And 2099net wrote:

Yes, it is widescreen, but to be fair, it could just be 1.66:1. The previous UK DVD release was full frame. I doubt it was made with CAPS though.

And ajay wrote:

king of theives- i found the picture quality to be acceptable but it could of been cleaned up more not as sharp but its in wide screen so can't compain

Did it have a theatrical release somewhere? If it did, or if it that was planned at one time, it might have been photographed/composed protected for widescreen presentation. (Haven't seen it so I have no idea how it looks)
So is the widescreen version's image wider or just cropped vertically compared to the 4:3 disc? If it's the later, does the framing seem too tight or fine?

Another thing is, things photographed in Academy but protected for the TV safe action area can be widescreened to 1.53 withouth loosing anything. Add to that the unused extra 0.043" image width difference at the sides between the full camera aperture plate and the projection aperture plate and you end up with 1.61. If we substitute the TV title safe area into this calculation you end up with 1.81
Which is probably one of the things that makes the widescreen Kung Fu tv series dvd bearable.

Also, ajay mentioning it's not as sharp, could that mean it's just an electronic upsampling of a vertically cropped 4:3 video master to make into a 16:9 coded version, instead of it being a true into 16:9 transfer from film elements...? (or worse, from NTSC 4:3 to PAL 16:9!)

Any thoughts on this?

Same thing could be what's happening to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas which is a topic in general discussions right now
I'll recheck that R1 disc as soon as i can for that (Yes i have THAT Christmas disc on NTSC only ) (my collection is being organized so it's all over da place )

[2099net]

OK, firstly I apologise for the poor quality of these captures. I'm having major problems with my desktop (it won't run overlays anymore) and I have an old PowerDVD. Also, ignore the subtitles, for some reason even when they are "off" on my display, they show on the screencaps.


Anyhow, here's some pics, in no particular order, showing that the UK King of Thieves is cropped to 1.85:1, sometimes resulting in poor framing.


cropping at the bottom


too much headroom, no footroom


no space at the top or bottom of the frame


too much headroom, action centred in the bottom half of the frame

and the menus:

[Luke]

Well, I'm glad we're getting them in Fullscreen here! Fake-widescreen...no thanks!

[ichabod]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

If anybody needs me i'll be in the kitchen ironing my face!

[2099net]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

If anybody needs me i'll be in the kitchen ironing my face!

Cheer up Icabod, the barebones release was full-frame! Dig one of them out!

[ichabod]

It's strange that they cropped king of theives but not Return of Jafar!

[deathie mouse]

wow i somehow missed completely this post for about a day!! must be all those reply notifications with Aladdin on the title

Thanks Netty for those captures!


They do look odd framed.

Which then makes me wonder if they are cropping it why don't they leave it at least "1.78" filling all the frame. That would give it 4% more framing headroom or "breathing space"...

Ichabod, .

..well at least it dosesn't look as bad as the projection I saw of I Robot where they kept chopping of Will Smiths top of da head...

[ichabod]

..well at least it dosesn't look as bad as the projection I saw of I Robot where they kept chopping of Will Smiths top of da head...

Some of us are glad of that

[Jake Lipson]

The first direct-to-video to be created in widescreen was Simba's Pride, so, yes, King of Thieves is cropped on DVD in the UK. I'm glad the US is getting it in 1.33:1 proper.

Thanks for the screencaps. Sadly it doesn't seem that these were restored at all, probably taken from the same print as the VHS. Due to the animation quality, I don't expect these to match Aladdin on DVD, nor would I expect Disney to enhance them in any way, shape or form, but a restoration isn't too much to ask, so that they can look as good as possible, even if they won't be demo material. However, they seem to have foregone any sort of cleanup at all, which is a shame. If the BATB cheapquels got restorations, these can too!

Still will be picking them up, but I was hoping for better than VHS quality transfers.

[Joe Carioca]

A shot from the original aspect ratio version for comparisson:

[deathie mouse]

Obrigado Joe!

I made the backgrounds the same size in both images and superimposed them. The little extra width that the 16:9 capt shows must be the +/- extra millimetre the full camera aperture photographs (0.868"/22.05mm), vs the correct (Academy) Projector Aperture width's image (0.825"/20.96mm) on the 4:3 capt.

So there it is. Great film preservationist detective work Joe and Netty!

Another OAR locked and loaded on UD!