DVDizzy Forum

I'm not all that bothered, actually. In a way, having one edition is better; the 1 disc version of Sleeping Beauty was a pan and scan version of the film to be "family friendly", whilst the 2 disc version wasn't (the same applied to Atlantis and Monsters, Inc, though the latter was a specially reframed for video fullscreen transfer). Because Disney has to cater to both markets, a goofy cover is utilised, but the stuff on the discs is instantly as good as it gets, and almost always at a cheaper price than to what it would be if it had a beautiful cover (Lady and the Tramp costs £14.99 or so at HMV currently, but I'm sure if there were a 1 disc mainstream version and a 2 disc collector's edition with the same contents on the SE's discs, it would cost at least £7 more).

I don´t know about Malta, but I´d suggest you take a look at the packaging for the R2 French special editions like Peter Pan, Monsters Inc, Beauty & The beast or Snow White before saying that ALL R2 packaging is lower standard

In my opinion the French Disney packaging (look at the 2 and 3 disc digi-packs of Lady & The Tramp on Amazon France) is far superior.

As for cracked dvd´s, return it for a refund or replacement. Sounds like you were just unlucky, I have bought hundreds of dvds R2 Disney and others, and had no cracked ones...

For me the packaging in France is far superior by a long way, beautiful images, excellant digi-packs (like Lion King Exclusive edition!)

As for THX, as everyone else says, it doesn´t prove the best quality sound, just that it´s close to the original through using the best equipment.

I always ignore the THX certificate except at the cinema.

So, take a look at www.amazon.fr and look for some nice disney dvds like this one French Lady & The Tramp / Lady & The Tramp 2 3 Disc Digi-Pack!

Happy shopping

Philip

But deadstone (are you French? In that case ca va?) do the French releases have the English Language version included?

Otherwise, from the pictures, they look gorgeous!

And the cover art is very artistic.

juliancarter wrote:But deadstone (are you French? In that case ca va?) do the French releases have the English Language version included?

Otherwise, from the pictures, they look gorgeous!

And the cover art is very artistic.

French releases always have English language options on the films themselves. If the box promises DTS, the DTS option will only be on the French soundtrack, not for the English one. But soundtracks and subtitles are always optional and always include French and English.

Typically the extras are in English too - but this is not always the case. Examples I know of that aren't include:

* Brother Bear 2 Disc
* Atlantis: The Lost Empire 2 Disc

However, examples I know of that are in English include:
* Pocahontas 2 Disc
* Lilo & Stitch 2 Disc
* Fantasia 2 Disc
* Peter Pan 2 Disc
* Treasure Planet 1 Disc

So you'll have to do a bit of research first. It's worth noting that sometimes, when you select the non-English option from the initial menu, you can get extra supplements: For example Peter Pan Disc 2 has a French only "Return to Never Land" poster gallery and Treasure Planet has the French music video for "I'm Still Here (Un Homme Libre - A Free Man?)" as well as the English version.

The Brother Bear extras ARE in English!

Thanks 2099net, I'll keep that in mind!

Sometimes I stay watching my Disney films in other languages to see what they sound like. But they usually are far from being on par with the originals. The voices just don't have the same passion.

In fact, it's a pity to think that in countries like Italy, movies have to be dubbed for theatrical exhibition. I think English was introduced to the syllabus of schools in Italy only a few years ago.

In Malta (luckily) we don't need to dub our films. Imagine how different they'd sound in Maltese! This is how some titles would translate:


Beauty and the Beast: Is-Sbejħa u l-Monstru
Atlantis: The Lost Empire: Atlantis: L-Imperu l-Mitluf
Teasure Planet: Pjaneta ta' t-Tezor
Planet of the Apes: Pjaneta ta' x-Xadini
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within: Fantasija Finali: L-Ispirti Minn Ġewwa


By the way, how come Ultimate Disney supports the Maltese Font and has these special characters?:

Ġġ Ħħ Ċċ etc.

It's surprising because Maltese, as a language is used in Malta only and nowhere else in the world. It recently became one of the official languages of the EU.

I have all the Disney animated releases in Region 1 format and now I'm into Region 2 releases. I just bought a Multi-Region PAL-NTSC converter DVD player and I am ordering Region 2 exclusive releases via Amazon UK. For example I've ordered over a dozen of titles including So Dear to My Heart, Winter Wonderland, Jasmine Enchanted Tales, Disney Heroes Tarzan/Hecules, Countdown To Christmas, Chip 'n' Dale - Vol. 1 & Vol 2, Timon And Pumbaa - Vol. 1, 2 & 3, Jungle Cubs and Disney Christmas Favourites. .

I also ordered Winnie the Pooh, One for All and All for One, but then I was able to get the Target Region 1 exclusive release for that title via Ebay.

For me Region 2 titles are great!!!

Actually, one of the key points of buying a Disney R2 DVD is that they can be sometimes issued with a DTS soundtrack over the R1 counterparts.

Having said that, with the PAL system actually running faster the audio tends to be pitch corrected.

Me, I buy mostly R1 Disney releases but if a R2 release has DTS audio I'll buy that too.

R1 packaging is usually a lot nicer but there are exceptions (i.e. the UK Beauty and the Beast). However, French packaging is outstanding.

Oh, and I have NEVER had a R2 DVD crack... and I have approximately 3,000 DVDs

BTW I picked up a nice edition of Brother Bear at Disneyland Paris:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00017OCVA/qid=1147857899/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_10_3/402-2193943-6926538

Yes, it's true about the DTS option. My Region 2 Mulan has DTS, whereas it seems the Region 1 lacked it. If I'm not mistaken, in Region 2, DTS has been offered even on forgotten films like The Black Cauldron. But then, the Emperor's New Groove does not have DTS in Region 2, only Region 1 has it.

Ste7en wrote:
BTW I picked up a nice edition of Brother Bear at Disneyland Paris:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00017OCVA/qid=1147857899/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_10_3/402-2193943-6926538

This is indeed nice (I owe it), but packaging-wise only. Because when it comes to extra, this edition does not have the 2nd bonus disc that originially came out in Region 1. Buena Vuesta France, to correct this, later rereleased Brother Bear as a standart "Collelctor's Edition" which include 2 DVDs and all the extras of the original R1 and even more! But, the bad thing is that the packaging was not as nice as the barebone "Exclusive Edition" and was just a standart snap case with a slipcover (this is the reaon why I have both editions: one for the packaging and one for the contents lol )

but anyway, for me the packaging in the R2 French (& Italian) 2 disc collector editions is generally far superior to the UK and US editions ...

In the UK, I can only recall two releases that were impressive, one was the Tarzan original 2-disc deluxe ed. and the other was the Snow White in the box that looked like a book...

deadstone wrote:but anyway, for me the packaging in the R2 French (& Italian) 2 disc collector editions is generally far superior to the UK and US editions ...

In the UK, I can only recall two releases that were impressive, one was the Tarzan original 2-disc deluxe ed. and the other was the Snow White in the box that looked like a book...

Dont forget Atlantis CE and Beauty and The Beast CE, impressive packaging...

Jordan wrote:

Ste7en wrote:
BTW I picked up a nice edition of Brother Bear at Disneyland Paris:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00017OCVA/qid=1147857899/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_10_3/402-2193943-6926538

This is indeed nice (I owe it), but packaging-wise only. Because when it comes to extra, this edition does not have the 2nd bonus disc that originially came out in Region 1. Buena Vuesta France, to correct this, later rereleased Brother Bear as a standart "Collelctor's Edition" which include 2 DVDs and all the extras of the original R1 and even more! But, the bad thing is that the packaging was not as nice as the barebone "Exclusive Edition" and was just a standart snap case with a slipcover (this is the reaon why I have both editions: one for the packaging and one for the contents lol )

Very interesting Mr Bond...

Do you mean this one:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006A9MGC/qid=1149693977/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/402-8253420-6857749

Very nice cover... I may have to get that one too!

I already own the US R1 edition too

Ste7en wrote:

Jordan wrote: This is indeed nice (I owe it), but packaging-wise only. Because when it comes to extra, this edition does not have the 2nd bonus disc that originially came out in Region 1. Buena Vuesta France, to correct this, later rereleased Brother Bear as a standart "Collelctor's Edition" which include 2 DVDs and all the extras of the original R1 and even more! But, the bad thing is that the packaging was not as nice as the barebone "Exclusive Edition" and was just a standart snap case with a slipcover (this is the reaon why I have both editions: one for the packaging and one for the contents lol )

Very interesting Mr Bond...

Do you mean this one:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006A9MGC/qid=1149693977/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_10_1/402-8253420-6857749

Very nice cover... I may have to get that one too!

I already own the US R1 edition too

This one is the amaray case 2-Disc "real" Collector's Edition. The gorgeous "barebones content-wise" digipack was this one (does not have a bonus disc but a 4-songs CD along with a CD-ROM "Brother Bear" Print Studio for your computer) :

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00017OCVA/qid=1149703594/sr=1-8/ref=sr_1_10_8/171-4652512-4789827

That's the one I got from Disneyland Paris. I'm still debating wether or not to buy the two disc edition as well

Oh, the French 2 disc releases of Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch and Pocahontas look lovely too...

I've just noticed today that my copy of Finding Nemo has cracks in the middle of the disc. I'll be irate if they go through to the film. How annoying, I'll have to handle with extreme care from now on which means no little hands must touch these dvd's in future.

Is it a Region 2?

cornelius wrote:I've just noticed today that my copy of Finding Nemo has cracks in the middle of the disc. I'll be irate if they go through to the film. How annoying, I'll have to handle with extreme care from now on which means no little hands must touch these dvd's in future.

Let me guess, i'm 90 percent sure that the cracked disc is the one placed in the "loose" cover flip, not the holder of the actual case... This lock in the amaray cover often does this so be aware of that... It has NOTHING to do with that it's Region 2, but because R1 disney's arent distributed in the same cases... Conclusion: The Cases are bad in Region 2 not the discs!

I've got cracks in my Lion King DVD too. Since then I always switch the two discs. That's because I use the bonus disc less than the film disc.

You must be right! All my cracks in Region 2 have come from the disc sitting in the loose holder.

These include:

Lion King Disc 1
Aladdin Disc 1
Pocahontas Disc 1