DVDizzy Forum

This guy makes a point:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p ... tcount=287

"Seriously guys when I compare this with the copy I found online, it looks fine. The only thing missing is the grain."

It's not like The Sword In The Stone. The outlines are there, everything seems accounted for, it may look like DNR, but it doesn't seem to be. If it were we be seeing erased outlines (something DNR is animation is known for). Still, I think this sort of process causes an uproar and I don't blame them.

Blu-ray.com review for Mickey's Christmas Carol:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mickeys-C ... 64/#Review

Mickeyfan1990 wrote:Blu-ray.com review for Mickey's Christmas Carol:

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Mickeys-C ... 64/#Review

This review makes me sad for two reasons:

1. The transfer looks hideous.

2. We didn't get as many short as the original 95 minute runtime led us to believe.

These are both things we knew before this review, but it hurts to have them confirmed like this, ya know?

At least the following make me want to buy it

Bonus Shorts (HD, 33 minutes): The only significant bonus content included is a series of five animated shorts: Yodelberg (2013), The Hockey Champ (1939), Pluto's Christmas Tree (1952), The Art of Skiing (1941) and Corn Chips (1951). Yodelberg features 640kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, while the other shorts feature 320kbps Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The four catalog shorts have also been restored quite beautifully, and are presented in 1080p at their original aspect ratios.

However, it is disappointing that the main thing has this kind of lackluster restoration of Sword In The Stone Blu Ray Quality.

Disney is not a Lionsgate or shout factory but yet Shout Factory has some of the best quality release while Disney who has been a staple in the film industry is releasing this amateur quality releases which is a big problem,. Disney is suppose to represent the creme of the crop, however lately their Blu Rays have been the creme ala crap which is very disappointing. Meanwhile Warner Brothers is doing a much better job with their catalog titles, and when there is an error of any kind, Warner Brothers immediately steps up and fixes it. It's a shame that Disney seems to be so lazy with their releases while studios like Warner Brothers and even Shout Factory give better service to it's fans and ultimately it's films.

I think the time has come to take immediate action:

http://consumerist.com/2008/09/03/45-di ... addresses/

We should e-mail these people and let them know something must be done.

Let me get this straight: Disney is now making a trend of severe DNR restorations, this release has only lossy DD stereo, the other holiday short film, "The Small One", that would be paired with on earlier DVD releases of this short is not included, no iTunes download (which is not that big of a deal for me in this case), and, on top of all that, they're making us pay the price of a new film. ... Boycott time! Ain't no way I'm paying this much for a lackluster release.

I took sections of the images and put them side by side:

I got both from DMC today (8 days before release date). That's never happened before. Also got Monsters U from Amazon a day early. I got a bunch of watching to do.

I've decided to write my complaint on the new transfer at the Blu-ray/DVD Help Center:

http://www.disneystudioshelp.com/ContactUs

You can do the same if you wish.

And to those who love the new transfer, good for you (seriously). You're probably seeing something that we're not.

So Luke's review says that the transfer looks perfect. I am confused with all the negativity about the transfer.

Those of us who grew up with the short on a quickly-degrading homemade VHS recording will immediately find this Blu-ray presentation stunning. The picture is perfectly stable, steady, sharp, and clean. If anything, it's a touch too clean, as long shots seem to lack detail in a way that slightly resembles summer's disappointing The Sword in the Stone transfer. Thankfully, Christmas Carol doesn't suffer from anywhere near as indiscriminate digital noise reduction. Long shots just don't seem to match the otherwise highly satisfying transfer.

The thing to remember is that, in motion, these restorations tend to look FAR better than viewing individual screenshots makes it appear to. So Luke's review is most likely based on watching the film itself, rather than scrutinizing frame by frame. Certainly not trying to defend the way they are going about these so called 'restorations', but just pointing out that in motion, it isn't quite as bad as it seems.

SWillie! wrote:The thing to remember is that, in motion, these restorations tend to look FAR better than viewing individual screenshots makes it appear to. So Luke's review is most likely based on watching the film itself, rather than scrutinizing frame by frame. Certainly not trying to defend the way they are going about these so called 'restorations', but just pointing out that in motion, it isn't quite as bad as it seems.

Yeah, that's what I'm hoping. At the very least, it doesn't look nearly as bad as what was done to The Sword in the Stone.

I got Mickey's Christmas Carol today (one day early!) and I'm still in the dark with this. I mean, so far it looks OK. I'll probably watch it some more so I can inspect it more.

UPDATE 11/5: I watched a little bit more. I'm trying to convince myself that the transfer is fine and it seems now it probably is getting better now that I'm seeing it again. DNR involves the erasing of character outlines and I haven't noticed any. Perhaps Disney DID do the restoration right and we're not seeing it correctly?

I noticed on the BluRay forums that Mickey's Christmas Carol's picture has been cropped to hell. Alot of picture has apparently been lost, why would this happen? What is the deal with picture cropping?

jade wrote:I noticed on the BluRay forums that Mickey's Christmas Carol's picture has been cropped to hell. Alot of picture has apparently been lost, why would this happen? What is the deal with picture cropping?

They're preserving the matting as seen in theaters and a way to fill up an HDTV.