Well, I just finished watching the DVD version of the Platinum all day yesterday and last night (I also bought the Blu-ray, but probably won't be getting a player until Christmas). And I only have one thing to say: wow. This DVD is everything I has hoping for and more, and I really don't even know where to begin.
I think the first thing that really grabbed me when I started to watch it was the soundtrack. As soon as Hail To The Princess Aurora came on, I was floored by the new restored soundtrack. The chorus sounded a lot fuller and more majestic than on the soundtrack CD and the old Special Edition. Also there were trumpet counterharmonies to the main trumpet melodies that were washed out before, that I was surprised to hear how clear they sounded now too. The sound effects and the rest of the soundtrack was equally as stunning I thought, and you can definitely hear the music a lot more louder and clearer now than on the SE.
Another thing I particularly adored was the restoration of the picture. All the characters and backgrounds were so crystal clear I was amazed looking at their details. The forest scene was particularly beautiful I thought, especially all the different vivid hues of the warm and cold blues, greens, and browns that were brought out in it. I was also happy to see Aurora actually look more like a golden blonde now too, and seeing that Phillip's hair is a bit reddish-brown/auburn, than just a dull brown.
The special features amazed me as well. I loved seeing how on the Peter Tchaikovsky Story, Walt showed the entire forest and battle sequences to the audience. I don't think Disney would ever show that much of an upcoming film on television today.
I thought the princess fun facts, while very clearly aimed toward children at times, provided a lot of interesting information. Like how they auditioned 20 male singers for Phillip before picking Shirley, and his light opera background. Speaking of Shirley, I was very happy to hear him included in the Picture Perfect featurette when discussing the cast, and hearing how warmly Mary Costa talked of him. The rest of Picture Perfect I thought was wonderful as well, and I was happy to hear Sibley say what I think has been misunderstood by others for a while: Sleeping Beauty did huge business at the box office origially, but since Walt had sunk so much money into the production, it would be almost impossible to make it all back.
The featurette on Eyvind Earle and Sequence 8 I thought provided a lot of great information. I never realized how much of a troubled life Earle went through in his early years as a child because of his father.
The alternate opening was very interesting see, but I agree that it didn't fit the picture and Earle's style. The kind of production number seemed something that would be more appropiate in Beauy and the Beast. It Happens I Have A Picture I thought were interesting, particularly Hans Conreid as Stefan. While I didn't care much for the lyrics, I think I would have liked a similiar idea for the movie that instead of Skumps, Hubert and Stefan could have a song boasting about much Phillip and Aurora are like themselves.
Publicity and storyboards were about the same as before, as well as Four Artists Paint One Tree. I noticed they added a new clip of Ed Kemmer on horseback for the Phillip reference footage that wasn't on the SE. The galleries provided some neat new things, including some more Tom Oreb sketches for Phillip and the fairies which weren't on the old SE either.
And then there was what I had been anticipating most than any other feature: the castle walk-through. It exceeded even more than I had been expecting and I was grinning in excitement at watching it all the way through. The commentary with Tony Baxter was really interesting, and I loved that you were able to stop and get a close-up of any scene, and there was a segment that told you the secret behind the effects to each one. I'm amazed at how ingenious some of the use of Pepper's Ghost was for the original caste, even before they used it in the Haunted Mansion. The history of the castle was very information, and it was great to see Disney legends Bob Gurr and Harriet Burns on it. Although it was a bit bittersweet for me since I loved Harriet's work for the parks and she just recently passed away.
I also enjoyed that they had an easter egg where you could look at the orignal booklet given out at the end of the walk-through. Although I have an original copy of one of those booklets, so it was nothing new for me to see.
My only quibble with this release, was that I felt they could have included some bits of information from the old Kurtti commentary that were left out. No mention was made of how Walt personally said he wanted Phillip's role to be more expanded and more depth than the other princes, and wanting to expand the fairies' part as well. While the Deja, Maltin, Lasseter did provide some good insight into other things (one particularly I found interesting was that Audley had originally turned Disney down when offered the part of Malficent since she was ill), but I felt that there were some production points, such as the enlarging of Phillip and the fairies' characters, that I really wish had been mentioned.
All-in-all though, I was completely blown away by this release. This was a dream for a Sleeping Beauty fan like me!
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