DVDizzy Forum

A very incomplete list of bonus features has been posted at Amazon.com, which is a shame, because I know the DVD will have much more material.

DVD Features:
Virtual Wonderland Party activities

"I'm Odd" never before heard song

Set-top game

"Thru the Mirror" animated short with Mickey Mouse

"Operation Wonderland" featurette

Sing along songs

Now we know that "I'm Odd" is:
-An all-new song
-A recently discovered song
-A never before heard song
Still, we don't know wheter it will be included in the film or not (I think it is 99% safe to assume that it won't be).

Ewww. I hope no one avoids buying the DVD simply because they went by what Amazon said, only. I find it really annoying that Disney's pushing the kiddie features into the front of the publicity wagon, but as long as the meaty stuff stays (and the fact that One Hour in Wonderland hasn't been seen in any specs list for the past month or so scares me), I won't care.

For "Beauty and the Beast" the song "Human Again" was WRITTEN at the time of the film's creation, but was not recorded until years later spesifically for the re-release. Although all the voices returned I felt Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts was REDICULOUSLY more . . . "older" sounding. My first thought as soon as she spoke was "Geez, she was old to begin with, but she sounds ANCIENT!"

For TLK, "Morning Report" was written years later for the broadway production and then just added in for fun to the DVD release of the "Special Edition" (though from what I understand they wanted it in the IMAX release, but the animation wasn't finished in time.

"I'm Odd" for Alice, well, at this point no one knows. My hope is that it wasn't recently animated (like I said) but I'll buy it either way.

Doesn't seem like any of the people that read this are on board with me on the Pocahontas thing Keep in mind, however, that this would be the only case for a Disney movie (unless "Alice" proves otherwise) of a song that was written, recorded and partially animated for the original release, but abandoned because of (I'm sorry) impatient, short-sighted test audience members that caused the song to be abandoned half-way through only to be edited back INTO the film for its special edition. If any of you have seen the animation of the sequence, it's beautiful. John Pomeroy and Glen Keane really shone through (as the animators of John Smith and Pocahontas respectively), and I say again I would be THRILLED to have it put back into the film. I'll buy Alice with a new song if it helps this happen.

Oh, and also for Grunches, I agree about TLK being ruined (but in my opinion they ruined an already bad movie) but the changing of the voices was just lame. Zazu was Jeff Bennet and he was okay, but not identical.
I forget who played Simba in that song, but think about this: one character (Simba) had FIVE different people playing his voice in one movie! Jonathan Taylor Thomas (young Simba), Jason Weaver (Original singin voice of young Simba), Matthew Broderick (Adult Simba), Joseph Williams (Singing voice of Adult Simba) and whoever the kid was that played the re-do singing voice of young Simba. Five different people, one character- and I thought four people for the title character in Fox's "Anastasia" was rediculous.

I agree that "If I Never Knew You" should be put back in "Pocahontas". The song is great and the animation is very impressive. And besides, "Pocahontas" is one of my favorite Disney films.

Here's a look at the packaging and spine. Pretty much identical to Sleeping Beauty and its kin, except in name.

Looking great! Can't wait for the next 2-discers.
Thanks, Luke!

*drools*

I'm so looking forward to this...must have this DVD...

*wipes drool off her chin*

I still prefer the old artwork, though.

Despite the fact that some films will say special edition, some masterpiece edition, and some nothing at all, I'm glad Disney's sticking to some uniformity with these titles. It makes them look very attractive when placed standing up on a shelf. We'll see how long this lasts...

Anyway, the cover art's grown on me. I still like the original dark mood of the first one, but I think this cover's really nice, too. Its pastel colors remind me of Easter. I can't wait to see the back art.

Disneykid wrote:Anyway, the cover art's grown on me. I still like the original dark mood of the first one, but I think this cover's really nice, too. Its pastel colors remind me of Easter. I can't wait to see the back art.

I really like the new cover... I think it suits the mood of the film better. I hope we get the slipcover which opens like a book and a nice booklet, in the line of the Platinums and Sleeping Beauty.
"Pocahontas", where are you?

[quote="Joe Carioca"][quote="Disneykid"]Anyway, the cover art's grown on me. I still like the original dark mood of the first one, but I think this cover's really nice, too. Its pastel colors remind me of Easter. I can't wait to see the back art.[/quote]

I really like the new cover... I think it suits the mood of the film better. I hope we get the slipcover which opens like a book and a nice booklet, in the line of the Platinums and Sleeping Beauty.
"Pocahontas", where are you? [/quote] I totally agree all the way Why didn't Finding Nemo open like a book Thats really neat when they do that

Wow this my 75th post Just like mouse's Birthday Happy 75th Birthday Mickey

I'm a bit disturbed the menu's mention Art Gallery (in the singular) - we saw how the Lion King had less art in the galleries than other compariable releases. I hope Disney are not shrinking the galleries on these new releases as they are by far my favourite feature on the multi-disc sets.

Can January 27 come any slower?!?!

Gah...so hard waiting...

2099net wrote:I'm a bit disturbed the menu's mention Art Gallery (in the singular) - we saw how the Lion King had less art in the galleries than other compariable releases. I hope Disney are not shrinking the galleries on these new releases as they are by far my favourite feature on the multi-disc sets.

Well I don't know how much we should let the number used in the menu listing throw us off. It could very well be a big, huge gallery, with subsections.

Luke wrote:

2099net wrote:I'm a bit disturbed the menu's mention Art Gallery (in the singular) - we saw how the Lion King had less art in the galleries than other compariable releases. I hope Disney are not shrinking the galleries on these new releases as they are by far my favourite feature on the multi-disc sets.

Well I don't know how much we should let the number used in the menu listing throw us off. It could very well be a big, huge gallery, with subsections.

I'm afraid it won't... I fear it will be the same art gallery from the international releases.
It is a shame they aren't including everything that was on the LD... and I want an audio commentary!

Still a nice DVD, though... And nice to hear about "One Hour In Wonderland"!

Reading the review from DVDLaser.com, it seems the DVD will be missing:
-TV Special: Ford Star Revue in June 1951, is a 'making of' segment, hosted by James Melton, that shows the various steps in the development of Alice and includes preliminary animation and live action reference sequences. Here, even the clips from the completed cartoon are left in black-and-white.
-The CAV supplement opens with a brief history of Carroll's novel and a look at some of the book's original illustrations
-Following that is a fascinating collection of storyboards and a script outline
-Live-action reference films
-The two CLV sides also contain about three and a half hours of audio material on the two analog audio tracks. One inclusion is an hour-long dramatization, broadcast on the BBC in 1951 with Beaumont and Disney. The format is fairly interesting, as it is 'Lewis Carroll' who not only narrates the story, but carries on a conversation with Disney about how much he admires the animated production. Also of interest--one of the performers blows a line in the middle of The Unbirthday Song and it takes a couple of seconds and another mistake or two before they get back on track. Another 1951 promotional show made for the BBC is also featured, which contains introductions to the songs but not the songs themselves. Songs from the film and songs that didn't make it into the film are also presented in extensive test recordings, many performed by the songwriters. Highlights include a musical number for The Lion and the Unicorn , the Mock Turtle soup lamentation (though it is not a lament the way they sing it), another version of the Mock Turtle's tale--somewhat more amusing--set to Blue Danube , a catchy rendition of the Lobster Quadrille entitled Will You Join the Dance , and Speak Roughly to Your Little Boy . What much of this shows is the searching through of both Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass that Disney's team did to find the most potent passages and best mix for translation to film. The listener can judge whether or not they succeeded or if, indeed, they ever came close. The film is charming and the disc is terrific, but it is clear from the materials presented that a lot of compromising went on to make Disney's dream a reality.


Why, Disney, why?!!!!

If the BBC radio programme was made in 1951, then I'd say it's 99.99% certain that the rights belong to the BBC. They have only started to accept programes from other production companies or enter into co-production deals in the last 15-20 years (and that was only because of a govenment bill).

That said, I doubt the BBC would be asking for lots of money for the rights on the DVD. After all, I'll doubt the BBC will do anything with it. If Disney Home Entertainment don't think a commentary is important (see Sleeping Beauty and Lion King press releases and menus) I suppose they don't think a 1951 British radio show is worth licencing.

I also suspect Disney don't own the rights to the Ford Star Revue.

I thought the LD had the complete storyboards for an earlier treatment of the film, which were shown synchronised to a recreation soundtrack of the original script?

Joe Carioca wrote:Reading the review from DVDLaser.com, it seems the DVD will be missing:
-TV Special: Ford Star Revue in June 1951, is a 'making of' segment, hosted by James Melton, that shows the various steps in the development of Alice and includes preliminary animation and live action reference sequences. Here, even the clips from the completed cartoon are left in black-and-white.

Actually, this is on both the 2-disc and Gold Classic DVD's in the form of "Operation: Wonderland." Operation: Wonderland was a promotional featurette inserted into the Ford Star Revue show and is on both R1 DVD's.

I'm a bit disappointed that the gallery(ies?) isn't virtual and that there's no commentary. This makes Alice the first Disney 2-Disc set without commentary. Curiouser and curiouser...

Guys, if you take a really close look at everything listed on the menus Luke posted, you'll see that one of the features listed ON THE BONUS MENU is "I'm Odd, Unused Song." Yes, it appears to be on the first disc, but the inclusion on the bonus menu virtually guarentees that it will be a BONUS FEATURE ONLY. Keep in mind, too, the completed versions of Human Again and Morning Report were not listed as bonuses and were not accessable outside of the main special edition feature. So, I'm Odd exsists on the DVD as a deleted song bonus, and nothing more. It is strange that it is placed on disc one as opposed to disc two with other deleted sequences, but The Lion King had deleted stuff on both discs, too.

So YAY! There will be no new cut, just the classic movie that everyone loves, unchanged. And, with One Hour in Wonderland listed on another bonus menu, too, there's really no reason for anybody to ever use the Gold DVD again, unless on the off chance Disney censors something in the film for the new DVD, which is doubtful.

Come January 27!

In case anybody hasn't seen, here's a link to the new ultimatedisney page about the new Alice dvd http://ultimatedisney.com/alice-masterpiece.html