DVDizzy Forum

Are there any Disney Movies filmed in 4:3 or are generally all 4:3 DVDs Pan&Scan DVDs, included TV-Movies?

And, (Non-Disney) what's with Casper 2 (Beginning) and 3 (Wendy)? These Films are in Fullscreen in US, UK and Ger

I'm currently making a list of films to rebuy widescreen soon

Short answer: Movies from the early 1950s and earlier were not made in widescreen.

Basically most movies (Disney or non-Disney) made before the mid 50's (of the 20th century ) were shot in a "squarish" ratio, what you call "Fullscreen" or "4:3" or "1.33" (The exact ratio varies somewhat, Silents where 1.333, Movietones (early sound) were around 1.2, Academy (Sound) were 1.375) So those movies would be best served on DVD by the 4:3 coding.

After the mid 50's, Widescreen ratios were introduced in theatrical exhibition to offer something that the rapidly becoming popular 4:3 TV screens couldn't reproduce. (With Disney that was for example Lady and The Tramp shot in Cinemascope)
Due to the way or technique some Widescreen movies are made (photographed), mostly using the same Academy 4:3 sound cameras as before but composing the center for Widescreen, many a Widescreen movie can be transfered to video using this whole image photographed (but not intended to be seen) by the camera (this is called using the "open matte") without cutting off any image but showing what's not supposed to be seen filling the square of the TV, instead of the alternative of Widescreening it properly (matting it) and then chopping off the sides of the Wide rectangular composition to make it fit back into the squarish 4:3 video (pan and scan).

Those movies would be transfered properly to video in Widescreen versions coded for 16:9

On the other hand, TV movies and shows till recently (21rst century ) were shot basically in the 4:3 ratio. This may include Direct to VIDEO films.
Nowadays many are being shot in the widescreen 1.78 HDTV ratio.

So for threatrical movies made after the mid 50's if you have a 4:3 DVD you either have a version that either shows a lot of extra non intended image on the top and bottom of the frame (open matte) or you have a version than cuts off the image on the sides (pan and scan) or in some cases a combination of the two techniques depending on the particular shot.


The open matte is the lesser of two evil cus A: it usually doesn't cut image or does it minimally and B: if you know how (for example have a 16:9 display with a variable zoom function) you can often times extract the widescreen image from it and C: some people like the open matte so they can see the backgrounds and sets and the lower parts of the actors or animation and mistakenly think that way they're seeing everything they are supposed to see )

these links may be useful too:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/panandscan.html
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/oar.htm
even the "How does 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen work? Why do the DVDs that are labeled "1.66:1" look like regular 1.85:1 widescreen to me?" question on http://www.ultimatedisney.com/FAQ.htm
and many other Widescreen/Academy/Cinemascope/Pan Scan/Open Matte discussions sprinkled though UD


Lars: i edited your: "early 1950s and older" to "and earlier" which I'm sure is what you meant.

Yes "The Robe" was the 1st widescreen film but some were still making full.

JiminyCrick91 wrote:Yes "The Robe" was the 1st widescreen film but some were still making full.

"The Robe" was the 1st movie shot in CinemaScope, not the 1st widescreen movie. There were a few experimental widescreen processes in 1929 and 1930 called "Grandeur" and "Realife". These were early 65MM processes used on films such as "The Big Trail", "Bat Whispers", and "Billy the Kid" And in 1952 came the 3-camera process Cinerama and finally "The Robe" in 1953.

Poppins#1 wrote:

JiminyCrick91 wrote:Yes "The Robe" was the 1st widescreen film but some were still making full.

"The Robe" was the 1st movie shot in CinemaScope, not the 1st widescreen movie. There were a few experimental widescreen processes in 1929 and 1930 called "Grandeur" and "Realife". These were early 65MM processes used on films such as "The Big Trail", "Bat Whispers", and "Billy the Kid" And in 1952 came the 3-camera process Cinerama and finally "The Robe" in 1953.

Opps I'm sorry I thout it was the frist.

deathie mouse wrote:
these links may be useful too:
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/panandscan.html
http://www.ultimatedisney.com/oar.htm
even the "How does 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen work? Why do the DVDs that are labeled "1.66:1" look like regular 1.85:1 widescreen to me?" question on http://www.ultimatedisney.com/FAQ.htm
and many other Widescreen/Academy/Cinemascope/Pan Scan/Open Matte discussions sprinkled though UD

Thanks. I already knew the first Link that's mostly the reason I asked here.
So TV Movies and Video premieres of last century are mostly filmed in 4:3?

Is that List (first Link) hold up-to date? If new DVDs will be released can I look there and find it? Are there ALL 4:3 Disney Movies listed?

Thorsten wrote: Is that List (first Link) hold up-to date? If new DVDs will be released can I look there and find it? Are there ALL 4:3 Disney Movies listed?

No, all pan and scan movies are listed on that page. Movies originally made in 4:3 like Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland will not be found there. Disney's been better, lately, about releasing films in their original aspect ratio, so the latest films on that list aren't really recent. If you need more assurance of what films aren't in their original ratios, go to each DVD chart page of this site (animated classics, live action (1980-pres.), live action (Pre-1980), etc.) and you'll see a "thumbs down icon" in the middle of the charts for films in pan and scan.

Disneykid wrote:

Thorsten wrote: Is that List (first Link) hold up-to date? If new DVDs will be released can I look there and find it? Are there ALL 4:3 Disney Movies listed?

No, all pan and scan movies are listed on that page. Movies originally made in 4:3 like Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland will not be found there. Disney's been better, lately, about releasing films in their original aspect ratio, so the latest films on that list aren't really recent. If you need more assurance of what films aren't in their original ratios, go to each DVD chart page of this site (animated classics, live action (1980-pres.), live action (Pre-1980), etc.) and you'll see a "thumbs down icon" in the middle of the charts for films in pan and scan.

I have always wondered why not have the "thumbs down icon" on the Animated Classics and Other Animation pages?

Because if it's one thing Disney's actually been faithful at, it's preserving the aspect ratio of their animated films (and animated films from Pixar and Ghibli). The only questionable one is The Fox and the Hound. No one's sure if that's an open matte transfer or a pan and scan transfer. The back cover claims it's presented in its original aspect ratio, but that seems awfully fishy. Besides that, though, all other animated classics (and other animated films Disney owns the home video rights to) are presented in the ratio they were created in.

Buying fullscreen movies that weren't filmed or framed that way doesn't make much sense. You spend, let's say, 8 bucks to go see a movie at the theatre. Then, a couple of months down the line when the movie comes out on dvd, you buy it in fullscreen for, say, 15 bucks. Now, how much sense does that make ? Why on earth would you spend 8 dollars to see a big widescreen movie then spend 15 dollars for up to half of the picture that you saw in the theatre ? Having a small tv would be a problem because you'd have a smaller picture and you'd be seeing less detail, but don't most people have tvs at least 19 or 20" ? Who still has 12 inch tvs ?

Before I didn't understand the difference between WS and FS, I hated the letterbox. Since we got our DVD player, I upgrade to DVD and buy them in WS if they were made in WS. I avoid FS and P&S like a plague. I won't buy Matilda or That Darn Cat because it isn't in OAR.

There's someone that's sure. It's open matted with some cropping of the sides.

There's an excellent article explaining all the ratios available (1.37:1, 1.78:1, 1.85:1, 2.35:1, and 2.40:1), what they are, and comparisons to open matte vs. pan-n-scanning. Here it is: http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0&s=8&c=27


There's also an article arguing the advantages about widescreen vs. pan-n-scan at http://www.rinkworks.com/movies too, although it's not as informative as the former. Still, it's worth looking at too.