DVDizzy Forum

Well, being as I now have five (yes, count them five) copies of Sleeping Beauty on DVD I may as well do a definitive comparison between the international version and the later American version. For the purposes of this article, I will be comparing the UK Release with the American version. This is bacause the UK version is the same as the other international versions (except for the French release, which has basically the same specification, but in French of course).

Picture

Now this is a hard decision to make – I think that the American version has managed to subdue the colour pulsing which afflicts all copies of the restored film, but perhaps this is because the NTSC colours don't seem quite as bright as the PAL colours. On the other hand the PAL transfer benefits from the increased PAL resolution. I've decided to mark this as a draw on the widescreen version, but the American full screen wins over the full screen transfer on my single disc UK edition as the UK transfer is marred by more noticeable colour pulsing.

Audio

The UK release only has English language soundtracks – Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The American release has Dolby Digital 5.1 on the widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 English and French tracks plus a Dolby Digital 2.0 Spanish track on the full screen version.

Being as I have no amplifier at all, let alone a DTS one I'm not going to pass any judgement on the sountracks.

Audio Supplements

Despite what you may think, the UK release does have an audio supplement… sort of. It includes a Dolby Digital 2.0 audio descriptive track. This track is for the blind or visually impaired and a narrator describes the on-screen action in between the dialogue in the film. While it's something I have no interest in myself, I'm pleased it was included as it shows Disney UK are thinking about making their films accessible to as many people as possible. (But I would rather have a commentary)

The American version has the commentary track – featuring a number of participants including (amongst others) Eyvind Earle, Mary Costa, Ollie Johnston and Marc Davis. When commentaries contain a large number of participants they often quickly turn into chaos. However, this commentary is made from interviews edited masterfully together and no single participant dominates over another. This commentary is one of the most informative and easy to listen to commentary I have ever heard.

One surprise about the commentary is that underneath the various voiceovers, the film's music and effects track constantly plays. It's a shame this wasn't included as another optional soundtrack on the disc. Another surprise is that unused or abandoned songs are included in the commentary in their entirity!

Once Upon A Dream: The Making of Sleeping Beauty

This is the same on both versions. It has a rather short running time, and I was hoping the American version would be extended. Oh well. At least the international version didn't get an edited documentary like they did with the 2 disc Peter Pan and single disc Pinocchio Special Edition.

Story

Basically this section is the same. The American version has the '1951 Outline' narrated. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I suppose it's an improvement. On the Storyboard examples the UK release has the same sequences, but no introductions.

Production

Basically the same again. The only difference is the widescreen to pan-and-scan on the UK version has three examples but no introduction.

Galleries

These are the same, including the same virtual room animations. However, like the two Platinum releases, the American version features narration on selected pictures. While I think this is a vast improvement (my favorite bit of these 2 disc sets are the galleries) I'm not happy about the splitting of the comments into 'children's' and 'adults'. Is the children's narrator the voice of Goofy's Max?

Publicity: Trailers

Omitted from the UK version. The 1995 re-release trailer is fantastic!

Sleeping Beauty Scapbook

Exactly the same as the UK release. It's a shame Disney US didn't decide to include voiceovers for these pictures – many of them could benefit from narration.

Grand Canyon

Same as the UK release. Both UK and US are letterboxed widescreen rather than anamorphic. (Reason: We don't want to pay for a new transfer from the LD transfer)

The Peter Tchaikovsky Story

Same on both releases.

Four Artists Paint One Tree

Same on both releases, but I would have to say the UK release probably has a clearer picture.

Fluff

The Disney Art project is different. On the UK release it's a segment from at television program made by Disney called 'Art Attack'. This shows how to make a fantasy castle from discarded toilet paper rolls. (Actually the finished product does look good). The US release has all new segments hosted by 'magic hands'.

The Rescue Aurora Adventure Game is the same on both releases, as is the Ink and Paint Studio.

Unique to the American release are the Princess Personality game (which I thought was the weakest of the 'fluff' on this disc as the questions are just ridiculous – room for my tiger?), the new No Secrets music video (which it must be said I neither liked or disliked) and the Once Upon a Dream sing-a-long which is pretty pointless (when all is said and done, this could have been placed on disc 1 with subtitles) but it's interesting to see the state or the unrestored film used in this segment.

Packaging

Well, the US release has the best packaging with the slipcover that 'opens like a book' and despite what some think the cover art is not that bad – it's colourful. I also like the booklet inside the US release, especially the first two inner pages showing the cast of characters. However, I have to say the French art and design wins – a beautiful cover image (better than the UK release with its added colours) and a stunning panoramic image when the digipak is opened up.


Summary

Apart from the commentary, all of the enhancements are simple presentation touches. However, small as they are they do make a world of difference to the whole package. I think the US release is the best 2 disc set since Snow White, despite the fluff

Great comments 2099net. I'm probably going to buy the American version before it goes out-of-print, just because of the commentary and the trailers... oh, and the package that opens like a book!

I have one question for you: I've read all reviews on this disc, and all of them notice the film is spotless. Actually, I've noticed some grain on the Brazilian (full screen) and UK (wide screen) DVD versions of the film, specially during the opening credits. I've also noticed some flickering during the dungeon scene. Did you noticed this on the American transfer or it is really spotless?

By flickering I take it you mean colour pulsing? There is flickering on the American release as there is on the International releases - they do mention this on the restoration segment. Obviously the de-flickering process was not quite 100%.

I think the colour flickering on the R1 release is less noticable than any of the other releases - especially the UK full screen transfer where the flickering is most noticable. I'm not sure why this is. My PAL discs can be run through the RGB Euroscart socket on my television which give better colour definition than the simply AV socket I have to use for the NTSC discs, so it could just be the PAL-NTSC differences or it could be that the R1 transfer has had further processing on it.

As for grain, I've never really noticed it. I must say my equipment probably isn't the best for in-depth image analysis. However, I guess they couldn't use the same process on the live-action book opening that they used on the animated section of the film.

As a side note, looking at the opening again, I think the R1 release may have edge-enhancement on it, which is missing (or not as strong) on the R2 release.

I'd be interested if anyone else with access to the R1 and an International version could post there comments on the transfers.

2099net wrote: Publicity: Trailers

Omitted from the UK version. The 1995 re-release trailer is fantastic!

What a shame! I have the UK version and it's what I miss more along with audio commentaries.

Very insightful, 2099net. By any chance, do you have the program "Bitrate Viewer." It's a tiny file that will give you an average bitrate of a DVD you put in - you just select the title the movie is on and then it gives you the average and a graph. Should be easy to download through a Google.

Also, if you want me to host the screencaps you sent me from the R2 and then some from the R1 to compare, although based on your review, it would likely be difficult to notice differences, especially when you're looking at compressed stills and not in motion.

Thanks for the comparison!

Luke, you have E-mail.

Remember the bitrate will only give a rough guide. As well as including a DTS track (sorry, don't know if it's full-rate or half-rate), PAL images have more lines to encode.

If any of you know a little Spanish, could you check something for me?

I you don't speak spanish just check:

Play the Spanish track and watch any Maleficent sequence, compare her voice with Eleanor Audley. Does it match? at least similar? or does it seems like a youger more clear and innadecuated voice?


If you do speak Spanish checK:

"once upon a dream" lyrics, when Aurora starts singing to the crow prince:

does she sings "Eres tú el príncipe azul que yo soné, eres tú, tus ojos me vieron con ternuras y amor" ??

or does she sings "Eres tú la dulce ilusión que yo soñé, eres tú, brillando en tus ojos el amor pude ver" ??


I mean, the new spanish track is DD5.1 if the mix included on the R1 release is DD2.0 it may be the classic track, since it was mastered that way for the laserdisc edition (1997).

thankx, I'll apreciatte the answers...

A lot of people have said this is the best Disney DVD since Snow White. Does this mean Sleeping Beauty's a better DVD than even Beauty and the Beast? Despite B&tB having a lot of kid and family oriented pieces, I like the DVD overall. I know the one thing SB benefits from that B&tB doesn't is the fact that SB has original story outlines and text pieces while B&tB was all video and gallery features.

I think Sleeping Beauty is a better DVD than Beauty and the Beast. But I suppose it's just personal opinion.

The Beauty and the Beast DVD was saved to some extent by the WIP edition of the film. Without that, the Beauty and the Beast DVD would be very disapointing - bitty and bobby and lacking focus.

Theres deleted songs on the audio commentary, I wish I'd bought the american version now.

Could someone be kind enough to give us a little info on these songs (title/where they would have appeared/what type of song they are etc).

Matty-Mouse wrote:Theres deleted songs on the audio commentary, I wish I'd bought the american version now.

Me too I usually don't care for audio commentaries, but deleted songs would have been great to have.

Matty-Mouse wrote:Theres deleted songs on the audio commentary, I wish I'd bought the american version now.

Could someone be kind enough to give us a little info on these songs (title/where they would have appeared/what type of song they are etc).

Hi Matty. I have a confession to make, I still haven't sat through all of the commentary - I just flicked about for the quick comparison feature I wrote.

Anyhow, one of the original songs (the only one on the commentary?) is from when the three fairies are making Aurora birthday surprises and it call somehting like 'riddle riddle'(?)

I'm not sure if any other alternative songs are presented.

Ric-Mx wrote:If any of you know a little Spanish, could you check something for me?

I you don't speak spanish just check:

Play the Spanish track and watch any Maleficent sequence, compare her voice with Eleanor Audley. Does it match? at least similar? or does it seems like a youger more clear and innadecuated voice?


If you do speak Spanish checK:

"once upon a dream" lyrics, when Aurora starts singing to the crow prince:

does she sings "Eres tú el príncipe azul que yo soné, eres tú, tus ojos me vieron con ternuras y amor" ??

or does she sings "Eres tú la dulce ilusión que yo soñé, eres tú, brillando en tus ojos el amor pude ver" ??


I mean, the new spanish track is DD5.1 if the mix included on the R1 release is DD2.0 it may be the classic track, since it was mastered that way for the laserdisc edition (1997).

thankx, I'll apreciatte the answers...

I checked for you even though you dont like me


is the younger maleficent and she says

"Eres tú la dulce ilusión que yo soñé, eres tú, brillando en tus ojos el amor pude ver" ??

and she sucks too

anyways i hope this helps you in any way

I know I said in another thread that I had caved and orderd the R1 SB (based purely on the music video of course ), I think I'll cancel that order.

The R4 is quite groovy, and although this does sound like the best R1 release thus far, I'm not sure I can justify the expense on another copy of the same film for a mosaic commentary and a music video (oh, and a cover that opens like a book).

Maybe I will cave, but there is so much else to buy!

Thanks for the comparison though, 2099. Much appreciated.

MMBoy!!!

How can you say I don't like you???

hahahahahaha

(we only had a little argue that I can't even remember, and I don't want to)

Check most of your topics and I usually reply them...

don't be silly!!!
I really like you,
as I like the rest of the users over here.

OK?

Thankx... Sleeping Beauty's new Spanish track is not that bad...
but it can't be remotely compared to the classic adaptation made in the 60's.

ok

I finally got the R1 version of "Sleeping Beauty" (the third SB in my collection, the others being the Collector's UK version and the 1-disc P&S Brazilian version). Well, now I can also make an A-B comparison.

Well, as I said before, there is some visible grain in the international DVDs. It is specialy noticiable in the opening credits. In some other scenes, there is some light grain too, but it isn't as visible. The greatest example is when the fairies start puting the castle to sleep and the screen turns from blue to green. Other example is when Maleficent enters in the dungeon to see Philipe, and the image "flickers" and some grain appears.
I was happy to see that they fixed this for the American DVD. There is NO grain in this trasnfer. Yes, they re-restored the film and even fixed some of the flickering problems. Even the fullscreen is spotless, while the R4 version has a lot of visible grain (I think it is because the picture is blown up in the fullscreen version).
Still, I think that the R2 version has a richer picture in terms of textures and details, while the American transfer is somewhat more... hmm, soft. Well, no big deal, I think the R1 version still is the better one.

Concerning the sound, no surprise the R2 version is the one to go, as it has a DTS track that is more "colorful" than the Dolby Digital, and it is more agressive in terms of surround usage. It's a shame that the DTS track was dropped from the R1 edition in favour of the fullscreen version.

The menus: The menus on disc 1 are the same in terms of animation. The only differences are that the R2 has no "Sneak Peaks" option and that it has no Audio Commentaries.
The menus on disc 2 are a bit different. In the UK DVD, the book that opens and reveal the bonuses is the same live-action book from the begining of the film, while the USA DVD uses the same animation of the Disc 1 menu. The animation of the pages turning is also a bit different on the American disc.

The extras: Well, aside from what was already commented by 2099net, I noticed some differences between some extras in the 2 versions. On storyboards, nor the R2 or R4 DVDs have introductions. The R1 edition has introduction by Andreas Deja. Still, the storyreel of "The Fairies Put the Castle To Sleep" is completely edited!!! It was almost in its entirely in the two international versions, but now they butchered it for no reason. Very odd. Other thing is that in the international versions you can see the storyboards in fullscreen, while in the American version there is a spleet-screen-comparison to the final film. I preffer the fullscreen form.

It is also worth to note that, while the "WS to P&S Comparison" featurette has no introduction in the UK release, it shows three sequences of the film, while the American edition only shows the "Once Upon a Dream Sequence".

Well, I also finally got the "Lion King" Gift Set. Comments on that later.

Joe, many thanks for a very interesting comparison of how our Region 1 issue stacks up against the R2 and R4 releases. I find it odd that grain would be visible in some sections of the R2 and R4 transfers, but not at all in the R1. And I have to say, I would definitely take that DTS track over a few of the extras we got...maybe get rid of some of those excvlusive intros

indianajdp wrote:Joe, many thanks for a very interesting comparison of how our Region 1 issue stacks up against the R2 and R4

You're welcome! Glad you liked it!