DVDizzy Forum

Almost all the Disney classics have been released to DVD by now, and the quality of the DVDs vary from movie to movie. Some films have been given royal treatment while others got subpar treatment.
So, in your opinion, what movies deserved to be released as soon as possible with a better and improved transfer?
Almost all the movies still have room for improvement, but in my opinion, these are the ones that deserve a restoration the most (remember, I’m judging the quality of the picture, not the movie itself):

Dumbo: The packaging claimed it was “all restored”, but what we got was a grainy transfer with washed out colors. What makes this transfer even more of a deception is that just a month earlier Disney released the wonderfully restored version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”.

The Three Caballeros: I’m sure this movie would be the hardest to restore, since it has a variety of different elements (animation, live-action, live-action AND animation) but the print they used for the current DVD is a full of film artifacts – grain, hair, white dots. Fortunately, the colors are pretty lively, but we know they can do much better.

The Rescuers: Grainy transfer, washed out colors.

The Fox and the Hound: Aspect ratio discussion aside, I think they used the VHS transfer as the master for this DVD. Definition is very poor and there could be a lot of improvement on the sharpness of the picture.

Oliver & Company: Washed out colors (see how pale the humans look during some scenes) and lots of grain. Some scenes are darker than they should be.

Pocahontas: While all the 90s movies have been produced using the CAPS system, only a few of them have got a digital transfer (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Tarzan, Fantasia 2000 and soon Aladdin and Mulan). The other fim-to-digital transfers vary from good to very good, but not “Pocahontas”. I still don’t get how Disney treated a movie that grossed more than $300 million worldwide this bad. The transfer is ultra grainy, grainier than any other old animated classic. Besides, the picture lacks deepness and detail and the colors are smudgy (the best example of this is the night scenes when Pocahontas and John Smith meet). This movie doesn’t really need restoration; it just needs to be remastered. They could work from the movie’s digital files, and it would look as good as any Pixar movie. Let’s hope the Masterpiece edition will give the movie a digital-to-digital transfer (which I think it will).

Other movies that need improvement as soon as possible: The Black Cauldron and The Little Mermaid. I would also like to see “Fun and Fancy Free” with more vivid colors.

I cant wait to see Little Mermiad restored! Its going to be gorgeous im sure when it comes out Platinum! The restoration of Snow White amazed me when I got that Platinum. Id like to see Fantasia the orignial with brighter colours and just less dark in some parts and less grainy.

1) <b>The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad</b>

2) <b>Pocahontas</b>

3) <b>Dumbo</b>

Cinderella II... ok just kidding. I think Ichabod and mr Toad needs restoring, BIG time. Pocahontas has been restored for the SE so that'll be fine. then Dumbo and Fox and the Hound.. basicly al of the ones mentioned above. Other than that.... I think the ones who need it the most have been mentioned

I think the ones that really need restoration are

-The Little Mermaid
The colors are in much need of brightening (especially during Part of Your World) and some mild grain needs to be removed.

-Pocahontas
LOTS of grain to be removed and colors need some help too.

-Cinderella
Needs the same thing, colors brightened, lines defined, and grain removed.

The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad
definately needs restoring.

Definitely The Rescuers, The Little Mermaid, The Jungle Book and Fox and the Hound.

...and that's just off the top of my head

I can't wait to see "The Little Mermaid" in all its "PLATINUM EDITION" glory This film features stunning & exotic visuals, like the scenes taking place under the sea; the colors are rich and there is mucg detail. What it needs though, is the brightening in some of the scenes. BTW, Kelly, do you have the 1998 edition? The "Part of Your World" sequence looks fabulous, with the blues much brighter and you see many more of the objects in the grotto...

Say, people, is it possible that a movie that wasn't made with CAPS (i.e., The Little Mermaid) will receive a digital transfer? If not, what kind of restoration will it get? Keep in mind it's one of the company's most important films and they're probably gonna give it a super-duper-deluxe treatment in the image department.

rodis wrote:Say, people, is it possible that a movie that wasn't made with CAPS (i.e., The Little Mermaid) will receive a digital transfer? If not, what kind of restoration will it get? Keep in mind it's one of the company's most important films and they're probably gonna give it a super-duper-deluxe treatment in the image department.

When restoring their films, Disney transfers the films to the computer, so they can be restored digitally and be transfered directly to the DVD. They have already done that to Snow White, Pinocchio, Alice In Wonderlad and Sleeping Beauty. I think other movies were restored digitally too, but not to the extent of these four (maybe "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and "Victory Through Air Power").

rodis wrote:I can't wait to see "The Little Mermaid" in all its "PLATINUM EDITION" glory This film features stunning & exotic visuals, like the scenes taking place under the sea; the colors are rich and there is mucg detail. What it needs though, is the brightening in some of the scenes. BTW, Kelly, do you have the 1998 edition? The "Part of Your World" sequence looks fabulous, with the blues much brighter and you see many more of the objects in the grotto...

Well I think Ariel's skin looks too dark in that scene, but I guess it's the lighting effects that make it seem this way. But anyway, that's why I said that scene needed brightening.
Also I agree with what you said with the undersea brightening of all the fish and other things will look fabulous!!!!!

I have to admit though that I prefer the colours in the 1990 VHS. Some parts that were too brightened in the 1998 version just totally ruined the quality of the picture. The original colors look so natural and give the film its unique look, whereas colours a la "Beauty and the Beast" in the special edition just take away from it really. I'm in for adding detail and brightening dark scenes.

There a few movies that I think were cheated on thier realse and could be better...

Pocahontas

The Fox and the Hound

Great Mouse Detective

The Rescuers

Oliver and Company

I am not reall sure on all the technicall terms but I know for a fact that these movies need better restoriation.

The anthology films, as well as Dumbo

Definitely all the films from the 70's and 80's (with the exception of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which looks great). I'd also like to see Cinderella restored (which we can be sure of happening next year) and Peter Pan needs its restoration done all over again (colors are wildly inconsistent throughout the film and most of the time the characters' skin colors look a nasty off-white rather than flesh tone).

Disneykid wrote:Peter Pan needs its restoration done all over again (colors are wildly inconsistent throughout the film and most of the time the characters' skin colors look a nasty off-white rather than flesh tone).

I second that! In some scenes, the characters's skin look almost greenish (I remember that happening during Wendy's song, "Your mother and mine").

Here's my list of Disney Animated films that should be restored.


Pocahontas
The Fox and the Hound
Great Mouse Detective
The Rescuers
Oliver and Company
The Little Mermaid
Jungle Book
101 Dalmatians
Cinderella
Dumbo
Bambi
Aladdin
Saludos Amigos
The Three Cabelleros
Make Mine Music
Fun and Fancy Free
Melody Time
Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad
The Sword in the Stone
The Aristocats
Robin Hood
Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
The Black Cauldron
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Joe Carioca wrote:

Disneykid wrote:Peter Pan needs its restoration done all over again (colors are wildly inconsistent throughout the film and most of the time the characters' skin colors look a nasty off-white rather than flesh tone).

I second that! In some scenes, the characters's skin look almost greenish (I remember that happening during Wendy's song, "Your mother and mine").

I agree also! Peter Pan could use a really good restoration. I can think of a lot more classics that restoration would work wonders on as well. In addition to the ones I mentioned in my earlier post, Aristocats, Lady and the Tramp, Oliver and Company, Jungle book, Dumbo, and Pinnochio would also look ultra sharp with restorations

I think the little mermaid. It just looks washed out, which really surprised me since it's a fairly new movie.

The Black Cauldron
This is not a very popular choice. I happened to see the movie in a theater with 70 MM projection back in 1985 and it was simply astounding to look at. There was rich detail and vibrant colors.
When the non-anamorphic DVD came out I was shocked at how bad the film looked. It was faded and grainy and the picture was plagued with a flickering problem. I know they could use the 70MM master to make a fabulous looking anamorphically enhanced DVD.

MickeyMousePal wrote:Here's my list of Disney Animated films that should be restored.


Pocahontas
The Fox and the Hound
Great Mouse Detective
The Rescuers
Oliver and Company
The Little Mermaid
Jungle Book
101 Dalmatians
Cinderella
Dumbo
Bambi
Aladdin
Saludos Amigos
The Three Cabelleros
Make Mine Music
Fun and Fancy Free
Melody Time
Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad
The Sword in the Stone
The Aristocats
Robin Hood
Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh
The Black Cauldron
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

I think MMP really hit the mark here. Almost all Disney films will necessitated a nice, perhaps even a new 4K Lowry Digital clean up, digital restoration. Obviously some of the less cared for films (anthologies) and those that weren't cut any slack (Dumbo, Rescuers, TLM, Peter Pan). I also think Fnatasia could've been done better in soem parts, along with newer films like Mulan, Hercules, Pocahontas. Every movie other than Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, (coming soon) Mulan, and Aladdin; will all need soem restoration to a certain personal degree, which I'm sure they'll all be receiving at some point.