Disney restorations of their classic film have generally drawn their share of praise as they really do look and sound terrific. However, as with anything, they also have their share of detractors. The issues those detractors have is with the removal of all grain from the images and the use of more vibrant colors than the detractors claim were present in the originals. How they know that is not quite clear as there is no way anyone can really recall what a film looked like in the theater 2 years ago let alone 60 year ago.

Making comparisons between the Blu-ray and prior DVD or even laserdisc and VHS copies of the films doesn’t strike me as all that useful either as that would assume that the masters those editions were made from were true to the original. All we can really do is judge the look and sound of the film as encoded on each individual release, and not make judgments based on our possibly flawed memories of days gone by.

Film 

Bambi was originally released to theaters back in 1942. The film took approximately 5 years to make and due to budget issues at Disney during the war, was scaled back in terms of the original anticipated length and clocks in at around 70 minutes. Over the years, despite its place in the pantheon of animated films, Bambi has taken quite a hit from parental groups due to its subject matter, which some feel is a bit too much for the age of child the film is aimed at. The death of Bambi’s mother is felt to be a little too harsh for young children to consider. Single parenthood is an issue that is at the center of many of Disney’s films and frankly, as a parent, I think some of these groups are taking things a bit to far in their criticism of the film. I would have no hesitation in showing Bambi to a child of almost any age.

Bambi is a sweet and charming film about the beauty of nature and the animals of the forest. It centers on Bambi, a young deer and his friends the rabbit Thumper and the skunk Flower, as they grow up in the forest and learn about life and love and the dangers and tragedies we all encounter during our lives. At it core, the film is pro nature but there are those over the years who feel that is anti hunter, as it is hunters who take the life of Bambi’s mother and whose carelessness burns down the beautiful forest near the end of the film.

While the film can be viewed as having a political message, I chose to look at the film for what is really is, a sweet film about some lovable creatures in a beautiful setting, celebrating life and finding one’s first true love. While a bit dated by today’s standards, Bambi nonetheless is a classic film and one that belongs in the collection of any fan of animated films and is very highly recommended.

Video 

While I am getting older (it sure beats the alternative), I am no where near old enough to have seen Bambi when it was originally released in theaters in 1942 or during its more successful re-release in 1947. Heck, I wasn’t even a gleam in my father’s eye back then. Needless to say, I have no recollection of what the film originally looked like and will not judge this release by that standard. I will say without hesitation that Bambi on Blu-ray looks better that I have ever seen it at home, and by a wife margin. In a move that will no doubt frustrate some film purists, all of the film grain has been removed from the image. The resulting image is there very clear, so clear that one can more fully appreciate the impressionist paintings that form the backgrounds of the animation.

Unlike some of the other classic Disney films, the images here do not leap off the screen, due in part because of the color palette used as well as the impressionist backgrounds. The color palette consists mostly of various shades of brown, tan and gray, with some green, blues, oranges and reds thrown in. While the various characters are beautifully animated, they lack the fine subtle details of some of the other Disney films. The backgrounds in particular lack much in the way of detail and on purpose. Only a hint of a tree or shrub is drawn rather than an accurate representation of one. As a result, the overall image is bit on the soft side. Again this is deliberate, much like a classic Monet painting. Bambi is a highly stylized and truly beautiful piece of animation, with out without the film grain and was a joy to behold on Blu-ray.

Audio 

Given the age of the film, I was not expecting a great sound mix. However, I was more than pleased with the new 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio included with this release. The sound design provides a more than adequate sense of immersion, with quite effective use of the sounds. It is amazing that they were able to squeeze such an effective sound mix out of what I presume were at best two channel masters. Bass response is good as well with the classical music score and sound effects sounding particularly impressive, again given the age of the film and the state of the recording technology of the day.

The only real issue I have with the audio here is the overall fidelity. This is not the fault of the encoding process but the original sound elements, which have the thinness that one normally associates with the sound of the time period the film was made in, lacking the lushness of a newer recording. The technology just does not exist yet to transform those old sound elements into a more modern and more lush sounding aural experience. Given the age of the film, the audio presentation here is excellent and should really impress fans of the film.

Special Features 

Bambi is presented as a combo pack, containing both a Blu-ray and DVD copy of the film. The main extra included here is the Inside Walt’s Story Meetings-Enhanced Edition, which is an interactive feature which runs alongside the running of the film, with voice re-enactments of the actual transcribed production meetings between Walt Disney and his staff, where they discussed how to put this film together. During this feature, the actual film runs on screen in a small box. I found one aspect of this presentation to be quite interesting, namely the use of real animals for the basis of the film’s character animation. Walt Disney did not want the animals to look as cartoonish as they did in Snow White for example so he brought in real deer, rabbits and the like for the animators to study and form the basis of their animations. As a result, although clearly stylized for the purpose of adding personalities, the animal characters look much more life like than they ever appeared in prior Disney animations.

Also included are:

• Two never before seen deleted scenes, pieced together from the original storyboards for the film found in the Disney archives.
• Two Disney short cartoons “The Old Mill” and “Ice” featuring Pluto, which were used as templates for scenes in the film, such as Bambi walking over ice for the first time.
• A deleted song “Twitterpated” which is a term used in the film to describe how one feels at the onset of love.
• A Disney Big Book of Knowledge Game which uses the film as a learning tool and classic DVD features such as “The Making of Bambi: A Prince is Born” which takes a look at how the film was made, touching on such topics as the animation process, the use of child actors and the like.
• A “Tricks of the Trade” excerpt from a 1957 Disneyland TV show discussing the multiplane camera used in the production of Bambi. “Inside the Disney Archives” does just that, with Disney Supervising Animator Andreas Deja.
• Disney Second Screen which requires the use of a laptop or iPad which enables you to stream content about the film from the web as you watch the film. Isn’t just watching the film enough anymore?

Final Thoughts 

Bambi is yet another of the “Big 5″ Disney animated features that has finally made its way to Blu-ray. It features a total restoration of the video elements and a new 7.1 audio mix. This release is not to be missed and is very highly recommended.

Film  

For this reviewer, Beauty and the Beast is one of the finest films ever to come from the folks at Disney. The story is top notch as it the writing and the music. The animation is simply off the charts, and is one of the most beautiful pieces of animation to ever come out of the Disney Studios. The film was the first animated film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for best picture. While it didn’t take home to big prize, it did take home Oscars for best Original Song (Beauty and the Beast) and Best Original Score. I would have chosen the film for Best Picture as it is that good and more than stands up to the test of time, which is more than I can say for some of the more recent Best Film winners.

I am sure that you are all well aware of the plot for this film so I won’t go into too much detail there. The film is set in 18th Century France in a small rural village. the Beast is a young aristocrat who is turned into a beast after he turns an old haggard appearing woman away how is looking for shelter at his castle during a bad storm, She is turned away due to her appearance. However, as is often the case, appearances can be deceiving as the woman is actually a beautiful sorcerer who cast as spell on the young man and his entire staff, turning them into candles, clocks and pieces of furniture, to remain there until a woman professes her love for the beast.

However, there is a catch, in order for the curse to be reversed, not only does the woman have to express her love for the beast, she must do so before the last pedal falls off a rose left at the castle by the sorceress. INto this picture comes the beautiful Belle, who is running away from her town after being chased and pursued by the local bully, Gaston. Is is during her flight that she encounters the beast and the rest of his staff, who attempt to manipulate both the beast and Belle to save them from the curse before it is too late. Beauty and the Beast is simply a great film and one that belongs in any film collection and is very highly recommended.

Video  

I will be brief here as the video on this release is simply spectacular. I guess I could use other descriptive words such as superb, amazing and the like, but you get the point. This film features an all new digital restoration and is a sight to behold. It features bright and bold colors and deep inky blacks. The images here boast amazing clarity and detail and a three dimensionality that must be seen to be believed. The film is so utterly three dimensional that there is no real reason to put out a 3D version at this time. While Disney has released some great looking animated films on Blu-ray, none, at least as hand drawn animation is concerned, equals let alone exceeds the video quality on this release. It is simply that good.

Audio  

The audio on this release is every bit as good as the video, sounding smooth and open with excellent imaging and transparency. The overall fidelity is top notch in all respects. The best word I can think of to describe the audio is effortless. The dialogue track is beautifully recorded and placed in the mix. Bass is deep and tight. The surrounds are active and engaged continuously throughout the entire film, creating a fine sense of immersion. The panning of the various sound effects is simply perfect, moving seamlessly from speaker to speaker. The audio quality on the featured songs and the score is simply sublime. IN short, the audio presentation on this release is darn near perfect and fully deserving of a 5 stars score.

Special Features  

As one would expect for a major release from Disney, this release is simply loaded with extras. The release provided to me for review is a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Disc 1 is the DVD version of the film. Like the Blu-ray version, the DVD contains three different versions of the film, one being the theatrical release and 2 extended editions containing deleted scenes and an alternate opening to the film.

Disc two is the disc that contains the high definition versions of the film along with the featurettes Composing a Classic and Broadway Beginnings, an all new music video a Disney sing along mode and an audio commentary. Composing a Classic features a musical conversation with Alan Menken, Don Hahn and Richard Kraft, where they reminisce, sing songs and share personal stories about the production of the film. Broadway Beginnings features interviews with Nick JOnas, Donny Osmond, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Debbie Gibson and others who have starred in the Broadway production of the film.

Disc three contains nothing but extras including Beyond Beauty-The Untold Stories Behind Making Beauty and the Beast, an Enchanted Musical Challenge Game, Bon Jour, Who is this, a game where you can use your iPhone to receive secret messages and guess players’ identities before they guess yours. Also included are the extras included on the prior DVD release of the film.

Final Thoughts  

I was expecting a great looking and sounding release from Disney and they delivered on all accounts, hitting one well out of the park on this one. Beauty and the Beast on Blu-ray is a must have for any film fan, even the most casual film fan out there. Do yourself a favor and add this one to your collection. It will not disappoint.

Film

To say that Snow White is a classic film is an understatement. In fact, it could be argued that it is one of the most significant films of all time given that it was the first feature animated film ever made and was ground braking in terms of its animation and musical score.

The film forms the foundation of the Disney empire, laying the ground work for all that came after it in terms of the Disney catalogue as well as the theme parks not to mention all of the rest of the animated films from all the studios that followed. It is even claimed that Warner Brothers didn’t give the final go ahead on the Wizard of Oz until the smashing success of Snow White. And a smashing success it was.

The film cost a whopping $1.5 million to make, which was a ton of money back in the 1930′s during the height of the Great Depression. It strained not only the legion of animations employed by Disney to make the film, but Disney’s finances as well. In fact, Disney could have lost it all had the film been the flop that the press pundits at the time had been anticipating. However, Disney’s gamble paid off immediately upon Snow White‘s premiere on December 21, 1937, which met with not only rave reviews but overwhelming commercial success by an adoring public who was craving for just this type of film and the message it communicated.

I can’t image that I need to go into much detail about the story itself, which is now well ingrained into the American collective conscious. Suffice it to say that despite the fact that the film is now over 70 years old, it is still as charming and moving as it ever was. This is a truly classic film if there ever was one and is a release that belongs in the library of every film fan. Very highly recommended.

Video

Quite frankly, the video quality on this release is spectacular. I can’t image it looking any better than it does here, at least given the limits of today’s technology. The restoration work here is every bit as impressive as that on Pinocchio, and really brings the film and characters to life, with details I had never seen before. The animation is not quite as refined as that in Pinocchio and as a result, the image looks just a tad softer than that in Pinocchio, hence the slighlty lower score. This is not the result of the transfer or any digital noise reduction or filtering that I could tell, but is just how the film looks.

While I have never seen the original cells that were used to make the film, this release looks to be completely faithful to the original, with excellent color rendition and excellent levels of detail. Colors are bright and bold and beautifully saturated with excellent black level. It is simply astonishing to me that a film of this age, with animation really at its infancy, looks this good. This is an incredible restoration job by Disney which should thrill all fans of the film. Well done.

Audio

Given the age of the film and the limitations inherent in the state of recorded sound in the 1930′s, I was not expecting to be bowled over by the audio on this release. However, considering the limitations of 1930 audio recording, the audio on this release is much better than one would have expected. Clearly great care went into re-mastering the original sound elements and creating a new 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio lossless soundtrack. For those purists out their, the original mono mix is included as well.

As one would expect, the audio here lacks much in the way of dynamics and depth. While a 7.1 mix is provided, most of the film is very front heavy with only sporadic use of the surrounds. As a result, there is little if any immersive feel here with most of the sound in the front of the room. However, when used, the surrounds are used effectively, to create a sense of drama. If you are expecting deep bass, this also is not the film for you. I wasn’t and hence was not disappointed. Otherwise, the overall fidelity of the sound was quite good breaking down a bit only at reference sound levels, where the sound became a bit lean and bright. The dialogue track is well presented however and all of the dialogue is clear and distinct and easy to follow. Given the age of the film, the 7.1 track included with this release sounds about is as good as one could possibly expect and possibly as good as it may ever sound.

Special Features

As one would expect for such a significant and historic film, this release is packed with extras. The release is a three disc set with one of the discs being a DVD copy of the film which is great as it enables you to take the film on the road and play in your car or laptop or a DVD player in your hotel. Frankly, given the minimal costs involved in the DVD replication process, all Blu-ray releases should include a DVD copy as well. Disney should be commended for including one here.

Disc two includes the feature plus some extras including a featurette in HD about the the newly discovered storyboards found in the Disney faults which hinted at a possible planned sequel to Snow White entitled Snow White Returns. Also included is a music video of Tiffany Thornton performing Some Day My Prince Will Come as well as a sneak peak of Disney’s forthcoming film, The Princess and the Frog as well as an audio commentary.

Disc three contains several extras under the banner Backstage Disney including a more detailed look at the possible planned sequel Snow White Returns, a look at Disney’s Hyperion Studios where the animation for Snow White took place before the studios were moved to Burbank California and the featurette “The One That Started it All”, which details the historic significance of the film both in the history of cinema as well as as the foundation of the Disney empire. The Hyperion Studios and The One that Started it All featurettes are highly recommended and are well worth a look.

The remainder of the extras are those included on the prior DVD release of the film, including Disney’s Wild Mine Ride, Heigh-Ho Karaoke Sing Along and the featurette Disney Through the Decades. The release is also BD-Live enabled allowing you to access What Do You See? to decipher the scrambled image, Mirror, Mirror On the Wall to see what princess you most are like and Jewell Jumble which allows you to test your matching skills.

Final Thoughts

Snow White represents another stunning restoration of a classic Disney classic and belongs in the library of any film fan. Very highly recommended.