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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2013 20:02:53 GMT -5
Just cracked open the 30th Anniversary DVD that came out a month or 2 back and gave it a watch.
Unlike the Blu-Ray (where they seemed to really mess with the colors a lot) this DVD presentation was just beautiful.
The clincher for me, though, was adding several classics shorts as bonus features - including Pluto's Christmas Tree and The Art of Skiing; when I was a kid, they aired these 2 shorts along with the in the hour long special, and before now they'd never included these 3 together. I'm a dork, I know.
The main special itself is incredibly short (only 25 minutes), which stands out a lot more now that I've seen other adaptations of the Dickens story. But the cameos are still fun. 3 Little Pigs, Robin Hood and even The Wind and the Willows are well represented. It's also the first appearance of Alan Young (who co-wrote the script, turns out) as Scrooge McDuck, and Wayne Allwine's first theatrical appearance as Mickey Mouse (he'd been doing the voice since 1977 for TV and the parks). And it was the last hurrah for Clarence Nash as Donald Duck - he was the only original Disney voice left at the time, and he died the following year (which was Donald's 50th anniversary).
Although I absolutely love Charlie Brown Christmas, which gets the regular airtime every year, it's Mickey's Christmas Carol that brings back the old memories of Christmas back most.
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 24, 2013 20:15:00 GMT -5
It wasn't that they messed with the colors on the Blu-ray, they blurred/smeared it with various noise reduction processes so that it would appear smoother. The new DVD is from the same transfer, but I suppose it might be less noticeable as it would be presented in lower resolution with more compression. (L: beautiful, natural, untouched film-like shot from Blu-ray menu, R: Shot from the short itself on the same disc, post ruination) You see the colors are practically identical to how they've always looked, it's just a smeared mess because... well... f***. Really great short, I watched it last year on Christmas Eve and I think I will watch it again in a few hours.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Dec 24, 2013 20:23:24 GMT -5
It wasn't that they messed with the colors on the Blu-ray, they blurred/smeared it with various noise reduction processes so that it would appear smoother. The new DVD is from the same transfer, but I suppose it might be less noticeable as it would be presented in lower resolution with more compression. (L: beautiful, natural, untouched film-like shot from Blu-ray menu, R: Shot from the short itself on the same disc, post ruination) You see the colors are practically identical to how they've always looked, it's just a smeared mess because... well... f***. Really great short, I watched it last year on Christmas Eve and I think I will watch it again in a few hours. Poor Scrooge's beak is chapped on the right.
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Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 24, 2013 20:38:02 GMT -5
i got a hard time buying Goofy as an asshole
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mizerable
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Post by mizerable on Dec 24, 2013 20:39:08 GMT -5
I blame George Lucas.
Why retouch it? It looks like a stain glass window now. Part of the charm of the old movie, even if the lines weren't noticeable, is that it felt old timey as a result. The retouched version looks like someone went in there with MSPaint.
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Lupin the Third
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Post by Lupin the Third on Dec 24, 2013 20:44:03 GMT -5
I loved this special. What pisses me off is that they cut it down to 30 minutes on TV anymore these days.
EITHER SHOW THE ENTIRE THING OR DON'T SHOW IT AT ALL!!!!!
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 24, 2013 20:51:44 GMT -5
I loved this special. What pisses me off is that they cut it down to 30 minutes on TV anymore these days. EITHER SHOW THE ENTIRE THING OR DON'T SHOW IT AT ALL!!!!! That is the entire thing, it's only around 25min long.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2013 20:59:31 GMT -5
It wasn't that they messed with the colors on the Blu-ray, they blurred/smeared it with various noise reduction processes so that it would appear smoother. The new DVD is from the same transfer, but I suppose it might be less noticeable as it would be presented in lower resolution with more compression. Oh gods, MUCH less noticeable. The DVD resolution is nowhere near as bad as that 2nd image from the Blu-Ray. Image quality still looks great on DVD. Some of the colors (like Scrooge's white features) do look touched up and not-so-white, and perhaps you can see some of the smudgy touch-ups if you really look, but that's it. If you're not even thinking about them, it all just looks a bit brighter and clearer. This was a digital restoration made for DVD. It's weird too: this was a product of Disney's "Dark Age of Animation" (basically everything from Jungle Book/after Disney died to Little Mermaid), so a cleaning does help it look cleaner, it also retains that gritty/inky look.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2013 21:01:48 GMT -5
I loved this special. What pisses me off is that they cut it down to 30 minutes on TV anymore these days. EITHER SHOW THE ENTIRE THING OR DON'T SHOW IT AT ALL!!!!! That is the entire thing, it's only around 25min long. I think he might be referring to the fact that, back in the day, it was always shown (on Disney Channel, and also ABC & CBS for a bit) as part of an hour long airings - 2 shorts and then M'sCC.
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 24, 2013 21:16:20 GMT -5
Watching it now, surreal to see John Lasseter listed among many two columns of other names as a "Creative Talent" in the opening credits.
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Lupin the Third
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Post by Lupin the Third on Dec 24, 2013 22:25:59 GMT -5
I loved this special. What pisses me off is that they cut it down to 30 minutes on TV anymore these days. EITHER SHOW THE ENTIRE THING OR DON'T SHOW IT AT ALL!!!!! That is the entire thing, it's only around 25min long. Well they cut some things out even thought it's only 26 minutes long. And it pisses me off. Don't play commercials during it. Or just have one middle intermission commercials. BUT DON'T CUT ANYTHING OUT!!! Do I have to be like Hayao Miyazaki? (Let's see if anyone gets that reference.)
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 24, 2013 22:34:21 GMT -5
That is the entire thing, it's only around 25min long. Well they cut some things out even thought it's only 26 minutes long. And it pisses me off. Don't play commercials during it. Or just have one middle intermission commercials. BUT DON'T CUT ANYTHING OUT!!! Do I have to be like Hayao Miyazaki? (Let's see if anyone gets that reference.) It is an awkward length, but given the way it's structured if you remove anything it would be rather noticeable. They should maybe have it go for :35 w/c, or maybe as knapp suggested have it run for an hour with shorts at the end. My preference for watching it is the Walt Disney Treasures set Mickey Mouse in Color Vol. 2. It's 1.66:1, which I feel is kind of a happy medium in terms of aspect ratio, and looks pretty decent/faithfully transferred, at least for its time. The same disc also has The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol, which is pretty neat, and for Disney rather transparent. I think it would make a great companion to Waking Sleeping Beauty. After watching Mickey's Christmas Carol and the making of, I find it interesting how Mickey's heralded return to his own starring short has him relegated to a secondary role, as he was in so many of the shorts under his name. Now I'm watching the wonderfully strange/slapdash compilation A Disney Christmas Gift, which, like The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol, is delightfully 80s.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 24, 2013 22:57:14 GMT -5
My preference for watching it is the Walt Disney Treasures set Mickey Mouse in Color Vol. 2. It's 1.66:1, which I feel is kind of a happy medium in terms of aspect ratio, and looks pretty decent/faithfully transferred, at least for its time. The same disc also has The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol, which is pretty neat, and for Disney rather transparent. I think it would make a great companion to Waking Sleeping Beauty. Waking Sleeping Beauty had the task of telling the story of how Disney rose up from those "dark" years after Walt's death and became a powerhouse in animation again. Not sure a story about a "dark age" production - which oddly enough was not included in Waking. but I wish it had considering it was their first theatrical short in years - would be a good companion piece; maybe something including more of those 1970's-early '80s movies and productions would be. That whole series of "transparent docs" were great. The Sherman Brothers one just blows your mind, and Walt & El Grupo was very educational about that time of Disney history and from a rather unknown angle. And man, I kinda wish they hadn't done this new DVD now, because I was planning to eventually pick up that Treasures set as it seemed to have the best edition of Carol out there (other releases cut the opening credit sequence, which really bugged me)
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 24, 2013 23:01:59 GMT -5
My preference for watching it is the Walt Disney Treasures set Mickey Mouse in Color Vol. 2. It's 1.66:1, which I feel is kind of a happy medium in terms of aspect ratio, and looks pretty decent/faithfully transferred, at least for its time. The same disc also has The Making of Mickey's Christmas Carol, which is pretty neat, and for Disney rather transparent. I think it would make a great companion to Waking Sleeping Beauty. Waking Sleeping Beauty had the task of telling the story of how Disney rose up from those "dark" years after Walt's death and became a powerhouse in animation again. Not sure a story about a "dark age" production - which oddly enough was not included in Waking. but I wish it had considering it was their first theatrical short in years - would be a good companion piece; maybe something including more of those 1970's-early '80s movies and productions would be. That whole series of "transparent docs" were great. The Sherman Brothers one just blows your mind, and Walt & El Grupo was very educational about that time of Disney history and from a rather unknown angle. And man, I kinda wish they hadn't done this new DVD now, because I was planning to eventually pick up that Treasures set as it seemed to have the best edition of Carol out there (other releases cut the opening credit sequence, which really bugged me) I think it would go well with WSB because it is full of interviews with animators and voice actors of the time, and the footage looks a whole lot like the kind of footage that makes up the first third or so of that film.
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Lupin the Third
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Post by Lupin the Third on Dec 24, 2013 23:10:19 GMT -5
I just purchased Mickey's Christmas Carol as well as Day of the Doctor on Amazon. Two great specials.
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Crappler El 0 M
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Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 24, 2013 23:28:18 GMT -5
Loved it as a kid. It was the first version of A Christmas Carol that I saw.
I too bought the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy a couple months back.
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EyeofTyr
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Post by EyeofTyr on Dec 25, 2013 3:03:26 GMT -5
The Muppets version and this were my go to variations of the Christmas Carol tale.
I actually remember watching this one though during non-Christmas time even though I loved it so much. Then again, I was a pretty big Duck Tales fan when I was little, so I think it was partially because it had Scrooge in it, who I always liked. I remember times when I'd spend days watching nothing but my VHS of this, of the Duck Tales movie, and of recorded episodes of Duck Tales when bored and/or not playing outside.
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Lupin the Third
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Post by Lupin the Third on Dec 25, 2013 10:45:03 GMT -5
And now, just because.
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Post by James Fabiano on Dec 25, 2013 21:48:51 GMT -5
That is the entire thing, it's only around 25min long. Well they cut some things out even thought it's only 26 minutes long. And it pisses me off. Don't play commercials during it. Or just have one middle intermission commercials. BUT DON'T CUT ANYTHING OUT!!! Do I have to be like Hayao Miyazaki? (Let's see if anyone gets that reference.) It can't be worse than the NBC treatment of the Mr. Magoo version last year. But ABC Family is still pretty infamous for cutting Xmas special scenes out...they got rid of Clyde Crashcup's cameo scene in the Chipmunk Christmas, for example! And there's the "Did they or didn't they cut it because of the word 'gay'?" deletion of "Give Your Heart a Try" from Twas the Night Before Christmas. Back to the topic of MCC itself, it is still my favorite version of CC easily. Does the DVD include "Donald's Snow Fight"? I love that short.
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Post by James Fabiano on Dec 26, 2013 9:23:40 GMT -5
I also forgot that MCC too is 30 this year. A lot of cool stuff came out in '83...this, Raccoons and the Lost Star, A Christmas Story, Return of the Jedi, Sale of the Century, Press Your Luck, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Inspector Gadget, Starrcade...
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