I’ve been trying with the Disney animated classics.
Trying to like the new Blu-rays.
I really have.
I’ve even reviewed them well, hoping for something to change.
For about a decade, I’ve been forgiving them their exigencies, as they try to get films that shouldn’t look like Toy Story to be precisely that.
Digital animation.
The worst, for me, was Snow White, a little 1937 film, that had some sequences (think Snow and the Huntsman) so horrific, that they looked like stagnant, post card images, with parts of cells frozen in time, with not a single bit of film grain to create the magic of a cohesive image.
Disney(‘s) new Blu-ray of this glorious 1955 film, while a bit better than Snow White, similarly removes the magic of motion, and the natural patina of film grain, that made these films what there were.
There are two sides to this debate.
There are those who will tell you that this isn’t really a film at all.
Never was.
They’re all drawn cells. Photographed to create the illusion of movement.
But that’s what film is.
Nothing moves, as we move from frame to frame. It’s all just a long (very long) strip of fillum.
And that film grain was merely something that was a necessity toward creating a means of replicating, and getting these films on to motion picture screens.
Remember, these films were shot on black & white film, which was then used to produce printing matrices, all of which had grain.
You can’t ship hundreds of multi-plane flip-books.
And, of course, this is correct.
The films are created from cells, and photographed to create an illusion.
But that’s not the way that they were originally seen, and the removal of the original film grain (at least for me) destroys that overriding cohesiveness that binds the cells together, and allows us to believe that they’re moving.
The latest incarnation seems to be a bit more cleaned up than the previous release (the Diamond Edition), and it’s now playable on every device that Walt never imagined, possibly down to one’s Apple Watch.
Let’s also be very honest about this.
There are a couple of very separate audiences involved.
Kids won’t give a damn about film grain, and those under two will probably just drool, and smile at the pretty “oof-oof” faces, or whatever they call them.
But to those of us who grew up with these films, and understand the art of cinema, it’s become more than troubling. With all due respect to Disney management, and they’re a great company, I was hopeful that when one of the top animation execs took a leave, or whatever, that things might change, but it appears not.
Walt’s company seems to be set in their ways, and I in mine.
I can no longer excuse their desires to make everything shiny and new, and drool-worthy for tots.
Make no mistake.
Walt’s Lady and the Tramp is still a miraculous, gorgeous animated entertainment, but on screen, without it’s proper, or at least a small replaced sheen of film grain, it’s deader than a doornail.
What may be necessary here, (and please, no 4k releases) are two versions, on the same Blu-ray disc. 2.55, 76 minutes = no problem.
One modernized and beloved by drooling tots, and some studio execs, and the other for dotty, old fans of the cinema.
Image – 2
Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 7.1)
Pass / Fail – Fail
Upgrade from previous Blu-ray – No
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
Post Disclaimer
Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks and Amazon) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.
Similar threads