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The new 'Robin Hood' DVD...
19 years ago
General
Like a lot of furries, I've always had a sweet spot for ol' Robin Hood, the dashing Disney red fox who swoops from treetops and slings arrows like a vulpine Errol Flynn... and like a lot of furries, my interest was recently perked by the announcement of a new DVD release.
Billed as the 'Most Wanted' edition, this is apparently meant to replace the now out-of-print 'Gold Collection' disc. As an enticement, they touted a new digital transfer, cleaned-up audio, and oooooh... a 'new ending'. So, drawn like a moth to a sparkly, magical Disney-fied flame by the promise of a new and improved version of a beloved movie, I bought my copy today.
Why do I keep failing to heed those nagging little doubts that gnaw at the back of my head whenever I get too close to the Disney magic? This new 'Most Wanted' edition completely sucks, and not just because the 'new' special features are a combination of repeats from the 'Gold' disc and a few lazily assembled trivia games and singalongs. (Seriously, at a time when even obscure Italian zombie movies from the 1970s are getting the triple-disc box set treatment, Disney's half-assed DVD extras are looking more and more anemic with every passing 'enchanted edition'.)
No, what really sucks about this disc is that it's widescreen. 'So what's wrong with that?' I hear you ask. 'Isn't it better to see movies in widescreen?' Ordinarily, I'd wholeheartedly agree... unless the movie in question was never widescreen to begin with, as is the case here. 'Robin Hood' was produced with an aspect ratio of # that's essentially pan and scan, and that's the way it was designed, layed out, and animated. In order to achieve the new 'enhanced' widescreen of 1.75:1, the good folks at Disney simply painted black bars over the top and bottom of the picture.
This means that roughly 25% of the movie isn't there anymore. To get a true comparative understanding of what this has done to the film, take a pair of long, two-inch deep strips of black construction paper and tape them to the top and bottom of your tv screen. Now watch an episode of your favorite non-widescreen format tv show... hey, the tops of everyone's heads are cut off! And what happened to their feet? And the framing's all funny-looking, too! (If you think I'm exaggerating, I invite you to check out my good friend Blackberry Dragon's livejournal at http://blackberrydragn.livejournal.com/4909.html for some comparative screencaps between this edition and the 'Gold' edition, which was released in the original aspect ratio of #
Yes, the patented Disney magic essentially boils down to coughing up anywhere from $20 to $30 for a special edition DVD that consists of 25% LESS movie, a poorly-interfaced trivia game, and a 'new' ending consisting of about 1 minute of old concept art accompanied by a voiceover. This isn't just a little insulting... the good folks at Disney are essentially saying 'we don't care' to all the fans whose devotion built their empire in the first place.
To those who would argue that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, I'll say this... I understand. Not everyone is as much of a film buff as I am, and maybe you simply don't care that much about aspect ratios and special features. That's okay, and I don't blame you if this issue doesn't rile you in the same way that it does me. But I'll also ask you to take a few moments to think about what it means when a company that trades in magic and wonder cares so little about cutting corners in the name of making a profit. Can you imagine paying 50 dollars to visit Disneyland and finding that the Matterhorn has had its top cut off, the Indiana Jones ride now runs 1 minute shorter and the Dumbo ride has been replaced by a tilt-a-whirl with elephants painted on the side? Ask yourself, at what point does the magic start to fade?
Billed as the 'Most Wanted' edition, this is apparently meant to replace the now out-of-print 'Gold Collection' disc. As an enticement, they touted a new digital transfer, cleaned-up audio, and oooooh... a 'new ending'. So, drawn like a moth to a sparkly, magical Disney-fied flame by the promise of a new and improved version of a beloved movie, I bought my copy today.
Why do I keep failing to heed those nagging little doubts that gnaw at the back of my head whenever I get too close to the Disney magic? This new 'Most Wanted' edition completely sucks, and not just because the 'new' special features are a combination of repeats from the 'Gold' disc and a few lazily assembled trivia games and singalongs. (Seriously, at a time when even obscure Italian zombie movies from the 1970s are getting the triple-disc box set treatment, Disney's half-assed DVD extras are looking more and more anemic with every passing 'enchanted edition'.)
No, what really sucks about this disc is that it's widescreen. 'So what's wrong with that?' I hear you ask. 'Isn't it better to see movies in widescreen?' Ordinarily, I'd wholeheartedly agree... unless the movie in question was never widescreen to begin with, as is the case here. 'Robin Hood' was produced with an aspect ratio of # that's essentially pan and scan, and that's the way it was designed, layed out, and animated. In order to achieve the new 'enhanced' widescreen of 1.75:1, the good folks at Disney simply painted black bars over the top and bottom of the picture.
This means that roughly 25% of the movie isn't there anymore. To get a true comparative understanding of what this has done to the film, take a pair of long, two-inch deep strips of black construction paper and tape them to the top and bottom of your tv screen. Now watch an episode of your favorite non-widescreen format tv show... hey, the tops of everyone's heads are cut off! And what happened to their feet? And the framing's all funny-looking, too! (If you think I'm exaggerating, I invite you to check out my good friend Blackberry Dragon's livejournal at http://blackberrydragn.livejournal.com/4909.html for some comparative screencaps between this edition and the 'Gold' edition, which was released in the original aspect ratio of #
Yes, the patented Disney magic essentially boils down to coughing up anywhere from $20 to $30 for a special edition DVD that consists of 25% LESS movie, a poorly-interfaced trivia game, and a 'new' ending consisting of about 1 minute of old concept art accompanied by a voiceover. This isn't just a little insulting... the good folks at Disney are essentially saying 'we don't care' to all the fans whose devotion built their empire in the first place.
To those who would argue that I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, I'll say this... I understand. Not everyone is as much of a film buff as I am, and maybe you simply don't care that much about aspect ratios and special features. That's okay, and I don't blame you if this issue doesn't rile you in the same way that it does me. But I'll also ask you to take a few moments to think about what it means when a company that trades in magic and wonder cares so little about cutting corners in the name of making a profit. Can you imagine paying 50 dollars to visit Disneyland and finding that the Matterhorn has had its top cut off, the Indiana Jones ride now runs 1 minute shorter and the Dumbo ride has been replaced by a tilt-a-whirl with elephants painted on the side? Ask yourself, at what point does the magic start to fade?
Ever since Disney aquisitioned Pixar (making Steve Jobs the largest shareholder, thus the most influential one as well), the company has started to make a turn around. The route of CG-only animation is no longer in effect. There still will be CG movies, but traditional will still be there too in theatrical releases. So in time Disney may be a respectable company again.
Here's to hoping.
http://lifespancgi.ytmnd.com/
These ratings came from Rotten Tomatoes. The movies with 60% or greater is fresh and the ones with less than 60% is rotten.
Of course, the real problem with the majority of CG movies isn't so much the medium, it's that the stories tend to suck. Hollywood's basically been cranking out the same CG movie over and over and over again - always the same collection of cheap pop culture references strung together with 'hilarious' comic relief, sappy life lessons and goofball characters who learn to believe in themselves.
What's become obsolete isn't traditional animation, it's the concept of a story worth telling.
Eisner was a sucker who made the word of insecure marketing nerds the isenrule. :P