asianxcore

Makes sense

Now that I think about it the Tron 20th Anniversary DVD must have gone OOP sometime around Spring/Early Summer. Only remember that because when I was still a Manager at Borders (up until May/June 2010), the DVD was still readily available.

Went from having the big 2-Disc case to being re-released in a smaller case.

Mabuse

I just wanted to clarify this quote since some people seem cofused by it. I'll rewrite it more clearly:

The Disney live action films "TRON", "SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON", "TREASURE ISLAND", and "20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA" are being restored. All four films are being scanned at 6K and 4K and are being worked on at a 4K level of resolution. The last film, 20,000 Leagues, is being digitally altered to "fix" the anamorphic mumps* in its closeups. 20,000 Leagues will also recieve a film-out "letterbox" transfer. This means that while the other titles will be scanned/restored/released strictly in the video realm, Leagues will be output onto actual film for projection in an actual movie theater. This film-out transfer will be slightly letterboxed with black bars in order to preserve the film's orginal aspect ratio of 2.55:1.

*"mumps" were a distortion caused by early anamorphic camera lenses. The mumps on dispay in 20,000 Leagues are a part of the original film and, in my opinion, should not be altered.

doctorthodt

Is Disney Scared To Release ‘TRON’ on Blu-ray?

lol.

Mabuse

That theory sounds pretty dumb, but I will admit that Tron is suspiciously absent. I mostly disagree with that writer's assesment of the visual effects. The film still looks positively amazing, it doesn't look like any other film ever made. Audiences today might be turned off by it, hell audiences in 1982 were turned off by it. But, with the monumental marketing blitz that is going on for Tron 2 it is a little strange that Tron is OOP.

NiCK Crush

I don't think it sounds dumb at all. Today's youth would surely find the original Tron primitive, and thus, stupid. They wouldn't be able to understand it's impact on the film world, nor appreciate it for what it is. I am of course speaking in generalities.

Mabuse

I don't think there's anything "primitive" looking about Tron. It doesn't resemble anything made before or since. It's pretty singular in its vision. A modern audience might certainly be turned off by the film, just as audiences in 1982 were turned off by the film too.

I would guess that a modern audience would be turned off for all the same reasons as the 1982 audience: Talky script (particularly the first 20 minutes), weak characterization (too brief in the human world, too distracted by effects in the game world), too "different" looking (ie, doesn't look like Star Wars).

NiCK Crush

I'm not saying I think it is primitive, or even that anyone here would think it looks primitive... because we understand the film, and what it accomplished as far as special effects go. I was basically saying what I think teenagers today would think of it.

Giles

well I wish had some news regarding an actual bluray street date for '20,000 Leagues' but it looks like the restoration had been done and shown:

The Reel Thing XXVII
August 18-20, 2011

I cant tell if this was a symposium or an actual screening

Thursday . August 18, 2011

"The Mightiest Motion Picture Of Them All!"
The Digital Restoration of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Theo Gluck, Walt Disney Company
Jayson Wall, Walt Disney Company

The winner of two Academy Awards for Art Direction and Special Effects, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was Walt Disney's first live-action film to be photographed in CinemaScope and on the new Eastman Kodak 5248 color negative. Introduced in 1952, Eastman 5248 was an integral tripack safety negative using dye-coupler technology with an ASA of 25, balanced for tungsten lighting. The Technicolor dye-transfer process was utilized not only for the 1954 original release, but also the 1963 and 1971 re-issues. The original release prints, however, possessed a triple inventory of 4-track mag stereo-stripe at 2.55:1, optical mono CinemaScope prints in 2.35:1, and a "flat" pan and scan 1.37:1 35mm version with an optical mono soundtrack for non-CinemaScope theaters. At a total budget of nine million dollars, 20,000 Leagues was the most expensive film production Walt Disney undertook. It went on to become the second highest grossing film of 1954.

Supervised by Theo Gluck and Jayson Wall, the restoration team on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first evaluated the A and B roll original camera negative. As was feared, both the yellow and cyan layers exhibited significant color dye loss. It was decided to test sections of various reels by scanning them at 4K on a Northlight at Warner Brothers MPI to further analyze the remaining color viability when using modern digital tools for color correction. This test proved very successful, and the team scanned all 24 reels of the original camera negative, along with a small section of Reel 1-A from the 1955 YCM separation masters to substitute a poor dupe replacement section cut into the original negative.

Working with Disney's resident color consultant Bruce Tauscher and MPI colorist Ray Grabowski, the team referenced SD and HD video masters that were approved by director Richard Fleischer in the late 90's, along with the Studio's 1954 dye-transfer 4-track mag print as color guides for this restoration. Unlike most dye-transfer prints, this element did not exhibit the normal wide latitude of timing shifts from scene to scene, section to section, or reel to reel that commonly afflict this process. All three elements were very similar in color value (within each format's respective limitations), so maintaining the original look of this classic feature was not clouded in ambiguity.
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea was also one of the first films to be photographed in CinemaScope using first generation Bausch & Lomb anamorphic lenses. Unfortunately these lenses had an inherent distortion known today as "the CinemaScope Mumps". CinemaScope Mumps occur due to the variable "squeeze" coefficient throughout the focal plane. This causes the anamorphic effect to gradually drop off as objects approach closer to the lens. This results in images being slightly overstretched in the horizontal plane, most noticeably on actor close-ups. Using original on-set production and publicity photos for accurate sizing reference, the restoration team removed much of this distortion by digitally squeezing in the image .5%. Since the original camera negative of 20,000 Leagues was actually shot perf to perf in 2.66:1, this new restoration has gained 1.6mm of image on the left side and .25mm on the right side of the frame-all of which had heretofore been concealed by the mag track in original prints. This "mumps" correction enabled us to faithfully reconstruct the original 2.55:1 image as seen in first-run theaters during the 1954 and early 1955 theatrical engagements.

The team's goal was simple: to create state-of-the-art digital archival and service elements to ensure that Walt Disney's finest live-action feature would always remain available in "first day of release" quality, true to the filmmakers' vision. The original tagline sums up 20,000 Leagues Under TheSea perfectly: it's still "The Mightiest Motion Picture Of Them All!"

~~~

and just this last past weekend at the annual TCM Classic Film Festival (digital projection):

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Giles

the DCP of '20,000 Leagues' was recently screened last month at the Egyptian Theater in L.A

well that DCP is getting a wider exposure with Cinemark's Classic Series on October 25th with two screenings at 2pm and 7pm

the even more exciting news is that ... drum roll please...

'Mary Poppins' in DCP form, a week prior on the 17th ... the restoration of this title has been on the quiet side, so I'm curious to see how this looks.

Giles

well, I couldn't make it to either screening of 'Mary Poppins', but from what I've heard from someone over at blu-ray.com is that the 'Mary Poppins' hidef scan/transfer is being done at 8K.

side note, the transfer of 'Pete's Dragon' - which for the most part is a live action film (sans Pete of course) looks stunning on bluray.

Giles

so I did see '20,000 Leagues' yesterday and while seeing it on the large XD screen was impressive - the sound was also really good, but it was the PQ that didn't wow me. The image at times seemed fuzzy and lacked sharpness - if this was a 4K restoration, count me as being disappointed.

dom56

I know Mary Poppins is finally coming out on blu-ray in a couple of months. But where the hell is...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Island on Top of the World
Swiss Family Robinson
In Search of the Castaways
A Tiger Walks - Sabu last film

C'mon Disney get these out now!!

fitprod

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Swiss Family Robinson will eventually happen. I don't expect the others, those will probably be streaming only.

fitprod