I didn't find that anyone else had mentioned this and I don't know if this is the first time Disney has done this, but on the backside of the Treasure Planet insert it says:


Film Presented in the Aspect Ratio As Originally Created:

Treasure Planet is Presented in widescreen (1.66:1). On standard Tvs there will be black horizontal bars on the top and bottom of the TV allowing you to see the expansiveness and full picture from side to side.

Then there are the two side by side pictures showing the difference, then it says:

Do you see the diefference between Widescreen versus the Fullscreen image?
Your DVD player may be equipped with a zoom feature. If you would prefer to view this film in Fullscreen, check to see if your DVD player is equipped with this feature. You may be able to use this feature to simulate a Fullscreen image on your television. (The result may depend on your player's performance)


Kudos to Disney for this. Everyone complains that the studios aren't trying to educate the public, at least Disney is making this attempt. Hopefully they keep it up for future releases. They only complaint is that they could have picked a better example to use for the picture. A comparision where something important is missing in fullscreen would be the best.

I think I'll refrain from giving Kudos to Disney on this issue.

Just last week they released RETURN TO SNOWY RIVER, which has an OAR of 2.35:1, in 1.33:1 Pan&Scan only. Absolutely no excuse for this. This stands in stark contrast to Fox's release of the original THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER, which contains both the 2.35:1 and Pan&Scan versions (on opposite sides), and costs less than Disney's to boot.

In my mind that more than offsets any token "education" Disney tries to offer on a DVD insert. They need to educate themselves.

And next week's catalogue releases - Tom and Huck (2.35:1), Operation Dumbo Drop (2.35:1), and That Darn Cat (1.85:1) will all also be Foolscreen-only DVDs. If widescreen is better, as they say, then what the f?

Hey, who cares what the OAR is aslong as it looks good... atleast thats what I learned from this forum.

No no.. the golden rule is in my sig..

I agree with Hondo21 & LBPound. I am actually flabbergasted that Disney would tout the line, "Do you see the difference between widescreen versus the fullscreen image?" If it widescreen is such a big deal (which it is) why are they still releasing their older catalog titles in full screen only?

"The only woman I'm pimping is sweet lady propane!" - Hank Hill

I don't get it.

I'm not saying they are the best OAR company ever, but I do appreciate this attempt. Why are they promoting widescreen on this release and not others ? It doesn't make any sense. I'm happy about Treasure Planet but dissappointed in Return to Snowy River and the others.

It's Disney, they probably have 20+ different DVD departments..

Ugh, Dumbo Drop is pan & scam? No wonder they make it so hard to find the specs on these budget titles. They hope the schmucks who preorder discs months in advance (like me), won't bother to send it back once it gets shipped out and ends up being cropped. Thanks for the heads up on this. Cancellation time.

If you have multi-region capabilities, both Dumbo Drop and That Darn Cat ('97) are 16x9 widescreen in Europe. Just an FYI.

Unfortunately, this is Tom and Huck's first DVD release.

Yes, it is a nice effort, and I too appreciate it. A lot more people will be buying Treasure Planet, too, and will hopefully see this and understand it.

It's worth pointing out that 1.66:1 isn't the original aspect ratio - as with most Disney movies, this is an open matte presentation.

And yet, oddly enough, I don't care. I'm quite looking forward to The Lion King, open matte or otherwise

Wrong, 1.66:1 IS the original aspect ratio of the animation. The theatrical presentation is matted to 1.85:1.

Well, that depends on your definition of "original". Most people here would say that the OAR of movies matted to 1.85:1 for theatrical presentation is 1.85:1 (since the theatrical presentation is the original presentation), and by that definition Treasure Planet's OAR is most certainly 1.85:1, and the DVD is an open matte presentation in the wrong aspect ratio.

I'd like to reiterate that 1.66:1 is fine by me for this movie.

Well I saw Treasure Planet on the IMAX and that wasn't 1.85:1.. what if I wanted MY own OAR of the movie?

Presumably the IMAX version is a 4:3 centre crop (or pan and scan) of the 1.66:1 version. Since it was released in IMAX cinemas that way, it looks to me like this movie has 2 valid aspect ratios (if we define OAR as the theatrical ratio), and neither of them are 1.66:1.

Unless of course it's worth caring about what the people who made the film think. But who cares about useless stuff like that?

DJ

... What do the people who made the film think? Is this actually leading to some sort of relevant evidence that will swing this discussion either way, or is it just ramble?

Not just ramble. In past experiences with Disney animation films created with CAPS program, there has been evidence that the directors and/or animators preferred the 1.66:1 AR. When Beauty & The Beast, also created with CAPS, was presented on DVD at 1.85:1, this was supposedly at the behest of the producer and directors. Disney thus far appears to go with the decision of the filmmaking team when deciding what AR at which to present their CAPS features.

DJ

Fair enough... I can admit when I'm wrong. Sorry for wasting everyone's time with this silly tangent (I was actually thinking about the 1.85:1 BatB release a few minutes ago... I probably would have come to the same conclusion as you if I'd thought it through properly.)

Anyway, off to order Buffy season 5, in beautiful anamorphic widescreen :P

I notice they are emphasizing on Treasure Island that 1.33-1 IS the OAR, quite specifically.

I'm thrilled to see this on the treasure planet DVD, but yeah, WHY NOT JUST RELEASE EVERYTHING IN ITS OAR???

I will never understand the logic of ever producing a pan & scan (or full frame transfer of any sort) - it's pure wasted time, effort, money, and space.

[snip]

If you look at the back page of the booklet for Beauty and the Beast there is a blurb similar to this.

I agree wholeheartedly with this. While Treasure Planet is a step in the right direction, it far from makes up for all the full frame only movies they have given us all along the way thus far. Too many movies I would buy still sit in the stores because they are full frame only.

Your DVD player may be equipped with a zoom feature. If you would prefer to view this film in Fullscreen, check to see if your DVD player is equipped with this feature. You may be able to use this feature to simulate a Fullscreen image on your television. (The result may depend on your player's performance)