DVD Talk Forum - Secret of Nimh being prepped for new release!!!

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Secret of Nimh being prepped for new release!!!

From Don Bluth's website
http://www.donbluth.com/contactus.cfm

Go down to the 1/17/2007 question

New masters, commentaries, etc.

I've wanted to double dip on this one for years!!

It is about F------ time! I remember riding my bike to the budget cinema (.79 cents a ticket!) seven times to see this one. The current DVD is just awful - although the 1.33:1 aspect ratio is correct. The film was presented in theaters with a 1.85:1 matted frame (the black bars laid over the negative, essentially covering animation on the top and bottom) but the original animation was shot in 1.33:1. Even though we have the correct aspect ratio already, I can't wait to see how impressive this negative clean up is going to be - something tells me it is going to be fantastic - better than it was in 1982.

I've come so close to buying the current edition. Thank God I held out.

I almost bought the current edition one day but passed. Glad I did too! Cant wait.

For the lazy:

Quote:

Posted: 01/17/2007
From: Kimberly Armour
Email: [email protected]
Subject: NIHM HD!!!!!!!!
Message: I just watched "The Secret of NIMH", again, the other night and decided to start looking for a DVD version. I was disappointed when I saw the aspect ratio, so I started looking around for word of an HD version. In short, I would just like to say that I hope the 16x9 version comes to fruition. Even with all the new animated movies, some of which I like very much, this is by far one of my all time favorites! Jeremy makes me laugh every... single... time!:) Rock on, Don! Kimberly

Reply: Kimberly, We've just finished the re-mastering of The Secret of NIMH for HD DVD. We're told that the new color master will be made available at full screen 1:1.33 (as it was shot), 1:1.85 letterbox (as it was projected in theaters in 1982)and 16X9 HD for the new high definition systems for home theater. We have done a producer/director commentary and an on-camera interview to go out as extras. Hopefully that will be the case. We believe that the new HD DVD will be available in June/July of this year. Regards.
Reply Posted: 01/22/2007

About bloody time. Wow, 2007 is really turning into a year to mark off those old wish lists. :D

Oh Wow, that's awesome. I can't wait!

What's particularly strange is that this is an MGM title, but he says HD DVD in the e-mail. I wonder if he meant Blu Ray.

Of course this is just announced.
I just picked up the current version yesterday at CVS for $2.50.
I'll still pick up the new version as my daughter loves the movie.

So wait...is it just gonna be HD DVD and not standard DVD?

If it was shot in 1.33 but shown in 1.85, is the intended ratio 1.33?

Sweet!! I'll be picking this up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by exharrison

If it was shot in 1.33 but shown in 1.85, is the intended ratio 1.33?

wasn't so much shot, as animated at 1.33 with television in mind. it was first exhibited at 1.85. Cartoons seem to be more of a grey area to some people as to what was intended. Several non disney Don Bluth childrens titles have been only released at 1.33 (American Tale, All Dogs Go To Heaven, Land Before Time, Rock a Doodle, ) MgM and Universal both have done this. I have never heard anything from Don Bluth on the subject. There was plenty of uproar over the American Tail dvd not getting a widescreen transfer. I have a bad feeling that even if 1.33 is prefrered that it will be trumped by the onslaught of widescreen televisions. I think its best to give both versions and let the consumer decide. If anyone has a source to exactly what Don Bluth says about it, I would love to read it, but I just can't take it at the words of any random person on the net (no offense intended to anyone here).

An American Tail Double feature 2/1/05 Widescreen PLEASE?

So HD only? I hope not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egon's Ghost

So HD only? I hope not.

Not to worry. A lot of movies get HD transfers... doesn't mean they're HD-only. DVD producers know where the money is and HD isn't it.

The Secret of Nimh: Family Fun Edition - 6/19/07

The Digital Bits is reporting that this edition will feature both the full frame & widescreen versions, which is what Bluth or Goldman has previously stated that he would like to see on the DVD release. Also: deleted scenes with audio commentary by directors Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, a 10-minute "making of" featurette. And, as previously mentioned, the color has been corrected.

It's up at Amazon too.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/...237_SS500_.jpg

And on Nimh's AR:

Quote:

"We made those early films, Banjo the Woodpile Cat (1979) thru The Pebble and the Penguin (1995) in the full frame, 1:1.33 format. As did Disney up into the nineties. Full screen standard television screens would pretty much represent that format, though there is some loss, very little, on the left and right of the screen. However, a wide screen or letterboxed version or even the new 16X9 format cuts off the image at the top and bottom, losing some of the background and part of the character and effects on closeups of the charcters. The format shown in theaters, a wide screen affect at 1:1.85 does the same, cuts off a portion of the top and the bottom. In fact if the projectionist doesn't find the proper north/south center, the image may have more chopped off one end or the other. On the new mastering of our films we are making sure we do a shot by shot adjustment to make sure no pertinent information is not cut off. So that the Letterboxed, widescreen version will be as accurate as possible to reflect what you saw in the theater (or what was intended for you to see.) .... Actually most of our films were shot 1:1.33, even while we were at Disney 1972-1979. Here's the list of independent product. Banjo the woodpile Cat, The Secret of N.I.M.H., An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Rock-A-Doodle, A Troll in Central Park, Thumbelina, The Pebble and the Penguin were all shot 1:1.33, we had some of the later films' dupe negatives matted to 1:1.85 format to avoid projection error with the 1:1.85 clip used to adjust the fomat to a wider screen. At Fox, we became digital and we produced Anastasia in CinemaScope 1:2.35 as was Titan A.E.. "

I already sold the previous fullscreen version in anticipation of this release. My daughter loves this movie, so a widescreen version is certainly welcomed.

It's not entirely clear whether this and those other films are just examples of open matte, or if the additional image is really meant to be seen. In any case, it's good that they're including both versions.

I also hope that whatever HD version is released (probably BD since it's MGM) will also contain both transfers. I'm curious because Dragon's Lair on BD does not contain the original 4:3 version. It seems there is a tendency for some supposedly OAR people to be okay with filling their widescreen TVs, especially if the original ratio is 1.33:1.

I just watched the old DVD last night and it does need some restoration. Lots of dirt, grain and telecine wobble. Plus the colours are incorrect on some scenes and there's contrast boosting, which is seen here. http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=49bkigx.
Gary Goldman confirmed the left images are accurate to what was originally intended.