Seeing only half the movie at home

[seashoreCM]

I heard a rumor that many Disney wide screen movies will only be released on DVD without the panoramic wide screen effect. What this means is, as much as 40 percent of the sides of the picture is cut off.

If movies are produced in wide screen, the DVD should also offer a wide screen picture.

For the most part I have held off on buying DVD's until wide screen enhanced editions come out.

Call 1-800-72DISNEY to express your desire for wide screen DVD editions.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

 

[d-r]

To me, the point is that releases should be "anamorphic" (also sometimes listed as "enhanced for 16x9 televisions). This means that the dvd can fit on regular tvs letter boxed like a wide screen picture, or on wide screen tvs to fit. If it must in "wide screen" format, then there would be horizontal letter boxing on a wide screen tv. Some of Disney's releases have been the inferior "wide screen" and some have been anamorphic; I tend not to get the "widescreen" on dvd in the hope that there will be a future anamoprhic release. Also, remember that most of the older classic animation were not in "wide screen" format to begin with; I have a spreadsheet that I made listing the original screen format with the dvd release format (I haven't updated it in a while) if anyone is interested.

DR

 

[Snowgod]

Isn't strange that movies like Bugs life and Toy Story were created in 4:3 and tops and bottom cut off to make a 16:9 version. Widescreen is not always the way a film was created. Films should be released in the format that the director used making the film.

 

[RickW]

Originally posted by Snowgod
Isn't strange that movies like Bugs life and Toy Story were created in 4:3 and tops and bottom cut off to make a 16:9 version. Widescreen is not always the way a film was created. Films should be released in the format that the director used making the film.

Actually that is not true.

from http://corporate.pixar.com/news/19990129-71143.cfm

Since A BUG'S LIFE was created entirely in a digital format, this process presents the movie with the most pristine images possible. It also permitted the Directors to re-frame the entire widescreen film for the best presentation possible on television screens.

All of Pixar's films have been created in a widescreen format. For the transfer to video, they have gone back and re-framed the films so that they would fit on a 4:3 screen. For some scenes this meant adding some scenery to the top and bottom. For other scenes it meant moving the characters in from the sides, and doing other things like that. I would have to go back to my DVD and check, but I believe there is an extra on the Special Edition DVD that talks about this process.

 

[Snowgod]

Widescreen review magazine recently published an article on the subject and used Pixar as an exapmle of films made on a computer and then cut to fit the widescreen format. They were in fact created on a 4:3 standard. I will dig out my back issue and attemp to link to the article. This is also a major reason for the widescreen format laptop and 22 inch flatpanel monitor from Apple Computer, Pixar and George Lucas required them for digital creation.

 

[Tannerman]

Disney's recent moves to Pan and Scam have been quite upsetting. Here are a couple resources on the topic. I've already called them and voiced my opinion, along with sending e-mail.

Home Theatre Forum thread about Disney's moves
Editorial on why studios are doing this