Let Me Holler at Ya Right Quick...

Just wanna throw up a quick bloggy blog.
Reminders: Disney's "Pinocchio" is being released tomorrow as a Platinum edition DVD and Blu-ray. The movie looks great, they've cleaned up every frame of the film and all the audio. Online reviews have compared it to the Sleeping Beauty Blu-ray, which I am telling you now is spectacular. Disney seems to really be taking care of their catalog, if you love Classic Disney films, you have to finally throw out that old VHS collection and switch over to Blu-ray. I will definitely be up early tomorrow to go get this.


In more Disney news, that "Are You 23?" Campaign is supposed to be explained tomorrow. Anyone who's curious can see what its all about here.

And finally I just want to throw up a short review of this movie Scarlett and I watched last night called "Azur and Asmar: The Princes' Quest" or as we dubbed it "Azur and Asmar go to White Castle". This is a French animated film that was showcased at Cannes in 2006. The film is about 2 'brothers', one french the other arab. The brothers learn as children the fairy tale of the Djinn Fairy, and that whomever rescues her will marry her. The brothers are separated as kids, as adults they both seek to find her. Their paths are reunited and they must get beyond their past separation to find the fairy. The box of this movie showed some really beautiful 2d artwork, but when we watched it the movie was a combination of 2d backgrounds with 3d animated characters. This would have been really interesting if the characters didnt look like they were Sims: the movie. It really seemed like the movie was cut scenes from a long lost PS2 game. Everything in the film was detailed EXCEPT for the characters. The opening scene features a woman breastfeeding the 2 babies; with a zoomed in, poorly rendered titty, it sets a weak tone for the rest of the film. It is not until about the last 30 minutes that the costumes become more detailed and we see beautiful mythical creatures. By then the characters are riding lions and giant birds... so to actually make it that far, you're probably going to have to be high. Basically, if you love animation and good storytelling, just save yourself the hassle and watch "Pinocchio" or "Cats Don't Dance". This movie sets animators back like 10 years and is hugely unsatisfying. K? Just say No! The cover art WILL decieve you! JUST SAY NO!

Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition Blu-Ray

I want to do a really quick review on the Blu-ray that recently came out for Disney's Sleeping Beauty. Normally I don't review the special features and specs on a movie but this one is pretty stand out. First of all if you are a lover of Disney films you HAVE to get this. It's 2 blu-ray discs and 1 DVD version of the film. Disney has decided to include the DVD for people who have yet to upgrade, meaning buy this package now and when you do eventually upgrade to bd you will already have it (instead of having to repurchase). Its kind of cool. Now, the movie itself has been completely restored, each frame has been meticulously cleaned. It was originally shot on 70mm which is bigger than theater screens, meaning that this is the very FIRST time audiences have been able to see the entire frame. The original audio tracks were discovered and since those were originally recorded in 6 channel stereo, audio techs were able to clean out all the clicks and hisses and put the audio on this release in 7.1 DTS HD. The colors are amazingly beautiful. This film took almost a decade to create and almost bankrupted the studio, but it was all in an effort to create the most stunning animated film to date. Each cell is hand painted. Blu-ray finally gives audiences the chance to fully appreciate the spectacular art that is this film. The picture in picture commentary with Leonard Maltin and John Lassiter is one of the best movie commentaries I've ever listened to, its nice when people are passionate about what they are talking about. Plus the picture in picture makes it really enjoyable and allows for supplemental images to be shown. There are several other great special features, one is a clip from the Disneyland TV show where 4 of the films artists paint the same tree in 4 distinct manners. Another is the original short that played before Sleeping Beauty in Theaters back in the 50's called the Grand Canyon, it is essentially documentary style footage of the Grand Canyon, but reminds viewers that the theater used to be a spectacle. Those along with several making of and other reference material make this setup really exciting for fans of the film as well as fans of animation in general. This movie is truly a striking piece of art that has been restored to its original brilliance. Disney has set the bar high, we'll have to see if the future's releases like the upcoming Pinocchio can live up to the standard set.