As the Technical merits of Film Animation
evolve (look how far they've come with A Bug's Life & Toy Story 2), one can't help but
look back on the last centuries efforts of hand draw CELs.
Release nearly 50 yeara ago now, was Disney's version of Lewis Carroll's
The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland. Though a great example in
animation, it's not Disney's finest hour (compared to say Snow White and Beauty and the
Beast), but it still has that Disney Charm, missing from others who give animation a go.As a young girl, Alice is a full time day dreamer. She wishes
of a place that's back to front, inside out, the complete opposite of the world she
lives in.
One day while having her class in the forest, she sees a white rabbit who is apparently
running late for a very important date. Alice follows the white rabbit to a burrow,
and upon entering falls down a dark hole. At the bottom of this hole is the
enterance to wonderland. But in order to get into wonderland, Alice must drink a
potion to become a very small girl.
While in Wonderland, Alice comes across many unique characters. Singing flowers, and
caterpillars, mystical cats, and talking rabbits.
As with all Disney animation films, Alice in Wonderland is
full of songs (some which suck i'm sorry to say), but overall it's done so well you are
quite entranced by what is going on (like i said Disney's Charm is at work here :-)
At anyrate, there's a lot to love above another Disney Classic that's come to DVD.
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
VIDEO
Theatrically, Alice was released in the aspect ratio of 1.37:1, so has been
preseneted on DVD in the 1.33:1 format. For a picture that is 50 years old this
transfer is near perfect. While a few spots show some signs of a dusty print, an
incredibly long restoration job must have been done to get it looking this good.
It's really impressive. Colour Saturation is first rate resulting in a very lively
looking picture. Very very well Done Indeed.
AUDIO
Surprisingly Alice Also includes a remixed Dolby Digital 5.0 track in English (not 5.1 as
so credited on the DVD slick). While mostly centre focused, there is a little use of
the Left and Right Channels which helps widen the front soundstage some, and the
srurrounds are used very sparingly. Not that this is a problem, but there were quite
a few sequences that surround use would have been a nice addition.
I heard no distortion or edginess to this mix, granted it's not very aggressive to begin
with, but it's nice NOT to hear low level hiss being such an old film.
The other Audio tracks are in French, Italian, Neterlands and Portuguese are available
only in Dolby Surround 2.0, but sound very flat (ie mono)
EXTRAS
Um yes well. Nothing to see here I'm afraid
I wasn't quite sure what to expect for my first 'Older'
DVDisney outing and I was most impressed at the end of the day. Anyone wishing to
stock up on Disney Animation will NOT want to miss this..I just can't wait to see what
they restore next. (Plus this title won't be availble in region 1 til July 2000)
| PICTURE QUALITY |
9/10 Looks terrific |
| SOUND QUALITY |
5/10 pretty plain |
| FEATURES |
0/10 Carry on!! |
Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs)
Receiver: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
Fronts: B&W 602
Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
Rears: Jamo Magic 14
Subby: M&K V125
- Reviewed 3rd January 2000
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