Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Disney To Add 'Decorative Framing" To Blu Ray Disks

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Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 03-08-2009, 02:37 PM:

Disney home video is planning on adding 'decorative frames" to blu-ray versions of its' classic films, begining with "Pinocchio" later this week. The process results in what they are calling "The Disney View"
(Oh, boy. . . I hope they didn't stay up all night thinking of that name. )

I basically support the idea of them trying to maintain the original aspect ratio, but personally, I think I'd find the "16 sets" of side bars changing throughout the movie somewhat distracting.

Original Story Link

Disney Spruces Up Pinocchio Blu-ray
Studio adds decorative framing, dubbed 'Disney View'
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 3/6/2009

Disney is adding decorative bars to frame its classic movies, starting with Pinocchio.

MARCH 6 | How do you improve on a classic?

For Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, the answer is to color every inch of it. Starting with Pinocchio, the studio is sprucing up the black bars that normally frame its classic animation when rendered for the small screen.

Animator Toby Bluth has been charged with creating ‘decorative’ bars that will exclusively frame the Blu-ray Disc version of Pinocchio, due March 10. The standard DVD edition will continue to feature the plain black bars.

This decorative framing, dubbed ‘Disney View,’ is expected to also roll out with the studio’s next classic animated Blu-ray release, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in October.

So as not to distort the original theatrical image, Disney’s classic animation has historically come tagged with black bars on the sides when played on widescreen TV sets. But some fans have complained that the bars take away from their viewing experience.

For Pinocchio, Bluth created 16 sets of Disney View bars, which run at various times during the film.

“It supports the film and is at most an accompaniment,” said Bluth. “There aren’t any panels that distract from the film. They are like theatrical set pieces framing the action.”

Bluth is already at work on bars for Snow White

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 03-08-2009, 07:07 PM:

This especially ticks off those of us with lensing and masking systems in our home theatres. Now I'll have to set up the scaler to "mask off" the decorative frames. Shame too. I was looking forward to this disc.

I hope it can be turned off within the menu.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 03-08-2009, 07:10 PM:

Surely it's an option on the disc to have this switched off.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 03-08-2009, 08:40 PM:

quote: Mike Olpin
I hope it can be turned off within the menu.

I'm sorta hoping the same thing too, but neither of the two
press releases I've seen about this new "feature" gives any
indication that it's optional. But I hope you're right.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 03-08-2009, 10:58 PM:

According to the review over at AVSForum , it's an option.

quote:
The 1.33:1 AR didn't take anything away from the experience in my opinion. The Disney View enhanced mode didn't really change the presentation in terms of making it feel "wider". This is how the film was shot so it didn't feel as though it should have appeared any other way. You may find that you prefer the enhanced mode but personally I left it off.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 03-09-2009, 06:16 AM:

Ugh! Who comes up with this stuff?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-09-2009, 09:56 AM:

It might deter a few jokers from distorting the picture in the name of filling every available square inch with Walt's wonderful color.

A better solution would be to encode the disk some way to disable the TV's aspect-ratio controls. That'd piss a lot of idiots off though, and there's nothing more difficult to deal with than pissed-off idiots.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-09-2009, 05:27 PM:

Unless there are black bars to choose from I definately won't be purchasing Pinnochio!! I also refuse to take the time to read about such nonsense!

Mark

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 03-10-2009, 12:18 PM:

This is my favorite part of the article:

quote:
So as not to distort the original theatrical image, Disney’s classic animation has historically come tagged with black bars on the sides when played on widescreen TV sets. But some fans have complained that the (black) bars take away from their viewing experience.

That just proves that "some fans" are total idiots. "Aspect ratio? Who cares? I paid for a 42" wide screen, and I WANT IT FILLED, DAMN IT!"

Unfortunately, I think the idiots are in the majority, judging by all the distorted-picture TVs I see in bars, airports, and people's houses.

Posted by Geoff Jones (Member # 3668) on 03-10-2009, 02:10 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
Unfortunately, I think the idiots are in the majority

What Mike, you're just now figuring that out? [Smile]

quote: Mike Blakesley
...all the distorted-picture TVs I see in bars, airports, and people's houses.

Which is exactly why I don't think BluRay will ever take over. Most people (most FT readers excluded) don't know how to set up their systems, don't notice that it looks "wrong" and cannot see any improvement offered by BluRay.

quote:
Aspect ratio? Who cares? I paid for a 42" wide screen, and I WANT IT FILLED, DAMN IT!

The funny thing is even the folks with 2.35:1 home projection set-ups feel that way. They were all up in arms about the The Dark Knight BluRay disc because it opened up to 16:9 for the Imax scenes. They wanted to fill their screens at all times.

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 03-10-2009, 03:14 PM:

quote: Geoff Jones
The funny thing is even the folks with 2.35:1 home projection set-ups feel that way.

No, I want the option to turn it off there as well. I am pleased that the extra footage is preserved, but when I'm presenting it in my home theatre, I must either crop the top and bottom of the IMAX portion off, or lose screen width and present it in 16x9. Both ways are wrong.

I want a BluRay that preserves the 2.39 frame as seen on 35mm prints.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-10-2009, 07:54 PM:

I don't think I'd ever want to project something that has less resolution on a bigger physical space. That is why I'll never install a 2.39 side-masking system in my home.

Posted by Jack Theakston (Member # 4484) on 03-11-2009, 02:52 PM:

You guys know that the stuff on the sides is optional, right?

There's a option in the menu to turn them off.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-11-2009, 04:24 PM:

It will now be only a matter of a week or two before I pick up a Toshiba 405300 HD set with a 1080p display from Costco but for now, I am watching BDs on my excellent standard Sony television. I picked up PINOCCHIO in Blu Ray yesterday and watched the first fifteen minutes of the BD version and discovered the picture was 'Windowboxed" (Black borders all around the picture) on my TV. Like all of you, I agree the decorative bars on both side of the picture to fill a wide screen is STUPID! The people who are now complaining about black borders on both sides of their new wide screen television are probably the same idiots who complained about black borders on the top and bottom of their old standard television screen when they watched wide screen movies on DVDs [Frown]

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-11-2009, 05:34 PM:

I don't mind the decorative pillar box fluff since it is an optional feature. I'll probably still watch the movie with the usual black pillar box bars instead.

But I'm not going to be bothering with any of that until I can buy a copy of the BD for under $20. It won't be too awful long before sites like Amazon offer the movie for that at least during a serious sale.

Posted by Jesse Skeen (Member # 586) on 03-11-2009, 06:19 PM:

April Fool's day isn't for another 3 weeks!