My take: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

HD Goofnut · 10-20-2009, 09:59 AM

Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc
Video: 1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1
Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish
Run time: 83 minutes
Studio: Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Rating: G
Region Coding: Region A Only
Player used for review: LG BH200

Cast/Crew Info:
Roy Atwell as the voice of Doc
Stuart Buchanan as the voice of the Huntsman
Adriana Caselotti as the voice of Snow White
Eddie Collins as the voice of Dopey
Pinto Colvig as the voice of Sleepy / Grumpy
Marion Darlington as the voice of the Bird Sounds and Warbling
Billy Gilbert as the voice of Sneezy
Otis Harlan as the voice of Happy
Lucille La Verne as the voice of the Queen / Witch
James MacDonald as the voice of the Yodeling Man
Scotty Mattraw as the voice of Bashful
Moroni Olsen as the voice of the Magic Mirror
Harry Stockwell as the voice of the Prince
Directed by David Hand

My take: (the breakdown)

How could one not know any of the stories of the animated Disney classics? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of course follows the adventure of Snow White as the Evil Queen discovers that she is not the most beautiful woman in the land, but that it is Snow White. I have always liked the scenes with the Magic Mirror and the Queen because Olsen has such a booming eerie voice in this role. The Queen then hires a man to kill Snow White, but of course he is unable to do it. He tells her to hide in the forest and he will inform the Queen that he killed her anyway. I won't give away the rest of the story, but I will add that this is when Snow White meets the Seven Dwarfs and ends up being the best thing that ever happened to then. This is a must own even if you already own the DVD since the Blu-ray blows it away in terms of overall quality and features.

Snow White is now 62 years old and in the majority it really doesn't look it at all. Disney has gone back again (like with Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio) and cleaned up negative to create a new master that really does the film justice. Colors are the most noticable upgrade over the DVD (also included in the box). Fine detail is also extremely well done for a movie that is quite old. I did notice a few wavering areas on the film, but I imagine this was due to age and/or print damage that was part of the negative. For its age I say that Snow White looks fantastic and once again Disney should be commended.

As with Sleeping Beauty we are supplied with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that sounds great for the most part. Dialogue is crisp and clear and is never hard to hear; even Grumpy's muttering to himself is quite distinguishable. Music, birds, and other discrete effects fill the surround channels nicely. The sub also opens up during the climax of the film when the action picks up a bit. Now, I did have some issues with music being slightly overbearing at times and I also felt that there was sometimes too much going on in the surrounds. I still think that this is a great example of what can be done with a 62 year old mono track.

We get an absolutely loaded supplemental package (one of the best I have ever seen) that is placed on both discs as follows:

Disc 1
DisneyView: Changes the black pillar boxes to paintings that were done by Toby Bluth.
Audio Commentary with John Canemaker (film historian)
Snow White Returns: 9 minutes @ 1080
Deleted Scenes: 11 minutes @ 1080
Music Video: 4 minutes @ 1080
'The Princess and the Frog' Sneak Peek 8 minutes @ 1080
Family Play: I wouldn't even bother with this feature unless you're just curious or bored.

Disc 2
Where it All Began: 12 minutes @ 1080
The One that Started It All: 17 minutes @ 1080 (New feature)
Family Business: 2 minutes @ 1080
Stories from the Story Room: 1 minute @ 1080
Five Bucks a Gag: 2 minutes @ 1080 (Really interesting)
In Walt's Words: The Huntsman: 3 minutes @ 1080
Gabby, Blabby, and Flabby: 1 minute @ 1080
Babes in the Woods: 8 minutes @ 1080
Storyboard Art Gallery: (135 total still images)
Abandoned Concepts Gallery: (63 total images)
Music Room Host: 1 minute @ 1080
David Hand's Dirty Trick: (A short prank by director Hand)
Music of Snow White: 6 minutes @ 1080
The Skeleton Dance: 6 minutes @1080 (Great short cartoon)
Creating the World of 'Snow White': 7 minutes @ 1080
The Idea Man: 2 minutes @ 1080
Music Land: 10 minutes @ 1080
In Walt's Words: Cleaning the Cottage: 7 minutes @ 1080
Visual Development Gallery: (146 total images)
Gustav Tenggren Art Gallery: (16 total images)
In Walt's Words: The Dwarfs: 6 minutes @ 1080
Character Design Gallery: (5 total images)
Color Tests Gallery: (12 total images)
Setting the Stage: 4 minutes @ 1080
Backgrounds Gallery: (25 total images)
Layout Gallery: (115 total images)
Bringing 'Snow White' to Life: 12 minutes @ 1080
The Animators' Favorite Animators: 2 minutes @ 1080
Blowing Off Steam: 2 minutes @ 1080
Goddess of Spring: 10 minutes @ 1080
Playful Pluto: 8 minutes @ 1080
Animation Art Gallery: (39 total images)
Live Action Host: 1 minute @ 1080
Drawing on Real Life: 2 minutes @ 1080
Giving Voice to Snow White: 3 minutes @ 1080
Live Action Reference Gallery: (26 total images)
Sweatbox Host:1 minute @ 1080
Sweating it Out: 1 minute @ 1080
Deleted Bedroom Fight Scene: 2 minutes @ 1080
The Challenges of Ink and Paint: 2 minutes @ 1080
Life in the Nunnery: 2 minutes @ 1080
Flowers and Trees: 9 minutes @ 1080
Decoding the Exposure Sheet: 7 minutes @ 1080
Stories from the Camera Department: 1 minute @ 1080
The Old Mill: 9 minutes @ 1080
Walt's Early Masters of Sound: 2 minutes @ 1080
Steamboat Willie:8 minutes @ 1080
Working with Walt: 2 minutes @ 1080
Publicity Gallery: (34 total images)
Production Photos Gallery: (21 total images)

Movie: 8/10
VQ: 9/10
AQ: 8.5/10
Supplements: 10/10
Final word: A Must Own

As always thanks for reading folks.

awol · 10-20-2009, 11:47 AM

I took advantage of the Amazon promocode to get this for $10. Haven't watched it yet, but am glad to hear your thoughts on the picture quality. I was most concerned that it would be "too far gone" to do very much with it, but it sounds like they really did a good job.

Thanks Goof.

HD Goofnut · 10-20-2009, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awol

I took advantage of the Amazon promocode to get this for $10. Haven't watched it yet, but am glad to hear your thoughts on the picture quality. I was most concerned that it would be "too far gone" to do very much with it, but it sounds like they really did a good job.

Thanks Goof.

I also got it on Amazon for $10 as well and it really did get first class treatment.

You're welcome awol.

10-20-2009, 09:59 AM	#1
HD Goofnut The Official HDF Reviewer Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Mississippi, U.S.A. Your resident Dune, Star Wars, and war film expert Age: 27 Posts: 6,852	My take: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Title: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc Video: 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 Subtitles: English, French, and Spanish Run time: 83 minutes Studio: Disney/Buena Vista Home Entertainment Rating: G Region Coding: Region A Only Player used for review: LG BH200 Cast/Crew Info: Roy Atwell as the voice of Doc Stuart Buchanan as the voice of the Huntsman Adriana Caselotti as the voice of Snow White Eddie Collins as the voice of Dopey Pinto Colvig as the voice of Sleepy / Grumpy Marion Darlington as the voice of the Bird Sounds and Warbling Billy Gilbert as the voice of Sneezy Otis Harlan as the voice of Happy Lucille La Verne as the voice of the Queen / Witch James MacDonald as the voice of the Yodeling Man Scotty Mattraw as the voice of Bashful Moroni Olsen as the voice of the Magic Mirror Harry Stockwell as the voice of the Prince Directed by David Hand My take: (the breakdown) How could one not know any of the stories of the animated Disney classics? Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs of course follows the adventure of Snow White as the Evil Queen discovers that she is not the most beautiful woman in the land, but that it is Snow White. I have always liked the scenes with the Magic Mirror and the Queen because Olsen has such a booming eerie voice in this role. The Queen then hires a man to kill Snow White, but of course he is unable to do it. He tells her to hide in the forest and he will inform the Queen that he killed her anyway. I won't give away the rest of the story, but I will add that this is when Snow White meets the Seven Dwarfs and ends up being the best thing that ever happened to then. This is a must own even if you already own the DVD since the Blu-ray blows it away in terms of overall quality and features. Snow White is now 62 years old and in the majority it really doesn't look it at all. Disney has gone back again (like with Sleeping Beauty and Pinocchio) and cleaned up negative to create a new master that really does the film justice. Colors are the most noticable upgrade over the DVD (also included in the box). Fine detail is also extremely well done for a movie that is quite old. I did notice a few wavering areas on the film, but I imagine this was due to age and/or print damage that was part of the negative. For its age I say that Snow White looks fantastic and once again Disney should be commended. As with Sleeping Beauty we are supplied with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that sounds great for the most part. Dialogue is crisp and clear and is never hard to hear; even Grumpy's muttering to himself is quite distinguishable. Music, birds, and other discrete effects fill the surround channels nicely. The sub also opens up during the climax of the film when the action picks up a bit. Now, I did have some issues with music being slightly overbearing at times and I also felt that there was sometimes too much going on in the surrounds. I still think that this is a great example of what can be done with a 62 year old mono track. We get an absolutely loaded supplemental package (one of the best I have ever seen) that is placed on both discs as follows: Disc 1 DisneyView: Changes the black pillar boxes to paintings that were done by Toby Bluth. Audio Commentary with John Canemaker (film historian) Snow White Returns: 9 minutes @ 1080 Deleted Scenes: 11 minutes @ 1080 Music Video: 4 minutes @ 1080 'The Princess and the Frog' Sneak Peek 8 minutes @ 1080 Family Play: I wouldn't even bother with this feature unless you're just curious or bored. Disc 2 Where it All Began: 12 minutes @ 1080 The One that Started It All: 17 minutes @ 1080 (New feature) Family Business: 2 minutes @ 1080 Stories from the Story Room: 1 minute @ 1080 Five Bucks a Gag: 2 minutes @ 1080 (Really interesting) In Walt's Words: The Huntsman: 3 minutes @ 1080 Gabby, Blabby, and Flabby: 1 minute @ 1080 Babes in the Woods: 8 minutes @ 1080 Storyboard Art Gallery: (135 total still images) Abandoned Concepts Gallery: (63 total images) Music Room Host: 1 minute @ 1080 David Hand's Dirty Trick: (A short prank by director Hand) Music of Snow White: 6 minutes @ 1080 The Skeleton Dance: 6 minutes @1080 (Great short cartoon) Creating the World of 'Snow White': 7 minutes @ 1080 The Idea Man: 2 minutes @ 1080 Music Land: 10 minutes @ 1080 In Walt's Words: Cleaning the Cottage: 7 minutes @ 1080 Visual Development Gallery: (146 total images) Gustav Tenggren Art Gallery: (16 total images) In Walt's Words: The Dwarfs: 6 minutes @ 1080 Character Design Gallery: (5 total images) Color Tests Gallery: (12 total images) Setting the Stage: 4 minutes @ 1080 Backgrounds Gallery: (25 total images) Layout Gallery: (115 total images) Bringing 'Snow White' to Life: 12 minutes @ 1080 The Animators' Favorite Animators: 2 minutes @ 1080 Blowing Off Steam: 2 minutes @ 1080 Goddess of Spring: 10 minutes @ 1080 Playful Pluto: 8 minutes @ 1080 Animation Art Gallery: (39 total images) Live Action Host: 1 minute @ 1080 Drawing on Real Life: 2 minutes @ 1080 Giving Voice to Snow White: 3 minutes @ 1080 Live Action Reference Gallery: (26 total images) Sweatbox Host:1 minute @ 1080 Sweating it Out: 1 minute @ 1080 Deleted Bedroom Fight Scene: 2 minutes @ 1080 The Challenges of Ink and Paint: 2 minutes @ 1080 Life in the Nunnery: 2 minutes @ 1080 Flowers and Trees: 9 minutes @ 1080 Decoding the Exposure Sheet: 7 minutes @ 1080 Stories from the Camera Department: 1 minute @ 1080 The Old Mill: 9 minutes @ 1080 Walt's Early Masters of Sound: 2 minutes @ 1080 Steamboat Willie:8 minutes @ 1080 Working with Walt: 2 minutes @ 1080 Publicity Gallery: (34 total images) Production Photos Gallery: (21 total images) Movie: 8/10 VQ: 9/10 AQ: 8.5/10 Supplements: 10/10 Final word: A Must Own As always thanks for reading folks. __________________ My Review Setup Sanyo DP46848 46" 1080p LCD Onkyo TX-SR606 7.1 DirecTV HR21-100 HD DVR Onkyo SKS-HT540 7.1 System LG BH200 Super Blu Toshiba HD-A20 Sony 40 GB PS3 (Now with Netflix streaming!) 156~206~My Movie Collection Latest Review: *Men in Black* Be sure to check out the Blu-ray Review Request Thread Last edited by HD Goofnut; 10-20-2009 at 10:07 AM.

10-20-2009, 11:47 AM	#2
awol I'm Fabulous. Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 3,661	I took advantage of the Amazon promocode to get this for $10. Haven't watched it yet, but am glad to hear your thoughts on the picture quality. I was most concerned that it would be "too far gone" to do very much with it, but it sounds like they really did a good job. Thanks Goof.