MARY POPPINS: 40th Anniversary

[BubbleGumUK]

My DVD Toons review just went up:
http://www.dvdtoons.com/reviews/362

Almost "practically perfect", this edition junks several features that were present on previous LaserDisc and DVD editions, but adds an amazing amount of archival and new supplements that are truly magical.

Fans will be pleased, though the odd aspect ratio may cause some confusion. The cropped parts of the image would normally fall into the overscan portions of most veiwers screens anyway, but a full 1.78:1 transfer would have been much better.

Nevertheless, the extras make up somewhat, and I'd also recommend the 40th Anniversary soundtrack that adds even more, audio-only rarities.

An excellent buy for Christmas - this continues Disney's really great sets this year!

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BTW, I put up more shots from the new short, Cat That Looked At A King, at Animated News:
http://www.animated-news.com/archives/00002791.html

[DVDAddict20]

Man! Now I gotta choose between Mary Poppins and Princess Diaries 2! I guess I have to put one on my Christmas wish list.

[LBPound23]

Originally Posted by DVDAddict20

Man! Now I gotta choose between Mary Poppins and Princess Diaries 2! I guess I have to put one on my Christmas wish list.

Choose Poppins, choose Mary Poppins!

Nice review, Ben!

[BubbleGumUK]

Yeah, go for Poppins!

Thanks for the kind words LB. I'd have had this up sooner (had got it a week or two now!) but was dealing with the Disney Treasures.

That aspect ratio is a bit of a tricky thing, eh? But a check against the Archive LD definitely shows that this is losing a bit top,bottom, left and right.

[Ruined]

It appears Mary Poppins: 40th anniversary is a victim of Disney's "Family Friendly" 1.66:1 aspect ratio. In other words, P&S widescreen.

Looking at all the past widescreen releases and IMDB tech info, it looks like the aspect ratio of MP was wider than 1.66:1, and the new DVD loses info at the sides from screenshots I've seen. Think I'm gonna stick with my gold collection release, as I don't care about extras.

[DeanMoriarty]

having watched the 40th Anniversary Edition Last Night, and having read all the reviews over at HTF, I personally don't find the new soundtrack mixes or the revised aspect ratio all that bad.

Of course I wouldn't post this on the other (HTF) site, because, as you know if you disagree to the general concensus you are kicked out of the forum.

But I find it funny that Robert Harris reviewed the movie and gave it a "great review", but once the word got out that the soundtrack had been pumped up to meet todays home theatre audiences, and everyone started trashing it, without actually viewing the DVD, i knew no matter what was said about the great picture, the 16x9 1.66 aspect ration, or the inclusion of a wealth of extras would save this disc from the 'fan-boys' of HTF.

It's a great 2-disc set, incredible picture, 5.1 DHTS, 2.0 DHTS, 2.0 Dolby Surround, 2.0 French. 2.0 Spanish, + commentary, and a disc full of incredible extras.

Check it our for yourself and see what you think. Another great Special Edition from Disney. We know they do SE well, let's just hope they do more movies with this much care.

Oh, and if you miss the Buena Vista fanfare from the beginning of the movie, pick up the 40th Anniversary Edition of the soundtrack on CD - it is included.

[tvboy]

Welcome to the forum Michael Eisner...er, DeanMoriarty!

[BubbleGumUK]

Looks like Dean missed my DVD Toons review!

You'll notice that - apart from a slight gripe about the ratio - this gets almost top marks across the board from me.

And...I also recommend the 40th Anniversary soundtrack too (BTW, the fan fare plays at the end of the Premiere footage on the DVD).