The Wonderful World of Disney Signature Movie Edition

[merlinjones]

>>It should have been released in widescreen. When originally shown in theatres, "Follow Me, Boys!" was in the aspect ratio of 1.75:1. There have been NO home media formats releasing the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio.......<<

I believe that was shot for 1:66 theatrical with a full aperture 1:33 non-matted negative for easy television showings. Most of the 60's Disney films are correctly in that ratio. 1:75 cuts off too much top and bottom.

[gardener14]

Regardless of aspect ratio, Follow Me Boys picture quality is terrible on dvd. In some of the bonus features there are clips of the film that look fantastic, however. Why does such a fine print exist for the bonuses but not for the feature itself? It's another perplexing move by Disney. I assume the new Signature Edition is the same as the original dvd release in this regard.

[AlwaysOAR]

>>It should have been released in widescreen. When originally shown in theatres, "Follow Me, Boys!" was in the aspect ratio of 1.75:1. There have been NO home media formats releasing the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio.......<<

I believe that was shot for 1:66 theatrical with a full aperture 1:33 non-matted negative for easy television showings. Most of the 60's Disney films are correctly in that ratio. 1:75 cuts off too much top and bottom.

Actually, that's not correct. If you check out the 60's and 70's aspect ratio thread you'll see that most of Disney's live action catalog is incorrectly framed. Disneyfella acquired the original pressbook for Follow Me, Boys! in which it states...


"Follow Me, Boys!" 1966 Premiere Release Information

(NOTE: The theatre kit states that the running time of the film is 131 minutes, while the DVD release is 133 minutes. That makes an extra 2 minutes.)

"Mr. Showman; The Aspect Ratio of "Follow Me, Boys!" is 1:75 to 1. Adhere to this ratio to achieve the best screen image possible, and a quality image for your theatre."

(NOTE: While the theatrical framing for the film is 1.75:1, the DVD release is 1.33:1)

[merlinjones]

If that's what it says in the pressbook, I'll believe it for this title - - that's the best reference we have. Still, it was shot with the inevitable 1:33 TV version also in mind.

[disneyfella]

Actually that's not the case either. There were television episodes that were shown matted in theatres (I.e. Davy Crockett, Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, etc), however when a theatrical film was shown on the anthology series it was a Pan & Scan of the matted version. Seriously. It doesn't make much sense to me either, but neither does the current practice of releasing Pan & Scan prints of matted films on DVD.

I actually have 16mm transfers of the original broadcasts of The Monkeys Uncle and Nikki Wild Dog of the North among others (with original 1960s commercials and all), and these original broadcasts are Pan & Scan of the matted print.

So my thought is, no, Follow Me Boys was never meant to be shown open matte (maybe there are mics in the shots?), nor were most of the other television adaptations of matted feature films.

I don't think the poor transfer we currently have on DVD is an open matte print either. The opening titles are protected in a yellow box and then the film zooms. I think the current DVD, like Babes in Toyland, Son of Flubber, and Blackbeard's Ghost among others, is a Pan & Scan transfer of a matted print.

[Escapay]

I don't think the poor transfer we currently have on DVD is an open matte print either.

The R1 DVD is not open matte, which would have been preferable to the P&S hackjob. I forget which UD thread these pictures came from (I think ichabod made them), but I saved them to my photobucket account. The first one shows the R2 DVD for Follow Me, Boys!, with noticeably more image on all sides, likely making it open matte. The second one is the R1 DVD, showing an inferior transfer AND that it's P&S from what one would assume is the matted widescreen ratio:







Disney should be ashamed of themselves...

albert

ETA: reworded description, added comparison cap. The full cap measures 1.25:1 according to ArcSoft PhotoStudio, so even that's not the 1.37:1 ratio of the original camera negative

[ichabod]

Actually no, the tightly framed version is the R1 DVD, the other cap which looks more open is from the R2 UK DVD.

[Escapay]

Actually no, the tightly framed version is the R1 DVD, the other cap which looks more open is from the R2 UK DVD.

Thanks, iccy. Edited my post.

albert

[Mouseketodd]

The booklet for Follow Me, Boys! sounds nice, although I'm wondering that the actors' quotes could be rehashed from the 'Extras' interviews featured on the DVD.

Is there any word on what title is coming next?

[Mouseketodd]

Well, I've got some birthday money, and I'm wondering about joining this movie club.

Is anyone who has joined willing to post photos of what the booklets look like (opened)? The condition of these booklets is about the only thing that could sway me to buy movies that I already own, where there are no improvements in formatting or extras.

I don't own The Boatniks, but it would be weird for me to have a nominal title in such fancy packaging in comparison to my large collection of Disney live action films.

Big Red and Follow Me, Boys! are both favorite movies of mine. It's still hard, though, to think I'd be spending $$ again to duplicate my DVDs. These booklets would have to be phenomenal. Are they?

Thanks for any help!

[mdnitoil]

Considering that they are essentially going to be 20 dollar booklets, you're right. The darn things ought to be phenomenal. Personally, for 20 bucks I would expect an entire book on the subject, not a dozen or so pages.

[a-net-fan]

So have there been any new volumes added to the series?? Also yes, Any photos of the current volumes and the tins contents would be greatly appreciated.

[disneyrecordfan]

Big Red is the newest title that arrived this week. This one's worthy of note because unlike the first three titles - Swiss Family Robinson, Apple Dumpling Gang, and Follow Me, Boys - this title was only publicly available on DVD first as an Anchor Bay release and then as a Disney Movie Club exclusive.

So, perhaps that signals the future of Disney Movie Club exclusives, especially since there have been no new titles released since last October when Tonka and Ten Who Dared were added to the DMC line-up?

Anyway, the case is the same, along with the Anchor Bay-style movie poster card repro. Of the first four titles, I liked the little booklet text the best on this one, although I think most of the info has been recycled from old pressbooks. (In fairness, I believe the liner notes for the old Anchor Bay Disney DVDs did the same thing). The liner notes in the little booklet concluded by noting when Big Red made its debut on the Sunday night show, so there was a little progress in trying to at least tie these theatrical films into the Wonderful World of Disney context.

The movie starts with the same Disney DVD preview seen on last year's DMC exclusive titles, followed by the Wonderful World of Disney opening from at least 1977, because "The Rescuers" clip is in there.

The actual film is in widescreen; I'd have to go look at my DMC Exclusive for this one to see if it was widescreen or matches this release; the back cover says that one was in fullscreen, but seems there was some discussion about some of the DMC titles not matching what was listed on their insert sleeves.

So, if you never had joined the DMC, this would be a chance to get Big Red, even though you have to "join" this line-up to get the title. So, it's a different kind of double-dipping, but odds are for the general public, a little less of a double dip.

Unless the DMC releases a new batch of exclusive titles soon, perhaps future exclusives will be released via this line and thus that might explain the "soft launch" with not a lot of publicity and the early double dipping at the start? The proof will be when we get Escapade in Florence or The Waltz King, or one like that, because those truly were exclusive to the Disney anthology series, and that's the name used to market these.

[disneyrecordfan]

Just three weeks after the last title arrived in the little-advertised "Wonderful World of Disney Signature Movie Edition" DVD series, the newest title has shipped.

It's "The Boatniks," from 1970, and I must admit, that this one has never been among my favorites. I always expected more comedy of "The Love Bug" flavor, but much of it seemed to just fall flat.

The release is just like all the others so far in the series - Swiss Family Robinson, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Follow Me Boys, and Big Red - in the blue-tinted, hinged tin (very similar to the Treasures tins), with a miniature movie poster printed on card stock, a certificate of authenticity, and then a little booklet with facts on the movie, trivia, and then the DVD inside a little pocket at the back of the booklet.

Maybe understandably so, given the film, but the booklet is the skimpiest so far of any of the series' releases (Swiss Family was the longest). The Boatniks' booklet is just 3 pages.

The disc, other than the Signature Movie logo printed onto the DVD, is a mirror copy of the standard DVD release with the trailer and outtakes.

So, there are just a few more from the original January TV advertisement yet to be released - Darby O'Gill and one or 2 more. Overall, without anything new, it's disappointing. I'm only holding on to see if they eventually get to something that hasn't been released. I'm not holding my breath, though!

[dcp3y]

So 2021 now and 4 of the 5 of these “Wonderful World of Disney Signature Movie Editions” are still available in the Disney Movie Club as of May 3rd…just missing the Swiss Family Robinson one, which DMC does have an upgraded blu-ray instead of the DVD in a collector tin. Guess the limited/minimal marketing proved ineffective with moving these items a decade ago. Another collector series left to die…I figure there may be someone else out there wanting to catch these while still available in new condition. I stumbled upon them picking up the new Fantasia blu-ray set exclusive.