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Secretariat is just another great review from Luke!

Of course, you forgot that there were 4 competitive sports tackled by Disney rather than 3. Glory Road.

But that's just something I noticed. The rest is spot-on!

The film adds horse racing to three competitive sports already tackled -- baseball (The Rookie), hockey (Miracle), and football (Invincible) -- by producers Gordon Gray and Mark Ciardi.

It's only when something new comes along that I look back and notice what the previous version was lacking. I didn't think the 2004 restoration could be much improved upon other than a few minor tweaks here and there. I was wrong. This new 2011 presentation is staggering in every regard. As with other Disney Blu-rays like Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty, Alice is a revelation. I've seen this movie more times than I'd probably care to admit, and I was able to notice details that never leapt out at me before. Things like the knick knacks down the rabbit hole, the sparkles that adorn Alice's unbirthday cake, and the bases of the Queen's hedges peeking out from under the shrubbery have always been there, but the increased detail and clarity makes them apparent to me for the first time. We also gain slightly more picture on all four sides, most noticeably on the left and the bottom. The image is so refined that certain multi-plane shots almost look 3D, and you can see everything from cel shadows to background brushstrokes. Even the separation between background and animated elements is clearly delineated (such as the Dormouse's teapot lid or the foreground daisies Alice wades through).

Alice is easily one of the most colorful films in the Disney canon, so its color timing is very important. To call the variety on display here eye candy is an understatement. This is a very saturated palette, more than in any other transfer. The 2000 DVD's colors were too dark while the 2004 and 2010 ones were too light. The 2011 Blu-ray's hues achieve brightness without sacrificing boldness. Reds and yellows particularly stand out. Alice's hair is a striking yellow while the red portions of the Queen's dress are a deep cherry. Skin tones are also more pleasing. Alice's skin is no longer ashy, and the Hatter's is no longer pink. There undoubtedly will be those who find the bolder, more vivid colors a problem, deeming them too cartoony. While I honestly can't speak about how this film looked in 1951, I will say that I find the new palette's a better representation of Wonderland than any previous version. That, mixed with a perfectly clean and razor-sharp image, makes for what is one of the best restorations to come from Disney, acting as a hallmark for how traditional animation of any era can look in high-definition.

Unfortunately, this new master has not been utilized for the included bonus DVD. That disc is an almost exact replica of the Un-Anniversary Edition's first disc. That means we get the 2004 restoration included. That transfer is very strong on its own terms, but revisiting it after seeing the new HD master does reveal some problems. While colorful, the scheme doesn't pop as much as it could. Most hues are too pale while a few rare ones are slightly drab. The image is also less stable, with the slightest bit of flickering and grain evident on the backgrounds. Compression is kept low, and sharpness is reasonable. The transfer holds up pretty well, but it's a shame the new one wasn't used here.

So this "Through the Keyhole: A Companion's Guide to Wonderland" doesn't try to re-create the story meetings through the voice of Walt, right? I never watched the Bambi feature and fast-forwarded through the Walt stuff on The Sweatbox thing on Pinocchio because I don't want to hear a fake Walt voice. This feature for Alice is really like an audio commentary?

BTW, I noticed that Luke's been taking solo credit for a couple Blu-Ray reviews lately (Buried, Life As We Know It). Did he make the upgrade?