The Lion King: Diamond Edition

[jpanimation]

it's common knowledge that the 2010 master is a good mix of the two. it's not broken so they fixed it only partially.

What the hell are you talking about? It's the EXACT same Platinum Edition transfer, only boosted. How is it THAT not common knowledge yet? The proof is in my image account, I never took down the comparisons displaying the differences (and similarities) between every available version.

the shot in the trailer was mistakenly added

No shit. The marketing team never got the memo and must've just grabbed the CAPS files for all the films (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King) instead of the director's altered versions.

I have to agree with KubrickFan and Philo & Gunge. What makes the removal of the blue castle logo even more annoying then in Beauty and the Beast is that it removes sound effects that were deliberately there to set the tone. What if they remove the blue castle logo for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and intern remove the opening chorus with the bells ringing (same with Pocahontas and it's drums)? What about films like Tarzan, Atlantis, and Lilo & Stitch, who have custom blue castle logos integrated into the films?

[SWillie!]

Jesus no need to be so rude.

[jpanimation]

Has anyone with a standalone player gotten Virtual Vault to work yet?

[disneyboy20022]

Has anyone with a standalone player gotten Virtual Vault to work yet?

I'm not even going to try....besides my PS3 is a 20 GB (it's the only one without built in wi-fi, but it plays PS2 games) and I might get a standalone player in a new years sale. I got to get some stuff I pawned out of the Pawn shop by the end of the year...

EDIT: the reason I won't try mainly is since i'm keeping my DVD release of Lion King. All the features in this crappy gimmicky (insert insult here etc)"Virtual Vault" are on the dvd release....at least I Hope.

[SpringHeelJack]

In terms of bonus features, this certainly did get screwed. I hate the virtual vault and the spotty way it works, but on the other side if I keep the Platinum DVD to view the bonus features(as I plan to), I still have to deal with the horrific layout with short video segments tossed all over various menus and "continents." What completely frustrates me is that there was space to include the original DVD bonus features on the disc itself AND make them easily accessible in a topical, sequential manner, but Disney opted not to. Even with the minimal amount of new features, this could have been a stronger release if they just kept what they already had lying around. Instead... it just feels half-assed.

Picture and sound are great though, so... at least that worked.

[DisneyJedi]

Is it just me, or does Disney seem to be getting lazier and lazier with its Blu-ray supplements with TLK and Bambi? And not just those, but also their recent films, The Princess & the Frog, Tangled and probably even Winnie the Pooh?

[SpringHeelJack]

At least "Bambi" included a majority of the DVD's bonus features on the disc itself, all of which were pretty solid. "The Lion King" didn't even get that.

[rodis]

Am I right in guessing they don't want a "complete" set of the film available out there? That if the set included a blu-ray version and all the bonus material possible then future releases won't sell as much? I mean, they omitted pretty basic stuff like trailers, jeez, Disney...

[SpringHeelJack]

It seems unlikely, given that Blu-ray could very well be the last home video format. There's only so many times they can keep returning to that well. More likely is that it's cheaper not to bother.

[DisneyFan09]

Is it just me, or does Disney seem to be getting lazier and lazier with its Blu-ray supplements with TLK and Bambi? And not just those, but also their recent films, The Princess & the Frog, Tangled and probably even Winnie the Pooh?

No, it's not just you. I couldn't agree with you more. Disney are just getting lazier and lazier with its Blu ray supplements! I really, really miss the days where Disney had decent and more bonus features on their releases! I really wanted an Audio Commentary in "Tangled", but that feature had the most laziest and worst bonus features ever!

While that being said, I really liked the "Pride of Lion King" documentary, as I did with the "Beyond Beauty" from last years "Beauty and the Beast" edition. But I still wish that Disney could have released more and compelling features on the Lion King blu ray.

[DisneyFan09]

I have to agree with KubrickFan and Philo & Gunge. What makes the removal of the blue castle logo even more annoying then in Beauty and the Beast is that it removes sound effects that were deliberately there to set the tone. What if they remove the blue castle logo for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and intern remove the opening chorus with the bells ringing (same with Pocahontas and it's drums)? What about films like Tarzan, Atlantis, and Lilo & Stitch, who have custom blue castle logos integrated into the films?

I was really annoyed when I saw the current logo before the opening! I don't understand why Disney are using this logo every single time since "Pirates of the Carribean 2"! The logo was cool and innovative then, but now Disney has overused this logo again and again! But why?? For no damn reason at all!

[jpanimation]

Is it just me, or does Disney seem to be getting lazier and lazier with its Blu-ray supplements with TLK and Bambi?

Bambi and Alice were actually really good for single disc releases, but Fantasia and The Lion King are fairly underwhelming. The Fantasia DVDs already had an excellent set of extras available and the Diamond Edition trailer hinted at Fantasia World, so you can't help be disappointed with what we got (Virtual Vault). The Lion King is disappointing simply since it's their top grossing animated film and yet it didn't get nearly the amount of the effort that Snow White and Beauty and the Beast got.

And not just those, but also their recent films, The Princess & the Frog, Tangled and probably even Winnie the Pooh?

This actually started with Treasure Planet getting the single disc treatment since it underperformed at the box office (the features leading up to it were getting Collector's Editions), Brother Bear performed better so it got a Special Edition but then Home on the Range bombed, and it's been single disc treatments ever since (this is their new business model for anything new out of their animation department).

More likely is that it's cheaper not to bother.

Wouldn't it be more costly to set up and maintain online servers then to just write the bonus features on the disc's extra space? I honestly feel Disney would rather have a digital distribution service for all their content utilizing online streaming (not even downloads) as it gives them the most control. I just feel this Virtual Vault thing (one of the main reasons I didn't get Fantasia, along with Deems Taylor's voice being overdubbed) is a tragedy for those of us that don't own the old DVDs. I never owned the Platinum Edition and really wanted to see the extras but as of today, Virtual Vault is still not working.

I have alerted Disney as to missing clouds and the Virtual Vault not working, although I don't expect them to fix either problems.

On the bright side, for those of you who have never seen Disney Channel's making of for The Lion King, someone has posted it on YouTube:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/KMXdMCYgCjk" frameborder="0"></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/uOrvSSh2_uE" frameborder="0"></iframe>

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kJEw5w5UrxA" frameborder="0"></iframe>

It touches on some of the subjects and features some interviews not in the Diamond Edition documentaries. Worth checking out!

[PatrickvD]

Thanks for sharing. That's a nice making of. I miss those.

[SWillie!]

This actually started with Treasure Planet getting the single disc treatment since it underperformed at the box office (the features leading up to it were getting Collector's Editions), Brother Bear performed better so it got a Special Edition but then Home on the Range bombed, and it's been single disc treatments ever since (this is their new business model for anything new out of their animation department).

So, by that logic... what do you think the odds that Tangled will get some sort of Collector's Edition in the next couple years, since it did so good?

[disneyprincess11]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/tCPgUSze9dw" frameborder="0"></iframe>
^^Yeah, I'm so glad they removed this. It started off great as a Mufasa/Zazu duet and loved it like that, but when the animal chorus joined in, that ruined it. It became like High School Musical. If they took out the animal ensemble, it would be a lot better. I wanted a Mufasa song. But, this would look cool on Broadway, even with the Ensemble in it. It also reminded me of "Your Crowning Glory" with the royal duet.

But, I'm so glad they showed this! I really wanted to see it!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vpc4SBswzAQ" frameborder="0"></iframe>
^^I like this way better than the final. It shows a stronger introduction to Timon and Pumbaa.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2uoovZLfygU" frameborder="0"></iframe>
^^The original beginning until Circle of Life came along (apparently, this was going to be in Circle of life, but loved the score, so they took the dialogue out) and the original Hakuna Matata at 4:57, which I liked way better Yeah, we wouldn't have Hakuna Matata (the replacement was worth it thought ), but this scene was really fun, the song is super catchy, and it really showed Simba's development to his new life.

[Sotiris]

Squashing Five Common Criticisms of 3D with 'The Lion King' Stereographer Robert Neumann
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/07/ ... t-neumann/

[jpanimation]

OK, this is weird. Apparently, the IMAX version of The Lion King was missing the clouds and Disney took notice when the fans complained and corrected the issue with the Platinum Edition DVD.

http://www.lionking.org/news/#1065423600

Looks like this isn't the first time Disney forgot to reinsert the clouds. Hopefully enough people complain to the point that they'll reinsert them and issue a replacement program (hell, fans made a fuss over a couple of unimportant words in Pinocchio, so why not a whole piece of effects animation in The Lion King?). I just worry that Disney will ignore it like they did with the Special Edition transition wrongly being used in the Theatrical Version of Beauty and the Beast.

Now I've never really seen the re-animated crocodiles side-by-side before but there is actually a pretty big difference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C4yeyOB ... r_embedded

Ascetically, they're more cartoony but it's the animation that bothers me. The old crocks bobbed their heads in sync with the music and were lip synced with the lyrics. The new crocs just tilt their heads around in a clunky manner, not really in sync with anything and their mouths are equally as clunky. Then their is the birds. The original birds would jump up and flail their wings like a gospel group. The new ones just jump up. I understand if they wanted to change the appearance but why such drastic acting changes?

Also, I never really was bothered by the sky changing from pink to orange in this scene:



but I just got done listening to the commentary track and Roger Allers specifically mentions that they wanted the sky to be pink for the "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" number. I know the commentary track was recorded back in the day but have they changed their minds about this? It seems between this and the Beauty and the Beast ballroom sequence, Disney must be under the impression that orange is a romantic color and promptly drowned these scenes in it with their updates.

[Gabrielkat]

The inability of Disney to retain their original logos pisses me off to no end. They couldn't even do it with the DVD, where the black and orange logo was used, instead of the blue and white one. At least that one had the Frank Wells dedication intact. Though I do think that was relegated to the back of the end credits now, wasn't it?
And if they must feel the need to add the newest and shiniest logo, then let the original movie, with the original logo (whether that's RKO, Buena Vista or the white castle on the blue background) follow right after that. Universal Studios leaves the Paramount logo intact for the Hitchcock movies they own, so Disney surely must be able to do it with their own movies as well.

I hate when Disney plasters logos as well! I mean, they didn't even restore the RKO logo for Bambi on the Diamond Edition Blu-ray (but then again, the Platinum Edition DVD didn't have it, either), nor did they restore the RKO logo for Saludos Amigos (all DVD releases of that film have a Buena Vista logo, including the uncut version available on the DVD of Walt & El Grupo).

Here's hoping Cinderella will have the RKO logo when it comes out on Blu-ray.

[disneyprincess11]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/I0WATOVmLtQ" frameborder="0"></iframe>

OMG, THIS IS AMAZING! WHY DID THEY REMOVE THIS?!

[Mmmadelon]

I'm still not sure if I should buy the platinum edition DVD on Marktplaats (dutch version of Ebay) for the extras or the diamond edition in December (when it comes out in Holland).. Same with Cinderella