Best Disney Blu-Ray?

All topics relating to Disney-branded content.
Post Reply
User avatar
PeterPanfan
Diamond Edition
Posts: 4553
Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2007 1:43 pm
Location: USA
Contact:

Best Disney Blu-Ray?

Post by PeterPanfan »

Putting aside any personal biases or affinities to certain films aside, what do you think is Disney's best Blu-Ray release so far?

Answer in terms of visuals, audio, supplementary material, packaging, etc. I'm curious to see what everyone thinks.
User avatar
Disney_freak
Gold Classic Collection
Posts: 156
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:55 pm
Location: United States

Post by Disney_freak »

In terms of supplements Beauty and the Beast blows any Blu-ray out of the water, however many people argue the transfer is horrid, so I guess you couldn't say its the best. I think Snow White or Sleeping Beauty are some other great transfers.
User avatar
ProfessorRatigan
Special Edition
Posts: 668
Joined: Tue Dec 13, 2011 10:10 pm
Location: Arkansas

Post by ProfessorRatigan »

I own the following:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition
Pinocchio Platinum Edition
Fantasia/Fantasia 2000 2-Movie Collection
Dumbo 70th Anniversary Edition
Bambi Diamond Edition
Cinderella Diamond Edition
Alice in Wonderland 60th Anniversary Edition
Peter Pan Diamond Edition
Lady and the Tramp Diamond Edition
Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition
The Arisocats Special Edition
The Rescuers/Down Under 2-Movie Collection
The Great Mouse Detective
Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition
The Lion King Diamond Edition
The Princess and the Frog Combo Pack
Tangled 3D Combo Pack
Winnie the Pooh Combo Pack

So, those are the only ones I can really judge. As you can see, I've avoided the '2-movie collections' of films that came with cheapquels. I DO plan on importing those (The Fox and the Hound, Pocahontas and Mulan) from Amazon U.K. in the future, however. Hunchback, though, will be the ONLY film I get that includes its sequel. I've also put off getting the later films like Treasure Planet, Home on the Range, and Chicken Little through Bolt, not because I'm against owning them, but for financial reasons. (Which is the same reason I've yet to import FATH and Pocahontas, honestly.)

Of all the Disney blu-rays that I own, my personal favorite is Sleeping Beauty. I love the film itself, but the visual quality is jaw-dropping on that release. The special features are also great. (Then, it's a platinum edition release. Back when Disney weren't skimping out on special features... Ah, those were the days...) I also have a bit of a personal history with that particular blu-ray. I only got into buying Disney blu-rays around the time Snow White's Diamond Edition came out. I think that was in 2010? By that time, Sleeping Beauty was 'in the vault' and I had a hell of a hard time tracking a copy down.

My least favorite release is the Great Mouse Detective. I love the film. One of my favorites. That's why this release let me down. The visual quality looks poor to me. (It seems so...blurry.) I never got around to buying the Mystery in the Mist DVD of GMD, instead having stuck with my 2002 DVD because I knew a blu-ray was inevitable. Man, did the transfer disappoint me. The special features are non-existent (they couldn't even give the film a commentary? I'd love to hear more about its production history, and what Musker and Clements have to say about the film itself, and how they feel about it. I have no idea about ANY of that, really.) The artwork on the release is also horrible. Basil looks creepy, Dawson, as one forum member pointed out, looks like he's on shrooms (:lol: ) and Olivia is looking up like she's just seen Jesus incarnate. They couldn't give us better art than THAT? Seriously, why isn't Ratigan, the TOP BILLED character in the credits, given representation? At least the old VHS had him on there. (Though terribly off-model...) As a fan of the film, its blu-ray treatment let me down. Though, I'm sad to say, it didn't surprise me in the least.
User avatar
NeverLand
Gold Classic Collection
Posts: 278
Joined: Tue Apr 12, 2011 1:23 am
Location: Qatar

Post by NeverLand »

Pinocchio - Platinum Edition
Sleeping Beauty - Platinum Edition
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - Diamond Edition
PatrickvD
Signature Collection
Posts: 5207
Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 11:34 am
Location: The Netherlands

Post by PatrickvD »

ProfessorRatigan wrote:Of all the Disney blu-rays that I own, my personal favorite is Sleeping Beauty. I love the film itself, but the visual quality is jaw-dropping on that release.
This. Easily my favorite Blu-ray release.
Wonderlicious
Diamond Edition
Posts: 4661
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:47 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Post by Wonderlicious »

Basically anything prior to 2011. ;)

With regards to overall bonus features, Snow White and particularly Beauty and the Beast are the most comprehensive AND do the most with the Blu-Ray technology, even if they drop some important laserdisc and DVD materials. Sleeping Beauty probably has the best picture quality, and I also greatly appreciate the effort that was made on Dumbo after having seen it for years in such a grimey, grainy state compared to its contemporaries.
User avatar
Prince Edward
Anniversary Edition
Posts: 1184
Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:23 pm
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Contact:

Post by Prince Edward »

Easily the "Sleeping Beauty" Blu-ray release because of it's breathtaking picture and the substantial collection of bonus material.
Favorite Disney-movies: Snow White, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, Tangled, Frozen, Pirates, Enchanted, Prince of Persia, Tron, Oz The Great and Powerful
User avatar
DisneyJedi
Platinum Edition
Posts: 3748
Joined: Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:53 pm
Gender: Male

Post by DisneyJedi »

Honestly, my answer would have to be...

Sleeping Beauty. Sort of obvious, but hey. It was the first Disney film, let alone the first film altogether, that I got on Blu-ray. And boy, did the guys at Disney deliver with this.
User avatar
milojthatch
Collector's Edition
Posts: 2646
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 1:34 am

Post by milojthatch »

I'd have to say a lot of the early Walt-era animated films, with "Snow White" maybe being the best.

While far from the best, I have to give an honorable mention for the recent "Heavyweights" Blu-ray. It was such an improvement over the DVD release, to me it represents how Blu-ray SHOULD be, making a case to the pubic why re-buying a title is worth to upgrade. It fixed the aspect ratio issues, looks great and added extras features to the disc.
____________________________________________________________
All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

-Walt Disney
Marce82
Anniversary Edition
Posts: 1475
Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2005 1:48 pm
Location: Los Angeles

Post by Marce82 »

MiloThatch.... such as...?
User avatar
REINIER
Anniversary Edition
Posts: 1026
Joined: Tue Jul 31, 2007 3:15 am
Location: NETHERLANDS, THE

Post by REINIER »

Sleeping Beauty, handsdown! Although Beauty and the Beast is a close second for me. Both feauture great documentaries, solid visuals and great audio
When it comes to brains, I got the lion-share,
but when it comes to bruth strength, I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool
Image
User avatar
Vlad
Collector's Edition
Posts: 2504
Joined: Mon May 03, 2010 1:58 am

Re: Best Disney Blu-Ray?

Post by Vlad »

For me, it's Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Snow White, Dumbo, Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast. Great transfer, beautiful restoration, amazing sound, and exhaustive bonus features.
Image
If it's not baroque, don't fix it.
Post Reply