Colouring Book Theatre: The Black Hole

[kennermike]

Better picture quality and true anaphormic widescreen. The Disney addition also contains the full Theater Overture, plus the extended trailer and a special effects featurette (short, but really good).

didnt know that thanks think im going to go after a copy

[Mikey]

I have the Anchor Bay double-sided disc version and it's fine for me.

as far as true anaphormic .. I can't even pronouce that word let alone care what it means

[Werewolf]

I have the Anchor Bay double-sided disc version and it's fine for me.

as far as true anaphormic .. I can't even pronouce that word let alone care what it means

It's a widescreen aspect ratio.

Here's an example using the movie Labyrinth.

widescreen.org - The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page

[kennermike]

I have the Anchor Bay double-sided disc version and it's fine for me.

as far as true anaphormic .. I can't even pronouce that word let alone care what it means

yeah I was going to say that. widescreen is widescreen .but in your case Mike I read another thread you had going on Tube tvs and HDTV LCDs and with you case since you still have a tube tv it dosent matter I agree 100%.but I think we are getting off topic this is about the Coloring Book cool Item!

[Werewolf]

yeah I was going to say that. widescreen is widescreen .

Not exactly. Here's a explanation on the various widescreen aspect ratios.

widescreen.org - The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page

The Anchor Bay release was in pan and scan and widescreen. But the widescreen included wasn't in the correct 2.35: 1 anamorphic widescreen ratio of the Disney version.

[Ranger 3]

but I think we are getting off topic this is about the Coloring Book cool Item!

As cool as the coloring book is (and it IS!), I personally like to see ANY Black Hole discussion! Keep it comin'!

I'm enough of a Black Hole nut myself that I'll be wearing a homemade V.I.N.Cent. T-Shirt and pins of the 3 robots when I go to Disneyworld later this week...

I actually remember when this same coloring book was for sale in the shops of Main Street in the Magic Kingdom in 1979-80. I can even take you to the exact room where the Black Hole merch was. Sad but true.

M

[cjefferys]

Not exactly. Here's a explanation on the various widescreen aspect ratios.

widescreen.org - The Letterbox and Widescreen Advocacy Page

The Anchor Bay release was in pan and scan and widescreen. But the widescreen included wasn't in the correct 2.35: 1 anaphormic widescreen ratio of the Disney version.

Basically what it comes down to, if you have an old style "square" 4:3 TV, you won't notice any thing wrong with the Anchor Bay disc. But if you have a widescreen 16:9 HDTV, the Anchor Bay version isn't "enhanced for widescreen TVs" so it will be windowboxed (black areas on all four sides) on a widescreen TV unless you try zooming it in, but then everything will start looking like crap. The Disney version is anamorphic widescreen, so it will look proper on a widescreen TV and also benefits from added resolution.

[Raydeen1]

This is much different than the one I have. REALLY gotta get a new scanner!

[kennermike]

Basically what it comes down to, if you have an old style "square" 4:3 TV, you won't notice any thing wrong with the Anchor Bay disc. But if you have a widescreen 16:9 HDTV, the Anchor Bay version isn't "enhanced for widescreen TVs" so it will be windowboxed (black areas on all four sides) on a widescreen TV unless you try zooming it in, but then everything will start looking like crap. The Disney version is anamorphic widescreen, so it will look proper on a widescreen TV and also benefits from added resolution.

I have a widescreen 16:9 HDTV and the Anchor Bay release I only see black areas on the top and bottom

[cjefferys]

I have a widescreen 16:9 HDTV and the Anchor Bay release I only see black areas on the top and bottom

Really? Maybe Anchor Bay did a later anamorphic release and that's the one you have? Is your TV just on the normal setting, no zoom or anything? (on my HDTV, the normal widescreen setting is called "Full", but that may just be a Sony thing and might have a different name with other brands)

[kennermike]

Really? Maybe Anchor Bay did a later anamorphic release and that's the one you have? Is your TV just on the normal setting, no zoom or anything? (on my HDTV, the normal widescreen setting is called "Full", but that may just be a Sony thing and might have a different name with other brands)

its has a widescreen setting that actually says that /and now that you mention I believe your right Anchor Bay Made 2 releases I probably have the second

[cjefferys]

That must be it then. Believe me, if you play a non-anamorphic DVD on a widescreen HDTV, you'll definitely notice that something is wrong. I've passed up on more than a few older non-anamorphic DVDs, hoping they would get a new proper release. There are a bunch of films where that hasn't happened yet though.

[mego73]

If you have an old square tube TV, the non anamorphic version is actually better since the down conversion process of anamorphic video into 4:3 introduces some distortion.

Of course for those with 4:3 TV's that have anamorphic squeeze and widescreen/HDTV's, anamorphic is what you want.

In the early days of DVD, there was a 4:3 widescreen "flag" on some 4:3 (non anamorphic) letterbox DVD's. Just like the flag that tells a DVD player that the video is anamorphic, this 4:3 widescreen flag was there to auto zoom 4:3 widescreen material on 16:9 TV's or DVD players that can read it.

The Abyss is an example of a DVD that will auto zoom on a device that reads the flag. It's not anamorphic, but when played on my blu ray player it auto zooms, instead of putting black bars on the side (which is what the blu ray player would generate for 4:3 video and I would have to adjust)

So, I think The Black Hole might have the 4:3 widescreen flag that would auto zoom it instead of it being anamorphic. I have to check it out, I do have the old release buried somewhere.

Yup, it's amazing that there is still no anamorphic releases for The Abyss or True Lies (in region 1 anyway, there are anamorphic versions in other regions).

[johnnystorm]

Turner Classic Movies shows it quite frequently, along with a number of other of the non-animated Disney comedies and action pictures. As does he Hallmark Channel, albeit with a gazillion commercial interruptions. It's been pretty nice though to sit down with my little girl and watch stuff like the $1,00,000 Duck, Blackbeard's Ghost, Monkey's Uncle, Ugliest Dachschund etc with her. The DVR makes the commercial angle a moot point. And she truly enjoyed films like Pollyanna, Toby Tyler, World's Greatest Athlete, and Darby O'Gill (with a very young Sean Connery).
One film we watched was Three Lives of Thomasina, which I'd only seen as a kid as a three parter on Wonderful World of Disney. Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner) was just excellent in the movie. It comes off as a sappy animal film in the previews, but McGoohan has an excellent performance as a misguided vet. What a great actor!

[mego73]

I just discovered the Hallmark movie channel showing old Disney. It's cool if you have a DVR but they do edit sometimes (for instance, almost the whole William Demerist, Elsa Lancaster side plot was cut from That Darn Cat). But it's great to see high definition transfers of most of those movies.