Disney robin hood most wanted edition

The movie's heart isn't so prevalent either. The film is slow-moving and lacks a solid, coherent whole; the stream of fade-out transitions underscore the movie's fissured and flawed structure. Now, with the majority of its most popular films having already received or been scheduled for stellar, fan-pleasing two-disc treatment, the studio has turned its attention to giving slight single-disc upgrades to B-list titles that are missing from many collections, especially those of folks slow to adopt the DVD format.

Like the "Big Top Edition" of Dumbo which ought to be A-list, though its sales fall just short of making the cut issued last June, Robin Hood is treated to a "clever" themed title: Most Wanted Edition. The movie's Gold Collection disc released in weighed in at 7. Six and a half years later, with a bit more bonus material, you'd expect this Most Wanted Edition to leave those numbers in the dust, but in fact it comes in at a surprisingly skimpy 4. Fortunately, advances in compression techniques mean this re-release is not a clear loser despite what mathematics tells us.

But, the differences to my eyes and factors which shape them are not enough to declare one disc superior to the other. The most noticeable difference between the two releases is the aspect ratio. Here, the film is presented in 1.

In other words, the Most Wanted Edition offers a matted widescreen presentation of Robin Hood , which is what at least some and maybe most theaters would have done in and the movie's re-release to screen the film.

Matting occurs on a majority of live action films today, which are often shot "flat" filling an approximately 4x3 frame but framed for widescreen approximately 16x9 so that the excess space at the top and bottom of the filmed frame are never intended to be seen. Animation is a different story, and for Disney's features and some shorts from through , this issue has been the source of questions with no easy, definitive answers emerging. Just a few weeks ago, 's The Fox and the Hound was re-released and treated to the same 1.

Clearly, Disney animators took the time to animate Robin Hood for the full 1. We cry foul when movies are cropped to fill the standard television dimensions; now that 16x9 televisions are becoming more common, is matting a film like Robin Hood tantamount to the dreaded pan-and-scan procedure? It's tough to say and the DVD is little help; the issue is not addressed anymore than it was for Fox and the Hound 's recent still-fullscreen reissue.

The package doesn't even define 1. IMDb claims that Robin Hood 's intended ratio is 1. The one person who could probably put an end to speculation -- director Wolfgang Reitherman -- has been dead for over twenty years, so I know he didn't tell IMDb the intended ratio.

Of course, looking at the two DVD presentations and comparing the framing does shed a fair amount of light on the subject. In the fullscreen Gold Collection version, the action often stays vertically in the center of the screen, which might suggest that the top and bottom of the frame were considered disposable.

But, this is not always the case, as some elements do feel slightly cramped in the vertical direction, and also it's just natural to keep focal action in the middle of the screen, look at Walt's early films which were obviously intended for the one and only Academy Ratio and you'll notice the same thing.

For the most part, the matted framing looks okay, but not enough to convince me it is the only correct ratio. Naturally, the best solution would have been to include both open matte and widescreen versions in the set to let people decide; there's nearly enough room for both on the disc with compression the way it is. If you can get past the aspect ratio issue and the prevalence of separate widescreen and fullscreen editions for the majority of big studio's newest movies leads me to think that most of us can't , you probably want to know if the Most Wanted Edition trumps the earlier disc in picture quality.

The answer is a slight "yes. The Most Wanted Edition's print is a little less riddled with digital artifacts and other intrusions. The Gold Collection presentation provided brighter colors, though perhaps overly bright. Here, hues are darker, deeper, richer and a bit more subdued. Compare the opening title shot of each film: what looks like a crimson backdrop, with a bright green book and nearly orange text in the Gold Collection becomes a maroon backdrop, a faded green book, and pale yellow text.

For the most part, both look okay and tinkering with your TV's settings could achieve similar effects based on your preferences. In this Most Wanted Edition, there is still some grain, however, and elements still fluctuate on occasion.

The picture also doesn't appear to be as sharp as before, though some would argue that the old disc looked excessively or artificially sharp. To sum up, both discs offer a satisfactory presentation of the film the picture quality in the alternate ending's movie footage reveals things could look a lot worse and disregarding the aspect ratio, the Most Wanted Edition offers slight improvement but leaves plenty of room for more.

I would be lying if I said it was, though. Indeed, I'd be lying if I said this was anything beyond broad mono; putting your ear up to the rear speakers reveals minor reinforcement in music and sound effects, but other than that, the soundfield is essentially non-existent beyond the front speakers.

The soundtrack shows some signs of age and is limited in what it achieves, but it is still capably enough presented. First up, under Deleted Scenes , is an alternate ending , which further prolongs the already excessive climax by putting Prince John and Sir Hiss on the trail of an injured Robin Hood.

Slightly more interesting, we also get to see King Richard confront his brother and make Robin Hood a knight, before giving way to the wedding that actually ends the movie. After a brief narrated setup, the sequence is brought to life by new voice recordings set to rough sketches and paintings.

Heroic Robin Hood - along with his trusted companion Little John and his devoted band of merry men - conjures up one famously funny and daring deed after another to outfox greedy Prince John and bring happiness to the residents of Sherwood Forest.

The "Most Wanted Edition" DVD also features a forest full of merriment with a never-before-seen alternate ending, all-new games, and Disney Song Selection, plus a new digital transfer, 5. Take a poll of fans of Disney animation, and there's a really strong chance that 's Robin Hood will end up getting some of the lowest ratings.

Everything about this film screams its mediocrity. At no point do we encounter an actual plot. Instead, the movie connects a conglomeration of mildly related sequences. As I discovered during Alice In Wonderland , this kind of film can work, but the material has to be good enough to stand on its own, which is not the case with Hood.

I found virtually all of the mini-sequences to seem fairly bland and uninspired. Although the Robin Hood legend features some strong personalities, you wouldn't know that from the generic characters we find here. Our main leads, Robin Brian Bedford and Maid Marian Monica Evans are completely flat and lifeless; nothing about either of them stands out in any way, and I could not have cared less about their ultimate fates.

However, fairly dull protagonists are not unusual for Disney animation. Going all the way back to Snow White , we find more uninteresting leads than we do firecrackers.

At least Robin is an active participant in his life, unlike some of the passive personalities we've seen in the past. He's still dull, though, and as is often the case, the usual roster of wacky sidekicks comes along for the ride to make the film more lively.

Few of these characters work. As Baloo in The Jungle Book , he played a bear version of himself. For The Aristocats , he branched out a little and went for a cat who actually was our leading man.

O'Malley retained much of Baloo's swagger and looseness, however, so the differences were greatly exceeded by the similarities. At least O'Malley was a minor stretch, which isn't the case for Little John.

Here we again find Harris in big, fat bear form, and the character comes across as an insanely blatant reprise of Baloo. The part isn't as good, however, and Little John adds no spark to the proceeding. Almost none of the remaining supporting cast makes an impact either. In fact, the only interesting character was Prince John. Perhaps this was just a transference of my enjoyment of the character, but Prince John also seems better drawn than the other roles.

This doesn't mean PJ displays terrific animation. It's more of an indictment of the relatively weak quality of the rest of the film. Hood clearly displays some of the sloppiest Disney art on record.

As I'll note later, I actually had trouble judging the quality of the DVD transfer because so much of the animation looked so careless. Stray lines flit about the screen, and the general presentation appears crude.

It even looks as though some of the animation simply duplicates efforts from other films. The scene in which Maid Marian dances in the forest seems suspiciously similar to a portion of Snow White. Yeah, I know it's a fantasy, but some internal consistency would be nice.

Actually, this connects to the most daring aspect of Robin Hood : it was the first Disney film to feature no human characters. Granted, Bambi came close since we never saw the men, but their affect on the story was immense.

Incredibles, The Widescreen. Robin Hood: Most Wanted Edition A long time ago, in a faraway land, legend tells an extraordinary tale of courage and friendship Details Length 1 hrs.

Director Wolfgang Reitherman. Alias Alias is displayed publicly.