The Little Mermaid 4K UHD (1989) (30th Anniversary Edition)

[singhcr]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Depends on the production -- you need look no further than the cel work in Pinocchio, with fine white-brush ink-strokes on Figaro's fur and whiskers and Pinocchio's red feather on his trademark hat, or gentle blush on cheeks, eye highlights, on and on it goes. Fantasia also a tour-de-force for intricate cell detail. That sort of costly, intricate, painstaking labor fell by the wayside, with some notable exceptions, as a result of economic realities. I wouldn't go looking for that in, say, Robin Hood.

Good point. Sleeping Beauty really benefits from the 8/35 Technirama negative over standard 4/35, for example.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The black borders on the left and right side of the 3D image that come and go throughout many Disney 3D presentations.

They're actually made to enhance 3D experience, but can be distracting to some.

Originally Posted by bytor

I was skeptical of watching BaTB in 3D but wow, mind-blowing is right.

I was also very skeptical of how 2D animation would look in 3D, but was very suprised. It's one of the best conversions ever done, along with Titanic.

[Geoff D]

I know what they're meant to do, I opted to say what they are as simply as possible.

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I know what they're meant to do, I opted to say what they are as simply as possible.

I know that you know. You're ****ing Geoff, for Chrissake!

[Ernest Rister]

I was thrilled to see The Mermaid Who Is Little in 3D...unlike Beauty and the Beast and RDU and the others, which had already nailed the look of the old multiplane camera without 3D using the CAPS system, Mermaid suddenly looked like it had been shot by the old multiplane camera. It was the first disc I used to test the 3D on my home system. Some ghosting aside (I have active shutter 3D, and the TV probably also needs to be about a foot farther back from the viewing area, but I can't do anything about that now), it's quite a ride for old-school animation fans.

[Geoff D]

I'm very pleasantly surprised with the TLM UHD. Having compared it in various places to the 2013 2D BD it's obvious that neither has anything that looks like actual film grain. While the 2013 has more of a noisier texture to it (which looks alright in da caps) that's exactly what it is: fizzy digital noise in motion rather than organic grain and I thought it was kinda distracting. The UHD undoubtedly smoothes away that noise and leaves a much softer layer of digital stuff behind, but it's enough to keep it looking just the right side of textured and I'm not seeing much smearing at all, it actually looks 'cleaner' in that respect than the 2013 BD to my eyes.

Something that does seem more apparent on the UHD without the grain/noise is how some elements really do have a slightly defocused look to them, not because the grain management is wholly erasing the lines but due to the original photography. Almost every time there's a camera move the line art can feel a bit diffused (even before the camera actually moves), at first it'd be an easy assumption that the motion handling of the DNR is at fault, but characters and objects moving inside a 'locked off' shot look fine. Then I saw a shot with Flounder and Ariel where he had this defocused look while she was good and sharp and they were right next to each other in the frame so, yeah, I'm thinking that some of this obfuscation is actually a camera artefact. Not a complaint, an observation.

The colour and dynamic range are a very nice improvement over the 2013 joint. I am NOT referencing what it looked like back in 1989 or on the Uzbekistani VHS version or whatever, but how the UHD stacks up against the 2013 Diamond edition. The UHD has a much denser and darker look, the 2013 looking very bright indeed, but the saturation of the colour is much more intense on the UHD, certain shades like pink and purple in particular which look quite washed out on the 2013. The colour balance has a slightly tealier hue on the 2013, making blues and greens more intense on the UHD too. Dynamic range extension is fairly decent, there's actual highlight detail here in sunny skies that's gone on the 2013 edition.

I then did some comparing with the 2019 Blu-ray and pretty much everything written re: the UHD vs the 2013 applies to the new Blu presentation too, with the exception of the new Blu inevitably looking a bit brighter than the UHD and losing a touch of highlight detail in the process (though the new BD still has better retention in the brighter areas than the 2013 BD). Something I like about the darker UHD is 'Kiss the Girl', it's a sequence taking place during the evening and looks it on the UHD, while the other two are a lot brighter.

I took a few photos, these are all doing various funky things to the colours so they are NOT 100% accurate truth, not even close, but for comparative purposes they show some things.

The Under the Sea dance. Check them purples!!

[Show spoiler]
2013 BD



2019 UHD

Kiss de gurl, dem Flamingoes are no longer lilac, dey pink at last! Check out the framing too, the UHD opens it up a fair bit. Bonus shot of the 2019 Blu-ray at the end.

[Show spoiler]
2013 BD



2019 UHD



2019 BD

Sebastian summoned by the King. 2013 BD = tealier. UHD = greenier

[Show spoiler]
2013 BD



2019 UHD

Ariel coming out of the sea. The highlight detail on the clouds is progressively revealed from 2013 to 2019 Blu and then UHD. The image gets progressively darker too, natch, but the UHD is NOT THAT DIM IN ACTUALITY. Dimmer than the 2013? Without a doubt. So dim it's like you're wearing three pairs of sunglass indoors? Nope. It's the camera exposure making it look uber dark.

[Show spoiler]
2013 BD



2019 BD



2019 UHD

So yeah, not bad. Not bad at all. Bonus pics of my Frankensteined custom combo:

[Show spoiler]

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I long for the day Disney learns that UHDs have no region coding.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

I long for the day Disney learns that UHD have no region coding.

Well, some people still don't know that UHD is region free by default so it doesn't hurt to put ABC on there.

[bytor]

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

They're actually made to enhance 3D experience, but can be distracting to some.

Interesting, I've noticed funky things on the sides before with some 3D movies (only with my Z9D, never on my old Mitsu DLP) so I try to not pay attention to the sides of the image as much, which is probably why I didn't notice it with BaTB.

Originally Posted by Bernardo A.

I was also very skeptical of how 2D animation would look in 3D, but was very suprised. It's one of the best conversions ever done, along with Titanic.

Hah I'm skeptical of Titanic's conversion too but I already own the 3D edition so I'm going to give it a try sometime this month.

[Ernest Rister]

2028 16K Release...some small issues in the authoring department...

[Bernardo A.]

Originally Posted by bytor

Interesting, I've noticed funky things on the sides before with some 3D movies (only with my Z9D, never on my old Mitsu DLP) so I try to not pay attention to the sides of the image as much, which is probably why I didn't notice it with BaTB.

Sometimes they're used only on one eye stream, sometimes on both. It can be a little hard to spot them.

Originally Posted by bytor

Hah I'm skeptical of Titanic's conversion too but I already own the 3D edition so I'm going to give it a try sometime this month.

Please, give it a try! I'm sure you'll be very surprised.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by bytor

Hah I'm skeptical of Titanic's conversion too but I already own the 3D edition so I'm going to give it a try sometime this month.

Titanic is very well done. You should pick up Ghosts of the Abyss 3D as a companion piece.

[bytor]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

I was thrilled to see The Mermaid Who Is Little in 3D...unlike Beauty and the Beast and RDU and the others, which had already nailed the look of the old multiplane camera without 3D using the CAPS system, Mermaid suddenly looked like it had been shot by the old multiplane camera. It was the first disc I used to test the 3D on my home system. Some ghosting aside (I have active shutter 3D, and the TV probably also needs to be about a foot farther back from the viewing area, but I can't do anything about that now), it's quite a ride for old-school animation fans.

Well now I'm curious, I've read TLM was the worst of those three Disney 3D conversions so I never considered it. The ghosting/crosstalk is concerning though, what display do you have? I try to avoid titles that are prone to it with active 3D.

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Titanic is very well done. You should pick up Ghosts of the Abyss 3D as a companion piece.

Good call, I've never actually seen it.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by bytor

Well now I'm curious, I've read TLM was the worst of those three Disney 3D conversions so I never considered it. The ghosting/crosstalk is concerning though, what display do you have? I try to avoid titles that are prone to it with active 3D.

2016 Sony Bravia 55X930D. Don't have too many problems with ghosting, I've learned it's title-by-title. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is the worst offender in terms of crosstalk in my 3D collection. Someone who knows more about the tech used in that film can probably explain it. Mermaid isn't as troublesome as that disc is, but sure, there's some crosstalk. Active shutters are part of that equation. Helps to sit as far back as possible.

Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King were digital files already, so like the Pixar films, the 3D conversion was simpler in relative terms. The Little Mermaid was a floor-to-ceiling, careful conversion and Disney spent over $20 million on it, similar to Universal with Jurassic Park and Fox with Titanic. Mermaid is a bit flat to begin with -- you know, lots of washes of color for deep ocean locations -- while Beast and The Lion King had the freedom of simulated dimensional depth aping the multiplane camera and more opportunities to show it off. I don't think the 3D is better in Mermaid than Beast or Lion King, but it was a lot of fun to see the film suddenly look like it had been shot by the multiplane camera, so on that basis, it's more thrilling (for me, anyway).

[SPIDERone]

Random question, and it might have been asked before..

I bought this on eBay.. everything looks totally normal (case, artwork, slipcover) but the disc itself looks a little off. In particular, parts like the "Disney" logo just above the title seems very pixelated/compressed, like they used a low-res artwork on it. The rest of the art on the disc seems a LITTLE soft, but the compression on the logo seemed the most obvious. Is this how the disc is supposed to look? I wasn't sure if UHD 'bootlegs' were a thing?

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by SPIDERone

Random question, and it might have been asked before..

I bought this on eBay.. everything looks totally normal (case, artwork, slipcover) but the disc itself looks a little off. In particular, parts like the "Disney" logo just above the title seems very pixelated/compressed, like they used a low-res artwork on it. The rest of the art on the disc seems a LITTLE soft, but the compression on the logo seemed the most obvious. Is this how the disc is supposed to look? I wasn't sure if UHD 'bootlegs' were a thing?

Yes, UHD bootlegs are a thing. It may be squeezed onto a regular Blu-ray BD-R.

Buy discs off Ebay at your own risk.

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

Yes, UHD bootlegs are a thing. It may be squeezed onto a regular Blu-ray BD-R.

Buy discs off Ebay at your own risk.

Squeezed?
BD XL gets over UHD sizes

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by SPIDERone

Random question, and it might have been asked before..

I bought this on eBay.. everything looks totally normal (case, artwork, slipcover) but the disc itself looks a little off. In particular, parts like the "Disney" logo just above the title seems very pixelated/compressed, like they used a low-res artwork on it. The rest of the art on the disc seems a LITTLE soft, but the compression on the logo seemed the most obvious. Is this how the disc is supposed to look? I wasn't sure if UHD 'bootlegs' were a thing?

What does the playback surface look like? Silver or dark? If it's dark then it's a boot.

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by bytor

I was skeptical of watching BaTB in 3D but wow, mind-blowing is right. I just saw it in 3D for the first time a few weeks ago and the conversion lived up to the hype and then some.

I'm curious what you mean by floating windows though?

My goodness, yes, BATB in 3D is better then a wet dream.

[Squeakyboots]

Originally Posted by SPIDERone

Random question, and it might have been asked before..

I bought this on eBay.. everything looks totally normal (case, artwork, slipcover) but the disc itself looks a little off. In particular, parts like the "Disney" logo just above the title seems very pixelated/compressed, like they used a low-res artwork on it. The rest of the art on the disc seems a LITTLE soft, but the compression on the logo seemed the most obvious. Is this how the disc is supposed to look? I wasn't sure if UHD 'bootlegs' were a thing?

I got my copy from Disney Movie Club and the disc label on it looks really bad and pixelated as well. I see no reason to believe that Disney themselves would send me a bootleg but none of their other 4K releases look like this so I don't know. If this is a common issue, then I'm surprised more people haven't brought it up. (I don't have access to a 4K player so I can't test the disc. I just bought for future proofing purposes.)

Buying recently released titles from ebay is generally a bad idea though.