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

[kristoffer]

How in the hell can this get a score of 5(!) when it looks DNRed to shit!?

http://doblu.com/2019/02/28/the-litt...4k-uhd-review/

[BluRayWish108p]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

How in the hell can this get a score of 5(!) when it looks DNRed to shit!?

http://doblu.com/2019/02/28/the-litt...4k-uhd-review/

Ursula,(aka Disney) has great powers.

[tobymerp]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

How in the hell can this get a score of 5(!) when it looks DNRed to shit!?

http://doblu.com/2019/02/28/the-litt...4k-uhd-review/

Maybe they revised their score since you read it, as they wrote a very critical 3 star score for the picture and a 4 overall. However they assigned an Ursula quote to Sebastian in the very first paragraph, so not taking any of this review very seriously.

[MD-Blu]

I rewatched this on Tuesday in 4K, and it's been so long ago when I did, and I quite enjoyed it.

[amory87]

My girlfriend and I watched this one last night. I hadn't seen The Little Mermaid since I was a little kid, so it was a lot of fun to experience it again. The songs in particular hit me with a lot of nostalgia feelings.

The HDR looks good here, particularly in surface scenes out of the water when warmer colors are used. Generally I was very pleased with how the movie looked overall on UHD, but in certain scenes (particularly the first scene of the movie, which takes place on the ship) the motion is downright blurry when the characters move. This might just be par for the course for hand-drawn movies, but it looked a little weird and was a bit of a distraction.

Overall I'm glad to have it in my collection. I didn't have the standard blu ray so jumping in on the UHD release was an easy choice.

[Brian81]

To be quite honest, even The Lion King is a barely worthwhile upgrade. Colors are a tad better. I am wondering about Disney and future UHD titles. I guess it is really just too early to say. I guess there is hope that some titles will get fixed (Cinderella, plus the DNR abortions like Sword and Mickey's Christmas Carol). But it seems all of them have been minimal to nonexistent improvements except for Incredibles 2 - simply because the contrast is nowhere as good). Do I buy all fifty-something Disney and 20-ish Pixar titles over at $30 a pop just because they're in a newer format, even if the improvements may not be worth of double dipping? I guess for now I will keep buying, but I guess I will hold onto the BDs in the event I change my mind and decide to keep only one copy (like if I had to choose between TLM editions).

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by Brian81

To be quite honest, even The Lion King is a barely worthwhile upgrade. Colors are a tad better. I am wondering about Dianey and future UHD titles. I guess it is really just too early to say. I guess there is hope that some titles will get fixed (Cinderella, plus the DNR abortions like Sword and Mickey's Christmas Carol). But it seems all of them have been minimal to nonexistent improvements except for Incredibles 2 - simply because the contrast is nowhere as good). Do I buy all fifty-something Dianey and 20-ish Pixar titles over at $30 a pop just because they're in a newer format, even if the improvements may not be worth of double dipping?

I very much doubt films like Sword in the Stone or Mickey's Xmas Carol will get 4k lovin' anytime soon or ever.

Disney is only interested in potential big movers/sellers. They care not one wit about their animated classics back catalog. Live action classics or near classics... none at all. 20,000 Leagues, The Black Hole, etc. have not even recieved half-hearted DMC Blu-ray releases.

This is a disgustingly run studio empire. Their film history and legacy mean nothing to them except as potential profits and losses.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

This is a disgustingly run studio empire. Their film history and legacy mean nothing to them except as potential profits and losses.

Doubt if The Little Mermaid would be a big seller and augment format adoption but agree with you a million percent on the above. Disney = Apple. These companies could sink on their own weight.

[gwfb5]

Originally Posted by Brian81

To be quite honest, even The Lion King is a barely worthwhile upgrade. Colors are a tad better. I am wondering about Disney and future UHD titles. I guess it is really just too early to say. I guess there is hope that some titles will get fixed (Cinderella, plus the DNR abortions like Sword and Mickey's Christmas Carol). But it seems all of them have been minimal to nonexistent improvements except for Incredibles 2 - simply because the contrast is nowhere as good). Do I buy all fifty-something Disney and 20-ish Pixar titles over at $30 a pop just because they're in a newer format, even if the improvements may not be worth of double dipping? I guess for now I will keep buying, but I guess I will hold onto the BDs in the event I change my mind and decide to keep only one copy (like if I had to choose between TLM editions).

Are you saying the contrast is better on the Blu-ray or the 4K? (I mean specifically for Incredibles 2)
I realize this's probably a stupid question, but I'm curious.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by gwfb5

Are you saying the contrast is better on the Blu-ray or the 4K?
I realize this's probably a stupid question, but I'm curious.

Maybe he means Disney's animated films on 4K UHD are only a little improvement over the BD and is not good enough to warrant a purchase.

[Farerb]

Originally Posted by Brian81

To be quite honest, even The Lion King is a barely worthwhile upgrade. Colors are a tad better. I am wondering about Disney and future UHD titles. I guess it is really just too early to say. I guess there is hope that some titles will get fixed (Cinderella, plus the DNR abortions like Sword and Mickey's Christmas Carol). But it seems all of them have been minimal to nonexistent improvements except for Incredibles 2 - simply because the contrast is nowhere as good). Do I buy all fifty-something Disney and 20-ish Pixar titles over at $30 a pop just because they're in a newer format, even if the improvements may not be worth of double dipping? I guess for now I will keep buying, but I guess I will hold onto the BDs in the event I change my mind and decide to keep only one copy (like if I had to choose between TLM editions).

I hope they use the 3D master for Beauty and the Beast, that will be a needed upgrade from the 2D blu ray.
Cinderella is another one I hope gets fixed with a new master for the 4K.
Sleeping Beauty should look marvelous on 4K.

I'm pretty sure that only the signature titles will get the 4K treatment. It doesn't like Disney bothers with the rest of them, even Mary Poppins, which has a 55th anniversary doesn't get a 4K treatment. Dumbo's remake will be released this month and no word on a 4K release of the animated one. Now that I think about this, Disney might do the 4K treatment only for their four big Renaissance films. Sad.

[andreasy969]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

How in the hell can this get a score of 5(!) when it looks DNRed to shit!?

http://doblu.com/2019/02/28/the-litt...4k-uhd-review/

For a moment there I thought WTF, it can't be that crappy . But then I looked at other caps on this site and considered them to be completely useless in general - just looked at those and didn't look further. Whatever they mean with "grabbed directly from the UHD" (photos maybe?), no, just no...

[startrekkin58]

Watched this last night. Thought the colors were just a tad drab. Changed my setting from cinema home to vivid (I know, I know) and loved it. For the record, I don't have The Lion King.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by startrekkin58

Watched this last night. Thought the colors were just a tad drab. Changed my setting from cinema home to vivid (I know, I know) and loved it. For the record, I don't have The Lion King.

Hmm. But Vivid mode is usually shop floor mode and must be used only when calibrated properly.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by gwfb5

Are you saying the contrast is better on the Blu-ray or the 4K? (I mean specifically for Incredibles 2)
I realize this's probably a stupid question, but I'm curious.

4K better

[Agent Kay]

Originally Posted by Chernobog

Totally agree, once the Disney movies started to be done with CAPS there two "original" and valid versions: the original digital CAPS files and the 35mm print. Yes, it would be great to have both versions available in home media releases.

There are bits of CAPs in this

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

I very much doubt films like Sword in the Stone or Mickey's Xmas Carol will get 4k lovin' anytime soon or ever.

Disney is only interested in potential big movers/sellers. They care not one wit about their animated classics back catalog. Live action classics or near classics... none at all. 20,000 Leagues, The Black Hole, etc. have not even recieved half-hearted DMC Blu-ray releases.

This is a disgustingly run studio empire. Their film history and legacy mean nothing to them except as potential profits and losses.

Wow...taking a breath...do I spend the next half-hour typing out a response in detail, or just move on...?

FF, if I may, you haven't seen 20,000 Leagues and The Black Hole on HD or 4K because they're still kicking around remakes of both. David Fincher was even involved with 20,000 Leagues at one point, the Australian government was even going to give Disney a $20 million tax incentive to shoot it there (Disney stopped the 20,000 Leagues reboot, shot Pirates 5 in Australia instead). So they're holding their powder on those two films while they wait for someone to crack them. The Black Cauldron? They're kicking around a Prydain series, too.

As for not caring or your assertion the films mean nothing to them -- that's more than a bit out of phase, that's 180 degrees backwards. Disney is fanatical about their IP and their history. That doesn't mean they bring the titles to market in the fashion of a film archivist. They bring titles to market for the market.

Think of it this way. This was told to me by an entertainment lawyer in early 2000. Modern studios love big hits. Of course. But there's the long game -- a library of revenue that can continually generate interest, income, and (in the case of Disney, more than any other studio) support the brand. This is why you see studios creating a diverse range of product, from rom coms to mid-range budget action thrillers to niche nature documentaries, because it's the library -- a library of content, that can continue to generate revenue over time, over years, over decades. The Disney back catalog makes more money per title than even Warner Bros., despite the fact that Warners dwarfs Disney in sheer numbers of films. Walt and Roy were just smart enough (or lucky enough) about branding the studio and the studio product, the studio today stands on that foundation, that back catalog, and those titles still crank in money. Disney doesn't care about their library? No, they thrive on it, by the second.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by farerb

I hope they use the 3D master for Beauty and the Beast, that will be a needed upgrade from the 2D blu ray.
Cinderella is another one I hope gets fixed with a new master for the 4K.
Sleeping Beauty should look marvelous on 4K.

I'm pretty sure that only the signature titles will get the 4K treatment. It doesn't like Disney bothers with the rest of them, even Mary Poppins, which has a 55th anniversary doesn't get a 4K treatment. Dumbo's remake will be released this month and no word on a 4K release of the animated one. Now that I think about this, Disney might do the 4K treatment only for their four big Renaissance films. Sad.

They have done TLM and TLK. Plus they have gone back for titles which have new tie-ins/sequels - Wreck It Ralph, Incredibles (Pixar). So something like Frozen is possible given the upcoming sequel, but then again, Cars 1 and 2 did not get 4K release alongside Cars 3. Disney is weird. They momentally stopped 3D in NA right with the smash hit that was Frozen of all titles. But then they released Moana and Zootopia on 3D after that!

[KubrickKurasawa]

This looks far better than it did in the theater, but let's not kid ourselves here. This is a smoother Spongebob level animation with Mermaids and Disney at the helm.

[that1guystudios]

Originally Posted by Agent Kay

There are bits of CAPs in this

Just one shot. Rainbow shot at the end of the film.
As seen below: