|
|
 |
The Fox and the Hound and The Fox and the Hound II: 30th Anniversary Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (26th October 2011). |
|
The Film
 It's hard to believe that 30 years has passed since "The Fox And The Hound" was released into cinemas, the years go by so fast and you don't realize it until you see the packaging proclaim it an 'Anniversary Edition', once the minor shock wares off that you've aged a considerable amount over that time, the memories of a classic film re-enter the thoughts. "The Fox And The Hound" holds a special place in my memory, It was the first Disney film I had seen as a kid that I actually liked at the time. Some may say otherwise but I was a pretty savvy kid back then and didn't care for singy-dancy-happy-all-the-time-sugar-coated fairy tales that the House of the Mouse made their coin off of, such films as "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and "Cinderella" (1950) never interested me, and they still don't (although I did like "The Little Mermaid" (1989) and "The Lion King" (1994)...I know what you're thinking and I can't understand it either). "The Fox And The Hound" however was something else entirely, the film continued a tradition of talking animal films but this time they weren't cute bunnies or whatever falls under that category the animals were a Fox (a predatory creature) and a Hound (who helps hunters seek out the Fox for game). Now this was something I could sink my teeth into! I somehow managed to block out the fact that the filmmakers did in fact cute-i-fy these animals for animation, after all this is a kid's film. In any case "The Fox And The Hound" not only managed to garner my interest as a child but others too and was a box office success. "The Fox And The Hound" tells the story of a Fox, Tod (Mickey Rooney), who lost his mother when she was killed by a hunter. Tod was found alone by Big Mama (Pearl Bailey), a woodland owl that helped Tod find a home with a local Widow. While on the farm Tod makes friends with a young blood hound, Copper (Kurt Russell). They quickly form a bond, but after a long winter the two have grown up. Copper has been trained as a hunting dog, but Tod still thinks they can be friends but when an accident nearly kills Chief the elder dog (Pat Buttram), Copper vows revenge on Tod who was the cause of the accident while running away for his life. "The Fox And The Hound" would be the first Disney animated film released in four years back in 1981, the film's production was compromised when animators left to work for another company, it was also considered a transitional film for the Disney company. The film was made by the more recently trained Disney animators as opposed to Walt Disney's "nine old men" as they neared retirement from the long careers creating memorable animations over the years. Additionally this film would be the last animated project undertaken by Disney made with entirely analogue techniques. The result is classic cell animation, a lost art nowadays with CGI animation taking over, it's refreshing to watch a traditionally animated film once in a while, however I'm sure that the style might seem dated to the modern crop of kids. Despite the archaic animation, the film's story and themes are what holds it together. Themes of friendship and bond can be appreciated by anyone from any culture that speaks any language. Some themes and concepts are limitless, additionally there is a deeper message of prejudice and bigotry and that these attitudes can destroy even the strongest of relationships. You can always count on Disney to deliver an emotionally charged message to the masses. Unlike most Disney films however, it does not have a clean cut happy ending, a staple of Disney feature animations. Some would consider the ending happy but certainly not in the traditional sense, I would categorize it as a bittersweet conclusion. A brave move from the new crop of storytellers from the Disney family with their first major feature, I was also somewhat surprised with the violence in the film but also welcomed it, it adds a level of depth and reality to the film that many classic Disney films lacked. From Tod's mother's death to Chief's accident on the railway line ending with the exhilarating fight with the grizzly bear at the film's end. All good stuff. The film did have it's light hearted moments and these came in the form of the comedy relief characters, Dinky (Richard Bakalyan) and Boomer (Paul Winchell). Two birds after a caterpillar that manages to outsmart them and avoid capture. Their "Laurel and Hardy" antics are amusing and delightful. "The Fox And The Hound" has entered the 'classic' domain 30 years after its release and still remains a fantastic film for both kids and adults. Highly recommended. The sequel "The Fox and the Hound II" was released 25 years after the original and made straight-to-video. It's a no brainier which is the better of the two films, the sequel in many ways is weaker on almost every level and is an obvious cash-in feature made to capitalize on the original's goodwill. Following new characters Dixie (Reba McEntire) and Cash (Patrick Swayze), who, as you may have guessed... sing! The main characters from the original film Tod (this time voiced by Jonah Bobo) and Copper (Harrison Fahn), find new adventure at the country fair as Tod ends up... wouldn't you know it joining a group of singers when Dixie gets dropped from the band, Tod is originally proud of his singing and new friends he's comes to the sad realization that staying in the band will mean saying goodbye to his old friend Copper. This sequel doesn't have the same heart as the original, nor does it have any of the strong themes, it's simply a product made for lighthearted entertainment only, and for children its pretty much fine, otherwise it's a throwaway film for anyone that truly loved the original. "The Fox and the Hound" film rating: A "The Fox and the Hound II" film rating: F
Video
For the first film "The Fox and the Hound" the film's original ratio was 1.75:1 and for years the film was shown open matte at 1.33:1 including previous DVD editions. Disney has finally brought this film to a home video format in widescreen, at 1.66:1 slightly off from the original 1.75:1 but still looks good within the frame and mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Upon first impression the transfer doesn't look all that different from the former 25th Anniversary DVD. The image shows some flaws in the animation, inherent in the film's hand drawn cell animation are some rough lines and slight color bleed (only very slight). Disney's animation still holds up, one of their strengths was solid character animation with vibrant colors and naturalistic movement. All that is on display here, with colors that pop and in HD remains consistent throughout. Blacks are solid and overall the image is only marginally lifted into the HD realm, with improved colors, some background details are improved and the overall picture looks more film-like than before. The sequel "The Fox and the Hound II" is presented in 1.78:1 widescreen also mastered in HD 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression. Being the newer of the two films this transfer is slightly better looking, with brighter colors and detail. Still created using the cell animation process you can see that the process was greatly improved since the original film. Lines are much less rough, character movement is more natural, but only just. Overall it's a 2D image that looks good in HD.
Audio
Both films feature audio in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, French Dolby Digital 5.1 or Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 surround tracks. For the purposes of this review I chose to view both films with their DTS-HD audio. The original film is mastered from the original sound elements and expanded into a 5.1 track, purists will likely be disappointed the original track wasn't included. Much like the 25th Anniversary DVD it does feel like an expanded track, lacking in depth and spreading the audio a little too thin, it's front heavy, while music is about the only thing relegated to the the surrounds. The sequel is a much livelier mix, about what you'd expect from a more recent film but just like most straight to video releases lacks the complexity of a theatrical mix. The dialogue is clear and distortion free, ambient sounds are well mixed and feel natural while the music brings additional depth to the overall sound space. Optional subtitles are included in English, French and Spanish.
Extras
Disney has released these films onto Blu-ray for the original film's 30th Anniversary in a rather haphazard fashion, with only one new extra, and all the previous extras seen on the 25th Anniversary DVD stripped to just a handful... the reasoning is lost on me? What we have are three featurettes, a sing-a-long, a music video and a collection of bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY A new feature is included on this disc entitled "Unlikely Friends" (1080p) featurette that runs for 7 minutes 25 seconds, made mostly for kids this clip takes a look at the animal friendships seen in Disney films. It's a brief clip that doesn't really warrant repeated viewing, and frankly for a 30th Anniversary edition I really expected Disney to produce some high-value supplements delving into the history of the film and its production. "Timon & Pumbaa's Blu-ray 3D pitch" is a promo that runs for 4 minutes 23 seconds and is a clip that promotes the 3D format. There's also a "Digital copy how-to" promo that teaches viewers the advantages of a digital copy (something that's actually lacking on this release!) and runs for 1 minute 4 seconds. The disc concludes with a collection of bonus trailers (1080p) for: - "The Lion King" runs for 1 minutes 23 seconds. - "Spooky Buddies" runs for 1 minute 1 second. - "Dumbo" runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" promo runs for 1 minute. - "Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow Games" runs for 42 seconds. - "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" runs for 31 seconds. - "Mars Needs Moms" runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. - "Tinkerbell and the Mysterious Winter Woods" runs for 1 minute. - "Bambi II" runs for 1 minute 55 seconds. DISC TWO:DVD We have a "The Best of Friends" sing-a-long which runs for 2 minutes 28 seconds, the video plays with lyrics at the bottom of the screen, you can sing them with or without the help of Big Mama. "Passing the Baton" a featurette that runs for 6 minutes 35 seconds and tells us about the new animators that starting work on this film taking over from the 'nine old men' of Disney. It's short and features very little that is memorable or worthwhile. Bonus trailers appear on the disc for: - "The Lion King" runs for 1 minutes 23 seconds. - "Spooky Buddies" runs for 1 minute 1 second. - "Dumbo" runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" promo runs for 1 minute. - "Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow Games" runs for 42 seconds. - "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" runs for 31 seconds. - "Mars Needs Moms" runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. - "Tinkerbell and the Mysterious Winter Woods" runs for 1 minute. - "Bambi II" runs for 1 minute 55 seconds. DISC THREE: DVD The sequel offers a scant collection of supplements, the first of which is the "You Know I Will" music video by Lucas Grabeel which runs for 3 minutes 34 seconds. This is another in a long line of manufactured Disney kids... "Making the Music" is a featurette that runs for 10 minutes 7 seconds, and is a look at the making of the music for the film as the title suggests, it's underwhelming and not worth repeated viewings. Bonus trailers appear on the disc for: - "The Lion King" runs for 1 minutes 23 seconds. - "Spooky Buddies" runs for 1 minute 1 second. - "Dumbo" runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" promo runs for 1 minute. - "Tinkerbell and the Pixie Hollow Games" runs for 42 seconds. - "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" runs for 31 seconds. - "Mars Needs Moms" runs for 1 minute 20 seconds. - "Tinkerbell and the Mysterious Winter Woods" runs for 1 minute. - "Bambi II" runs for 1 minute 55 seconds.
Packaging
Packaged in a 3-disc Blu-ray case housed in a cardboard slip-case. The Blu-ray is region free and the two DVD's are region 1 encoded.
Overall
|
|||||
|