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The Jungle Book: Diamond Edition
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (11th February 2014). |
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The Film
 "Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities, forget about your worries and your strife..." who can forget that classic scene where Baloo (Phil Harris) sings his song preaching his philosophy. "The Jungle Book" is filled with many memorable classic moments; this is part of the charm of Disney animations. They are always filled with fun sequences that stick with you long after you've seen the film, added to the mix are the unique characters and the catchy songs. For 47 years "The Jungle Book" has remained one Disney's most treasured classics and it's available again on Blu-ray for fans both old and new to enjoy. "The Jungle Book" is the nineteenth animated feature produced by the Walt Disney Company and released in 1967. The film is loosely based on the stories of Mowgli, a feral child raised by the animals of the jungle by Rudyard Kipling. Note the use of the word loosely, during the production Walt Disney told the animators to "throw away" Kipling's book because of the dark and dramatic nature. The adaptation has been given a lighthearted approach, tailored for children with songs and as the saying goes has been "Disney-fied". "The Jungle Book" also marks the end of an era at Disney, as it was the last film to be personally overseen by Walt Disney. He died during the film's production on the 15th December 1966. "The Jungle Book" tells the story of a man-cub Mowgli (Bruce Reitherman), who as an infant was found alone in a boat by a panther, Bagheera (Sebastian Cabot). Bagheera took the boy and placed him in the care of wolves that raised him. Now a boy, Mowgli must leave the jungle because the feared tiger Shere Khan (George Sanders) has returned to the jungle and plans on killing the man-cub. Bagheera tries to return Mowgli to the humans in an effort to protect him but Mowgli doesn't want to leave his surroundings. During their journey through the jungle Mowgli encounters a friendly bear Baloo, a conniving snake Kaa (Sterling Holloway), the primate King Louie (Louis Prima) and a variety of other encounters including the terrifying Shere Khan. The premise of "The Jungle Book" is relatively simple, boy is found in the jungle, boy is raised by wolves, boy's life is threatened and he must return to civilization despite wanting to stay in the jungle. Despite this uncomplicated plot, the film is marked with many touches of excellence including the varied animals that populate the jungle each interesting and unique in their own way. And like many Disney animated animals all seem to have characteristics and traits that are human and thus audiences can identify with, begging the question "what animal are you?" Being a product of the 1960's the film's tone is grounded in that decade, for example some of the dialogue is very 60's-esque, "Ha-Ha! Man that's what I call a swinging party" exclaims Baloo in one scene and the Vultures Buzzie (J. Pat O'Malley), Ziggy (Digby Wolfe), Dizzy (Lord Tim Hudson) and Flaps (Chad Stuart) were at one point supposed to be voiced by The Beatles but because of a scheduling conflict this never materialized, the characters eventually became a parody of the fab four. I've never been a fan of musicals, and sometimes musical moments in animated films are often cheesy and lame, the exception being Disney films pre-dating the 1970's (although a few films made after the 70's included some rather inspired music) but the songs in these films were always catchy without being annoying. A key element in my opinion, the songs were light, well composed and written and almost always well executed and "The Jungle Book" is no exception. The film includes striking animation, wonderful characters, catchy music and a series of exciting sequences that never bore the viewer and the wonderful thing about home video is that you can continue to revisit these films and share them with loved ones and children to inspire a whole new generation of fans. It's another in a line of classic Disney films and a true fan while not likely need further motivation to pick it up.
Video
"The Jungle Book" has seen several releases on home video in different ratios, the original DVD release from 1999 was a "Limited Issue" available for only 60 days before it was retired and placed out of print. That edition was released in a 1.33:1 full frame ratio, this ratio featured more information on the top and bottom of the screen, revealing slightly more of the animated frame. The original film was drawn in this ratio and then matted for a theatrical release. A second DVD release in 2007 celebrated the 40th anniversary (see review here) and presented the film in it's theatrical ratio of 1.75:1, considered the original "theatrical ratio" creating a widescreen effect and as a result the information at the top and bottom was lost in the matting, however, this information wasn't really supposed to be seen. the 1.75:1 ratio can be considered the correct ratio to view this film. The Blu-ray edition presents the film in this widescreen ratio, the 1.75:1 image is mastered in high definition 1080p 24/fps using AVC MPEG-4 compression codec. Disney generally takes great care in preserving their films, most notably their early animated catalog. First impressions of this transfer will show a clean and bright image. The colors are terrific and they certainly pop. The sketchy line animation also seems bolder and more defined, and Disney have certainly done a clean up on the image removing most instances of dirt and scratches, however they have been a tad overzealous in their clean up. Digital Noise Reduction (DNR) seems to have been applied here removing almost all instances of grain. Finer animation lines tend to suffer as a result of this process, and at times the image looks artificially sharp. I was looking forward to a spotless, brilliant transfer from Disney, but the DNR was a distraction.
Audio
Four audio tracks are included here, a newly mixed English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround (48kHz/24-bit) as well as a French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, with the film's original audio track also present in English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono. Purists will appreciate the fact Disney included the original mono mix. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its 7.1 audio. The film original audio was up-mixed to 7.1, a strange choice, as the film's original audio was mostly made of up dialogue and music. 7.1 is somewhat of a waste, with dialogue taking center stage, and the music mainly utilizing the surround channels with the occasional surround effect. The problem here is that there wasn't enough depth in the original audio to expand it to multiple channels. The upside is that the audio is crisp and clean. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Disney has released this "Diamond Edition" with a nice variety of supplements that make up some new content plus content from the 2007 "40th Anniversary" DVD release. Below is a closer look at these extras. DISC ONE: BLU-RAY The film can be viewed with an optional feature-length audio commentary by composer Richard M. Sherman, animator Andreas Deja and the voice of Mowgli Bruce Reitherman plus guest archival appearances interviews with director Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman, directing animators Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas and co-screenwriter Larry Clemmons. The in-studio participants provide a wonderfully layered and informative track covering aspects of the production including how the animators used live references for Mowgli and how Bruce was directed for the both the reference and the voice work by his father, animator Deja (who did not work on this film) acts as moderator providing with Sherman and Reitherman questions and ques for the conversation. Sherman talks about writing the songs (although he and hi brother did wrote all but the now famous "Bare Necessities". The archival interviews add further information regarding the animation process and creating the various sequences as well as the adaptation process among other things. This commentary is a top notch effort from Disney, it provides the viewer with plenty of trivia and information on this classic film and for fans it's a feature you don't want to skip. The film can be viewed with two new video introductions (1080p) the first from Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller which runs for 1 minute 4 seconds and a second video introduction (1080p) by Richard M. Sherman which runs for 30 seconds. Next up is the "Music, Memories & Mowgli: A Conversation with Richard M. Sherman, Diane Disney Miller and Floyd Norman" (1080p) a featurette which runs for 9 minutes 49 seconds, these participants all take a look back at the making of the film, consider this a condensed version of the commentary track. "Alternate Ending - Mowgli and the Hunter" (1080p) is a featurette which runs for 8 minutes 46 seconds, this clip takes a look at a different ending that was originally conceived for the film and recently discovered in the Disney vaults. "I Wan'na Be Like You: Hangin' Out at Disney's Animal Kingdom" (1080p) is another featurette which runs for 18 minutes 25 seconds, is a fluff piece about a look inside the Animal Kingdom. Also featured is "Bear-E-Oke" (1080p) which is a sing-a-long feature that allows viewers to skip to the songs in the film which you can sing along to, you can play these individually or with a 'play all' option. The songs featured are: - "Trust in Me" - "I Wan'na Be Like You" - "The Bare Necessities" - "Colonel Hathi's March" - "That's What Friends Are For" Next up us "@DisneyAnimation: Sparking Creativity" (1080p), afeaturette which runs for 9 minutes 14 seconds, this takes a look at a new initiative at Disney that allows staff to come up with new ideas for the company. They are encouraged to be as creative as possible. "The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book" (480i) documentary is one of the primary supplements on this disc ported over from the DVD. The documentary runs for a total of 46 minutes 23 seconds. I was afraid that there would be a lot of repetition from the commentary in this feature, but there was very little. This comprehensive features takes a look at the entire production process interviewing key people involved in the film as we get a look at the adaptation process through to the music and songs, casting of the voice talent and the animation process including a look at the legendary duo Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas who together animated over half of this film including some of the key and now classic sequences. This is a superb documentary that explores the making of and makes a welcomed addition to this disc. The feature is broken into five sections that include: - "Walt's Lasting Impressions" - "Kings of the Jungle" - "Drawn to the Voices" - "The Jungle Beat" - "The Last Act" "Disney's Kipling: Walt's Magic Touch on a Literary Classic" (480i) featurette runs for 15 minutes and explores the fundamental differences between the Disney feature and the original book. This compares the original treatment versus the book and also looks at how the film turned out. Key scenes are examined and compared in terms of tone, Mowgli's journey and story elements including the concept to entertain and create unique characters which was Disney's mantra. The fundamental differences are broad and this clip highlights them for the viewer. Following that is "The Lure of The Jungle Book" (480i), a featurette that runs for 9 minutes 28 seconds, this clip takes a look at how the film inspired and influenced the work of current Disney animators and how the film has also been used as reference for other key Disney films. Animators take us through the first time they saw the film and the impact it had on them. "Mowgli's Return to the Wild" (480i) featurette which runs for 5 minutes 9 seconds, this clip focuses on Bruce Reitherman's journey from voice actor on this film to wildlife cameraman and the lessons he learned from his director father that he still follows today in his career. "Frank & Ollie: Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston Discuss Character Animation" (480i) is a featurette of archival clips which run for 3 minutes 45 seconds and features the two legendary animators discussing character animation including the use of live action reference, creating movement and weight as well as the importance of expressive eyes. "Deleted Scene: The Lost Character - Rocky the Rhino" (480i) is a featurette which runs for 6 minutes 36 seconds, this clip features the scene in it's storyboarded phase, the scene introduces the Rhino character who would have made his appearance along with the vultures however it was dropped because Walt feared that there were too many action-orientated scenes that this one was not necessary and therefore dropped. "DisneyPedia: Junglemania!" (480i) is a featurette that runs for 14 minutes 21 seconds and is an educational look at the Jungles of India and the animals that inspired the characters of the film. The Original "Disney Song Selection" sing-a-long feature also makes an appearance here as it did on the DVD release (not sure why this feature appears twice, in the main menu section and a section under the DVD extras), this feature omits one of the songs from the Blu-ray section. You can view the clips from the film with or without lyric subtitles so you can sing along to it, these selections can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' function, the songs included are: - "Colonel Hathi's March" - "The Bare Necessities" - "I Wan'na Be Like You" - "That's What Friends Are For" The disc also includes a music video (480i) for "I Wan'na Be Like You" performed by The Jonas Brothers, a sugary-pop updated version of the song from the film. I personally hate it when Disney does this, why do we need a reworking of this classic song by The Jonas Brothers? The disc also features an info page which a disclaimer that runs for 8 seconds. Finally the Blu-ray is authored with bonus trailers (1080p) for: - "Sleeping Beauty" which runs for 1 minute 16 seconds. - "The Muppets Most Wanted" which runs for 1 minute 15 seconds. - "Frozen" which runs for 1 minute 32 seconds. - "Disney Movie Rewards" spot which runs for 19 seconds. - "Disney Parks" spot which runs for 32 seconds. - "Disney Store" spot which runs for 32 seconds. - "The Pirate Fairy" which runs for 1 minute 23 seconds. DISC TWO: DVD This is a DVD version of the film, included is also a code for a digital copy version of the film.
Packaging
This "Diamond Edition" release is packaged in a 2-disc Blu-ray keep case that is housed in a gold cardboard slip-cover.
Overall
This new high definition release wasn't what I expected, especially a transfer featuring DNR and an up-mixed track that doesn't quite cut it. The extra are terrific however some supplements from the previous
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