Pinocchio's Blu-ray black bars filled in with Disney View
by Richard Lawler 
posted Mar 9th 2009 at 12:46AM
The 70th Anniversary release of Disney's Pinocchio on March10 marks yet another first for the studio, as the Blu-ray edition fills in the widescreen frame with (optional) decorative bars dubbed Disney View. Since simply picking up an ultra widescreen LCD wouldn't help, Disney has opted for 16 sets of watercolor artwork to frame the picture, depending on the scene. Next up for the treatment is Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and given the positive reviews for Pinocchio's picture quality, it looks like a good way to compromise between those of us who are happy to watch the movie the "right" way, and those who can't stand empty space caused by the the film's original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.Read - Disney spruces up Pinocchio Blu-ray
Read - SoundtrackNet Review
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
catapults.music @ Mar 9th 2009 2:39AM
I assume Disney did a bunch of market research, but it seems like they kind of missed the point. Civilians don't dislike the black bars because they're not decorative, they dislike the black bars because they are too retarded to appreciate the importance of maintaining the original aspect ratio and want the video to fill up the whole screen even if it means destroying the creators original vision. I have some asshole friends that actually prefer watching the pan-and-scan version of movies on their standard def TVs instead of watching the widescreen version with bars on the top and bottom. Stupid. Anyhow, these graphics on the Disney films probably aren't going to fix the most common problem people have with the extra space. Not that it needs to be fixed, I don't understand how having that loud static border is better than a nice benign black area.
Mojo_Yugen @ Mar 9th 2009 9:11AM
"I have some asshole friends ..."
Maybe you need new friends? (or they do.)
Loban @ Mar 9th 2009 5:21PM
No no, we all know people (friends or otherwise) that prefer to "fill the whole screen" with stretchovision rather than look at black bars. It makes no sense to me.
billy bob thorton @ Mar 10th 2009 11:12AM
It seems to me that you are the idiot and not your "asshole friends". I am a content creator for both film and TV. And while I appreciate a wide aspect in a theater, at home on my plasma I find that the 16x9 aspect is just right given the screen size. Not to mention that image retention is still an issue on all plasmas, especially the less expensive ones.
I have a 50" screen which seems big, but when you watch something in cinescope it's like watching something on a tiny but really wide screen. It looses it's cinematic quality and I personally don't feel as involved in the movie when it's in that aspect on my particular screen.
Don't even try spouting that crap about the creators original intention. I am a DP jerk. I can assure you that we always film within safe action areas for when the film will be watched in 1.85. Most of the extra space was intended for peripheral vision. I'm pushing for 1.77 e.g. 16x9 to be more standard since most premium channels (HBO Cinemax, Showtime show their movies in 1.77. We used to even shoot a lot of important scenes with the 4:3 area protected.
other @ Mar 9th 2009 2:42AM
pillarboxing and letterboxing for dummies.
zoom button for dummies.
shawnmos @ Mar 9th 2009 3:09AM
As long as it can be disabled I'm fine with it.
badweasel @ Mar 9th 2009 4:50AM
Sound like a good way to burn a disney logo into my screen. You better be able to disable it or choose black.
Loban @ Mar 9th 2009 5:25PM
What, do you have a plasma from 10 years ago? I don't know any current technology that would fall victim to permanent burn-in these days.
maty @ Mar 9th 2009 5:07AM
Its 1.33:1, not 1:33:1 ^^
RitchieB @ Mar 9th 2009 7:43AM
I am SICK of looking at the TV screen around my friends and families houses, with everything blatantly distorted out of ratio simply because they want that 20 year old tv show to fill their 16:9 TV's.
I just hope this doesn't start becoming common practice for other studios as well, though it is a nice excuse for them to roll out all those boxed sets AGAIN...
Loban @ Mar 9th 2009 5:25PM
Panasonic, on their TVs, have an aspect ratio called "Just". It stretches only the edges of a 4:3 source, retaining the original ratio at the center of the screen. It works REALLY well and you'll barely notice the stretching at the edges. The only thing people watch in SD these days are old sitcoms, and there usually isn't anything worth looking at on the sides of the image. Most of the action takes place in the center of the scene.
Money Mike @ Mar 9th 2009 9:03AM
This sounds like it might not be such a bad idea. That first Read Link has a picture that looks ok, but not if it's completely static, which would cause some burn-in (not that it's such a big deal like some people think). If it has a little bit of animation to it - not so much that it distracts from the movie, but some to prevent burn-in - I think it could look kind of classy.
Kudos to Disney for trying something a little different.
TJ @ Mar 9th 2009 9:45AM
I actually think its kinda cool. Its kind of like the theater moving the curtains in to cover the empty spaces of a 2.35:1 Screen when presenting a classic 4:3 film. And if you're given the choice of having it or not, where's the complaint?
I'll at least give this feature a try when I pick the disc up tomorrow. If I don't like it, I'll just disable it.
minimalist @ Mar 9th 2009 9:46AM
This is like the silly (and distracting) designs they put on the sides of old vertically oriented arcade games when they release them for modern consoles.
If studios want to waste time with this stuff they can knock themselves out. Though I doubt film purists or the anti-black bar contingency will be satisfied with it so they had better make it optional.
We already have a solution to this problem: its called the zoom command on your TV (or on your iPod)
MadDog @ Mar 9th 2009 11:51AM
I kind of like this and am curious to see how it plays out. There are 16 different pieces of art, which change based on the scenes. If anything, I would think this would reduce chance of burn-in in comparison to the hard delineation line for the 4:3 picture with black bars. If it doesn't look good, or is a distraction, just disable it. Of course, if I had a projector, I wouldn't ever use this feature.
Evan @ Mar 9th 2009 2:34PM
Given black bars, some people will probably think something is broken or force their TV to stretch it to fill the screen. But the artwork might make those people think "it's supposed to be like that" and actually watch the movie in the correct aspect ratio.
minimalist @ Mar 9th 2009 8:53PM
Actually you might have a point Evan.
With the anti-black bar crowd its all about filling empty pixels and since they have no interest in the director's intent then what they heck does it matter what crap those pixels are filled with? Just filler up! Pixels is pixels is pixels, right?
Commander Reychev @ Mar 9th 2009 2:54PM
It wouldn't be such a bad idea if the black bar area would disppear if you had a 16:9 LCD TV but it sounds ot me that Disney wants to make your television look pretty when playing their DVD's. It's like they want to make their dvd's look all pretty but they had better leave an option to turn that off otherwise they're risking pissing a lot of fans off.
Phil @ Mar 9th 2009 6:56PM
Just to be really anal, the Academy aperture aspect ratio of 35mm motion pictures from the 1930's on are 1.37 to 1. NTSC television is 1.33 to 1, just as 35mm film was back in the silent era, but Pinocchio is 1.37 to 1.
rider43 @ Mar 9th 2009 7:36PM
This isn't just a reply to your post but the whole subject. I haven't been to an old Disney movie in years but I swear they were in a widescreen format in movie theaters. I would think the Blu Ray would be widescreen as well instead of 4:3, am I missing something? Am I not remembering correctly and they weren't as wide as other movies?
minimalist @ Mar 9th 2009 8:53PM
Almost all movies until the early to mid 50's were Acadamy ratio. Pinocchio is from 1940 so it predates other widescreen Disney films.
Tank-Zipper @ Mar 10th 2009 8:01PM
Wow, most of you are morons, why don't you wait and see it before judging it. You can disable it by the way and actually the default setting is off. The image that was used in the example shot is incorrect; they are actually way darker and hardly noticeable. I think it is awesome and hope that Disney covers all of their classic 4:3 films with this. Nice Job Disney.
Michael R @ Mar 11th 2009 10:41PM
Disney Pictures has altered the colors making this DVD to be not a good match with the original film. Walt would not be happy.
TVManiac @ Mar 22nd 2009 7:24AM
I have done some experimenting with my photoshop lately, and I must say this movie may look good if transformed to 16:9 by cutting some top and bottom of the picture. The picture don't loose as much as it could seem, and the images filling the screen looks great.
I would love to see Disney movies two ways: first would be the original theatrical version with correct aspect-ratio, film look, and correct colors, and second would be a new restoration prepared for the home cinema presentation, including a 16:9 transfer...
I think I am demanding, though... :)