Mary Poppins 40th 2-disc

I notice one right at the scene where the children go up in the air to meet Uncle Albert

The video seems to stumble just slightly....

Anyone else have this happen on other copies?

Shookie,

The "stumble" you refer is not a defect; it's a normal layer change. The film was transferred to disc at a relatively high bit rate, and the film is spread over two layers of the disc. The laser has to make a shift from one layer to another about halfway through the film, and it comes just a few seconds after the children fly up to meet Uncle Albert. So the momentary pause at that point is normal.

John

Eddie,

Unfortunately, nothing is ever quite so simple. The Internet Movie Database announces the film's aspect ratio at 1.75:1. The new "Mary Poppins" keep case announces its ratio at 1.66:1. But the actual screen dimensions across my television are a typical 1.74:1, with TV overscanning and transfer limitations, closer to a 1.85:1 ratio. So take your pick. (Although 1.66:1 isn't even an option.)

My point is that the screen ratio of a film as shown in (American) theaters is usually the only thing we at home can go by. And while not all directors have the final say on how their films are matted for theatrical distribution, many do. So it's all we can go by unless we want to second guess (or try to read the mind) of the director.

Check out "Paparazzi." It includes 2.13:1, 1.74:1, and 1.33:1 ratios of the same movie on the one disc! It was originally shown in theaters at 2.35:1, but even that announced ratio probably wasn't exact.

John

Shookie,

Disney animation is usually composed for 1.66:1 frames due to the fact that movie theatres in Europe often exhibit movies in 1.66:1 rather than 1.85:1 as in the U.S. This is why most movies are soft-mattes rather than hard-mattes when they're not shot with a scope process (anywhere between 2.20:1 to 2.75:1)--to accomodate different exhibition practices.

Why do I mention animation? Well, "Mary Poppins" has hand-drawn elements!

At any rate, it looks like the new 2-disc SE of "Mary Poppins" has the intended aspect ratio of 1.66:1 (which would be the correct OAR, or Original Aspect Ratio, of all-non-scope Disney movies with animation), but it is a zoomed in picture.

Eddie

P.S. John, I'm going to disagree with you about how the way that movies are shown in theatres is the way that they're supposed to look. I mean, just based on the 1.66:1 vs 1.85:1 example that I mentioned above, you can see how moviemakers don't have their desired amount of control over how people experience movies. Original Aspect Ratio shouldn't refer simply to theatrical exhibition; rather, OAR should refer to intended ratios (i.e. 1.33:1 for Kubrick, the 2.35:1 "The Recruit" becoming a 1.78:1 picture on DVD, etc.).

John,

This is why I never bothered to measure aspect ratios on my own. Ratios can change all the time depending on what's being done for a given transfer. Therefore, to me, it's more important to know the approximate intended ratio than an actual ratio because knowing the intended ratio means knowing the shooting process. For example, anything between 1.00:1 and 1.85:1 would've been shot "flat", while anything between 2.20:1 and 2.75:1 would've been either "scope" or Super 35. When you consider that the vast majority of TVs distort images anyway, does measuring aspect ratios on one's own yield accuracy? :)

Eddie

P.S. IMDB gets stuff wrong, too, you know.

John,

LOL. I was doing a play on your "what a DVD should or may or could have" comments, but you went schizoid on me! :)

Eddie

I refuse to answer on the grounds it may tend to incinerate me.

John

John,

Have you, are you, or will you ever be a member of the Communist Party?

Eddie

My point exactly. Nothing is simple. All we've got on a DVD is what we've got, which is all I try to report on, not what was or what might have been or what could still be.

John

"So, do we have the FULL WIDESCREEN VERSION here or is it cropped?" --Shookie

Neither. The movie's original theatrical-release aspect ratio was 1.75:1. I suspect it was filmed at a full 1.33:1, the way a majority of widescreen pictures are, and then matted to the 1.75:1 we saw in theaters. The matter of which ratio is correct or better is moot in most cases (Stanley Kubrick excepted). It's the version eventually seen in theaters that is usually the filmmakers' final intention.

Incidentally, a modern television's overscanning crops the screen image by 5-7% left and right, an older television by as much as 10-15%. That, too, is normal, as is a slight loss of image in the video transfer. Nothing is perfect

John