Ruby, emerald, and yellow in Blu-ray: THE WIZARD OF OZ 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition offers six times the resolution of DVD!

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Note: the following news is courtesy of our friend Scott Hettrick from his website's daily blog — Hollywood in Hi-Def » www.hollywoodinhidef.com

Ruby, emerald, and yellow in Blu
(from September 7)

What will the iconic ruby red slippers, the yellow brick road, and the emerald forest look like in blue? Blu-ray, that is.

The 17th, yes 17th home video iteration of The Wizard of Oz in 29 years will be the first in full 1080p hi-def — six times the resolution of the best previous DVD — when it is released by Warner Home Video on Sept. 29 (DVDTOWN News Report June 9 - The Wizard of Oz).

"The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition" ($84.99) is the first of three new Blu-ray full hi-def releases of major studio classics coming from Warner this fall, to be followed on Nov. 3 by a 50th anniversary edition of the Alfred Hitchcock classic "North by Northwest" and on Nov. 17 by "Gone with the Wind."

Coming next year will be "Dr. Zhivago," "Big Sleep" and other memorable Humphrey Bogart pictures, and a newly enhanced edition of "The Exorcist" with both the theatrical and director's cuts supervised by the DP and director William Friedkin.

But first up is the new Blu Wizard, which theatrical catalog marketing senior vp George Feltenstein says shows Dorothy as completely "human" for the first time, with blemishes, more visible tears and a more palpable sense of innocence that "gives more dimension to her performance." He also said the movie has a more modern look to it compared to previous versions that left the viewer feeling more detached.

In very brief demonstration clips for the media a couple weeks ago, we could more clearly differentiate the color tones in the witch's make-up. Also more evident were things perhaps better left unnoticed, such as studio lighting reflected in the witch's hourglass.

And of course, the new collector's edition has 16-hours of bonus features, four hours of which are new to this version, including a sing-along track with picture-in-picture color-changing words; a new documentary on filmmaker Victor Fleming; a new featurette about the Munchkins; the NBC TV movie "The Dreamer of Oz," starring John Ritter; and two silent films relating to Oz. The gift box also includes renderings and reproductions of production and publicity artwork and materials, a 52-page hardcover book, and a collectible watch.

THE EVOLUTION OF MULTIPLE RESTORATIONS
The movie that used to be a holiday staple on TV for an entire generation, was one of the first dozen movies released on home videocassette by MGM in October 1980. But it wasn't until 1993 that a new inter-positive master was created from the original Technicolor negatives instead of a print (copy) of the film.

Warner Home Video's first DVD video version of the MGM classic in 1999 featured the first remastering of a new interpositive but it was still one step away from the original, and then the studio went back and aligned each color of the Technicolor strips in 2004/05 under an "Ultra-Resolution" process that created a giant 4K hi-def master that was downsized to 2K and then 1080p before converted to standard digital for DVD.

But Warner Bros, technical operations VP of mastering Ned Price said the studio was still using an inferior print in 2005.

This time they found an original 1939 "answer print" to which restoration artists could match their work pixel-by-pixel. And that work was done using each of the original Oz nitrate Technicolor camera negatives scanned at a remarkable 8K resolution level, twice the definition of previous efforts, and then re-aligned on a frame-by-frame basis.

Price said film grain was not altered from the original and no subjective "corrections" were made to colors or lighting or to remove or replace anything except dirt and imperfections. The restored images were then downsized to a 4K master then converted from there to 1080p.

That 1080p version will be the first full hi-def iteration of this timeless treasure that can be enjoyed by home audiences beginning Sept. 29.
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(bonus article below)

Note: the following news is courtesy of our friends at HOME MEDIA MAGAZINE »

Netflix to stream free 'Wizard of Oz' (Oct 3)

Netflix Sept. 8 said it would stream for free online for 24 hours the digitally re-mastered 1939 classic film The Wizard of Oz on Oct. 3 starting at 9 a.m. EST at www.netflix.com/wizardofoz »

Netflix subscribers can also stream Oz (which stars Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Frank Morgan and Margaret Hamilton), at no charge in high-definition on a variety of CE devices, including Web-enabled Blu-ray players, LG HDTVs, the Roku digital video players, TiVo digital video recorders and Xbox 360 video game systems.

Netflix is working with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group in conjunction with the movie's 70th anniversary. A 70th anniversary special edition of the film will be released Sept. 29 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc, On Demand and digital download.

The limited and numbered DVD and Blu-ray "Ultimate Collector's Editions," priced at $69.92 and $84.99, respectively, will feature 16 hours of bonus features, four hours of which have never been available before now. Every package will bear a silver label containing a specific numbered version; once these packages are sold out, they will never again be available to consumers.

The release will be celebrated by a free live concert and screening in New York's Central Park, which will include contemporary interpretations of the movie's classic songs performed by Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson and Julianne Hough.

"Making a movie of this stature available for free over the Internet on an uninterrupted basis is a first," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. "At the same time, it's a great opportunity for people to get a taste of what instantly watching movies streamed from Netflix is all about. We're thrilled to be able to do this on both scores."

The partnership between Warner and Netflix could portend a positive relationship following last month's decision by the studio to revisit its DVD, Blu-ray and streaming licensing agreements with Netflix.

By Erik Gruenwedel (Sept 8, 2009)
(Home Media Magazine)

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