Fans of All Things Disney should find this a very rewarding release to add to their collections.
Same with "The Golden Horseshoe Revue," which was originally broadcast on May 17, 1964. All it illustrates is how easily amused people apparently were back in 1964. This 10,000th performance features the revue crew along with special guests, including heartthrob Annette Funicello (who turns up in Indian princess garb for a really politically incorrect song-and-dance). But you have to endure ordinary entertainment like "Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey" while Betty Taylor emcees. Ed Wynn leaves the audience to participate on stage, but this is the thing that looks a lot more fun to be on stage for than it does to be in the audience. And frequent reaction shots just reinforce how easily amused these folks must have been, or else how patronizingly polite. It's an awful show that goes on twice as long as it should have, but we learn that it aired because Disney had a soft spot for this show. Elsewhere, Maltin, who introduces the features, speculates that Disney "got away with" showing Disneyland on his TV shows because until Disney World opened in 1971, Disneyland was the only place to experience these wonders--and not everybody's family could afford to go to California. Even so, this Horseshoe Revue seems overly indulgent.
Thankfully the two remaining features aren't bad. "Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair" was originally broadcast in 1964 and showed the construction of what would become the biggest hit of the New York World's Fair, after which the attractions would be moved to Anaheim. It's a nice, if typical, behind-the-scenes look. But the poignant entry is "Disneyland Around the Seasons," which shows Walt Disney smiling in his element as we see this 1966 celebration of how the park looks at different times. Watching people wave sparklers for the Fourth of July makes you wonder how many times they did that before one of the Disney attorneys whispered "liability" in Walt's ear. But the poignant element of this interesting show is that it was broadcast on December 18, 1966, three days after Walt Disney passed away.
Video:
The restored CinemaScope production is especially clear and sharp, with vivid colors, but the made-for-TV celebration is also high-quality. Some of the older entries show their age, as you'd expect, but overall the quality is quite good. There's a mixture of black-and-white and color here, and the black-and-white has a bit more grain and also noticeable flaws in the film stock (a scratch here and there). Intro material is the roughest. Most of this is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
The audio ranges considerably on these features, from a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround on the "Disneyland U.S.A." feature to a Mono on most of the other materials. The sound is quite stunning on the remastered feature, and also quite good on the 50th anniversary production. It's only fair to okay on the rest of the features.
Extras:
It's interesting that they even list "bonus features" here, because everything on these two discs is really a bonus feature. But the additional features on Disc Two are several click-ons (Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland) that lead to additional footage of the construction of those areas. They're actually pretty decent.
Also included is a paper booklet that gives the menu and an introduction, a postcard featuring an original concept illustration of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, a facsimile ticket book from the early days, and a certificate of the limited edition number of your set.
Bottom Line:
This is like a tale of two discs, but really there are just two stinkers in the bunch. The rest are wonderful documentation and tribute to Walt Disney and the theme park he created. Fans of All Things Disney should find this a very rewarding release to add to their collections.
Thankfully the two remaining features aren't bad. "Disneyland Goes to the World's Fair" was originally broadcast in 1964 and showed the construction of what would become the biggest hit of the New York World's Fair, after which the attractions would be moved to Anaheim. It's a nice, if typical, behind-the-scenes look. But the poignant entry is "Disneyland Around the Seasons," which shows Walt Disney smiling in his element as we see this 1966 celebration of how the park looks at different times. Watching people wave sparklers for the Fourth of July makes you wonder how many times they did that before one of the Disney attorneys whispered "liability" in Walt's ear. But the poignant element of this interesting show is that it was broadcast on December 18, 1966, three days after Walt Disney passed away.
Video:
The restored CinemaScope production is especially clear and sharp, with vivid colors, but the made-for-TV celebration is also high-quality. Some of the older entries show their age, as you'd expect, but overall the quality is quite good. There's a mixture of black-and-white and color here, and the black-and-white has a bit more grain and also noticeable flaws in the film stock (a scratch here and there). Intro material is the roughest. Most of this is presented in 1.33:1 aspect ratio.
Audio:
The audio ranges considerably on these features, from a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround on the "Disneyland U.S.A." feature to a Mono on most of the other materials. The sound is quite stunning on the remastered feature, and also quite good on the 50th anniversary production. It's only fair to okay on the rest of the features.
Extras:
It's interesting that they even list "bonus features" here, because everything on these two discs is really a bonus feature. But the additional features on Disc Two are several click-ons (Tomorrowland, Frontierland, Fantasyland, Adventureland) that lead to additional footage of the construction of those areas. They're actually pretty decent.
Also included is a paper booklet that gives the menu and an introduction, a postcard featuring an original concept illustration of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, a facsimile ticket book from the early days, and a certificate of the limited edition number of your set.
Bottom Line:
This is like a tale of two discs, but really there are just two stinkers in the bunch. The rest are wonderful documentation and tribute to Walt Disney and the theme park he created. Fans of All Things Disney should find this a very rewarding release to add to their collections.
Average user rating (1-5):
Not yet rated.
Not yet rated.
[release]22730[/release]