Cinderella

VIDEO:

Cinderella (Diamond Edition) arrives at blu ray with MPEG-4 AVC 1080p 1.33:1 encode. Pristine, colorful, and absolutely gorgeous, this video presentation is nothing short of a dream. The picture is clean, sharp, and crisp offering a splendid high-def image. Clarity is superb. Contrast is well balanced and black levels remain deep and inky throughout. The overall animation style is rather simple and does not exactly lend itself to loads of fine detail. The colour palette provides a pleasing mixture of pastel hues and bright, bold tones, washing the image in vivid radiance. The Evil Stepmother's green eyes glare from the screen with chilling intensity, and Cinderella's moonlit dance with Prince Charming is cast in ethereal blue tints. Beautifully restored and essentially spotless, the movie looks like it was made yesterday. (5/5)

AUDIO:

Cinderella is presented with a new English DTS-HD MA 7.1 track, and a DTS-HD MA 1.0 rendition of the original theatrical mix. Offering a solid but very subtle expansion, the 7.1 track is pleasing but perhaps a bit too respectful to the original mono mix. Dialogue and vocals are mostly clean. The 7.1 mix doesn't really offer the upgrade most might be expecting, but the music's expanded dimension is welcome, giving the movie's timeless songs an extra dash of grandeur. There are many timeless songs in this movie, including Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo, which was nominated for Best Original Song. Cinderella was also nominated for 3 other Oscars, including Best Score, Best Sound, Recording (Walt Disney Sound Dept. and C.O. Slyfield). (4/5)

TRIVIA:

Walt Disney had not had a huge hit since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The production of this film was regarded as a major gamble on his part. At a cost of nearly $3,000,000, Disney insiders claimed that if this movie had failed at the box office, it would have been the end of the Disney studio. The film was a big hit. The profits from its release, with the additional profits from record sales, music publishing, publications and other merchandise gave Disney the cash flow to finance a slate of productions (animated and live action), establish his own distribution company, enter television production and begin building Disneyland during the decade.

Not only is the name of the Prince never revealed, he is nowhere in the film mentioned as "Prince Charming".

If you really pay close attention, you will notice that the carriage that Cinderella and the Prince take after the wedding has an emblem of a sword and two hidden Mickey Mouse heads around it, and when Cinderella is singing "Sing, Sweet Nightengale", three bubbles form the head and ears of Mickey Mouse!

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Cinderella is a simple but charming fairy tale classic. It is one of those rare films that works for all ages, sparking the imagination of the very young, while allowing the old to once again believe. It doesn't quite reach the same heights as the studio's very best efforts, but it gets remarkably close. Exceedingly simple but full of sincerity, heart, and love, the movie has and will continue to remain a timeless treasure. No matter what packaging you pick, Cinderella is pure magic and is highly recommended.

As per our usual Amazon.ca tradition, reviews for the standard DVD from many years ago are sometimes included in the blu ray section. Please read the date of review first, before you waste time in reading out-dated reviews.

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It's Cinderella. The art, the songs, the mice... Gus Gus, make me happy everytime I watch it. A Disney classic. Period! :)

better than the original, graffics are great, and the previews for *tangle*'s wedding was really funny
Thanks again Disney to bring back our childhood memorie