Random thoughts
Some people may know that last year, I picked up a DVD of "The Secret of NIMH" last summer, a 1982 animated movie directed by Don Bluth (and pretty darn good, at that). At the time I got it, this DVD release was a relatively new re-mastering (done under the direction of Don Bluth) of the original film, available in two aspect ratios: the theatrical widescreen and the home video fullscreen.
That it took until 2007 to get this treatment highlights one of those odd facts about his movies from the 80s. They were originally captured at 1.37:1, or Academy ratio. These masters were then matted down to 1.85 for the theatrical release; cropping out the sides to fit a 4:3 television was all that was necessary for the home video release - effectively, there was more of the original frame in the fullscreen than the widescreen presentation.
Despite this, looking at the two version of NIMH, I noticed a lot of the sequences actually looked better in widescreen. This was probably because, other than letting the backdrops continue into the top and bottom of the frame, most of the action is centred to the middle third (most notable when the Great Owl flaps his wings, sending tiny bones crashing to the floor: the only ones that got animated land in that area). This preference is especially noticeable when watching on a widescreen TV/monitor, where the presentation fills the screen.
It's a subject of debate as to which version (1.33 or 1.85) is correct, but at least the NIMH DVD provided a choice. Unfortunately, that is not the case for any other Bluth films from the 80s.
An American Tail (1986) got the DVD treatment in 2004. The Land Before Time (1988) got a DVD in 1997, and was re-released in an "Anniversary Edition" (25th anniversary) in 2003. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) got a DVD in 1999, and I found a more recent release not long ago in the discount bin at a local Wal-Mart. Disappointingly, only the 4:3 version is available for these three films. While this would be fine if we all used 4:3 TV sets (The whole point of using Academy ratio), it doesn't really work on widescreen sets.
That it took until 2007 to get this treatment highlights one of those odd facts about his movies from the 80s. They were originally captured at 1.37:1, or Academy ratio. These masters were then matted down to 1.85 for the theatrical release; cropping out the sides to fit a 4:3 television was all that was necessary for the home video release - effectively, there was more of the original frame in the fullscreen than the widescreen presentation.
Despite this, looking at the two version of NIMH, I noticed a lot of the sequences actually looked better in widescreen. This was probably because, other than letting the backdrops continue into the top and bottom of the frame, most of the action is centred to the middle third (most notable when the Great Owl flaps his wings, sending tiny bones crashing to the floor: the only ones that got animated land in that area). This preference is especially noticeable when watching on a widescreen TV/monitor, where the presentation fills the screen.
It's a subject of debate as to which version (1.33 or 1.85) is correct, but at least the NIMH DVD provided a choice. Unfortunately, that is not the case for any other Bluth films from the 80s.
An American Tail (1986) got the DVD treatment in 2004. The Land Before Time (1988) got a DVD in 1997, and was re-released in an "Anniversary Edition" (25th anniversary) in 2003. All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989) got a DVD in 1999, and I found a more recent release not long ago in the discount bin at a local Wal-Mart. Disappointingly, only the 4:3 version is available for these three films. While this would be fine if we all used 4:3 TV sets (The whole point of using Academy ratio), it doesn't really work on widescreen sets.