Dinosaur: 2 Disc Collector's Edition (2000) |
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Dinosaur: 2 Disc Collector's Edition (2000) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Family |
Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary Game-Aladar's Adventure; DinoSearch Featurette-Dinopedia Active Subtitle Track-Behind-The-Scenes Viewing Mode (14) Music Video-Orange Blue Theatrical Trailer Featurette-Proof of Concept Test 1996; Live Action Backplate Test 1996 Featurette-Early Presentation Reel Dec 1996; Presentation Reel Oct 1998 Gallery-Visual Development Easter Egg-Walt Disney Presents Featurette-Designing The Dinosaurs; Building The Dinosaurs; Turnarounds Gallery-Dinosaur Character Design; Prelim Lemur Design; Lemur Design Featurette-Building The Lemurs; Turnarounds Outtakes Featurette-Creating A Prehistoric World;The Monster Cloud;The Dino Cam Featurette-Story Reel & 3D Workbook; Progression Reels Featurette-Music; Sound Design; Audio Mix Demonstration Deleted Scenes-6 DVD Credits |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2000 | ||
| Running Time | 78:44 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By |
Eric Leighton Ralph Zontag |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Walt Disney Studios Home Ent. |
Starring |
DB Sweeney Ossie Davis Alfre Woodard Samuel E Wright Julianna Margulies |
| Case | Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual | ||
| RPI | $39.95 | Music | James Newton Howard |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 1.78:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.85:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English English for the Hearing Impaired |
Smoking | No |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
After a very long wait, the 2-disc Collector's Edition of Disney's Dinosaur has finally arrived in R4. A landmark Disney film that seamlessly blends live action backgrounds with digitally animated characters, Dinosaur is not only a great family film, but it stands as a great achievement in film-making as well.
Firstly, I must admit that I, like many others, harbour a great fascination with dinosaurs. In terms of DVDs, that means that I own every dino-related DVD, from the Walking With Dinosaurs DVDs to the Jurassic Park DVDs. The wonders of technology really have brought dinosaurs to life — not as imagined in Jurassic Park, but rather through the wonder of CGI.
Set during the end of the Cretaceous Period, Dinosaur tells a simple story about hope, courage, and caring. A baby iguanodon, Aladar (DB Sweeney), is left orphaned after an attack by a carnotaur. A strange twist of fate has this baby dinosaur raised by lemurs, Yar (Ossie Davis), and Plio (Alfre Woodard). Their idyllic and peaceful world is brought to a tragic end when a meteor crashes to Earth, and Aladar, and his adopted family, must set off to find a new home. On their journey they meet a herd of dinosaurs migrating to their nesting ground. The herd is being driven mercilessly by a grouchy iguanodon, Kron (Samuel E Wright). Aladar befriends two of the slower members of the herd, Eema (Della Reese) and Baylene (Joan Plowright). Aladar also manages to catch the eye of Kron's sister, Neera (Julianna Margulies). While Kron has imposed a 'survival of the fittest' culture on to the herd, Aladar rejects this philosophy, rather choosing to care for the weak and the slow. In doing so, Aladar's compassion and courage sets a positive example for others to follow.
I should note that the only difference between this Collector's Edition and the original R4 DVD release is the addition of a second disc of extras.
The transfer is sublime. This movie seamlessly combines CGI and hand-drawn characters and elements, with live action backgrounds, and a serious amount of digital and traditional retouching, to create a final composite that is truly marvellous.
The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which is pretty close to the theatrical release that was 1.85:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.
The image is razor sharp. For example consider the fine detail of the landscape at 22:12, or Aladar's skin texture at 22:54. The shadow detail and black level are great, and there was no low level noise.
The colour is excellent, and the film-makers' ability to seamlessly blend the colour, shading, shadows, and lighting of the live action and animated components is truly remarkable.
There are no MPEG artefacts present. Film-To-Video Artefacts are never a problem, however very occasionally a few objects have a very slight shimmer, such as Yar's hair at 17:20. This is hardly noticeable, and it is certainly not distracting.
There are no problems with film artefacts.
English and English for the Hearing Impaired subtitles are present on the disc, and they are both accurate.
This is a RSDL disc, but I did not spot a layer change. After looking at the disc with DVD-ROM software, it seems that the movie is on one layer, and the extras on the other.
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| Shadow Detail | |
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| Grain/Pixelization | |
| Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
| Film Artefacts | |
| Overall | |
There are two audio options: The feature in English Dolby Digital 5.1 (384kb/s), and an English Audio Commentary, in Dolby Digital 2.0 (192kb/s).
The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent on the default English Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track.
The musical score is credited to James Newton Howard, and it is a suitably dramatic orchestral score that manages to engender feelings of grandeur, tenderness, and humour as required.
There is plenty of surround presence and activity. The rear speakers are used very aggressively and effectively throughout to help carry the score and provide ambience/effects, for example at 66:11 when a carnotaur attacks.
The subwoofer is also utilised very heavily throughout to support both the score, and the sound effects, such as the explosion at 17:56.
| Dialogue | |
| Audio Sync | |
| Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
| Surround Channel Use | |
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| Overall | |
This Collector's Edition is all about extras. All extras are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio.
As Disc One is identical to the original R4 DVD release, these are the same extras that appeared on the original DVD release.
An animated menu, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.
An audio commentary with directors Eric Leighton, Ralph Zondag, Visual Effects Supervisor Neil Krepela, and Digital Effects Supervisor Neil Eskuri . These gents focus very heavily on the technical aspects of the production, and it is a rewarding commentary.
A kid's game.
Simple, dino-related information aimed at kids.
Another kid's game.
Behind-the-Scenes Viewing Mode
A little similar to "following the white rabbit" with the Matrix DVD, this extra provides "fossil icons" during the movie. Using the remote, one can activate the behind-the-scenes information relating to that scene. Alternatively, one can also access these snippets collectively, through a separate menu. They include two deleted scenes, and an alternative ending. This extra is divided up into the following segments:
The Video Hits marketing for the movie.
A trailer based on the pterosaur sequence of the movie.
The extras on Disc Two are divided into five main areas: Development, Creating the Characters, The Production Process, Music and Sound, and Abandoned Scenes:
An animated menu, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.
There are a few snippets here that demonstrate the early tests (1996), to see if the concept behind this film was viable. There is also some later work (1998), which I assume was done to show Disney executives where the project was up to. Finally there is a look at some of the sketches that were used to design the characters. The snippets include:
This extra looks at the design of both the dinosaurs and the lemur characters. The issue of balancing realism with talking characters is also discussed. This extra is divided into the following areas:
This extra contains more behind-the-scenes material, that explains how many of the scenes were composited, and how some of the big effects scenes were created. This extra is divided into the following areas:
A look at the audio aspects of making this film, from interviews with the film's composer, James Newton Howard, to a look at the work of the foley artists and sound designers. This extra is divided into the following sections:
Six abandoned scenes are included, and they range from scenes that never went beyond story-board format, to some that become 3D workbook scenes, and a select few that became partially animated. The scenes are entitled:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The 2-disc Collector's Edition of Disney's Dinosaur was released on DVD, in Region 1, back in January 2001.
The Region 4 DVD misses out on:
The Region 1 DVD misses out on:
Sadly, once again R4 consumers have been short-changed. After waiting for over two years for this edition to appear in R4, it finally does, but with the DTS track missing.
Dinosaur is a great Disney movie, and a triumph in animation. This is a real demo disc, that comes loaded with extras. The only disappointing feature with this Collector's Edition is the lack of the DTS soundtrack that consumers in R1 were treated to.
The video quality is superb.
The audio quality is also superb.
This edition is loaded with genuine extras.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
| Plot | |
| Overall | |
| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
| Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
| Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |