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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Kimba, the White Lion-Volume 2 (Jangaru Taitei)(Warner Vision) (1965)

Kimba, the White Lion-Volume 2 (Jangaru Taitei)(Warner Vision) (1965)

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Released 15-Sep-2003

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Animation Notes-Fan Info - History of the Novel
Gallery-Picture gallery
Rating Rated G
Year Of Production 1965
Running Time 89:42 (Case: 88)
RSDL / Flipper No/No Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 1,2,3,4,5,6 Directed By Eiichi Yamamoto
Studio
Distributor
Aust. Screen Ent.
Warner Vision
Starring Gorô Naya
Case Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI $19.95 Music Paul J. Zaza


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement No
Video Format 576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking No
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

    NEWSFLASH! Kimba, the White Lion is a lefty, pinko, tree-hugging hippie. I mean, between getting all the animals to form a commune and deciding that predators shouldn't eat meat any more because they don't want to hurt their friends, this is straight out of the socialist guidebook. But, jokes aside...

    It's funny, I remembered this series from my childhood with affection but it seemed somehow different this time around. After some scouting around I have worked out why: this version is a revoiced version with new music done in the 1990s by some Canadians, using the original animation but none of the original audio. When I worked this out I was very disappointed, especially considering that the proper series with the original audio is available in Region 1. Some of the stories and character names have been changed as well. The box has the audacity to read in large print 'The original white lion king!', which it clearly is not.

    The series was originally made in the 1960s in Japan and was state of the art animation at the time. Obviously, the animation is not quite at the Finding Nemo level but considering the age this is to be expected. Even without the original audio this is not a bad show, and my young son and I enjoyed it, although he did refer to Kimba as 'dog' despite me pointing out he was a white lion.

    This is the second disc in a series of three released locally of this revoiced version of Kimba. The episodes included here are:

    So, not a bad series but if you really want the original series do not buy this disc.

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Transfer Quality

Video

    The video quality is poor even taking into account the age of the material.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio.

    The picture was not particularly sharp although some scenes were better than others. There was no evidence of low level noise. There was significant grain throughout.

    The colour was reasonable but quite dull.

    Artefacts are everywhere including many film artefacts like lines, specks, marks and hairs but the worst offender is pixelization which occurs on every camera pan or fast motion. Obviously, the MPEG compression has not been done very well.

    There are no subtitles.
    

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is good.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono soundtrack encoded at 192 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was generally clear and easy to understand. Some of the new character voices, especially Polly Parrot, are annoying.

    The new music by Paul J Zaza is not bad but the new theme song becomes annoying.

    The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Menu

    The menu is simple and includes a still from the series and the ability to choose specific episodes.

Fan Info

    Two text pages in small type, which are a continuation of an article started on the first disc, and continued on the third. So, on its own, fairly useless.

Picture Gallery

    8 pictures including original design studies, posters and other artwork.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

    The Region 4 version of this series misses out on;

    The Region 1 version of this series misses out on;

   Based upon the above, the Region 1 wins, however reviews indicate that the picture quality is poor on the US release, being very dark and murky, so maybe there is no real winner.

Summary

    This disc contains four episodes of the classic animated series, Kimba, the White Lion but with re-recorded audio and poor picture quality.

    The extras are hardly worth mentioning.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Daniel Bruce (Do you need a bio break?)
Friday, October 22, 2004
Review Equipment
DVDPioneer DV667A DVD-V DVD-A SACD, using Component output
DisplaySony FD Trinitron Wega KV-AR34M36 80cm. Calibrated with Digital Video Essentials (PAL). This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 576i (PAL)/480i (NTSC).
Audio DecoderBuilt in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
AmplificationPioneer VSX-511
SpeakersBose 201 Direct Reflecting (Front), Phillips SB680V (Surround), Phillips MX731 (Center), Yamaha YST SW90 (Sub)

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