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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for Disneyphiles and Animation Buffs, January 8, 2003
This review is from: Walt Disney Treasures - Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studio (DVD)
Once again, Disney is reaching into its vaults and releasing DVD collections of rarer material. This set focuses on behind the scenes footage showing the studio at work. Disc One opens with "A Trip through the Walt Disney Studios." This was the first short of this kind Disney did. It also served as a promo to movie houses for Snow White. The optional pop-ups are interesting, and I loved getting a chance to see the first studio. "How Walt Disney Cartoons are made" is a slight edit released to the general public to build excitement for Snow White. Both of these were included on last year's release of that movie. The last item on the first disc is "The Reluctant Dragon." In it, Robert Benchley takes a tour while trying to find Walt to pitch a story idea. There are several fun animated sequences as well. Disc Two is three episodes of Disneyland that break the animation process down further. This is the real meat of the set. They are a fun mix of explanation and clips from their movies and each end with a segment from Fantasia. "The Story of the Animated Drawing" has a fascinating look at the history that lead up to Disney. I'd never realized some of what came before. This one is shown in black and white, but it still interesting to watch. "The Plausible Impossible" focuses on story-telling in animation. It features the famous "Music in Your Soup" sequence that was cut from Snow White. This was the first time I'd seen it all the way through, and I'm shocked it was cut. The last episode, "Tricks of Our Trade," focuses on things animators do to help them draw realistically. Not much I didn't know here, but still fun to watch. Maybe it just takes repetition with me, but I'm finally getting a picture of how animation works, and I've watched shows like these numerous times. As always, Disney educates us in a fun manner and manages to promo some of his own projects as well. The set is great for the collector and serious Disney fan. Leonard Maltin is an informed and enthusiastic host, as always. (I want his job!) The sound is adequate, but the picture could have used a touch up in spots. This is especially true on disc two when they are showing clips from their films. Still, it serves the purpose well. I also wish that they had included chapter breaks, especially in the 80 minute "Reluctant Dragon." But, the information is so good I don't really mind. Any fan of animation will love getting to see how things are really done. I think I finally have a complete picture of all the work that goes into making a cartoon of any length. Well worth the money and time spent.
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Walt Disney Treasures Part 5: Behind the Scenes at WDS, April 25, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Walt Disney Treasures - Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studio (DVD)
Walt Disney Treasures Review 5: Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Studios:Leonard Maltin has done it, again. He made in myopinion one of the most interesting. This may not be the greatest quality but it is perfect. Like all the other treasures, it opens with the Walt Disney Treasure Theater and intro with Leonard Maltin. When you get to the main menu, you should start at the "How Walt Disney Cartoons are Made." Here, you could choose to view it with a informational subtitle showing history about the short made in the 30s for Snow White. Leonard Maltin Introduces it as usual. After this, head over to the crown of the collection, the 1941 feature, "The Reluctant Dragon." Introduced by Leonard Maltin, this film was a compiltation of various cartoons including the one that gave the film its name. Slid in between it all was comedy footage of Robert Benchley taking a "Detour" of the studios. He looks for Walt and gets sidetracked as he visits the sound effects stage, a recording session with the voice of Donald Duck, visiting the Multiplane Camera, paint room, sees a storyboard for the short "Baby Weems, and sees the animator's desk of Ward Kimball and watches Goofy's "How to Ride a Horse." After this movie, take a peek at the the film, "A Trip Through Walt Disney Studios." This film was created for RKO to distribute Snow White. This was remade into "How Disney Cartoons are Made" and shown to the public. It is introduced by Leonard. Finally on disc one, take a look at a few bonus features. Go look at "Behind the Boards on Baby Weems" featurette, a "Leonard Maltin's Studio Tour" featurette, and a Reluctant Dragon Gallery. Disc 2 opens with an intro by Leonard. He then gets you prepared to watch the second half, the Behind the Scenes Disneyland Shows. The first one is the pioneering "The Story of the Animated Drawing." This show is in black and white and was the first of three shows Walt would make about animation. He talks about the history of animation with a remake of "Gertie the Dinosaur," a demo of "Koko the Clown," and early animation devices. It is introduced by Leonard. Second is "The Plausible Impossible." This show is in color and came after the show seen before. Walt talked about things that would be impossible in our world, but seem Plausible in animation. It is introduced by Leonard Maltin. Finally, the third show is "Tricks of Our Trade." This one is when Walt Disney shows tricks that he and his animators used to created special effects and easier ways to animate that other studios would never be able to do. It is introduced by Leonard Maltin. Final bonus features are, "Walt Disney Studios" gallery, a "Kem Weber Gallery," and "A Trip Through Walt Disney Studios" radio program. Considering all the things in the is limited edition set show's age, this is good quality. This is worthy of ten stars for content, and five for quality. Buy it before all 250,000 run out. Also See: Silly Symphonies
Mickey Mouse in Living Color
Disneyland USA
Davy Crockett
Mickey Mouse in Black and White
The Complete Goofy Was this review helpful to you?
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Promotional Materials, December 4, 2002
This review is from: Walt Disney Treasures - Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studio (DVD)
Walt Disney was a master of self-promotion, and this 2-disc collection of film and television specials proves it. The highlight here is the seldom-seen 1941 feature _The Reluctant Dragon_, which offers an extended live-action tour of the Disney studio hosted by famed 1930s humorist Robert Benchley. Although the film offers a few animated segments to whet audience interest, it's essentially a full-length live-action commercial for future Disney products (including _Dumbo_, _Bambi_, and _Peter Pan_). Motion picture audiences, who had to pay to get in the theater, didn't take too kindly to a puff piece masquerading as a feature film. As a result, "The Reluctant Dragon" opened to withering reviews and indifferent box office. But in about a decade's time, a new television audience, which got its entertainment for free, was more tolerant of this sort of thing. It's no surprise, then, that the rest of the vintage material here consists of Disney's television programs from the 1950s. Leonard Maltin also hosts a contemporary tour of today's Disney studio. I found the video and audio transfers in this package lackluster at best; in particular, the short animated film "The Reluctant Dragon" (which forms the climax of Benchley's studio tour) is marred by specks, flickers, scratches and grain. The absence of chapter breaks within the 80-minute feature film or the hour-long television programs is also an annoyance. Still, this is not a bad package from Der MausHaus, although it's designed to appeal to hard-core Disneyphiles rather than a mass audience.
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