There are a lot worse ways to spend a rainy Sunday in Manhattan.
With the release of their first classic animated title on Blu-ray a mere nine days away, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment shared the cause for their excitement. At a red carpet event at a Chelsea multiplex, they premiered the fully restored Sleeping Beauty, digitally projected on the big screen. Disney's Gordon Ho told the tale of the original audio stems being located in a vault in Europe, which enabled a complete remix and remaster for the occasion.
In a quick one-on one, Ho told Big Picture Big Sound that the digital file we were about to witness was actually the same one used to create the Blu-ray and DVD version that would shortly be available to consumers. Of course, the home video edition would have to be compressed to fit on a Blu-ray disc, and compressed a lot to fit onto a DVD. (Photography inside the theater was prohibited.)
The good news is that even though the restoration was intended for the home theater, it actually holds up remarkably well projected onto an enormous theater screen, with crisp details and amazing colors throughout. On a high-definition television (and there were several set up at the after-party, compliments of co-sponsor Panasonic), the Blu-ray Disc looked simply gorgeous, so much so that kids who had just seen the movie stood hypnotized by it all over again.
The digital screening was followed by a grand ball at The Plaza hotel in midtown, where costumed characters and entertainers beamed with pride for the Blu-ray in particular. And there was cake.
