Mary Poppins DVD sound....

[atomobile]

Hello,
I watched the Mary Poppins DVD in "Enhanced Home Theater" sound. I was dissapointed. First the picture... while this is the best presentation of the picture on home video, it is not perfect. Some of the skin tones make people look like they have skin cancer. Many of the scenes look overly processed and soft. Other than that it looks good. They have nicely cleaned up the special effect shots that looked so bad before. And since this is a music forum.... The soundtrack: I like most of what was done to "enhance" the soundtrack. But I was dissapointed with the EXTREME amount of new sound-effects added to the picture. Many of the sound-effects where replaced with new ones and many more where added for no reason. Everytime there is an outdoors scene there is this loud wind noise added. By the time the picture was over, I felt like I had been in a tornado. Couldn't they have made the new sound effects less audible and made to sound like the rest of the soundtrack? The music.... The biggest disapointment came in the sound of the music. The old 5.1 remix was decent enough, but in an attempt to get rid of hiss, they cut off all highs and mixed the sound with LOTS of low end. It reminds me of the time they "enhanced" the Tiki Room. All boom....
If they had only included a nice 5.1 mix WITHOUT the new sound-effects, I would have been happy. I was looking forward to this release so much. Now I'll have to keep the old DVD just for the good 5.1 soundtrack
Anybody else found this troublesome? I mean, it's one thing when they tinker with 90s released like they have (which I don't mind since I prefer Walt's era), but to change Walt Disney's Masterpiece is another thing all together...
Before anyone says..."Well, Louis, you can always listen to the original mix in 2.0 on the new DVD..." We are used to nice 5.1 mixes from Disney, they have released a good 5.1 mix of Mary Poppins before... why did they make us stick with a 5.1 "enhanced" mix and not give us an option for a 5.1 with the original soundtrack intact? They even included a 2.0 "enhanced" mix. Why? So you can hear the hurricane coming in Stereo too?
Just my humble opinion...
Your friend,
Louis

 

[Technirama70]

While I was slightly disappointed with the Disney Home Theater Mix, I was still very impressed with the picture quality and the tons of extras.

Yes the DHTM is overly Bass-y and they added extra sound effects, but I still find it pleasantly enjoyable. And while I may rewatch the movie occasionally, I still have the incredible 40th Anniversary CD which includes the BV fanfare and incredible sound.

Forum members please check the DVD our for yourselves berfore you pass judgement. It is a great presentation despite its few/many flaws. The picture clarity is unbelieveable - you can see both Glynis Johns and Julie Andrews freckles even underneath the make-up. All the wires have been digitally cleaned-out and the "rims" around the actors in the animated sequences are gone. It just looks fantastic.

Check it out.

 

[atomobile]

I didn't mean to discourage anyone from buying this DVD. By all means RUN to get yourself a copy. You will never find a more perfect Disney movie. I love the film and it's soundtrack. I'm just disappointed that Disney has such a hard time making everything perfect all the time. They always manage to screw up because they don't want to spend too much money on things. Their video division has made some very bad decissions but they have also made AMAZING box sets. It's hit or miss. Dumbo looked like crap on DVD, Alice and SLeeping Beauty look great.
If I was ever to watch the movie with friends, I would definetly play the "Enhanced" mix just because it's 5.1. It's not the end of the world. But my favorite way to experience the film has now reverted back to listening to the soundtrack. Especially since Randy's new version came out!
Buy the DVD, buy the 2-CD set, and even buy the Karaoke (sp?) CD (uses original soundtrack songs in instrumental version). I hope Bambi and Cinderella look great next year. I hope they don't add wind sounds throughout all of Bambi! I hope they don't re-record the sound effects in Cinderella or re-record the gun shot in Bambi to ricoche (sp?) from Rear Left to Rear Right to Front Left to Front Right....you get the picture...
Your friend,
Louis

 

[Michael Zielski]

I haven't seen the new version yet, but adding sound effects that weren't in the original film? A troubling concept.......

Reminds me of a DVD I saw in the sale bin in one of the local, low-scale, discount establishments--it was of an older Hitchcock film, I think one of his early British films, that had added laughs, and maybe even "funny" comments, I can't remember all the details--a truly distasteful, disrespectful idea. Obviously, this is an extreme case, but as Louis suggests, film alteration does raise some absolutely frightening visions.......let's hope the WDC doesn't open Pandora's box any further. Time and money could be better spent elsewhere.

Mike

 

[X-S Tech]

Re:Mary Poppins Karaoke- Original recordings?

Atommobile-

You mentioned the Karaoke version of Mary Poppins. Did you mean that the instrumental versions used on this CD, are actual recordings from the film- not rerecordings? Can anyone else confirm that. That would be really cool.

 

[X-S Tech]

I listened to clips of the Karaoke album on Tower's website and while they sound very very close, I still can't be certain they are from the film's score. Anyone?

 

[atomobile]

Yes, the Karaoke Mary Poppins CD has the actual score used as instrumental tracks. The only problem is the sounds isn't as good as the new Mary Poppins soundtrack cd and there are a few instances where new elements were mixed in with the original score. For example, whenever their is a background choir, it is a newly recorded one. There is also one track (Stay Awake or Feed the Birds?) that adds a newly recorded instrument (synth?) to add more melody. For the COMPLETE score, including the music in instrumental form, find the last Laserdisc release of MP (it is an alternate audio option).
Your friend,
Louis

 

[dtats]

Realizing that this is now an older thread, I just thought I'd add, for the benefit of those who still have not purchased this DVD, that BJ's Wholesale Club is offering this at $12.99.

If you are near a BJ's Club and haven't picked this up yet, now may be a good time.

- Mike

 

[LemSiddons]

Louis,

Doesn't the laserdisc version's isolated track also contain sound effects?

 

[atomobile]

No, the last laserdisc release of Mary Poppins contains the complete soundtrack score including the songs in instrumental form. This is the orchestra only, no sound effects. I know the norm was to include score/SFX, but for some reason they decided to only include the score (which I prefer). I'm only holding on to the laserdisc until I can transfer the complete score to CD.
Your friend,
Louis

 

[LemSiddons]

Louis,

I have the Exclusive Archive Edition...the Gatefold...wasn't that the last LD release? I tried firing it up yesterday and there wasn't an alternate track. Can you enlighten further?

Thanks.

PS...You were indeed right about the karaoke tracks being the edited originals with added stuff. And here I was, amazed that they'd done such a good job of matching it! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[David S.]

I hope Bambi and Cinderella look great next year. I hope they don't add wind sounds throughout all of Bambi! I hope they don't re-record the sound effects in Cinderella or re-record the gun shot in Bambi to ricoche (sp?) from Rear Left to Rear Right to Front Left to Front Right....you get the picture...
Your friend,
Louis

I know this is an old thread but I must have missed it the first time around, and as I am now filling in some gaps in my DVD collection I seem to have found it. Anyway...

That is disturbing to hear the "Enhanced Home Theatre" version of the audio for Mary Poppins has had elements added to it that weren't from the actual recording sessions for the film.

Does anyone know if this is always the case for the mix labeled "Enhanced Home Theatre Mix" on the Disney DVDs? I usually listing to the "original theatrical" mixes on my DVDs when available, considering they are closest to the originals and I only have 2 channels anyway, but I'm just curious if the liberal re-recording that was apparently done for Poppins has turned up on other releases as well, such as the type of scenarios Louis described?