Disney/PIXAR Blu-ray 3D sets: Finding Nemo (2003) + Up (2009/both with Blu-ray 2D and DVD)

 

3D Picture: B+     Picture: B+ & C+/B+ & B-     Sound: B+ & C+/A- & B     Extras: B     Films: B

 

 

Disney has issued two of PIXAR’s best theatrical features to date in the Blu-ray 3D format and they turn out to be two of the best computer animated releases in the format to date, plus 2D Blu-rays and DVD versions have also been included.

 

 

First we have Andrew Stanton’s huge hit Finding Nemo (2003) which is a hit a second time in 2012 as a 3D reissue.  Because we wanted DTS sound over old Dolby Digital, it was one of three import Region 3 DTS DVD titles we reviewed on the site years ago.  Now, we have a new edition that is superior to all previous editions with the best picture and sound possible, plus a slew of extras that will make fans, home theater owners and Blu-ray collectors especially happy.

 

Nemo is a young clownfish who lives happily in the ocean on The Great Barrier Reef with his father when he is grabbed by divers and taken away, but his father intends to get him back any way he can and the adventure begins.  Colorful, entertaining, clever and fun, Nemo was a shockingly groundbreaking CG release when it first arrived 9 years ago and despite all the strides PIXAR, Disney and its competitors have made in the CG animation field, it retains a certain heart, soul and beauty that has allowed the film to hold up extraordinarily well pushing the technology they had and making its as artistic an endeavor as if it has been hand-drawn, resulting in one of the few older CG features that holds up today.

 

Anything “dated-looking” is minor as compared to the look, feel and flow of the whole feature and from start to finish, you become part of its special, one-of-a-kind world and never want to leave.  Though intended for children (which it does a great job of being for), there is something here for everyone and it if worth visiting and revisiting, so having a nice new set on the film is great.  As compared to DreamWorks Animations likable, somewhat underrated A Shark’s Tale, it holds up the better of the two and remains a solid CG animated classic.

 

Extras include Digital Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes oriented devices, the DVD (plus Blu-ray in HD) adds the Knick Knack theatrical short and Finding Nemo: A Filmmaker’s Discussion featurette, the 2D Blu-ray adds Aquariums (also on the 3D disc in 3D), Art Review, Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, Alternate Opening, CineExplore interactivity, Reinventing The Submarine Voyage, Studi Tour, Publicity Section, Mr. Ray’s Encyclopedia and A Lesson In Flashbacks.

 

 

Then we have the triumph of Pete Docter’s Up (2009), which we reviewed the Blu-ray/DVD set of a few years ago upon its original home video release at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9218/Up+(2009/Disney+-+Pixar+Blu-ray+w/

 

 

This new Blu-ray 3D version is that same set with the same extras again include the DVD version, Digital Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices DVD-ROM disc, BD Live interactive functions on the Blu-ray, two great shorts (Dug’s Special Mission and Partly Cloudy) in HD, Cine-Explore/Adventure Is Out There offers a great making-of piece about how the makers traveled to Venezuela to see the lands they were going to recreate, Video/Audio Calibration section and Many Endings Of Muntz Alternate Scenes on Blu-ray One, Global Guardian Badge Game, eight well-done making-of documentary featurettes, Up Promo Montage, Worldwide Trailers and Married Life, offering expanded character back stories on Blu-ray Two.

 

The Blu-ray 3D adds nothing new, but in terms of extra, but this remains one of the great computer animated features to date and one of the last of PIXAR’s honeymoon period before Cars 2 had the company “jump the shark” a bit, but this tale of an older man facing obsolescence and coming up with one of the greatest solution in animation history is as powerful, fun, amazing and well made as any CG feature since its release.  A real classic, it right won the Best Animated Feature Academy Award.

 

 

The 1.78 X 1, 1080p full HD MVC-encoded 3-D – Full Resolution digital High Definition images on both Blu-ray 3D releases are terrific, with Nemo making the trip more encompasing and Up making the journey more interactive.  I like the 1080p Blu-ray 2D digital High Definition image transfers on both as well, showing great depth without glasses or the 3D in the superior way both films were produced, so you cannot go wrong with either Blu-ray edition and both have plenty of demo material.  The anamorphically enhanced DVD versions of both are passable, but just cannot compete with either of the Blu-ray editions.

 

The Dolby TrueHD 7.1 lossless mix on Nemo and DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Up (which I actually like just a little better than the former) are sonically superior presentations on the Blu-ray 3D and Blu-ray 2D editions that will challenge any home theater system sonically and have some great moments that even audiophiles who have lower expectations for films than they do for music will be stunned by.  Both very state-of-the-art, it is obvious in the case of Nemo that Disney went back to the original soundmaster and made sure they made all previous editions sonically obsolete.  They succeeded!

 

The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on both DVD versions are fine for what they are, but sound dated and old versus the lossless Blu-ray presentations.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo