Fleischer's Gulliver's Travels-- Trying to release new Blu-Ray release by Thunderbean Animation

Thunderbean Animation is releasing Max and Dave Fleischer's animated Gulliver's Travels on Blu-Ray and DVD: http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/fleischer-fun-part-2-gullivers-travels-and-modeling-restored/

The screen grabs look great - Steve Stanchfield had access to a 35 mm Technicolor print, and he's working on restoration right now. A lot of Fleischer's work hasn't been reissued yet (or reissued in less than ideal form), and Steve S. has a great track record with his releases. There's also a bonus disc with 8 PD Fleischer shorts, and they'll be a nice addition to the main feature.

 

just a rumor, eh? too bad!

 

yes, totally!

 

The person responsible for this project is a vintage animation buff/restorer specializing in PD titles and has been working on this Fleischer Brothers compilation which includes "Gulliver's Travels" for a couple years...it's very close to completion and expected to ship sometime in the next 3-4 weeks...

 

True dat, but Thunderbean's reputation in the public domain cartoon reissue field is excellent. They've already released a couple dozen DVD compilations. Their DVD transfers of the SNAFU and Hook cartoons are stunningly gorgeous.

And HD transfer, restoration, and BD replication don't come cheap. This is more than just a throw-the-print-on-the-telecine-and-let-'er-rip project. He's using multiple IB prints to get the most complete and cleanest version possible.

If he says he needs money to finish it, then I believe him. I placed my order without the slightest hesitation.

Dang, I sound like an infomercial ...

 

I jumped on the pre-release bandwagon. Only $19 with S&H for the Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack and a 35 mm IB Technicolor 24-frame strip from the film. A fantastic deal and I'm happy to support a company doing PROPER restoration of the dying art of hand animation. SO excited for this to arrive! Thanks for the heads-up, indy mike.

 

By all means, buy Thunderbean with confidence. Stanchfield has been around for lotsa years, prepares and distributes topnotch product and otherwise enjoys a sterling rep.

Don't take my word for it; ask Jerry Beck.

 

Technicolor print restorations are very hard, particularly for a public domain movie that's been kicking around for 70 years. I don't envy them the task of trying to make elements like this look good.

I wonder where the negatives for the Fleischer films wound up? I know even Warner Bros. (who owns the rights to Superman) had trouble scrounging up all the Superman 1940s shorts, and those vary widely in picture quality.

 

Steve has waited quite awhile for a good quality source (opting to go the 35mm route, rather than from 16mm prints). Sorry for the way the thread was entitled - this isn't a fly-by-night operation. Steve will often offer early buyers some sort of bonus disc to raise some short term funds (or in this case 24 frames of a Gulliver print he's using to make repairs to the main source print - that offer is still on for a day or two) if they order early before he's finished work on the main title. Short of having negatives to work from (I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for whomever has those to go the restoration route), this will most likely be the best version of this particular Fleischer film we'll get.

 

The negatives are owned by Viacom, and are in storage at the UCLA Archives.

Derek

 

They're marked "Do Not Use"???

They did use the original Fleisher negatives for the Popeye DVD sets from a few years ago, but they apparently didn't use them for the Betty Boop Blu-ray that was just released.

Derek

 

Rights issues? Isn't it PD?

dan c

 

^ Which is lose-lose for everyone. Hence the value of a Steve Stanchfield. The audience for stuff like this is extremely limited – the much-more-popular Popeye series sold poorly enough to stall further post-'43 releases. No love for suits, but it's perfectly understandable that no one's gonna bankroll proper negative restoration of Gulliver.

Stanchfield may have the outward appearance of some-guy-working-out-of-his-garage with his modest pre-funding ventures, but his work with rare animation speaks for itself. I doubt he makes a great deal of money on these.

Hold, card fact of life: many of these animation titles will fade away into obscurity, forgotten. Along with any number of feature films and short subjects. If someone can corral even just a few of these and preserve them, even in less-than-ideal processes, that can only be a good thing.

 

It's very old cartoon I seen before it's innovative for it's time.
But, I fear some detail or colors will be wiped away
or be to bright. I am fine public domain ones floating around
not everything needs a 21 century hd transfer.
I say got ahold of original animation cels for comparsion

 

I have a dvd of this and I have to say it is very good quality, I was amazed at how nice the picture was, having only seen it on VHS, and prior to that decades ago in the 60's, b & w when it used to be on TV around the holidays.

 

I could make the argument that a 1939 animated cartoon like Gulliver's Travels is not going to make a lot of money anyway in 2013, so why not give access to the nitrate seps provide they're willing to do at least a 2K digital restoration? The studio is neither hurt nor helped if somebody else puts it out on home video, and at least that way, they wind up with a 2K restoration for their archives. If they do a new mix or something, at least that can be copyrighted.

It was discovered with It's a Wonderful Life that there were underlying copyrights that protected the film (the original story, in that case), so that's a case of a public domain film that's still sorta/kinda copyrighted. Maybe there could be similar cases with Gulliver's Travels, like with the music or maybe the characters. Even then, It'd be great to see an original Technicolor production like this restored correctly, from the original negatives... before the nitrates waste away.

 

Based on what I'm seeing in some of the recent Disney Blu Ray releases, it would be nice if THEY were restored correctly too.

 

They were! Regarless of how you feel about what was released on DVD & Blu-ray, all of the Disney feature nitrate negatives have been photochemically restored and copied to safety film. Many of the original negatives were digitally scanned, and the raw data is available for new Digital restorations. I wish I could say the same for all of the surviving Hollywood nitrate negatives...

Derek

 

What's the point if Disney only intends to change the color timing and have their artists redraw certain elements? If pristine "masters" of music and movies sit in vaults while the audience only gets questionably edited and altered final products, I don't see "proper restoration" serving any purpose. It's not like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty will ever fall into public domain (Disney will lobby to have copyright laws changed before that happens), so we'll never see a Steve Stanchfield release a properly-restored Disney film in our lifetimes.