U.K. Widescreen vs. Terrible U.S. DVD release. Shame on Disney.
For some unexplained reason when this film was released on DVD back in 2004, we were treated to a 4:3 pan and scan of Natty Gann in the U.S. while overseas in the U.K. they released the widescreen version (2.35:1). To make matters worse, Besides being a horrid pan and scan, the video was at times terribly blurry, jittery, full of artifacts and just plain awful. Not even worth the $5 bin at Wal-mart.
I don't know why this decision was made, but it could have easily been corrected over the years. The digital streaming of the movie on both Amazon and the Disney Channel on YouTube are using this same crappy transfer. Despite signing a contract with Netflix, Disney is still hoarding many of their catalog titles and we are stuck with pathetic 4:3 VHS versions slapped onto a disc as cheap as possible (at least here in the U.S.)
It's pathetic, doubly pathetic when you know there was a 2.35:1 scan out there. It's one of those things that really continues to bug me over all the years. This is an excellent film, Disney should be ashamed, and if they just want (what they consider) their catalog titles to waste away in the vault they should turn this and some of the others over to Criterion, Twilight Time, or Olive Films instead of leaving them to waste away so a few years ago some group can hit us up for donations for film preservation. Pretty bad when billion dollar plus studios don't even care.
Anyway, just thought I would chime in and take this opportunity to let you see some comparison shots between what was released here and overseas. You'll be amazed at what you're missing. Most of them come at the end of this article.
http://www.clydestuff.com/2014/06/clydes-movie-palace-journey-of-natty .html