MovieChat Forums > Disney's Halloween Treat (1997) Discussion > New Disney's Halloween Treat DVD (projec...

New Disney's Halloween Treat DVD (project)

posted 15 years ago by robsea32
14 replies | jump to latest

Alrighty -- so I've been reading over this thread and noticing a lot of folks have DVDs that are not in the best working conditions (lots of complaints about freezing and such). I've run into the same problem.

So in order for all of us to get the very best possible quality out of this here is what I'm offering and proposing:

To create a double-disc set of Disney's Halloween Treat -- one version that contains the pumpkin version and one version that contains the mirror version in the best possible quality. I'm willing to offer up my time and video expertise to make this happen. I don't want any money for this -- I just want to put together one perfect copy of both versions and then distribute it amongst us for anybody that is interested for no charge aside from shipping it. I'm talking like maybe $2.00 total.

I have a bunch of television studio equipment that I've been using for years to make VHS to DVD dubs and in terms of quality, it blows away anything I was able to get from local services. I have a really bad quality copy of the tape, so I am going to need at least one good copy of each of these shows. I know they can be purchased on eBay occasionally, so perhaps of whoever is interested, we can agree to pitch in and buy a copy of each show? We may need multiple copies if a tape has a bad tracking problem or sound issues and what not. I can piece together the best parts of multiple copies with my video editing software to deal with that.

First off to those that have already been so kind to make DVD copies -- and no offense intended -- but with the right equipment you can make a great quality disc -- one that looks better then the VHS tape and also that will last.

There are several issues with VHS to DVD conversions that people don't realize (this is why you get discs that don't look good or don't work right)

The first problem is that people often use cheap blank discs that won't last over time (or have incompatibility with DVD players)

The second issue is that people use cheap or badly designed DVD recorders to make the conversions.

The third issue is that people don't use high quality VCRs to make the conversions (this is the most important step for maintaining quality.)

The only thing I probably would be no good at is designing the artwork for the DVD case (I'm more of a video guy then a artistic guy :p) so perhaps someone else can work on that aspect of it.

I have all of this stuff and a lot of experience. Please email me at [email protected] or respond here if you are interested in getting this off the ground. Maybe we can put something together by Halloween! :)

[–] robsea32 15 years ago

Oops left a few things out ---

I bought all this equipment to copy my families home movies and some rare stuff that they never released on DVD, just FYI :p

Also -- were both of these versions released on VHS in stores? I know the talking pumpkin version was a rental tape, because I rented it and have a bad quality copy. At any rate, we want to get the highest quality source possible, so if they are both available we should get the original tapes and not a version taped off of TV or off of another tape.

Anyhow - I hope I don't scare anybody off with this -- this is kind of my hobby and I have all this big expensive equipment just gathering dust now lol

[–] robsea32 15 years ago

Okay so it does not appear that the extended version of this was released on VHS, so would anybody be willing to trust me with a copy of their original tape? The better quality the better. If necessary I can dub together the good parts of multiple copies.

Did anyone by chance record the original version in hi-fi sound? Even if someone recorded the original with mono and a rebroadcast of the original in hi-fi, I can put the hi-fi track into the original broadcast if that is preferred. That would be hard to beat for audio quality!

[–] robsea32 15 years ago

Also -- maybe if we can get this going, we can make a list or group on yahoo for people to sign up to if they want a copy, or you can just email me. I don't check my IMDB account too often.

[–] Hippiegirl68 15 years ago

robsea,

I know there's nothing i can personally contribute to the project but I'll be one of the first people to support you and maybe get a dvd. I've dabbled in the film department but the copy I have, a very *beep* copy I got through the internet which the sound is out of now, it had really great picture quality oddly enough. And if I can remember from last year it had decent sound I can't give you ratios exactly. Have you started any yahoo group/list yet? Sign me up!

"Good evening, Godless Sodomites." - Stephen Colbert

[–] robsea32 15 years ago

Hey there!

So far I have got no responses aside from yours so it doesn't appear the interest is there. Even still I'd like to put something together in the event that people get interested, so I guess we'll stay tuned. I may just go ahead and try to do it all myself and report back here, but time is tight right now with school back in session, but I'll keep monitoring this thread and get back to you in this thread.

Thanks for your support!

Robbie

[–] movieboy-12 14 years ago

I'd like a copy too. I have a decent quality VHS of the mirror version. I'll look for it.

[–] cloyesds 14 years ago

Hi, I like your idea! I just started to think about this special tonight when I was trying to sleep and had to turn my pc back on to look it up. I remember the long 90 minute one. I am 21 and when I was a kid I used to always watch it on a vcr tape every year. I think the tape is somewhere at my grandmas. I am inspired to look for it now. I am not sure if I ever watched the shorter version.

Edit: I spent some time yesterday digging through old vhs tapes that were recorded and could not find the tape with the disney halloween cartoon. I know my grandma has a few big boxes of vhs tapes but I couldn't find them. Now I want my tape lol.

[–] robsea32 14 years ago

A question --

Does anybody have knowledge of what cartoons were featured in Disney's Halloween Treat and which of those exist on DVD? Could anyone who is a cartoon expert make a list perhaps? Wikipedia at least has a partial one, but is it complete for either Disney's Halloween Treat production?

[–] robsea32 14 years ago

By the way -- I was able to locate two copies of Disney's Halloween treat through a couple of libraries. If they are in good condition, this should save the cost of having to buy up multiple copies.

One question --

The two copies have different release dates! One is date 1982 and the other is dated 1984. Each of them is 47 minutes long. What gives? I'm guessing that the 1982 release is mono and the 1984 is hi-fi, but I will compare them thoroughly (frame by frame) to determine if there are any subtle differences.

[–] robsea32 14 years ago

Alright -- well the one with the 1982 release date was a no go. Either it didn't truly exist in their library or they weren't able to send it to me, who knows what the case might be! I'm guessing just a misprint, because I only know of the 1984 release date.

At any rate - The copy is in excellent shape, so I'm working on it as we speak! The quality should be quite great for the commercial version (talking pumpkin version)!

At this point I'm just needing as many good quality versions of the magic mirror version as possible to work with to make the best possible version of it. Even if your version is only good in certain parts, that would be fine if I am able to get several of them to work with. One great copy is all it takes though! I promise all copies will be shipped back to you quickly -- in fact I'll cover the shipping to and from. It should only take me a couple of days to figure out what I need from it, convert it, and send it back to ya.

Also, if ANYONE has a HIFI audio version (not sure if that exists or not) then I would love that for the higher quality audio alone.

One question -- does anyone have a scan of the original case in good quality? The library copy is your typical cut case, cut down to fit the box and missing the sides. If so, please send me a high quality JPG or TIF (600 dpi or more) of the front, back, and sides to me.

my email: [email protected]

Thanks!

[–] robsea32 14 years ago

Alright -- well the one with the 1984 release date was a no go. Either it didn't truly exist in their library or they weren't able to send it to me, who knows what the case might be! I'm guessing just a misprint, because I only know of the 1982 release date.

At any rate - This copy of the "talking pumpkin version" is in excellent shape, so I'm working on it as we speak! The quality should be quite excellent as the tape seems like it's been hardly played.

At this point I'm just needing as many good quality versions of the "magic mirror version" as possible to work with to make the best possible version of it. Even if your version is only good in certain parts, that would be fine if I am able to get several of them to work with. One great copy is all it takes though!

Also, if ANYONE has a HIFI audio version (not sure if that exists or not) of either the "Magic Mirror" version or the "Talking Pumpkin" version, then I would love that for the higher quality audio alone, even if the video isn't great. I'll just use another video source and mix in the higher quality audio with it.

The commercial tape I have of the "Talking Pumpkin" version is mono, but it's possible that it was rebroadcast on TV in hi-fi later on. If you have a recorded off of TV version of the "Talking Pumpkin" and you think it might be /or/ know that it's in hi-fi audio, please get in touch with me!

I promise all copies will be shipped back to you quickly -- in fact I'll cover the shipping to and from.

One question -- does anyone have a scan of the original case in good quality? The library copy is your typical cut case, cut down to fit the box and missing the sides. If so, please send me a high quality JPG or TIF (600 dpi or more) to me.

my email: [email protected]
Thanks!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] broncodoc 14 years ago

Hi,
I would be interested in getting this if possible. I dont own a copy but would love to have it