8.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Will this Halloween be the one when the Great Pumpkin comes? Longtime believer Linus thinks so—and keeps watch all night in the pumpkin patch to welcome him. Charlie Brown gets into the spooky spirit, too, dressing up as a ghost with more eyeholes than needed—but not scaring up the usual kinds of Halloween loot when trick-or-treating. Never fear, World War I fighting ace Snoopy is here to battle the Red Baron—and in doing so, crash Violet's Halloween party and Linus' vigil as well.
Starring: Peter Robbins (I), Christopher Shea (I), Sally Dryer, Cathy Steinberg, Ann AltieriFamily | 100% |
Animation | 78% |
Comedy | 66% |
Holiday | 39% |
Comic book | 9% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.33:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
UV digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
In a review several months ago, I questioned Warner Brothers' 4K strategy, particularly its decision to release animation UHDs where the source material didn't appear to allow for any meaningful upgrade. Having now viewed the three Peanuts specials that are being released both in single editions and collectively as the Peanuts: Holiday Collection (in fact, it's really nine specials, but we'll get to that in a moment), I can't say that my doubts have been assuaged. It's apparent, however, that Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which owns these independently produced TV presentations, has made a serious attempt to supply 4K fans with something not only improved but also new. Each of the three Holiday Collection UHDs contains content not found on the previous Blu-ray editions and, except in the case of A Charlie Brown Christmas, not available on Blu-ray. Whether that content is enough to spur fence-sitters to jump on the 4K bandwagon is a separate question. As for the quality of the 4K presentations, please read on.
(Note: Screenshots accompanying this review have been captured from the standard Blu-ray.)
All three of the Peanuts specials on the UHD of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown are
based on new 4K scans of the hand-drawn animation's original camera negative. The work was
performed under the auspices of Peanuts Worldwide LLC, which controls all of the Peanuts
animated properties and was the motivating force behind this release, with Warner serving as
distributor. Evaluating the 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD in this package presents a
familiar challenge when the only source for comparison is a dated Blu-ray. Great Pumpkin's Blu-ray version is an older, inferior master
encoded with VC-1; a newly remastered Blu-ray derived
from the 4K scan would provide a better basis for comparing and contrasting. That being said,
there's no question that the UHD offers superior clarity over the earlier Blu-ray. Lines are
cleaner, densities are improved, and the film's grain pattern is more finely resolved. The colors
aren't necessarily brighter or more intense, but they're more refined, and the improvements in
black levels and highlights give the UHD a vibrancy that the Blu-ray lacks. Advances in cleanup
software appear to have removed a thin layer of grime that was evident on the Blu-ray, but
without compromising image detail, thus allowing the virtues of HDR to shine through. (The
effect is more noticeable on the two specials from 1966 than on It's Magic, Charlie Brown.)
Again, I can't be certain that a Blu-ray remastered from the same new scan wouldn't display
some, or even all, of these same virtues.
The decision to offer widescreen versions of all three specials will no doubt alarm some fans,
because it exemplifies an unfortunate trend in the creation of HD presentations of material
originally framed for 1.33:1 broadcast. (See, e.g., HBO's reformatting of The Wire.) Although I
haven't tried to compare every scene, the 1.78:1 presentation of Peanuts appears to be a simple
matter of matting the 1.33:1 image at top and bottom, cutting off slightly more above than below.
In some scenes (but not consistently), a sliver of additional picture information is visible at the left and right. While it's surprising how effectively
these programs translate to widescreen, an occasional shot
is obviously too tight, and some scenes lose entire elements from the composition. Regardless of
one's attitude toward "modernizing" aspect ratios of television programs (or any other material),
the producers of these discs should be commended for including the "classic" versions, which
have obviously been prepared with equal care and attention. Traditionalists are free to ignore the
widescreen option in favor of the "classic" versions. If you're going to translate NTSC TV into
widescreen for home media, this is how it should be done.
(For comparative examples of the Peanuts specials' widescreen reformatting, please see A
Charlie Brown Christmas 4K, which is the sole release in the 4K Peanuts: Holiday Collection to
receive a Blu-ray remaster.)
[System calibrated using a Klein K10-A Colorimeter with a custom profile created with a
Colorimetry Research CR250 Spectraradiometer, powered by SpectraCal CalMAN 2016 5.7,
using the Samsung Reference 2016 UHD HDR Blu-ray test disc authored by Florian Friedrich
from AV Top in Munich, Germany. Calibration performed by Kevin Miller of ISFTV.]
Great Pumpkin and It's Magic arrive on UHD with the same lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track previously reviewed. All- Stars has also received a lossless 5.1 upgrade, and its sonic character and quality are much the same as Great Pumpkin, which was released in the same year.
The UHD disc has no extras. The included Blu-ray contains the same 2008 retrospective featurette about Great Pumpkin previously reviewed here.
I'm not sure who the audience will be for these 4K Peanuts releases. Early adopters of UHD
generally look for discs with a sufficient "wow!" factor to showcase the format to best advantage,
and while these discs are certainly well-made, I doubt anyone will be wowed by the image.
Devoted Peanuts fans may be tempted by the dual aspect ratios and the availability of yet another
special (All-Stars) in a new and improved version, but I doubt those elements alone will be the
tipping point at which they are persuaded to upgrade their systems. (The temptation might be
greater if the standard Blu-ray had been remastered, offering many of the UHD disc's advantages
to those who haven't taken the 4K plunge.) At the moment, these discs strike me as little more than
a novelty item. Perhaps their time lies in some future era in which the UHD format has been
widely adopted. Until then, buyer's choice.
Peanuts Collection / + It's Magic, Charlie Brown
1966
Special Edition | + It’s Magic, Charlie Brown + Charlie Brown’s All-Stars
1966
Peanuts Collection / + Mayflower Voyagers
1973
Peanuts Collection / + It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
1965
Collector's Edition
2015
Peanuts Collection
2011
1969
Deluxe Edition
1964
2012
2011
The Signature Collection
1961
1995-2000
2013
Special Edition
2007
Deluxe Edition
1969
1970
2007
2015
2018
1990-1991
2017
2012