Abominable appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. As I expected, the transfer looked terrific.
Sharpness was fine across the board. Virtually no softness appeared, as the movie delivered satisfying definition.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects occurred, and edge haloes were absent. Of course, print flaws never manifested themselves.
Abominable came with a palette that mildly emphasized blue, with a general pastel sense as well. The colors showed a good sense of vividness and worked well.
Blacks were dark and deep, while low-light shots offered nice clarity and smoothness. This became an appealing visual presentation.
With Abominable, we got a Dolby Atmos soundtrack that offered a lively soundscape, especially during the action sequences. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, those fleshed out the spectrum in an involving way and gave us nice chances for movement.
This allowed the surrounds to play an active role. The track worked well enough in the early stages but it picked up more as it went, especially as the film neared its climax. The various channels got a good workout in this engrossing soundscape.
Audio quality seemed pleasing. Speech always sounded distinctive and concise, while music was peppy and rich.
Effects offered solid reproduction, with clean highs and deep lows. I liked this mix and thought it gave the movie life.
The disc comes with a slew of extras, and we launch with an audio commentary from writer/director Jill Culton, co-director Todd Wilderman, producers Suzanne Buirgy and Peilin Chou, Head of Character Animation John Hill, production designer Max Boas and visual effects supervisor Mark Edwards. All sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, various design choices, music, animation, and related domains.
While we learn a decent array of facts about the production, so much happy talk appears here that the end result becomes tough to take. Fans of the film will stick it out for the insights we learn, but all the gushing praise for the project makes it tough to swallow.
Two animated shorts follow: Marooned (7:24) and Show & Tell (2:50). The former offers a WALL-E-style reel about a robot stuck on the Moon, while the latter brings more with the yetis. Neither excels but both seem entertaining.
Four Deleted Scenes follow. Including intros from Culton and Wilderman, these occupy a total of 10 minutes, 30 seconds.
In terms of content, these mostly offer a little more narrative material, with some character elements and a little comedy. Though reasonably enjoyable, none of the scenes feel especially important.
A bunch of featurettes ensue, and Making a Myth goes for six minutes, 58 seconds. It involves Culton, Buirgy, Wilderman, Boas, Chou, head of story Ennio Torresan Jr., and actors Chloe Bennet, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Albert Tsai, and Tsai Chin.
“Myth” examines characters and cast, visual design and the representation of China. This becomes a decent overview of the topics.
Animating Abominable fills five minutes, 12 seconds with remarks from Culton, Edwards, Buirgy, Wilderman, Chou, Boas, Torresan, Hill, and character effects supervisor Damon Riesberg.
As expected, this show views character design and animation. It delivers another useful piece.
Next comes Meet the Cast, a five-segment compilation with notes from Bennet, Trainor, Tsai, Chin and actor Joe Izzo. Together these fill eight minutes, 22 seconds and give us thoughts about their roles and performances. A few insights emerge but these snippets remain pretty fluffy.
Hosted by Bennet, Your Yeti Care Guide lasts two minutes, 28 seconds and also features Tsai and Trainor. They offer tips about how to take care of pets – regular ones like cats, not yetis. It’s cute but not substantial.
With Courage to Dream, we find a three-minute, four-second reel that features Bennet, Culton, Buirgy and Chou. “Dream” examines gender concepts in the movie. It becomes a decent but somewhat self-serving take.
We get more from Bennet via An Abominable Tour. In this four-minute, 41-second snippet, the actor leads us on a quick tour of the Chinese locations used in the film. Expect a superficial but moderately informative reel.
Everest’s Talk Box fills four minutes, 35 seconds and features Culton, Wilderman, Izzo, sound designers Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn, and a group of kids. We get a demo to show how Izzo managed to transform his voice for his role. It’s cutesy and mildly informative.
After this we find Cooking with Nai Nai, a four-minute, three-second piece with Chin and “Chef Shirley”. They give us a quick lesson how to make pork bao. Chef Shirley is cute, but otherwise this becomes a forgettable segment.
Two sections comprise How to: “How to Draw” and “How to Make a Chinese Lantern”. Under “Draw”, we find tutorials for five characters, as we spend 20 minutes, 36 seconds with story artist Daniel Tal.
Tal teaches us how to draw those five characters. In “Make”, we see a three-minute, 47-second lesson that teaches us how to create a lantern. Both are better suited to kids.
You Can Speak Yeti-Ese lasts three minutes, 47 seconds and brings back Bennet to show us Yeti speak. It adds up to another cute but superficial clip.
Finally, Nai Nai Says runs one minute, 48 seconds and offers that character’s lessons. Expect another mildly amusing piece.
The disc opens with ads for Spirit: Riding Free, Curious George: Royal Monkey and The Grinch (2018). No trailer for Abominable appears here.
At no point does Abominable threaten to become a great – or even really good – film, and it borrows too heavily from some influences. Still, it maintains enough humor and charm to turn into a likable adventure. The Blu-ray boasts strong picture and audio along with a bunch of bonus materials. This offers reasonably satisfactory kid-oriented entertainment.
