Both The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who appear in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on this single-sided, single-layered DVD; due to those dimensions, the image has not been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. For this release of Grinch, they finally got it right.
Sharpness seemed solid. No issues with delineation ever arose in this tight and concise presentation. I also failed to detect any signs of jagged edges or shimmering, and edge enhancement seemed to be absent. Unlike the prior Grinch DVDs, this one came almost totally free from source flaws. Other than a couple of small specks, the show looked very clean.
Colors excelled. The program offered a lot of bright primary hues and reproduced them well. These were tight and lively at all times. Blacks seemed dense and firm, while shadows looked clear and appropriate. Overall, I found much to like in this terrific presentation.
Unfortunately, no one bothered to clean up the visuals of Horton. It showed acceptable sharpness, though some shots came across as a little tentative. I saw some signs of shimmering, and edge enhancement was a bit of a distraction; the show often displayed a somewhat rough “digital” look. A mix of specks and marks popped up through the program. These weren’t heavy, but they created some distractions.
Colors seemed decent. The piece suffered from a slightly grimy look that made the tones a little dingy, but they often came across as reasonably dynamic. Blacks were fairly dark, while low-light elements showed good clarity. This image was more than watchable, but the flaws meant it didn’t get a grade above a “C+:”
The sound of both The Grinch and Horton also differed, though here the latter won. Although The Grinch was monaural, Horton appeared in stereo. Only the music sounded that way. Dialogue and effects both emanated strictly from the center area. (Note that the DVD incorrectly lists the audio of Grinch as Dolby Surround). The stereo spread for the score worked quite well, as Horton displayed very nice delineation.
As for the audio quality, Horton showed good range and clarity for the music. The score and songs was clear and reasonably dynamic. The rest of it seemed more lackluster, though, as speech and effects came across as a bit flat and plain. Still, they seemed find given their age, and the show included so much music that those elements compensated to give us a “B”.
Grinch was less pleasing. Music consistently sounded clean and reasonably vibrant; low end was lacking, but the general tone seemed fair. Both dialogue and effects were decent but usually flat and blah; there's a plainness to them that lacked treble and crispness. Boris Karloff’s narration sounded especially distant and wasn’t particularly natural. The Grinch audio seemed acceptable for material from the Sixties, but don’t expect much from them.
How do the picture and audio of this “Deluxe Edition” compare to earlier releases? Audio remains similar, and Horton doesn’t look any better than prior discs. Grinch provides much improved visuals, though. The Grinch is green and not mustard yellow, and it cleans up other aspects of the image.
This “Deluxe Edition” of The Grinch mixes new extras with some found on the 2000 Special Edition. I’ll note new supplements with an asterisk, so if you don’t see a star, the component also appears on the earlier disc. I’ll discuss omissions at the end.
*Dr. Seuss and the Grinch: From Whoville to Hollywood runs 15 minutes, 42 seconds as it mixes program clips, archival materials and interviews. We hear from author Kathleen Krull, “The Art of Dr. Seuss” curator Bill Dreyer, widows Audrey Geisel and Marian Jones, Dr. Seuss Rhymes and Reasons author Peter Jones, animation producer Paul Dini, and Seuss’ stepdaughter Lark Dimond-Cates. The show offers notes about Dr. Seuss’s life and career as well as info about his creations. We also learn a little about the TV adaptation of Grinch.
Some good details pop up here, though the format grates. In addition to lots of extraneous comments from various cute moppets, narration comes in the form of a dreadful rap tune. The show’s worth the look, but that rap makes me want to smash my TV.
A glorified form of chapter search, Song Selections lets you jump straight to any of the show's four tunes ("Opening Song", "Trim Up the Tree", "Welcome, Christmas", and "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"). There’s also a “Play All” option to allow you to check out all four in sequence.
Pencil Test provides three sketches of the Grinch, while Who's Who In Whoville gives us brief biographies of director Chuck Jones, writer Dr. Seuss, and actors Boris Karloff and June Foray.
Next we find a TNT special about How the Grinch Stole Christmas that lasts 19 minutes and 15 seconds. Hosted by Phil Hartman, this 1995 program provides an excessively-cutesy but generally solid overview of The Grinch. We see then-new interviews with Chuck Jones, Dr. Seuss' widow Audrey Geisel, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" singer Thurl Ravenscroft, song composer Albert Hague, Grinch fans Tim Burton and Danny Elfman plus bits from Hartman and some archival footage from the production. In addition to his narration that connects the other segments and relates the story's history, Hartman offers "demonstrations" of animation technique and other aspects of filmmaking that are likely unknown to most of the public but will be very basic to more knowledgeable movie fans. Anyway, the show's clearly oriented toward a younger crowd, but it's a fairly fun and mildly informative piece.
Entitled Songs In the Key of Grinch, the next piece offers a collection of additional interviews with Hague and Ravenscroft. In these eight minutes worth of clips - which do not appear to be outtakes from the prior special - we learn a little more about their careers and their involvement in Grinch. It's a nice little addition to the material in the longer show.
A promo for Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas opens the DVD, and the *Trailers area also includes some ads. We get clips for Happy Feet, Kids Holiday 2006, Hot Wheels AcceleRacers: The Ultimate Race, Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs, What’s New Scooby-Doo! Volume 10, Molly: An American Girl on the Home Front, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers, Toot & Puddle, Animaniacs Volume 2 and Pinky and the Brain Volume 2.
What does this set drop from the earlier package? It loses an easy trivia game and a smattering of minor Horton-related components. Those aren’t missed, but I do feel disappointed we don’t get the audio commentary from animator Phil Roman and actor June Foray. It wasn’t a great track, but it still should’ve reappeared here.
Despite that unfortunate omission, this remains the best DVD of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Both it and Horton Hears a Who! offer entertaining programs that have endured for decades. Horton looks and sounds like prior DVDs, but Grinch offers much stronger visuals here. Compared to the prior special edition, this “Deluxe Edition” comes with similar supplements. It replaces a decent audio commentary with a decent featurette, so neither disc proves stronger in that area.
The sole strong differentiating factor turns into the transfer. Since Grinch looks much better here, that makes the Deluxe Edition the way to go. It’s not a stellar DVD – a new transfer for Horton would be nice – but it’s the best Grinch has ever looked.
