Missing Link appears in an aspect ratio of 2.39:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. We got the high-quality presentation we expected.
Sharpness looked positive. Minor softness materialized in a few shots, but those remained infrequent and modest.
No issues with jaggies or shimmering occurred, and I saw no signs of edge haloes. Source flaws remained totally absent as well.
Colors worked fine despite an orientation toward orange and teal. Other tones showed up as well, so expect a fair amount of purple, red, and additional hues. These came across with nice vivacity.
Blacks were dark and deep, and I thought shadows seemed smooth and clear. This was a very good transfer.
Though not killer, the film’s Dolby Atmos soundtrack also worked well, as the movie demonstrated good range and activity. Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the forward channels did the most damage, as they showed nice movement and integration.
The surrounds offered a solid level of involvement as well, as the movie packed a lot of action scenes to add to the proceedings. Moments like a fight on a ship in the stormy seas brought strong power, for instance.
Audio quality was fine. Speech was consistently natural and concise, without edginess or other issues. Music appeared bubbly and bright, while effects showed good power.
Those elements offered positive accuracy and heft throughout the movie. The track suited the film and added impact to the proceedings.
We get a mix of extras here, and we open with an audio commentary from writer/director Chris Butler. He presents a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, influences and inspirations, music, editing, production and costume design, animation, and other domains.
Lively and charming, Butler makes this a fine commentary. He covers a broad array of subjects and does so with wit and candor. Expect a top-notch chat from Butler.
From there we find a bunch of brief featurettes, a domain that includes “Creating Mr. Link” (one minute, 23 seconds), “Bringing the Final Ice Battle on the Bridge to Life” (1:46), “Oh What a Mystery” (2:25), “Making Faces” (0:46) and “Inside the Magic of Laika” (2:46).
Across these, we hear from Butler, puppet fabrication supervisor John Craney, animation supervisor Brad Schiff, rigging supervisor Ollie Jones, visual effects supervisor Steve Emerson, CEO/producer Travis Knight and actors Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, and Zack Galifianakis.
The clips examine character design and creation and animation. They’re too short to tell us much, but they bring some good glimpses of the production stages.
A piece called Animation Inspiration occupies three minutes, 44 seconds and shows a comparison of the final film with various storyboards, test animation and color scripts. It allows us to view the way the planning art came to the screen.
We can watch “Inspiration” with or without commentary from Butler. He gives us useful notes about the footage.
A VFX Breakdown Reel spans six minutes, five seconds and includes notes from VFX supervisor Steve Emerson. We watch animation at various stages of effects completion in this fun, educational compilation.
Under Gallery, we see 24 photos. These give us a look at the animators at work.
The disc opens with an ad for Breakthrough. Sneak Peek adds promos for The Miracle Season and Dog Days. We also find a trailer for Link.
A second disc provides a DVD copy of Link. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.
A delight from start to finish, Missing Link brings a terrific animated adventure. With a fine cast, fun action and plenty of laughs, it soars. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture and audio along with a decent roster of bonus materials. A terrific film, Missiing Link deserved a much bigger audience than it earned.
