The original 1939 camera negative had been preserved in underground vaults at the Library of Congress (©Disney. All Rights Reserved)
At the Walt Disney Studios we understand the importance of a film like Bambi. When the restoration project was proposed, the studio committed to a plan that would provide the best possible restoration and preserve this and other films from the Disney Vault long into the future. To do this, the studio assembled a world-class team from Walt Disney Feature Animation,Studio New Technology and Worldwide Technical Services to oversee this extensive restoration.
The Beginning
It was crucial for Disney to preserve the content on that film so that many generations in the future might be able to experience the beauty of this movie. To the filmmaker’s credit, they also shot the movie on black and white film. How is that possible for a color movie? Each drawing was photographed three times by the animation camera onto successive frames through a color wheel with three filters – red, green, blue. The final print that was made from this black and white negative was created through a tedious “dye-transfer” process. Since black and white film doesn’t fade over time, we were able to retain the rich and vibrant images in this wonderful film.
Each drawing was photographed three times by the animation camera onto successive frames through a color wheel with three filters – red, green, blue. (©Disney. All Rights Reserved)
Bambi Takes to the Road
Once the frames were restored, the restoration team assembled it back into scenes, and the scenes back into the final movie, matching it against the original to make sure nothing was missing. Using several different sources for reference, the team then spent hours to adjust the color for each scene so that it was true to the original intent of the filmmakers. For this reference we retrieved from the Disney animation vaults original backgrounds from the movie, photographed them and printed film elements to mimic the process that would have been done at the time. The team also screened an original “Technicolor dye-transfer” 1950’s era theatrical print of the film to insure we were making the best possible decisions regarding the final color.
Before restoration (©Disney. All Rights Reserved)
After restoration (©Disney. All Rights Reserved)
And That’s Not All Folks!
In the 1950’s the Studio’s original optically recorded tracks were transferred to magnetic film for protection. These were further archived using Dolby noise reduction in the 1980s. Using an arsenal of tools, Andreas eliminated the majority of the artifacts inherent in audio recordings at that time and created a track able to withstand the scrutiny of contemporary home theater systems. The team back at Disney then had the task of taking these mono elements and creating an enhanced 5.1 mix without interfering with the filmmakers’ intent. The team meticulously mixed the 5.1 tracks to give them a perspective and spatial distance to match the visual images. This resulted in a far more compelling sound field when compared to the original mono mix. The sonic imaging of the new DEHT mix engages the viewer as never before and presents BAMBI in a way that it has never been heard before.
What results from all this effort? A new digitally restored version of the classic film Bambi is now truer to the original artistic intent than ever before. This film is now preserved for future generations to enjoy!
You can read our review of the new DVD release in this article.
Article courtesey Walt Disney Studios
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