First up is Tex Avery Screwball Classics – Volume 2, which will include 21 more rare and classic animated shorts (including Little Rural Riding Hood, The Cuckoo Clock, Magical Maestro, One Cab’s Family, Cat That Hated People, Doggone Tired, The Flea Circus, Field and Scream, The First Bad Man, Out Foxed, Droopy’s Double Trouble, Three Little Pips, Dragalong Droopy, Homesteader Droopy, Dixieland Droopy, Counterfeit Cat, Ventriloquist Cat, House of Tomorrow, Car of Tomorrow, TV of Tomorrow, and Farm of Tomorrow).
Next, look for a 2-disc Special Edition of the Hammer Films classic The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), which will include new audio commentary by film historians Steve Haberman and Constantine Nasr, 3 versions of the film itself (1.85:1, 1.66:1, and 1.37:1 “open matte”), 4 featurettes (The Resurrection Men: Hammer, Frankenstein and the Rebirth of the Horror Film, Hideous Progeny: The Curse of Frankenstein and the English Gothic Tradition, Torrents of Light: The Art of Jack Asher, and Diabolus in Musica: James Bernard and the Sound of Hammer Horror), not to mention the original theatrical trailer.
The Warner Archive is also bringing The Harvey Girls (1946), Holiday Affair (1949), Mister Roberts (1955), Young Man with a Horn (1950), The Shop Around the Corner (1940), It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947), and The 100: The Seventh and Final Season (2020) to Blu-ray in December as well. The street dates for all should be available on WBShop.com shortly.
But the big release news today is that Walt Disney Home Entertainment has now officially set both the live-action and animated versions of Mulan for 4K Ultra HD on 11/10.
Mulan (2020) will include 5 behind-the-scenes featurettes (Updating a Classic, Mulan by Another Name, Being Bad, Reflections of Mulan, and The Original Mulan), 6 deleted scenes (some with commentary by director Niki Caro, including Little Sister Sewing, Young to Old Mulan Sewing, Hawk and Mulan Meet in Forest, Mulan Underwater Rescued by Phoenix, Mulan Runs Over Rourans, and Chancellor Turns Back to Witch), and 8 music videos (including Christina Aguilera’s concept and lyric videos for Reflection (2020), both the English and Spanish concept and lyric videos for Loyal Brave True by Aguilera, and English and Spanish versions of Reflection by Yifei Liu). The 4K disc will feature HDR10 high dynamic range along with Dolby Atmos audio.
Meanwhile, Mulan (1998) will feature audio commentary by producer Pam Coats and directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, 7 deleted scenes (Keep ’Em Guessing, The Prologue Chronicle, Shadow Puppets Prologue, The Betrothal, Shan-Yu Destroys the Village, Mulan’s Daydream, and The Emperor’s Dream), 3 featurettes (Songs of Mulan, Mulan’s International Journey, and a Multi-Language Presentation), the classic Backstage Disney featurettes, and 5 music videos (including Jackie Chan’s Mandarin version of I’ll Make a Man Out of You, Christina Aguilera’s Reflection, Lucero’s Spanish version of Reflejo, and both versions of True to Your Heart by Raven and Stevie Wonder & 98°). The 4K disc will also feature HDR10 high dynamic range along with Dolby Atmos audio. The film will be presented in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio.
Here’s a look at the cover artwork for a few of the titles mentioned above and more, with Amazon.com pre-order links if available (more will be added as they come online)…
One other piece of site business this morning: I had the pleasure of chatting yesterday afternoon via Zoom with our friends over at TheOneRing.net about the upcoming 4K release of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. We had a great discussion that you’ll all be able to see for yourselves on their next TORn Tuesday webcast on YouTube. So watch for that here early next week.
And finally today, one more reminder: Given 2020’s current difficult economic times (which have unfortunately crushed online advertising and affiliate sales income), we ask that if you believe in and appreciate the work we do here at The Digital Bits, please consider making a donation to the site via PayPal (click here or the button below). Every little bit makes a difference in terms of helping us to keep the site going strong, and we really do appreciate it very much. So thanks to all those of you who’ve already donated and know that we’re grateful to have each and every one of you as readers!
That’s all for this week. See you back here on Monday.
Stay tuned...!
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