A few weeks ago, Warner Bros. invited us to visit and listen about the restoration process used for the 70th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. Yes, those red shoes have been clicking their way to Kansas for 70 years. Warner Bros. is celebrating 70 years in a big way with events in Elf Island, a charity event that would drive Carrie Bradshaw crazy and the 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition.

Let’s talk events first. Elf Island (www.elfisland.com) is a virtual world where kids can play games that cause good to happen in the real world and now through the end of the year Elf Island will be partnering with Warner Bros. to celebrate the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. At Elf Island many The Wizard of Oz characters will be in many games as well as digital items.

“Because of our fantastical world, it’s skies the limit with our storylines, character developent and brand integration,” Liz Kronenberger, Co-Founder and VP of Marketing, Elf Island. “This partnership allows us to celebrate an all time favorite movie with The Wizard of Oz in a new medum all while injecting redeeming value by showing kids they have the power to help others through gaming.”

On September 24 in New York, the Emerald Gala will celebrate the 70th Anniversary in a unique way. The restaurant will be transformed into Emerald City including the yellow brick road. Five original Munchkin actors will be in attendance along with the cast from the Wizard of OZ National Tour. Ashanti will be performing as well as Lorna Luft, the daughter of Judy Garland.

The auction for the Ruby Slipper Collection will end the evening of the 24th. The auction started on September 10 and benefits the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation . The collection rubyslipperauction.com features designers fresh take on Dorthy’s famous ruby slippers. These aren’t cheap shoes, but they are one of a kind item and it benefits children.

“As we celebrate our own milestone -20 years of leading the fight against pediatric HIV/AIDS – we are honored that Warner Bros. has included us as the philanthropic partner of it’s year-long anniversary celebration. The proceeds from the online Ruby Slipper Auction will help us continue to build a future of hope for children and families across the world, and to create a generation free of HIV,” said Pamela Barnes, President and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

It’s hard to believe the Wizard of Oz originally came out in theaters in 1939. Another piece of trivia is that L. Frank Baum wrote fourteen complete full-length stories about the world of Oz before his death in 1919.

Seventy years later, Warner Bros is celebrating the Wizard of Oz with the Ultimate Collector’s Edition which includes the movie on Blu-Ray for the first time. Warner Bros. stressed at the restoration event their commitment to Blu-Ray. They passionately believe old titles should be restored and brought to new life on Blu-Ray.

Possibly the most passionate was Senior VP of the Theatrical Catalog Marketing, George Feltenstein. I smile when I think back on meeting Mr. Feltenstein because he was so excited to share his passion with us. His passion includes a huge support of Blu-Ray to show the greatness of older films in a way we were unable to do due to technology restrictions.

“Indeed, to celebrate The Wizard of Oz on it’s 70th Anniversary, the wizards at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging have combined the latest cutting edge tools with a lot of brains, heart and courage to ensure that Oz on BD will be yet another milestone in the film’s illustrious history.” – George Feltenstein

The Wizard of Oz has gone through much tender love and care with seven restorations trying to show viewers the best Oz they have ever seen. In Restoration process they go back to the film and work on the originals. For the 70th Anniversary, they found an “answer print” to work from. An “answer print” is the first version of a given motion picture that is printed to film after color correction on an interpositive. It generally is the print that is signed off by the director and is incredibly rare to have.

They then scanned the answer print at 8K resolution (which is more than twice used in a previous transfer). Vice President of Mastering, Warner Bros. Technical Operations, Ned Price explained to us that technology doesn’t even exist to show the film at 8K resolution. They ended up using 4K of data for the Blu-Ray version. After scanning, the film was examined for dirt and imperfections which they can now do “down to the pixel”.

“When viewed in Blu-Ray, the net result of this process brings forth an Oz that seems almost like seeing a different film. There is now sense of space and dimension never visible in prior iterations. This is the best Oz has ever looked, even better than it did the day it opened back in 1939. We are certain that viewers of every age will be knocked out by the amazing spectacle that is the new OZ!! – George Feltenstein

First they showed us a string of photo comparisons. You can tell quickly that it was brighter and details were richer.

Then Mr. Price showed us a clip of the film and it was nothing less than jaw dropping. Dorthy looks like a young girl with freckles on her cheeks and details so clear you can see blemishes on her face. Details like the individual bricks in the yellow brick road or decorations in a room that we have never seen before. I felt like I was viewing the film for the first time with details I didn’t know existed before coming to life.

I cannot wait to do a full review of the Blu-Ray edition. The sneak peek made me excited for more. Reminding me of the feeling I had when I saw the Wonderful World of Oz for the first time. The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be out on September 29 for $84.99 for the Blu-Ray edition. You can also buy the collector’s edition on DVD for $69.92.

If you want to see what the theater experience is like, Fathom, Warner Home Video and Turner Classic Movies will be bringing the new high definition version to theaters for one day only. On September 23 at 7pm localtime, nationwide and tickets are being sold now on FathomEvents.com.

Warner Bros showed me their commitment to Blu-Ray and bringing their classic titles to Blu-Ray. Thank you Warner for an inspirational day and I hope that we continue to see classic movies be brought to life on Blu-Ray.

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