- Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4 (The Cat in the Hat; The Lorax); VC-1 (Horton Hears a Who; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Green Eggs and Ham)
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz/24-bit); Spanish (Latino) Dolby Digital 1.0 (Green Eggs and Ham; The Lorax, The Cat in the Hat); English & Spanish (Latino) Dolby Digital 2.0 (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Horton Hears a Who)
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish (Latino)
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: NR
- Discs: 5 (5 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: N/A
- Run Time: 117 Mins.
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Blu-ray Release Date: February 19, 2013
- List Price: $59.99
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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Collection
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(The below TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Collection
[Rating:4/5]
Dr. Seuss’ perennial storybook classics as originally animated arrive on Blu-ray, yet again, from Warner Home Video in this Hats off to Dr. Seuss five-disc collection. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no new content included in this set. All the titles included, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, Horton Hears a Who, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Lorax, have been previously reviewed on here by me, other than the latter, which no longer seems to be available on its own directly from Warner from what I can tell, so I will only offer up a brief review here of The Lorax, which is straightforward. A furry forest creature, The Lorax, arrives to speak for the trees when The Once-ler embarks on a path that will lead to the ruination of all of nature. It’s an on the nose environmentalist tale with typical Seuss-ian appeal. It has marvelous illustrations of trees with tops that look like cotton candy, brilliant colors, and an acrobatic way with words.
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
All previously released titles retain their identical transfers, with The Cat in the Hat still being the strongest of the those, and Horton Hears a Who! being the weakest. The Lorax appears with an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p transfer framed in what Warner labels as 1.37:1 that is comparable to The Cat in the Hat in that it still shows a little bit of source damage, but the color saturation is brilliant, it has a natural, textured appearance, and the grain structure is nicely layered over the image. Contrast is strong as well.
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
An English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack is provided for The Lorax, that, although a bit boxy, is more than efficient and effective for the material. Warner also provides a Spanish (Latino) 1.0 track. The other titles come variably with DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0, Dolby Digital 1.0, or Dolby Digital 2.0 English soundtracks with Spanish dubs provided as well.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Supplements for all previously released discs remains the same minus the included DVDs, so I point you to the reviews for those linked to in the beginning of this review to get specifics. For The Lorax disc, what is included is the following:
- The Lorax: The Trees! The Trees! The Voice of the Trees! (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:10:53) – A discussion of the environmental themes tackled by Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel in The Lorax.
- Dr. Seuss Specials:
- Pontoffel Pock & His Magic Piano (1.33:1; SD; 00:24:42)
- Butter Battle Book (1.33:1; SD; 00:23:43)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:3.5/5]
For those Dr. Seuss lovers (and I include myself in that crowd) out there, Hats off to Dr. Seuss may be the perfect collection of these original animated adaptations – unless of course you already own the original Blu-ray releases. If you’ve already purchased these individual releases, however, this set may not be worth it, as it leaves out much of the bonus materials (DVDs, Digital Copy, UltraViolet).
Additional Screen Captures
[amazon-product]B00A44ZJE4[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Hats off to Dr. Seuss on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B00A44ZJE4[/amazon-product]
BestBuy.com:
Purchase Hats off to Dr. Seuss on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Collection
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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The Lorax has actually been available as a separate release since February of last year. So none of these discs are new.
Hmm, I searched for The Lorax on Blu-ray and didn’t find anything, Warner doesn’t even have it listed on their own press or retail site. Are you speaking of a DVD release, or perhaps a non-US release? The only Lorax I know of is the Universal film.
Here’s a link:
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dr-Seuss-The-Lorax-Blu-ray/30580/
Weird, I must have missed that, but it seems to have vanished from retail outlets altogether anyway, since Amazon, CD Universe, and Best Buy all do not list and Warner no longer lists it on their online retailer site. I’ll have to update the review. :)
Actually, scratch that, now I somehow spotted this after the fact on Amazon from third party sellers, but it is really gone from Warner’s listings. Weird.
The review has been updated to reflect that The Lorax was also previously released on Blu-ray by Warner. Thanks to Jason Stoker for pointing this out! :)