Rock & Rule DVD update!

[Jackiesfridge]

From http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/jcannon/rocknrule/ (bolded passages are marked by me):

Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 06:41:39 -0000
Subject: [Rock & Rule] Rock and Rule Newsletter #4 Biggest Update Ever!

Hey Rock and Rule Fans!

Stephen Biro here from Unearthed Films. Lots on news on the ole R&R
front going on so I figured I would give you the mother load of all
newsletters. This should answer every question I've seen posted
in the group and then some. Nelvana has found a better print of Rock and
Rule called Ring of Power. It's the title MGM decided to release
the film when it hit theaters back in 1984 but from what I hear, it never
made it to theaters in that incarnation. It's a much better print
then the 1st copy they sent us so we will be using this one.

Depending on what the lab says and if the title sequence from the 1st
print called Rock and Rule can be exchanged for The Ring of Power
title sequence, then The Ring of Power title sequence can be an extra
on the double disc set. I have set up a poll on the group to get your
feedback so please let us know what you want us to do. Poll ends on
Aug 15th so please visit it and give us your feedback since this is
an important aspect of the film and the fans should have a say so in
what we do. Please remember, the film was Rock and Rule and MGM cut
the R&R title sequence and added the Ring of Power title sequence so
if we do that, we would just be restoring the film to it's original
format.

Also, I have created another poll asking for your feedback on The
Making of R&R and The Devil And Daniel Mouse extra's. We have
room on the single disc for only one of these. Which should it be? Please
have your votes in by Aug 15th so we can get cracking.

The Ring of Power print is at the lab now getting a cleaning. This is
great news since the original print they sent us had extensive damage
to it that would have cost a lot of money for a very intensive
restoration process. We are thrilled that Nelvana has found us a way
better print then what was 1st supplied to us.

We will be transferring Rock and Rule onto a High Definition
Anamorphic Digital Beta Cam Master for supreme video quality. We will
also have a lab going over the audio elements to juice em up so to
speak for superior sound. We are looking at a 5.1 Dolby Digital
Surround Sound with restoration for those with high fidelity systems
and a 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Mix for the rest of us. LOL I'm
included so don't laugh. LOL

Talking to our distributors, we are looking at a February 2005
release date. We have to pre-sell the dvd 3 months before we can
release it through the mainstream video retailers. The release date
might move up to January or back to March but that is the solid area
of the calendar we are looking at. Since we now have all of the major
materials for the DVD's it won't be a problem to hit the 1st
quarter of 2005.

Nelvana also sent us all the extra's for the DVD's so I figure I
should announce them to you.

1 35 MM print called Ring of Power: Same film as Rock and Rule, just
a different title sequence. MGM decided to change the name so it has
a broader appeal. Since this version of Rock and Rule really
wasn't shown to often it's the best print possible.

1 Pan and Scan version of R&R on Digital Beta Cam: This is what they
sent HBO and Showtime back in the early 80's for show on Cable. I
don't think we will use this but it's nice to have for color
correction and other technical aspects wile doing the telecine work.

1 The Making of Rock and Rule: 30 minute special with interviews with
Iggy, Blondie, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick, Earth Wind and Fire, Clive
Smith and a lot of the crew and animators who made R&R possible.
Filled with the good stuff. It was shown on Leonard Nimoy's:
Lights, Camera, Action on Nickelodeon back in the 80's.

1 The Devil and Daniel Mouse on Digital Betacam: The short animated
27 minute film that was the inspiration for Rock and Rule.

1 The Making of Devil and Daniel Mouse: This was a surprise. This 27
minute special was sitting in their vaults and it's never been aired
or shown from what I understand so we are very happy to stick this in
the double disc set.

1 CD The script for the movie. This will be a very nice extra. We
will have it so you can take the dvd and put it on your computer and
read the script. It also has one high resolution pic of the film
poster MISSING the logo on the top. We think this was because they
called it Drats, Ring of Power and of coarse Rock and Rule.

1 Digi Beta version of Rock and Rule: The CBC release aka Canadian
version, alternate version of R&R with Omar voice by Greg Salata.
This definitely came from a composite source; i think they said 3/4".
it's got lots of dropout, so-so color rendition, some color bleed,
and it's generally pretty soft. We have contacted everyone who might
have had or even saw this version. This is the ONLY copy left in
existence. The master print was destroyed in a fire. I forget the
exact name of the company but it was destroyed around 1986. We will
be correcting the color, fixing the drop out and generally fixing
this the best we can but since it came from a

[Jackiesfridge]

It tastes just like I dreamed it would...