Home Entertainment
January 9, 2004
Five Judy Garland Classics Debuting April 6 On DVD From Warner Home Video Highlighted By The 60th Anniversary Of “Meet Me In St. Louis”
(January 9, 2004 – Burbank, CA) – Five Hollywood classics starring the incomparable Judy Garland – one of the most talented and beloved stars of the 20th century - will become available on DVD for the very first time April 6 from Warner Home Video (WHV).
In celebration of its 60th Anniversary, the fan-favorite “Meet Me in St. Louis,” nominated for four Academy Awards®, is the main attraction in this collection of wonderful titles. This Two-Disc Special Edition is the third release to undergo Warner Bros. Pictures’ proprietary “Ultra-Resolution” process, giving today’s viewers the most extraordinary presentation possible for this classic musical. “Meet Me in St. Louis,” directed by the great Vincente Minnelli (especially known for his unique use of Technicolor), has benefited greatly with an improved fully remastered picture derived from newly-restored film elements. In addition, the release features a new digital audio track that has been remixed to Dolby Digital 5.1 from original multi-channel pre-production music source elements. The DVD contains the original mono track as well. Also featured is an all-new introduction by Liza Minnelli, daughter of star Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli.
The four other Garland classics, all digitally remastered, include “For Me and My Gal” with Gene Kelly, “In the Good Old Summertime” with Van Johnson, “Love Finds Andy Hardy” with Mickey Rooney, and “Ziegfeld Girl” with Jimmy Stewart, Lana Turner, and Hedy Lamarr. All five titles are brimming with extra features such as extensive commentaries, vintage shorts, “making of” documentaries, radio programs, original trailers and more. “Meet Me in St. Louis” Two-Disc Special Edition is priced at $26.99 SRP, while the others are priced at $19.98 SRP.
The popular “Meet Me in St. Louis” is presented in Warner Bros. Pictures’ dazzling “Ultra-Resolution,” which allows today’s viewers to see parts of the images that were not visible previously and in sharper detail than conventional Technicolor release prints. Warner Bros. introduced this process with the release of “Singin’ in the Rain” in the fall of 2002 followed by “The Adventures of Robin Hood” this past summer. According to Rob Hummel, Warner Bros. Studios Senior Vice President of Technical Operations, “‘Ultra-Resolution’ continues to be improved each time out and ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ is just spectacular.”
More than seventy years after the introduction of Technicolor, Warner Bros. Studios is employing the “Ultra-Resolution” process that begins with scanning the original Technicolor 3-strip black and white ‘records’ at extremely high (2k) resolution. The black and white records are then combined electronically to create the color images, which are also electronically re-registered, steadied and cleaned before the final DVDs are produced.
With operations in 82 international territories Warner Home Video, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. Warner Home Video's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Entertainment.# # #