Walt Disney Treasures (Wave 4)—Buena Vista

Video: 4
Audio: 3
Extras: 4
Disney's latest vault exploration has resulted in three new two-disc collections. The Mickey Mouse Club (Week One) presents the first five Mouseketeer meetings in their full, one-hour broadcast versions from October 1955. Mickey Mouse in Black and White (Volume Two) includes more than 40 Mickey cartoons from 1928 to 1935 and is a companion piece to the original Treasures collection of early Mickey shorts released in 2002. The Complete Pluto (Volume One) offers 26 cartoons from 1930 to 1947 that either starred or featured Mickey's pet pooch.

As with other Treasures sets, these releases include bonus features full of interesting archival and contemporary material. All have interviews with animators or cast members, plus galleries of sketches and/or still photos from the original productions. Each has a feature or two tailored to its particular subject matter—the Mickey Mouse Club set, for example, includes rare rehearsal footage shot in color—plus behind-the-scenes views of Walt's hands-on involvement in each project.

The sets are presented 1.33:1 format, and most of the restored footage looks as fresh as the day the cells were inked. Only the earliest Mickey cartoons aren't pristine, but even with their minor imperfections they still look pretty darn good for their age. The Dolby Digital soundtracks are clear and clean, though they won't give any of your speakers much of a workout.

X