NewYorkGuy Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Sigh. I don't know what the rest of you are seeing, but the Winsor McCay programming so far -- about an hour in -- isn't in the original aspect ratio but formatted to fit current flat screen TVs. I didn't pick up on it during the first two shorts, but I realized it when Gertie the Dinosaur's head was chopped off. Very disappointing. Reminds me when Li'l Abner was shown years ago by TCM with too much of the original image, with studio lighting and rigging visible at the tops of the image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Don't know if this'll help ya here NYGuy, but my cable provider here in Sedona AZ presents most of the channels I receive in both normal and hi-def, such as in this case this evening and after seeing your post here, I switched from watching the "The Cartoons of Winsor McCay " from hi-def channel 237 to normal channel 37, and now I'm watching it in the original and correct aspect ratio. And so, maybe your cable and/or satellite channel setup is similar. (...that's all I got here for ya, but let me say thanks for the heads-up here) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYorkGuy Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Both my channels are in HD -- 82 and 631 in Manhattan. I don't know that that's the issue. It's never been a problem before. Editing 10 minutes later -- the aspect ratio is now correct at the top of the Bray Studios segment. So -- who knows what was going on here during the Winsor McCay segment? Again, sigh... But I'm glad it's correct now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Sigh. I don't know what the rest of you are seeing, but the Winsor McCay programming so far -- about an hour in -- isn't in the original aspect ratio but formatted to fit current flat screen TVs. I didn't pick up on it during the first two shorts, but I realized it when Gertie the Dinosaur's head was chopped off. Very disappointing. Reminds me when Li'l Abner was shown years ago by TCM with too much of the original image, with studio lighting and rigging visible at the tops of the image. I had to switch from (my Samsung LCD HDTV) Zoom1 setting to a 16 : 9 - this gives correct proportions for all the animations. I have to switch back to Zoom1 when they're over. The live action portions of these animations (real life artists and actors) are well proportioned with 16 : 9, but when the presentation returns to Robert Osborne everything appears scrunched down (shorter and fatter) to fit the screen top-to-bottom. This is proof contemporary stations' ratios are all ****ed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 came in on the tail end of the mosquito cartoon and turned it off during gertie and I can say it mattered not much at least to me. if tcm wants to get cute with cartoons, I'd like 3 or 4 hours of Birdman and The Herculoids from the heyday of the american saturday morning superhero genre by america's two greatest animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. now that would be somethin' worth watchin'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Whoever's at the the switch must be asleep, since now we're getting a second showing of the Winsor McCay cartoons, instead of the cartoons from the Van Beuren studios. Nice move, TCM! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYorkGuy Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Well, if you can believe this, now we're getting a repeat of the Winsor McCay program in the correct aspect ratio. So at least there's that. But it's 11 p.m. and the Van Beuren shorts aren't on the air. What the heck is going on at either or both of TCM and Time Warner Cable in NYC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Well, if you can believe this, now we're getting a repeat of the Winsor McCay program in the correct aspect ratio. So at least there's that. But it's 11 p.m. and the Van Beuren shorts aren't on the air. What the heck is going on at either or both of TCM and Time Warner Cable in NYC? they're giving us a choice of two different aspect ratios at two different times. cute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NipkowDisc Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Whoever's at the the switch must be asleep, since now we're getting a second showing of the Winsor McCay cartoons, instead of the cartoons from the Van Beuren studios. Nice move, TCM! too late the somnambulists. not impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr6666 Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 NUTS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYorkGuy Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 What's going to be interesting, of course, is what happens when the Winsor McCay shorts are over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Yeah! What happened to the scheduled "Van Beuren" thing here??? And ND... came in on the tail end of the mosquito cartoon and turned it off during gertie and I can say it mattered not much at least to me. if tcm wants to get cute with cartoons, I'd like 3 or 4 hours of Birdman and The Herculoids from the heyday of the american saturday morning superhero genre by america's two greatest animators, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. now that would be somethin' worth watchin'. REALLY?!!! And no offense here dude, but you REALLY would have rather watched that limited animation Superhero stuff of Bill and Joe's that they showed back in the '60s and '70s on Saturday morning instead of HISTORIC and rarely seen early animation???? (...dude, you've GOT to be kiddin' here, RIGHT?!...hell, back in the day on Saturday mornings I'D watch "The Bugs and Roadrunner Show" again and again and again and even though I KNEW every single episode BY HEART, 'cause I THOUGHT H-B's limited animation superhero stuff from the era was..well..BORing, and NOT to mention, and THIS is worst part about it, it wasn't even FUNNY!!!) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewYorkGuy Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Right on, Dargo. And, we have our answer. They aburptly cut out of the McCay shorts at 12:14 to get back to the original schedule. I already saw Prince Achmed during the animation festival two years ago, and I think I saw it's on demand this week for anyone who's still curious. So -- set the DVR for Gulliver's Travels and Magic Boy and hit the hay. I guess they'll reschedule the Van Beuren shorts someday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodyjm13 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Just spreading the news, in case there's anyone following just this thread and missed the update elsewhere on the board: TCM has rescheduled "Animation from Van Beuren Studios" for midnight on December 7th, 2014: It's also available via the Watch TCM app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts