Walt Disney Treasures: Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow Of Romney Marsh (1963), Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963) 2 x DVD9, Blu-Ray, download for free

Apr26

Walt Disney Treasures: Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow Of Romney Marsh (1963), Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963) 2 x DVD9, Blu-Ray

by movieworld on April 26th, 2020 at 16:15

Posted In: .Other movies, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Western

Grandly produced in England, this three-part miniseries is "a story of high adventure and heart," as Walt Disney states in his folksy and avuncular episode introductions.

By day The Scarecrow (Patrick McGoohan, known at the time for his iconic role as John Drake on Danger Man) is Dr. Syn, a well respected preacher in Romney Marsh who helps his people by raising their spirits, but by night he becomes “The Scarecrow” who takes from the king to give to the poor residents of Romney Marsh, or simply helps to smuggle goods to evade the king’s taxation. In these adventures Dr. Syn helps to hide some men who would be captured and tried under sedition for trying to evade the King’s taxation, as well as an American who talks of freedom for the colonies.

Director: James Neilson
Cast: Patrick McGoohan, George Cole, Tony Britton
Country: UK, USA
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Family, Western

2 x DVD9 | NTSC 16:9 | 02:31:07 + 01:37:59 | 6.81 Gb + 4.58 Gb
Language: English
Subtitles: English

This DVD-set collects all three one-hour episodes of Walt Disney’s television adventure as well as the celebrated feature-film version in one package. Both versions are a treasure to watch, and the film itself is considered one of Disney's greatest TV movie triumphs.

Extras:

DISC ONE:
Includes 3 episodes:
- "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh: Part 1"
- "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh: Part 2"
- "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh: Part 3"

-- Introduction with Leonard Maltin (3 min). Maltin gives a brief introduction to the renewed aspect ratio of “Dr. Syn” that was originally filmed in 1.66:1, giving credit to the re-mastering crew in putting together the renewed features. An interesting discussion of the aspects of Disney’s DVD production crew.

-- “Walt Disney TV Introductions In Widescreen” (5 min). This featurette is simply a compilation of the Walt Disney introductions before each episode, but presented in the 1.66:1 widescreen that the rest of the feature is presented in.

-- “Dr. Syn: The History of The Legend” (16 min). This featurette deals with the legend of Dr. Syn, talking with historians, like Disney historian Bryan Sibley, along with writers and others who go through the history of the novelization of Dr. Syn, as well as talking with the recently deceased Patrick McGoohan.

DISC TWO:
Film: “Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow”

-- Introduction with Leonard Maltin (3 min). Maltin talks about the feature length restoration of the film, discussing the other two versions of the film not produced by Disney and what makes this miniseries and film so distinct. Maltin does a good job of talking about the distinction between the miniseries and the film, as well as giving an interesting history of the actors within the production.

-- “Walt Disney: from Burbank to London” (12 min). This final featurette deals with Walt Disney’s travel to England to produce films following the second world war, discussing the financial and personal reasons the Disney company expanded into London along with Disney’s obsession with Live action films.