Pixar Fanboy

Up and Monsters Inc. have been out on Blu-ray for a couple weeks now, and I’ve thankfully had time to enjoy them, but haven’t had much time to write about them. Now I’m on holiday and I thought I’d go ahead and post some thoughts on the releases, in case you still haven’t decided on them yet.

Up Blu-ray

I knew Up was going to look gorgeous in high-definition, but I had no idea it was going to look this good. I saw Up in the theater four or five times (nothing compared to some of our intrepid Pixar Fanboy Facebook/Twitter fans!), but I almost felt like I noticed details more when I watched it at home. One visual that stuck in my memory was the detail in Carl’s grass before he takes off in his house. The video quality of Up on Blu-ray is amazing, bottom line.

I don’t have the most impressive audio setup, so I won’t really comment on the audio mixes.

I can tell you, however, that the bonus features are great. We’ve often heard tell of the research trips Pixar directors and crew get to embark on when planning a new film, and we’ve even seen some glimpses of theme on previous DVDs, but with Up it’s the first time there is a dedicated featurette about one of these trips. There is a twenty-five minute or so featurette detailing Pete Docter & Co.’s trip to South America, and it is a treat. It made me appreciate the work they put in to the film so much more once I actually knew how close to reality they made the environments.

There is a handful of shorter featurettes that are a lot of fun as well, and there is the Disney/Pixar Blu-ray standard Cine-Explore feature, which is always great.

If you’re a Pixar Fanperson you definitely need to own Up on Blu-ray, even if you haven’t made the jump to high-def just yet. It comes with a DVD and a digital copy too, so you can cover all your bases in one purchase!

Monsters Inc. Blu-ray

Monsters Inc. has always been one of my favorite Pixar films. It’s what made me so excited about Up, and it’s probably the Pixar film that gets watched the most in my house. Naturally, I was pretty pumped up to finally pop the Blu-ray in, and as I’d hoped, it looks great.

I noticed a lot of details I had never seen before, and the characters and colors just pop off the screen. Unfortunately the bonus features are mainly the same as on the previous DVD, but they did add a nice filmmakers’ roundtable. It’s pretty much the same thing that was added to A Bug’s Life on Blu-ray, and it’s fun to watch, but it definitely made me long for more new bonus features in HD.

Still, the features from the old Monsters Inc. DVD are great (the chimp!), and are worth rewatching.

Again, a true Pixar Fanboy or Fangirl wouldn’t go without Monsters Inc. on Blu-ray, and it would make a great gift for the holidays too!

If you’ve picked Up or Monsters Inc. on Blu-ray, what did you think?