MovieChat Forums > An American Tail (1986) Discussion > Was the screen square in theatres?

Was the screen square in theatres?


I can't find a wide-screen version anywhere, so I just gave up and bought the Double Feature in Full-Screen.

"There is no escape, John!"

I updated my message because I originally said "gace" instead of "gave"

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FYI, the first film was shot in the full-frame 1.37:1 open matte ratio; for its theatrical release, the top/bottom of the picture was masked off in order to show it in the "standard" 1.85:1 widescreen ratio. In short, on the DVD you're actually seeing slightly more picture information on the top/bottom of the frame, as opposed to having the sides cut off as would normally happen.

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It says Full Frame 1:33:1 on the box. I'm still not sure if I'm seeing everything, but your reply was very helpful nonetheless, so thank you.

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I know that it's been a long time since this thread was active, but if the film was shot in 1.37:1 and the DVD is 1.33:1, then you are getting very small slivers chopped off the sides. They're so small that I suppose the distributors decided to just release a full-frame version instead of have razor-thin black bars on the top and bottom.

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I would have preferred the razor-thin black bars on the top and bottom, especially since I have one of those older televisions that, for some reason, cut off parts on all four sides.

"There is no escape, John!"

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