STRANGE WORLD [2022 / 2023] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] ‘STRANGE WORLD’ is the 60th ‘Disney Classic’ film from the iconic Walt Disney Animation Studios!
Walt Disney Animation Studios’ original action-packed adventure ‘STRANGE WORLD’ introduces a legendary family of explorers, the Clades, as they attempt to navigate an uncharted, treacherous land alongside a motley crew that includes a mischievous blob, a three-legged dog and a slew of ravenous creatures.
FILM FACT No.1: Henry Jackman was announced to compose the score for the film, marking his third collaboration with Don Hall, after ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘Big Hero 6,’ and his fifth overall feature-length scoring work with Walt Disney Animation Studios. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on the 23rd November, 2022, the same day as the theatrical release.
FILM FACT No.2: Awards and Nominations: 2023 Annie Awards: Nomination: Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature for Jeff Snow. Nomination: Outstanding Achievement for Storyboarding in an Animated Feature for Javier Ledesma. 2023 Black Reel Awards: Nomination: Outstanding Voice Performance for Gabrielle Union. 2023 Visual Effects Society Awards: Nomination: Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature for Laurie Au, Mark Hammel, Mehrdad Isvandi and Steve Goldberg. Nomination: Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature for Cameron Black, Dan Lipson, Leticia Reinaldo Gillett and Louis Jones. Nomination: Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature for Benjamin Fiske, Jesse Erickson, Ki Jong Hong and Ryan Smith. Nomination: Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature for Deborah Carlson, Scotty Townsend, Stuart Griese and Yasser Hamed.
Voice Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, Karan Soni, Alan Tudyk, Adelina Anthony, Abraham Benrubi, Jonathan Melo, Nik Dodani, Francesca Reale, Emily Kuroda, Reed Buck, Katie Lowes, LaNisa Renee Frederick, Dave Kohut, Alice Kina Diehl, Terri Douglas, Liza Del Mundo, Shondalia White, Melanie Minichino, Michael Ralph, Shane Sweet, Arthur Ortiz, Matthew Yang King and Nikola Petrovic (uncredited)
Directors: Don Hall [Director] and Qui Nguyen [Co-director]
Producers: Jennifer Lee [Executive Producer], Laurie Au [Associate Producer) and Roy Conli p.g.a. [Producer]
Screenplay: Qui Nguyen
Composer: Henry Jackman
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio: English: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
English: 2.0 Description Audio
Spanish: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround Audio
Catalán: 5.1 DTS Digital Surround Audio
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Region: All Regions
Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘STRANGE WORLD’ [2022] Finds the Three generations of a legendary family of explorers will find themselves in an uncharted land with strange creatures. If they want to survive from the numerous dangers, they must bridge their differences and work together.
The adventure begins in land of Avalonia, where Jaeger Clade [Dennis Quaid] is a famous man of adventure, leading his son, Searcher Clade [Jake Gyllenhaal], into an unconquerable mountain range to see what’s out there for the Clades family and their legacy. When Searcher Clade discovers a special electrical plant call “Pando,” he decides to cut the journey short, watching Jaeger leave him behind. 25 years later, Avalonia has come alive with help from “Pando,” which Searcher Clade grows on a farm shared with his wife, Meridian Clade [Gabrielle Union], and their teen son, a terrific Ethan Clade [Jaboukie Young-White], who isn’t sure agriculture is his future. When President Callisto Mal [Lucy Liu] makes a sudden appearance on the property, Searcher Clade learns that something is killing “Pando” plants, requiring a journey to the source of the issue to see what can be done. The Clade gang finds their way to a world-inside-a-world, soon joined by gelatinous buddy Splat, who helps the explorers figure out what’s going on in this mystery space of constant monster threat. Joining the squad is Jaeger Clade, who’s been touring the land for decades, newly reunited with his son Ethan Clade, who has mixed feelings about the man and his influence on Ethan Clade.
Trouble soon arrives for the family, as President Callisto Mal arrives with disturbing news concerning the longevity of “Pando,” which is quickly dying out. A mission to the centre of this strange earth is launched, with hopes to revive the plant and return to everyday life. Of course, such a feat isn’t so easy, and ‘STRANGE WORLD’ follows the team on their flying machines to a place they’ve never been before, exposing them to “freeways” of aquatic-like creatures and tentacle monsters who apply pressure on the visitors as they plunge deeper into the unknown. Pursuit sequences are plentiful, watching the explorers dodge attacks and meet new challenges to their safety, and a plus one arrives in Jaeger Clade, who’s still a gruff man of action, newly confronting the boy he left behind and the grandson he’s never met, which freaks out Searcher Clade, creating competition for Ethan Clade’s attention.
‘STRANGE WORLD’ portrays many different types of ethnicities and races in their characters, which was refreshing not watching an entire film with the same white-American animated models. Searcher Clade is presumed to be white, but his wife, Meridian Clade, is a Black woman, making Ethan Clade biracial. Searcher Clade’s former expedition teammate was of Native American descent, and other members of the expedition team were mostly designed to be of different races. It is especially nice to see the effort put into creating different-looking character models. Not only to give minority races representation in animated films, but with how stunning and meticulous the animation was, it was clear the art team put a lot of care into their work on this film and that a lot of that care was utilized in creating all of these characters with different backgrounds. It is a great way to show the care that this film went in its obvious mission to be ground-breaking in its diversity.
Director Don Hall has been on an interesting creative winning streak, working his way around impressive Disney Animation achievements such as ‘Winnie the Pooh,’ ‘Big Hero 6,’ ‘Moana,’ and ‘Raya and the Last Dragon.’ Don Hall teams with writer/co-director Qui Nguyen for ‘STRANGE WORLD’ and creates a magical and mysterious journey to a special universe inspired by pulp magazines and fantasy novels, most notably the works of legendary author Jules Verne. Don Hall and Qui Nguyen manufacture a vivid viewing experience with ‘STRANGE WORLD’ in which features gorgeous animation and fascinating designs for otherworldly creatures and environments. It’s superb eye-candy, but there’s a lot more to Qui Nguyen’s screenplay, which offers a graceful understanding of environmental issues and family relationships between adventure sequences that deliver impressive scale for big screen enjoyment
‘STRANGE WORLD’ tells a good story with an interesting twist supported by great world design and solid character vocalizations. The film might not bear much replay value after a second watch to discover as many hints as possible, but many fans should be pleased with the overall experience a first and second time around.
‘STRANGE WORLD’ is an animated film I had not heard about alot, but after viewing it I was very pleasantly surprised. It’s funny, witty and very clever. In other words, it’s got something for everyone. If you’re tired of some of the other digitally-animated films that seem to follow the same old pattern, so please give ‘STRANGE WORLD’ a try. I think you’ll be glad you did.
STRANGE WORLD MUSIC TRACK LIST
THEY’RE THE CLADES! (Music by Henry Jackman) (Lyrics by Kevin Del Aguila) (Arranged by Sven Faulconer) (Produced by Henry Jackman) [Performed by James Hayden (Soloist), Michael Bannett, Amick Byram, Tim Campbell, Kevin Del Aguila, Dylan Gentile, William Kenneth Goldman, Scott T. Graff, Luc Kleiner, Mark Edward Smith]
LONE DIGGER (Written by Charles Delaporte, Hugues Payen De La Garanderie, Arnaud De Bosredon, Sonia Fernandez Velasco, Antoine Toustou and Amzallag Aurelien) [Performed by Caravan Palace]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – Walt Disney Animation Studios presents us the computer-animated ‘STRANGE WORLD’ with an excellent 1080p image presentation and really gives us very good strong colour improvement with them saturated and popping much more than the standard Blu-ray. There is also much improved fine details, patterns and textures in this picture as well a more crisp image overall. Depth of field is pretty strong and 3 dimensional here with good spacing, scale and pushback on display. Movements are fluid and natural and no blurring or jittering from any rapid action sequences occurs. Blacks are deep and natural and help to really bring out colours and outline much of the work done here. No issues with information lost and no crushing witnessed. Colours are well saturated and lusciously pop off the screen. There are beautiful greens, fuchsias and blues that come on striking in many of the landscapes. HDR really has a nice bump here with beams, fire and contrast in the darkened sequences. All in all, this an outstnding very clean image presentation.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – Walt Disney Animation Studios brings us the animation ‘STRANGE WORLD’ comes with a pretty solid 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio experience. You’ll want to crank up a few notches to have a more desirable experience. It is very well balanced between the composed film score, vocals and effects, though some areas do fall flat in spots and it is very in the Disney mix quality than it is your “other studios normal studio mix.” From above you get some things flying, debris, blasts and characters hopping over camera as a well as some lighter ambiance and scoring. The subwoofer hits with some decent power, but you probably anticipate and desire a little more than what is there. Nonetheless, there’s an effect felt with blasts, engines, punches and bumps in the composed score. This one easily works its way around the room, even in the much quieter scenes the world comes to life in the rear and side channels decently with good ambiance and unique sound contributions. Vocals are clear and crisp.
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Anatomy of a Scene: Creating A Strange World [2023] [1080p] [1.37:1 / 1.78:1 / 2.39:1] [23:20] With this featurette, at the start we are informed that to tell a story of how a Disney animated movie is made, the filmmakers chose to focus on one visually stunning scene that shows almost everything the artists could possibly do . . . and more! Then from then on we get to hear in-depth on how the animated film ‘STRANGE WORLD’ was conceived, and they also inform us it was the most complicated animated film ever conceived at the Walt Disney Animated Studio. We have a fascinating and comprehensive exploration of making one of the key, and most visually challenging, sequences in the film, which in turn reveals the arduous but rewarding process of building modern digital animation. Also find out and learn about Walt Disney Animation Studios’ creative process through a single, visually stunning scene as the filmmaking team puts all of their imagination – and more – on the screen. As a bonus, we get to view loads of clips from the animated movie ‘STRANGE WORLD,’ as well lots of behind-the-scene filming. Contributors include: Qui Nguyen [Co-director and Screenplay], Don Hall [Director], Roy Conli [Producer p.g.a.], Mehrdad Isvandi [Production Designer], Gabrielle Union [Meridian Clade], Jake Gyllenhaal [Searcher Clade], Amy Lawson Smeed [Head of Animation], Justin Sklar [Head of Animation], Vitor Vilela [Animation Supervisor], David Stodolny [Animation Supervisor], Daniel Kole [Technical Animation Supervisor], Natnicha Foam Laohachaiaroon [Simulation Performance Lead], Brian Leach [Director of Cinematography Lighting], Olun Riley [Lighting Supervisor], Kendall Litaker [Associated Technical Supervisor], Chris Carignan [Tactus Supervisor], Henry Jackman [Composer], Shannon Mills [Supervising Sound Editor] and Samson Neslunf [Sound Designer].
Special Feature: Strange Science [2023] [1080p] [1.78:1] [13:43] With this featurette, we are informed this Making-of is best enjoyed watching the animated movie ‘STRANGE WORLD’ first. They suggest Lab coats and safety goggles are optional. Once again, we get to view lots of clips from the movie ‘STRANGE WORLD.’ Actor Jaboukie Young-White hosts a discussion on biology and how that branch of science is presented in the movie ‘STRANGE WORLD.’ Journey into the world beneath Avalonia and meet some of the terrifying, slimy, gaseous and sometimes cute creatures that inhabit this ‘STRANGE WORLD’ and also have an exploration of how Walt Disney Animation Studios artists were inspired by real science to create ‘STRANGE WORLD.’ Please Note: This supplement contains major spoilers for the animated film ‘STRANGE WORLD.’ Contributors include: Actor Jaboukie Young-White [Ethan Clade], Don Hall [Director], Sean D. Jenkins [Head of Environments], Qui Nguyen [Co-director and Screenplay], Larry Wu [Art Direction Environments], David G. Derrick Jr, [Head of Story], Dr. Elizabeth Rega [Science Consultant], Dr. Stuart Sumida [Science Consultant], Roy Conli [Producer p.g.a.], Mehrdad Iavandi [Production Designer], Lissa Treiman [Head of Story] and Yasser Hamed [Crowds Supervisor].
Special Feature: Creature Feature [2023] [1080p] [2.39:1 / 1.78:1] [6:14] With this featurette, journey into the world beneath Avalonia and meet some of the terrifying, slimy, gaseous and sometimes cute creatures that inhabit this ‘STRANGE WORLD.’
Special Feature: The Hidden Secrets of ‘STRANGE WORLD’ [2023] [1080p] [2.39:1] [5:24] With this featurette, uncover the references and characters from some of your favourite Walt Disney Animation Studios films hidden throughout the film, along with some fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories of how the animated film ‘STRANGE WORLD’ was made.
Special Feature: Outtakes [2023] [1080i] [1.78:1] [2:03] With this featurette, we get to view some humorous and hilarious moments from the recording booth. But most of all, we go behind the glass as we join the cast of ‘STRANGE WORLD’ inside the recording booth for some hilarious fun, flubs and outtakes.
Special Feature: Deleted Scenes [2023] [1080p] [1.78:1 / 2.39:1] [11:41] With this featurette, We get to view introductions from Heads of Story Lissa Treiman and David G. Derrick Jr. We also get the view the deleted scenes and they are as follows: The Ballad of Jaeger Clade; Lightning Lynx; Funerals and Promises and Searcher and Ethan. Please Note: You can view each deleted scene separately of Play All.
Special Feature: Sneak Peaks: Here we get to view two Disney promotions and they are as follows:
DisneyLand Paris [2023] [1080p] [2.39:1] [0:32]
The Little Mermaid [2023] [1080p] [2.39:1] [1:24]
Finally, ‘STRANGE WORLD’ has all the magical Disney animation moves, including a cute slapstick sidekick in Splat, who becomes a guide for the team, and a major effort is made to sustain an emotional hook with Searcher Clade and Jaeger Clade, who must deal with their past differences and their separated lives, soon joined by Ethan Clade’s own desires. The writings completely emphasises important communication issues, and especially their take on important environmental issues. But of course there is a message of hope and the healing of family issues, and plenty of amazing and stunning visuals to enjoy, with Don Hall [Director] and Qui Nguyen [Co-director] overseeing totally awesome inventive creatures and character designs, creating a wonderful playground of fantasy oddity to study with these frequently overwhelmed explorers. The latest animated Disney creation is like a “Journey to the Centre of the Earth” reborn as an intercultural fantasia that takes aim at the climate crisis. Hidden beneath the mountains is a kind of Jurassic World made of gloppy, bubble-gum-pink material and filled with hungry, amoeba-like creatures, acid lakes and fields of anemone that regenerate on the spot. What gives ‘STRANGE WORLD’ some forward momentum is the clear affection the filmmakers have for their characters and that they have for each other and giving the animated film ample modest charms in its portrayal of basically decent people coming to accept each other’s differences. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
