We worked with Kaz Packman and Josh Shepherd to compile this list for What’s on Disney Plus. There are 3 categories of Disney+ aspect ratio issues – titles zoomed in to fit wide-screen with tops and bottoms cut off, titles with the sides cut off by black bars for no reason, and titles uploaded in 4:3 (square) aspect ratio that actually have widescreen versions out there.
Titles Zoomed-In (cutting off top and bottom)
1) Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers (1989-1990)
Rescue Rangers is zoomed in to fit a widescreen… but this cuts the top and bottom off of the image. The proper version is uploaded to Prime Video!
2) The Little Mermaid: The Animated Series (1992-1994)
Same story as Rescue Rangers – zoomed in! You can see the proper version on Google Play that doesn’t cut Flounder out!
3) Goof Troop (1992)
This classic Disney cartoon is in the right aspect ratio on Prime Video, but on Disney+ it’s zoomed in to fit a wide-screen and the tops and bottoms are cut off.
4) Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (1994)
This film has been in the wrong aspect ratio since its DVD release. Sadly, people assume Disney trashed the original cut during the conversion. Totally terrible news that the original art may have been permanently lost.
5) Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)
Sadly, the 3rd Aladdin film is in the same boat as the second – believed to be permanently zoomed in with no change of repair.
6) Halloweentown (1998)
Last Halloween there were TONS of complaints online about people feeling claustrophobic staring up the character’s noses. Will Disney upload the NON-zoomed in version this year?
7) Horse Sense (1999)
This is the 2nd DCOM Zoomed in! Wee…
8) Smart House (1999)
And here is the 3rd DCOM zoomed in!
Titles With Sides Cut Off
1. Quints (2000)
If you thought it was weird zooming in, at least that made sense. There was a period of time where people in the industry were idiots and thought people wanted to zoom in to fit the newly wide-screened TVs. This writer admits he was an idiot as a young kid and set his TVs up to ZOOM IN to fill the screen. As he grew up, he became not an idiot. The thing is – the execs had no respect for the work that had been produced. Choosing to manually zoom in using the remote or TV features is one thing. Executives for years took that choice AWAY from consumers by zooming their actual tapes in.
In most cases those mistakes have been fixed in modern years but sadly, there are cases like the Aladdin sequels where it’s believed the original copies are completely erased and gone. Sorry about that soapbox, let’s get back to it.
For the following 7 DCOMS something baffling happened. Disney CUT THE ACTUAL SIDES OFF THE IMAGE. And the full width images exist – they are still aired on Disney Channel on Demand HD. So… let’s uh… get this fixed. Please?
2. The Ultimate Christmas Present (2000)
Sides cut off. Wow. Such why?
3. Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire (2000)
See above.
4. Motocrossed (2001)
See above.
5. Hounded (2001)
See above.
6. Cadet Kelly (2002)
See above.
7. Gotta Kick it Up! (2002)
Make it make sense. The “image” is there – they just have black bars over it. As is the case with the 6 previous.
Titles Uploaded in Square Aspect Ratio That Had Widescreen Versions
1. Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! (2004-2006)
Since they aired during the earlier years of wide-screen the series aired on TV in the square format… but eventually Disney started airing the widescreen versions. Sadly, those are NOT the versions uploaded to Disney+. Insult to injury is that SRMTHG has two episodes out of order, impacting the storyline.
