No 3D for Monsters vs Aliens Blu-ray

July 08, 2009

I had been preparing questions for Dreamworks and Paramount Home Entertainment pertaining to their plan for handling 3D on the upcoming Monsters vs Aliens Blu-ray Disc and DVD that stars the voices of Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, and Kiefer Sutherland. This morning all the questions were addressed with the same blanket answer: we're not ready.

In a surprising move, Dreamworks will be releasing Monsters vs Aliens on Blu-ray Disc and DVD without 3D despite approximately 58% of box office ticket sales coming from 3D screenings. The reasons are purely technical. It cannot be done... yet.

Speaking to Home Media Magazine, DreamWorks Animation chief Ann Daly explained the reasoning as follows: "The movie itself was developed with the notion of doing the RealD-Dolby experience in theaters, and those specs are not ideal for the anaglyph presentation for home viewing, which still relies on glasses with colored rather than polarized lenses," Daly said. "It's a completely different process, and when we started to look at how it would look in the home, we were not satisfied."

The new animated short B.O.B.'s Big Break included with the Blu-ray and DVD version and a paddle ball game bonus feature will be offered in 3D viewable using four packed-in magenta-and-green glasses. "The short was specifically designed with magenta-and-green glasses in mind," Daly added. "We even adjusted the color for 3-D conversion to optimize the 3-D experience."

As for the rest of Monsters vs Aliens on Blu-ray, expect a 2.35:1 1080p transfer and 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. Bonus features will be mostly shared between the two versions with a couple Blu-ray exclusive exceptions as marked below.

• B.O.B.'s Big Break in 3D
• Paddle Ball Game in Monster 3D
• Modern Monster Movie Making
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
  • Monger's Plan
  • War Room Turns on Monsters
  • If You Don’t Know
• DWA Music Video Juke Box
• Filmmaker Commentary
• The Tech of Monsters vs Aliens
• Top Secret Sneak Peek Files
  • How To Train Your Dragon (HD)
  • Shrek The Musical (HD)
  • Kung Fu Panda World (HD)
  • The Penguins of Madagascar (HD)
  • Shrek The Halls (HD)
  • Secrets of the Furious Five
  • MMonsters vs Aliens Activision Game trailer
• Karaoke Music Party with:
  • "More Than A Woman" with B.O.B.
  • "Born To Be Wild" with Dr. Cockroach & Missing Link
  • "I Will Survive" with Ginormica
• Animators' Corner - Picture-In-Picture (BD exclusive)
• Trivia Track (BD exclusive)

The official synopsis for B.O.B.'s Big Breaks reads as follows: B.O.B. (Seth Rogen) and his monstrous crew are on a mission to bust out of Area 52, the government's top-secret holding cell. Led by mad-scientist Dr. Cockroach P.H.D. (Hugh Laurie) and macho amphibian The Missing Link (Will Arnett), the trio outwits grizzled General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) to make a triumphant escape. Almost.

Pricing is not yet available for either version of Monsters vs. Aliens though you can check out the Blu-ray Disc cover art below.

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