Product Description

Embark on an amazing adventure awash with intrigue over land and sea, now on Disney DVD for the first time! Hayley Mills stars as fearless Mary Grant, whose only clue to her missing father -- a sea captain -- is a mysterious message in a bottle. One clue leads to a thousand thrills when Mary, her brother, and their fellow searchers must brave earthquakes, fire, flood, and even a giant condor on their perilous rescue mission. Maurice Chevalier, George Sanders, and Wilfrid Hyde-White also star in this spectacular fantasy-adventure based on celebrated novelist Jules Verne's popular book. Brimming with special effects, this is your passport to surefire family fun!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6442 in DVD
• Brand: Disney
• Released on: 2005-05-03
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Amazon.com
In Search of the Castaways was Hayley Mills's third feature for Disney, an agreeable adventure--loosely based on a Jules Verne story--with enough derring-do to make kids happy and with the right touch of self-conscious silliness to keep adults smiling. Mills plays Mary Grant, a missing freighter captain's daughter convinced her father is still alive somewhere in Earth's southern hemisphere. With the help of her brother (Keith Hamshire) and a veteran seaman (an extremely unlikely if charming Maurice Chevalier), Mary convinces a shipping magnate, Lord Glenarvan (Wilfrid Hyde-White), to set sail and find the missing Captain Grant. The team survives freezing weather, avalanches, a menacing condor, an active volcano, Maori captors, and a plot by a slick George Sanders to steal a ship. Meanwhile, Mary and Glenarvan's rakish son, John (Michael Anderson Jr.), engage in flirtatious feuding. The many memorable action sequences are wildly improbable (all the more so watching the nonchalant Chevalier have a go at Indiana Jones-like heroics) and liberally employ old-fashioned process shots, mattes, paintings, and other pre-digital special effects. The incomparable Hyde-White looks as if he's having fun alternately harrumphing and encouraging good old British resolve, while Sanders effortlessly portrays, for the umpteenth time, his brand of enchanting villainy. Directed by Robert Stevenson (Mary Poppins). In Search of the Castaways is presented here in its original, full-screen format. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

A Walt Disney/Jules Verne Story Worthy of any Collection
I concur that this account is based on the Jules Verne story titled "CAPTAIN GRANT'S CHILDREN". It is a beautiful mix of suspense, fantasy and charm that only Walt Disney himself could bring to the big screen. With majestic and divine photography, we can only hope that Disney Studios will not "Black Beard" the release and produce a cleaned and digitally restored DVD with the Original Aspect Ratio preserved.

UPDATE!

A reviewer from Amazon.com UK reports that this film IS being presented in it's original aspect ratio at 1.33:1. This film was MADE in fullscreen and theatrical widescreen prints were made by cropping the picture as was done with Darby O'Gill. So in actual fact it is the widescreen version that is missing part of the picture and NOT the fullscreen version. This film is too new for Disney to try to pull this kind of stunt. Still another says not only is the framing much too close to allow this, but even a couple of the opening credits disappear off the sides of the screen. The film should be in 1.75:1 ratio, instead of the 1.33:1 full screen version here.

Is Disney just unable to tell us media savy buyers the technical details on these beloved films? I guess this DVD is a keeper but if anyone can validate these facts , I'd love to know.

Shocked at Disneys' glaring lapse of judgement!
Disney within a space of a few months has gone from one extreme to the other.
On the one hand they release a two disc version of one of their all time classics Mary Poppins,both sound and picture having been fully restored and cleaned close to perfection.A fitting compliment to both the film,its' stars and Disney itself.
Then comes the first time release onto DVD of this little Disney gem and it absolutely stuns you as you shake your head and check the box to make sure it really is a Disney product and not some kind of cruel joke.
Don't get me wrong the product(i.e.movie)is worth about a four star rating on its' own merits.It has a wonderful story line which takes our lead characters on an adventure in many far and distant lands and is a natural for older children to excite their imaginations.The special effects are pure Disney and of that era but were always done with great flare and still hold up fairly
well now.
Strangly enough the last review I wrote was about the abominable assassination of the Laurel and Hardy product being released by the "wonderful folks" at Hallmark.Never did I dream that I would run across another such product and especially a Disney one.But nevertheless here it is for all to see.
Bottomline is this.The aspect ratio is simply WRONG.It has been cleaned up yes through the usual digital means but it cannot hide the fact that this is the same cropped and pan and scan version we've seen on TV and on home video in years gone by.Everything from scenary,to animals to the actors themselves get cut off the screen.Furthermore,and I have felt this from the first time I saw it in such a state on TV and then later in its' video format that this movie was one of the worst victims of pan and scan that I'd ever seen.And viewing it once more in a clearer but absolute same state I'm convinced more than ever I was right all along.Also what "extras" there are,are for a release such as this pitifully few.It is a rip off,wrong and totally UNACCEPTABLE by any standards.
We as consumers must not just accept this sub standard product as the norm or let it go as is.I have said it before,I will say it again and keep saying it until every manufacturer and distributor of entertainment products in the audio and visual medium start treating consumers as something other than a cave dweller from the dark side of the moon.
Your credo's should be that ANY product that you release is done so with full knowledge(on both sides)that it was made with the utmost care and attention and all source elements used to create said products were of the highest quality available anywhere.And if any defects are found by the consumer then an exchange or refund to said consumer should be forthcoming immediately no questions asked.
Now THAT is the kind of relationship/understanding we as consumers should have had with the audio/visual industry since the beginning and we would have if the industry as a whole worked together and had any kind of confidence in their products.
In conclusion DO NOT BUY this product.It is an obvious cheap(for Disney) re-release of a film that deserves a far better fate than the one they have relegated to it.Let's see if we can get this abomination recalled and/or re-released in its' proper theatrical widescreen format so we can see it as it should be seen.

Good Film -- Poor Full-Frame Presentation
Based on a Jules Verne story, "In Search of the Castaways" is a fine Disney adventure which is suitable for the entire family. Overall, the film has a similar feel to "Swiss Family Robinson", only "Castaways" is more action-based.

The basic premise of the movie takes youngsters Hayley Mills and Keith Hamshere on a wild adventure through South America while searching for their missing father. Among the obstacles faced along the way are a perilous earthquake, a furious flood, wild animals and a thrilling ride down a mountainside --which is arguably the film's crowning moment.

As other reviewers have mentioned, some of the special effects seem a bit quaint by today's standards. Regardless, this 40-year-old movie still manages to be highly entertaining.

However, as a DVD, "Castaways" simply misses the mark. The picture presentation itself is decent. However, there are apparent signs of the film's age and, overall, it's not as clean as recent Disney restorations such as "Mary Poppins" or "Swiss Family Robinson." The worst offense, undoubtedly, was Disney's decision to release this larger-than-life globe-trotting adventure in a chopped-up "full-frame" presentation. With 16x9 televisions steadily infiltrating the marketplace, pan & scan releases will soon be obsolete. Viewers deserve to see the entire film in it's original widescreen aspect ratio. Guess we'll have to wait.