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4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: ABOMINABLE

Dec 16, 2019 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

DreamWorks Animation and Pearl Studios have joined forces to bring to life of the year’s most delightful animated films, Abominable. Teenager Yi (Chloe Bennet) lives with her mother (Michelle Wong) and Nai Nai (Tsai Chin) in the city. Her father loved to play the violin and travel, and he had planned to show his daughter many amazing parts of China before he unexpectedly passed away. It’s summer break and Yi has been secretly taking on all sorts of odd jobs to earn enough money to take that trip she never got to, but Nai Nai is worried that her granddaughter is too busy and is always on the go. In the same apartment building is shallow, self-centered Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor)—he’s constantly worried about his looks, his designer clothing, and expensive sneakers. He’s in the popular crowd at school, and seems to have an endless supply of girls interested in him. All of this attention has certainly gone to his head. He’s preparing to head off to a pre-med program in Beijing. His younger cousin Peng (Albert Tsai) is a wild ball of energy. He loves basketball, and doesn’t let his short stature affect his enthusiasm. However, neither Jin or Yi will play with him—Yi’s too busy with her jobs, and Jin is too busy with his social life.

One night Yi heads to the roof of the building and initially has a bit of fright when she discovers a monster trying to hide near her getaway spot. It turns out to be a yeti, and it is nervously trying to avoid the helicopters that are searching the rooftops for him. The yeti had escaped from a scientific research facility belonging to the wealthy Mr. Burnish (Eddie Izzard), who had planned to show off the creature to gain the respect of the scientific community. But when the yeti escaped, Mr. Burnish sent his assistant, Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson), and team of soldiers to find it and bring it back. Yi discovers that the creature is just a child, and that it wants to get back to its home in the Himalayan mountains, and so she names him Everest. Yi sees this as the perfect opportunity to take that adventurous trip she always wanted to take. But soon Peng and Jin discover the creature as well. While Peng is excited to go on the journey with Everest and Yi, Jin reluctantly follows, only because he feels responsible for his young cousin’s well-being.

And so the group heads off on a fun adventure across China, followed closely in pursuit by Dr. Zara and her soldiers. Along the way they discover Everest’s magical powers, and learn about the importance of home and family. While also seeing some beautiful sights.

Abominable is a dazzling visual treat, and Universal’s 4K release excellently captures its visual splendor. Every scene is filled with rich detail and beautiful colors, which are only enhanced by the disc’s HDR10+ formatting. Whether the children are hanging out on the rooftop at nighttime, running through fields of flowers in the bright sun, flying through the sky on clouds, or running away from an avalanche of giant blueberries, the picture always looks breathtakingly immaculate—there are so many beautiful landscapes and locations the children visit along their journey. The Dolby Atmos audio track also helps to create a fully-immersive experience, from the sound of the helicopters overhead, to surrounding the viewer with the delightful score, to melodic sounds of Everest’s magical humming and Yi’s violin music. The track also does an excellent job of providing a general ambiance and bringing the on-screen action to life aurally.

The 4K Ultra HD release includes both a 4K disc and a Blu-ray disc packed in standard UHD keepcase with a slipcover, and contains an insert with a code to redeem for a 4K Movies Anywhere digital copy of the film as well as a code for a bonus digital movie. The Blu-ray and 4K discs both include the same assortment of bonus material—two animated shorts, 4 deleted scenes, over an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes and fun activities with the cast and crew, and an audio commentary with the filmmakers. There is a convenient Play All option that makes it really simple to make your way through all the bonus content.

While Universal didn’t release its previous DreamWorks release, How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, on 3D Blu-ray in the United States, I’m thrilled to see that this time around they are also offering a 3D Blu-ray release for those who have the ability to watch 3D at home. I originally watched this in 3D in the theater, and definitely plan to pick up this version as well!



What’s Included:

Film: (1:37:13)

    4K Ultra HD:

    • 2160p / Widescreen 1.85:1
    • HDR-10
    • Audio: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    Blu-ray:

    • 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
    • Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Video Service, Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1
    • Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

    Digital (for redemption deadline, see NBCUcodes.com):

    • 4K digital copy redeemable via Movies Anywhere
    • Bonus Digital Movie (Redemption Deadline 5/25/2020)
      Additional bonus digital movie redeemable at www.upherewards.com. At the time of this review, the list of available titles includes Nocturnal Animals, The Beguiled, The Deep, Honey 3: Dare To Dance, Hard Target 2 and Les Misérables, but these change every 4 months or so.

Extras:

All of the bonus material can be found on both the 4K Ultra HD and the Blu-ray discs. There is a convenient Play All option to watch all of the bonus material back-to-back.

  • Dreamworks Short – Marooned (7:24)
    On an abandoned lunar outpost, a lonely robot builds a ship to return to Earth, but with resources low and a surprise second passenger, he must make a tough decision.
  • Show & Tell (Original Short) (2:50)
    This 2D-animated short finds Everest back home in the Himalayan Mountains, recounting his adventures to the other Yeti, using items from a care package he received from Yi, Jin and Peng as visual aids.
  • Deleted Scenes (10:30)
    Writer/director Jill Culton and co-director Todd Wilderman provide introductions to each of these four deleted scenes, explaining why each was ultimately cut. Play All, or select from:

    • Spa Day (1:43)
      Yi asks Jin for advice on how to dress Everest’s wound.
    • Villains at the Map (2:29)
      The villains find a map that the kids left behind.
    • Magic Montage (3:02)
      Musical montage as the kids make their way across China, with the villains in close pursuit.
    • Yak Attack (3:15)
      In this version, all the kids arrive together in the fishing village, instead of Jing joining them later on.
  • Making a Myth (Movie) (6:58)
    The cast and filmmakers talk about designing the yeti, casting Chinese-American voice actors, the locations, the music, and bringing the characters to life. Includes behind-the-scenes footage of the recording booth, and interviews writer/director Jill Culton, producer Suzanne Buirgy, co-director Todd Wilderman, head of story Ennio Torresan Jr, production designer Max Boas, producer Peilin Chou, and stars Chloe Bennet (“Yi”), Tenzing Norgay Trainor (“Jin”), Albert Tsai (“Peng”), and Tsai Chin (“Nai Nai”).
  • Animating Abominable (5:12)
    The filmmakers talk about about designing the characters and locations, and the various stages of bringing them to life. Includes a look at storyboards and production artwork, and interviews with writer/director Jill Culton, visual effects supervisor Mark Edwards, producer Suzanne Buirgy, co-director Todd Wilderman, producer Peilin Chou, production designer Max Boas, head of story Ennio Torresan Jr, character effects supervisor Damon Riesberg, and head of character animation John Hill.
  • Meet the Cast (8:21)
    The cast talk about their characters and the similarities they share with them. Play All, or select from:

    • Chloe Bennet as Yi (2:06)
    • Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Jin (1:45)
    • Albert Tsai as Peng (1:43)
    • Tsai Chin as Nai Nai (1:14)
    • Joe Izzo as Everest (1:33)
  • Your Yeti Care Guide (2:28)
    The younger cast members provide tips and tricks on how to care for your pets.
  • Courage to Dream (3:04)
    Star Chloe Bennet and the filmmakers talk about Yi, how she’s not the typical Disney princess type character, and what makes her a great role model. Also includes interviews with writer/director Jill Culton, producer Suzanne Buirgy, and producer Peilin Chou.
  • An Abominable Tour with Chloe Bennet (4:41)
    Star Chloe Bennet gives viewer a tour of the diverse landscapes, food, and flora of China that Yi encounters during her journey in the movie.
  • Everest’s Talk Box (4:35)
    Wwriter/director Jill Culton, co-director Todd Wilderman, actor Joe Izzo (“Everest”) and sound technicians Erik Aadahl & Ethan Van der Ryn head to the recording booth with a group of kids to demonstrate how Everest’s voice evolved.
  • Cooking with Nai Nai (4:03)
    Chef Shirley tries to teach actress Tsai Chin (“Nai Nai”) how to make Nai Nai’s pork bao (buns).
  • How to… Abominable
    • How to Draw (20:36)
      Story artist Daniel Tal shows viewers how to draw some of the characters from the movie. Play All, or select from:

      • Intro (:21)
      • Everest (2:53)
      • Yi (3:49)
      • Jin (4:28)
      • Peng (4:31)
      • Nai Nai (4:33)
    • How to Make a Chinese Lantern (3:47)
      Demonstration video on how to make a Chinese lantern which utilizes the drawings from the previous section.
  • You Can Speak Yeti-ese (3:47)
    Star Chloe Bennet narrates this fun four-lesson foreign language course that teaches viewers how to speak some basic phrases in Yeti-ese.
  • Nai Nai Says (1:48)
    Nai Nai narrates this list of life lessons.
  • Feature Commentary (1:37:12)
    The filmmakers provide and interesting and entertaining commentary throughout the film, sharing lots of stories about how the film evolved and why certain choices were made. Participants include writer/director Jill Culton, co-director Todd Wilderman, producers Suzanne Buirgy & Peilin Chou, head of character animation John Hill, production designer Max Boas, and visual effects supervisor Mark Edwards.

 


Final Thoughts:

My Rating
Film:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Highly Recommended

Abominable is another delightful, family-friendly animated film from the folks that brought us How To Train Your Dragon. It is filled with wonderful characters, a nice blend of adventure, humor and heart, and the rich, beautiful animation that we’ve come to expect from a DreamWorks movie. Universal’s 4K release looks and sounds amazing and would be an excellent addition to any animated movie collection. The discs also contain a nice assortment of bonus material that not only provide insight into the making of the film, but also give viewers some fun family activities.

This release is highly recommended, and if you have a 3D TV at home, consider picking up the 3D Blu-ray version to show your support, so that we can hopefully continue to get these great 3D-animated films in 3D for home viewing!