Elephants Dream - First European 3D-Animated Title to be on HD DVD

Elephants Dream finally prides itself as the first European 3D-animated feature to be released on HD DVD. This is made possible by the HD DVD production team over at Imagion AG, based in Trierweiler (Germany). The goal of the German authoring studio: to turn this pioneering release into a reference product that impressively demonstrates the vast possibilities of the new format.

The ambition of Ton Roosendaal and his movie production team, who created the animated film with limited funds, was transferred to the developers of the HD DVD. Numerous bonus contents complement the first-rate Elephants Dream HD DVD video stored in full high definition resolution (1080p).

The main feature will be presented in 1080p High Definition 16x9 1.78:1 video with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

And the highlights of this HD DVD release includes:

• 4 audio commentaries
• Making of Elephant Dreams documentary (A choice of either HD Fullscreen or Picture-in-Picture)
• A "Script-to-scene" feature
• Picture-in-picture Making of documentary is synchronised with the movie and can be freely positioned on any of the four corners of the screen
• Alternate Videoencoding - Comparisons between MPEG-2 and VC-1 encoded versions of the animated feature can be made using this feature.
• HD/SD Comparisons - the user can seamlessly switch back and forth between HD and SD video or select a horizontal or vertical split screen display.

The added enjoyment that can be derive from these interactive features just cannot be described by words or pictures. So you might just want to see the interactive features in action for this HD DVD title by clicking here (courtesy of Imagion AG). For further information, cover artwork and video previews for this HD DVD title, you can head over to http://www.imagion.de/elephantsdream.

The HD DVD can be ordered directly online at the website (http://www.imagion.de/elephantsdream). As soon as the first European HD DVD players hit the stores in autumn 2006, the disc will also be available in retail shops.