The 101 Dalmatians (the animated original) has just been re-released in a “special edition” DVD. I want to buy a copy but every one I’ve seen is only a partial screen edition (1.33:1). I’ve looked on Amazon and it appears all they sell is the partial screen edition. The previous “limited edition” DVD was also 1.33:1. Has the movie ever been released in its real 1.75:1 version?
I seem to recall hearing that most movies pre-television were in a 4x3 aspect ratio. Jungle Book was released last year with an incorrect 16x9 ratio because of expectation, but it ought to have been in 4x3. The resulting image had some cropping issues because of that.
This is the definitive site I visit for my Disney DVD information.
Looking around at aspect ratio information it looks like there is considerable debate about the intended dimensions for 101 Dalmatians and other Disney animated films of the same period (I call it the Xerox era).
It was my understanding that Sleeping Beauty was the only widescreen (Technirama 2.35:1) one they made until The Little Mermaid. It looks like some later ones were produced in 1.33:1 and shown in theaters with top and bottom cropped to make a ratio of around 1.65:1 or so.