Movie color change?

I was looking at OriginalTrilogy.com to see if it's even possible to find the original version of THX 1138, but then I saw this thread. http://originaltrilogy.com/topic/The-Spongebob-Squarepants-Movie-35mm-Re-Creation/id/46019/page/1#882426

This guy thinks that the distinct look of the trailers was the way the film originally looked and that it was changed for the DVD release. But the way I remember it, the movie always had this palette and the trailers just have a filter on them/not completely finished animation. How do you guys remember it?

Here are some of his screenshot compares:

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149708 (Animation difference: no bubbles come from door in trailer, the do in the movie.)

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149711

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149709 (Edit difference: they added the Shell City sign to the building in the movie.)

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149713 (Completely alternate animation. They ditched the red palette in the movie and clearly edited or redid the animation itself from the source. The background is different too.)

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149704

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149712

So, which way do you remember the movie looking on the big screen? I'm pretty sure the color differences were a filter to make the trailer look cooler. It might be cool to see the whole film that way, but I don't think it ever existed like that. What do you guys think?

maybe the colors are just duller because the movie is old

I do think that might've been the original color scheme. The brighter color scheme fits the show more.

I honestly can't remember if I saw the film in theaters, but I DEFINITELY prefer the darker colors.

At least the colors aren't an darkened as the Rugrats Movie.

CaptainJZH said:

At least the colors aren't an darkened as the Rugrats Movie.

Click to expand...

The colors in TRM were darkened? I only seem to remember richer colors than the show, but not all the colors were darker, the color palette was just more robust and expanded. However, I'm liking the trailer's Chum Bucket shot and the trailer's SB shot over the movie's version; just me though.

The picture looks a bit TOO dark in the trailer, however, but only a tiny bit; the trailer is too dark and the full movie is too light. The animation in the trailer looks more like season 3 than the final movie, maybe due to the less pronounced shadowing?

Well trailers don't always have the final bits and bobs of a movie.

I like the brighter version better. It feels more like the show, and I don't think the original movie would of been as dark.

They must have edited the Shell City sign out so the plot twist wouldn't be ruined.

Supmandude said:

This guy thinks that the distinct look of the trailers was the way the film originally looked and that it was changed for the DVD release. But the way I remember it, the movie always had this palette and the trailers just have a filter on them/not completely finished animation. How do you guys remember it?

Click to expand...

It's very obviously just an unfinished version of the film. Stuff like the missing Shell City sign and bubble animation just proves that to me. Also, do you really think the side of SpongeBob was designed to look green? As in: http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/149704

Well, I never watched the movie in theaters, but I prefer the color of the trailer, looks beautifull.

Both colors have there own pros to me. So I like both.

Well, if you look at the top it says 35mm 2004. This is because when the film came out, movie theaters only projected on film reels. Since the trailer and the movie itself in theaters are both from a 35mm reel, the color was probably changed. Watch the trailer again and you can see that it is from a film reel. On the blu ray, you are watching a digitized version of the film, which is probably what it looked like when it was edited in the computer, but not converted to the film reels.