Fantasia 2000 Laser Rot! (1 Viewer)

[Andy_S]

Last night I was watching Fantasia 2000 and in the Sorcerers Apprentice, the scene where the broomstick is coming back to life (with all of the splinters also coming back) and the DVD gets blocky, then stops playing. I thought maybe there was a scratch or fingerprint or something so I took it out and double checked. The disc was totally fine. I keep my DVD's in very good shape so I was surprised to see it do that. I tried blowing any dust off of it and I lightly rubbed it with a special cloth (the kind used to clean glasses) and tried again. It cut out at the exact same point (It's at 1hr 48min). I took it out again to see what the heck was happening and this time I went to a better lit area of the house. The gold foil seems to have cracks all over it. Mostly on the outter edge. The cracks are very tiny and very hard to see. They almost look like the kind of cracks that appear when mud dries quickly. They're spidery and all over the place. Anyone else having a problem with this disc?

 

[Matt Everett]

I checked my Fantasia 2000 disc and there were no visible signs of damage. The Sorcerer's Apprentice played fine...I haven't had time to check any other segments.

I had a copy of Amarcord go bad...I never found any signs of damage on it, and the disc was properly stored. I've seen other members posting similar complaints as well.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Andy,

I remember others complaining that the DVD stopped working properly, so you're definitely not alone. It may have even been on this forum (have you done a search?).

Chris

 

[Andy_S]

Yes, I did a search. The only posts I found were ones regarding it locking up on the layer change. Mine always worked fine, even with the layer change. I didn't see any posts about laser rot and Fantasia 2000.

As a side note:
I understand that DVD's don't rot like like a plant or animal would, but something is causing the data layer to become cracked.

 

[Christian Preischl]

Andy,

The only posts I found were ones regarding it locking up on the layer change.

Might be the same thing though, only in your case it's not as bad (yet). Is the Sorcerer's Apprentice on the second layer?
I also remember reading some posts in uk.media.dvd a while ago about problems with the disc becoming unplayable even though it used to play flawlessly before. How about contacting Disney via their web site and describing the problem? Maybe they will send you a new disc, after all it's not your fault that the damn thing stopped working.

HTH,
Chris

 

[Andy_S]

It's not at the layer change. I've contacted Disney support via email. We'll see what they say. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Julian Reville]

If e-mail doesn't do the job, check the web site for an 800 tech support number; I called them last month about this same issue, and yes I did post about it. It took a while, but the Mouse sent me a new Fantasia 2000 disc last week.

 

[Andy_S]

Thanks. I found the number and will try giving them a call. Was there any indication that the new disc was a new pressing? What's to keep the replacement from doing the same thing?

 

[RickER]

There are plenty of posts on here about laser rot, I have had about 5 of my 500 DVDs go bad...that i know of. Still, the cracking of the aluminum layer didnt sound like what i have read on laser rot. I did some online seaching and found that laser rot has more of a splotchy color change. It is an oxydation of the aluminum layer that gets so bad the player cant correct for it anymore. Of course...i could be wrong. Rick

 

[Andy_S]

I just got off the phone with Disney DVD Tech Support. They guy said it definately sounds like a manufacturing defect and they are sending out a replacement disc (which I should get in about a week.)

 

[Matt Rexer]

Is there a website out there with a list of known DVDs with the potential for "dvd rot"? That might be useful... that way, we could keep an eye on these iffy titles to make sure ours are OK.

 

[Andy_S]

Update:

I received my replacement Fantasia 2000 DVD. It came in a brand new case and everything (I was expecting the disc only). It also came with a postage paid label so I could ship the old one back. I compared the bad DVD with the new one and there was a definite difference betweent he gold foil in both. My old one was full of cracks and the new one was smooth.

 

[GlennH]

I posted this link in the "Sweet Hereafter" rot thread, but I'll do it here too. A news story about DVD Rot from Sydney, Australia.

Rohan Byrne (pictured) is a HTF member. He posted a link to his website in that other thread.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/...804570867.html