Pre-Order Frozen (2013) (4k UHD) Available for Preorder (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

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[Jake Lipson]

I was wondering if we would get this this year in the run-up to the sequel's theatrical release or next year with the sequel's home release. It looks like the former.

That's some nice artwork right there. But there will be a even more gorgeous steelbook at Best Buy:

The original Blu-ray release was relatively thin in terms of supplements, especially for such a gigantic hit. I would consider a double dip if the included Blu-ray has more content on it, but somehow I doubt it, so I will probably pass as I am not currently 4K equipped. I was able to justify the 4K steelbooks for The Little Mermaid and Aladdin because I was going to buy those Blu-rays again anyway for their new remasters and bonus content, but wouldn't be able to rationalize that here if the Blu-ray is identical to what was released in 2014. We'll see. A press release would be appreciated, Disney!

 

[Jake Lipson]

Amazon posted the back cover, which confirms that the content on Blu-ray will be identical to the previous edition. This is not really surprising at all but is a significant missed opportunity to give Disney's most successful animated film of the past decade an overdue special edition. As much as I love the artwork on the steelbook, since I am not currently 4k-equipped and would not be getting anything new on the included Blu-ray, I will keep my original copy from 2014.

I know that Disney doesn't usually include extras on their 4K discs, but it should also be noted that -- since Get A Horse accompanied Frozen in its theatrical engagement -- it would have been appropriate to include it in 4K on the 4K disc, so that 4K viewers could replicate the theatrical experience of watching the short in front of the movie. Oh well.

 

[Jason_V]

Like you said, Jake, this was just a matter of "when," not "if."

Half of me wonders, aside from the cross-promotion with the new film, if Frozen is coming on October 1 to compete with Spider-Man: Far From Home on home video. Ya know, a continuation of the Marvel/Sony tiff over the character...

 

[Jake Lipson]

Half of me wonders, aside from the cross-promotion with the new film, if Frozen is coming on October 1 to compete with Spider-Man: Far From Home on home video.

I doubt that entered into Disney's thinking on this title. It's more about the ramp-up to Frozen II than anything else. The sales of a catalog title like Frozen -- even a huge one like this -- aren't going to compete with a brand-new movie, especially since they are not adding new supplements. Frozen will sell what it is going to sell and Far From Home is going to sell what it will sell and they don't really have anything to do with each other.

 

[Matt Hough]

I am MORE than content with my 3D edition of Frozen which I imported from the UK. Get a Horse! is one of the greatest 3D shorts ever produced.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Watching Get A Horse in 2D is especially pointless, almost as much as "Comin At Ya" in 2D.

Looks like that same joke "Behind the Scenes Look at the Making of Frozen" is still on there (not to spoil anything, will just say it's very short.)

 

[Jake Lipson]

Looks like that same joke "Behind the Scenes Look at the Making of Frozen" is still on there (not to spoil anything, will just say it's very short.)

I don't think it's a spoiler that it's not a real making-of because the disc has been out since 2014 and it is the biggest-selling Blu-ray Disc of all time, so chances are most people interested in the 4K have it. Those specs basically confirm that the Blu-ray will be unchanged from the earlier release. I thought it was a cute gag but also wanted a more substantial documentary, which the new edition could have provided but won't.

As for Get A Horse, I've only ever seen it in 2D because 3D does not work for me and I think it is still thoroughly enjoyable flat. It's easy to understand where the 3D pop out effects would be a substantial benefit to that short, but the storytelling in it is good enough that I don't look at it and think "Damn, I wish I could watch this in 3D." I watch it and I'm engrossed in what's happening in it, every time.

 

[Jason_V]

I doubt that entered into Disney's thinking on this title. It's more about the ramp-up to Frozen II than anything else. The sales of a catalog title like Frozen -- even a huge one like this -- aren't going to compete with a brand-new movie, especially since they are not adding new supplements. Frozen will sell what it is going to sell and Far From Home is going to sell what it will sell and they don't really have anything to do with each other.

Really?

Let's take a look at the facts.

Maleficent is coming to 4k on September 24...the sequel hits theaters October 18. That's 24 days, give or take.

Frozen is coming to 4k on October 1...the sequel hits theaters November 22. That's 50-something days.

So it's just a coincidence that the 4k version of Disney's biggest animated movie in the last decade is hitting the shelf the same exact day Far From Home is released? In a vacuum, I might agree...but there are no coincidences in life. This is Disney taking shots at Sony every chance they can.

Again, not a coincidence they're coming the same day, let alone Frozen coming to 4k almost two months before it's sequel.

 

[Robert Harris]

Yet another aurally crippled Blu-ray.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Yet another aurally crippled Blu-ray.

Was this mix not the best they could do for it in March 2014 when the Blu-ray came out? I get what you are saying because the UHD has the Atmos track, but I think this is just a case of Disney not bothering to do anything at all to upgrade the Blu-ray. Those specs are identical to the existing Blu-ray release, so they're obviously just going to include the same disc as before without making any adjustments to it at all.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Was this mix not the best they could do for it in March 2014 when the Blu-ray came out? I get what you are saying because the UHD has the Atmos track, but I think this is just a case of Disney not bothering to do anything at all to upgrade the Blu-ray. Those specs are identical to the existing Blu-ray release, so they're obviously just going to include the same disc as before without making any adjustments to it at all.

Come on Jake, they're trying to force people to upgrade to 4K/UHD by having the best audio presentation only on the 4K/UHD disc. The industry as a whole is executing this strategy in which the best video/audio presentations are on 4K/UHD discs.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Come on Jake, they're trying to force people to upgrade to 4K/UHD by having the best audio presentation only on the 4K/UHD disc.

Of course they are. I didn't mean to dispute that.

I'm just saying that, unless they could have done Atmos audio in 2014, they would have had to reauthor a new disc to put it on the Blu-ray. So, yeah, they could have put the Atmos track on the Blu-ray...but that would have required them to put actual work into a new disc. Was Atmos audio a thing in 2014 when the original Blu-ray came out? (This is a serious question because I don't know because I don't have a sound system that would take advantage of it.)

So...yeah...they're withholding, and they probably would have done that even if they had changed the Blu-ray. But they're also just being lazy and not giving the Blu-ray any adjustments at all versus what is already on my shelf.

 

[Robert Harris]

Of course they are. I didn't mean to dispute that.

I'm just saying that, unless they could have done Atmos audio in 2014, they would have had to reauthor a new disc to put it on the Blu-ray. So, yeah, they could have put the Atmos track on the Blu-ray...but that would have required them to put actual work into a new disc. Was Atmos audio a thing in 2014 when the original Blu-ray came out? (This is a serious question because I don't know because I don't have a sound system that would take advantage of it.)

So...yeah...they're withholding, and they probably would have done that even if they had changed the Blu-ray. But they're also just being lazy and not giving the Blu-ray any adjustments at all versus what is already on my shelf.

Cost to create a new product = c. $6,000

 

[Jake Lipson]

Cost to create a new product = c. $6,000

Yeah -- of course they could do that easily since $6,000 is pocket change to Disney -- but it's still $6,000 they don't have to spend if they think throwing in the old one is acceptable. By throwing in the old one, they save $6,000 and make the 4K look better by having the Atmos track exclusively. Win-win, for them. It's only the consumers that lose.

 

[Scott Jentsch]

I'm just saying that, unless they could have done Atmos audio in 2014, they would have had to reauthor a new disc to put it on the Blu-ray. So, yeah, they could have put the Atmos track on the Blu-ray...but that would have required them to put actual work into a new disc. Was Atmos audio a thing in 2014 when the original Blu-ray came out? (This is a serious question because I don't know because I don't have a sound system that would take advantage of it.)

Frozen was released theatrically on November 27th, 2013. It is listed on Dolby's site as having an Atmos soundtrack. The movie was first released on Blu-ray on March 8th, 2014. The first Blu-ray to have an Atmos soundtrack was Transformers: Age of Extinction on September 30th, 2014.

While it would have been nice for the studio to re-release an Atmos-equipped Blu-ray here, that would be looking backward instead of forward. That's not to say that any review of any re-release shouldn't ding them on the omission, however, because they should. Any new Blu-ray release should be judged against the technology possible at the time of release, and no movie that had an immersive soundtrack in its theatrical release but not on the home video release should get a perfect score for the latter.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Right, but that's the thing: this is not a new Blu-ray release. It is a new 4K release packaged with a duplicate of the 2014 Blu-ray copy. So it's absolutely correct to say that they should add Atmos audio to the Blu-ray, and that they can afford to do so, but what they've chosen to do is not change anything. So that doesn't really count as a new release in my mind, in terms of the included Blu-ray disc.

That's also why I am not going to buy the new edition. Absent any plans to go 4K in the immediate future, I was able to justify buying the 4K steelbook editions of The Little Mermaid and Aladdin because they were bundled with updated Blu-rays, and I would have purchased those anyway. Because Disney has not done anything to upgrade the quality of the Blu-ray edition, I don't see any reason to pay $38 for only fancy packaging if the only disc in it I can currently use is the same one I already own.

If my family ever does decide to go 4K, Frozen is absolutely a title that I would upgrade, but for right now I'll stick with the 2014 edition.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Yet another aurally crippled Blu-ray.

Once again, Disney reserves Atmos for 4K UHD to force an upgrade.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Yet another aurally crippled Blu-ray.

And one could also say it’s another visually crippled as it’s not in 3D as originally intended no matter how much HDR they slap on it. That visual difference is much greater than the aural difference IMHO.
Same for the new Spider-Man Far From Home- yet another international pressing for me.

on another note why is 3D that more popular all over Europe and Asia than here if the hardware’s been discontinued? Disney et al can’t release these Region free pressings in the USA where Disney etc are located? It cost that much more to print out paper inserts/covers? Absurd.

 

[MatthewA]

I would say that in this case the loss of 3D is the greater loss by far.