Get this! (or better yet, don't!): New Wonka SE? Pan 'N Scan ONLY! Part II (2 Viewers)

[Peter Kline]

WB has had a recent history of BIG screwups. First the Kubrick set rushed out to cash in on his death. At the time they said "the set was approved by Mr. Kubrick". Terrible transfers and all. Sure it was. That's why they reissued it 8 or so months later. WB infers that Superman will be rereleased to theatres. They prepare a new trailer for just that. Then their marketing department decides to test the water by running the pic in San Antonio (what market reserach told them to go to that city?) during the height of NCAA "March Madness". Poor attendance and they scrap plans for any major theatrical re-release. Now Willy. They again use "market research" - and decide to leave off the widescreen version. Why not leave it on? They did it the first time. No big deal, it wouldn't hurt would it? The producer of the DVD tells everyone that it will be both. Was he lying? Was he lied to? Does anybody at WB even care about the movies?
WB circles the wagons all too often. Deny, deny, deny. They simply have no respect for the consumer This is a company made up of "loonies" I'm afraid.
Da, da that's all folks.
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[Edited last by Peter Kline on August 08, 2001 at 01:55 PM]

 

[Dan Lindley]

Oops.
[Edited last by Dan Lindley on August 08, 2001 at 02:37 PM]

 

[Brian Cruz]

I think it's great to see the HT community banding together to fight for what they believe in. But why did it take until now? Why did it take Willy Wonka to inspire a call to arms not seen since the days of DIVX? The Space Jam Special Edition DVD came out over a year ago in Pan & Scan only. I remember seeing a few complaints, but nothing even approaching this scale. WB released the first two Pokemon movies in P&S, and announced today the release of the 3rd movie, also in P&S only. Where's the outcry? Where's the furor? Why didn't people start petitions for Space Jam? Why isn't Pokemon mentioned in the same breath as Willy Wonka when people make calls to WB?
I'd bet it's because Willy Wonka is a childhood favorite of many HTFers, while Space Jam and Pokemon are newer films most of us wouldn't give a passing glance. They're kiddie fodder; nothing worth fighting for. But don't all movies deserve to been seen in their OAR, whether they're personal favorites or not? It seems likely to me that if these same complaints were made a year ago with Space Jam and Pokemon, WB may have never even considered releasing a P&S-only Willy Wonka DVD. Why wait until it's a movie you care about? OAR should be demanded on all releases, new or old, classic or modern, high-class or low-brow, without exception.
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[Youssef]

let me put my $.02 in, WHO CARES. its a kids movie anyways and big deal if its not in widescreen format. You do have the option of not buying it and also it is ridiculous to "boycott" warner and all their products over this. This movie was made for kids and kids, whether u like it or not, HATE widescreen movies! To them, its like seeing much less of the picture so your basically preaching to the wrong crowd.

 

[Andy_S]

Dan,
You must be looking at the wrong version or something. It's up to #13 and still claims widescreen. Check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...471496-4513619

 

[LukeB]

Ron or Bill Hunt or Cliff, could one (or all) of you call your contacts at Warner who are high up and get a confirmation on a widescreen release. There's nothing worse than mis-information, and it seems with ALL of this going around, it'd be nice to have a confirmation on a widescreen version from a studio rep who knows what they're talking about. Much appreciated, I think we all can agree that we'd like to hear something from the top of Warner instead of just relying on a vague posting on DVD Angle.

 

[Gavin K]

There was an interesting explanation about why studios think family films should be Full-Frame in the readers response portion of DVDfile this morning.
To paraphrase, Family VHS still greatly outsells family DVD at places like Suncoast. So the studios are assuming that this means family films should be Full Frame, when really what is happening is that the VCR which has been replaced by the DVD player and PVRs is winding up in the kids' room. And parents are more reluctant to trust their toddlers with DVDs. So films like Recess, which most adults don't care too much about, are selling much higher on VHS than DVD.
Of course, what studios have left out of the equation is that films like Willy Wonka, the Goonies, and Neverending story have great appeal to those of us who grew up watching such films.
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"Wow, what a dramatic airport!"

 

[Ryan Wright]

Why wait until it's a movie you care about?

I didn't. I could care less about Wonka, but I sure as hell signed the petition. You can count me in on any OAR fight. (I didn't hear a thing about Space Jam or Pokemon) Even though Wonka does not interest me, if they cave and release it in widescreen, I may have to pick up a copy just to see what all the fuss was about. I remember very little about the movie and am not even sure if I ever saw the whole thing.
Goonies & Neverending Story will be must-haves for me, however.
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-Ryan (http://www.ryanwright.com )
Ok, I admit it: I set you up the bomb.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

let me put my $.02 in, WHO CARES. its a kids movie anyways and big deal if its not in widescreen format. You do have the option of not buying it and also it is ridiculous to "boycott" warner and all their products over this. This movie was made for kids and kids, whether u like it or not, HATE widescreen movies! To them, its like seeing much less of the picture so your basically preaching to the wrong crowd.

That's certainly $.02 and nothing more.
1. We care, because we grew up on this movie and still love it.
2. It's not a kids' movie anymore than Toy Story, which I'm assuming you "wouldn't care" if you could only buy in full-frame?
Willy Wonka has some pretty dark and layered humor that only adults are indended to understand. Its too upsetting a film for many kids under the age of 5 (not exactly Barney).
3. Kids don't hate letterboxing. They don't even notice unless you tell them and they quickly forget again afterwards.
4. What crowd? Who's preaching to the kids? I thought we were trying to communicte to Warner?
-dave

 

[Todd Phillips]

Regarding the Amazon sales position:
It is on their upcoming-releases list on the DVD front page, so I suspect it is getting a lot of impulse purchases.
Also, Amazon also does direct marketing emails for upcoming products, so I bet they did one for this (I got an email for the Goonies).
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Todd Phillips

 

[Gavin K]

"This movie was made for kids and kids, whether u like it or not, HATE widescreen movies!"
Funny, my kids watch The Toy Story movies and Emperor's New Groove in widescreen several times during the week, and have absolutely no problem with it. Kids are amazingly open-minded to such things, but there has already been a thread regarding this.
Also, Wonka was released in 1971, so a lot of the Kids for whom it was made are now DVD buying adults with fond remembrances of this film, and would like to listen to the commentary and view the documentary, and at the same time not support the unnecessary alteration of the film.
While I don't necessarily know if an all out boycott will particularly send the right message, all of the brouhaha so far generated has sent a very distinct message - that not including OAR is unacceptable.
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"Wow, what a dramatic airport!"

 

[Mark Bendiksen]

let me put my $.02 in, WHO CARES. its a kids movie anyways and big deal if its not in widescreen format. You do have the option of not buying it and also it is ridiculous to "boycott" warner and all their products over this. This movie was made for kids and kids, whether u like it or not, HATE widescreen movies! To them, its like seeing much less of the picture so your basically preaching to the wrong crowd.

Is this flamebait or what? For the record, all four of my kids (including my four-year-old) happily watch widescreen movies all the time. It's only misguided adults that complain about them. Perhaps you're a bit confused because those same misguided adults are acting like kids.
At any rate, call Sherry Bogart at Warner Brothers at 818-954-7165. She's out of the office this week but you can leave her a voice mail. Try to be firm but polite. Warner needs to know that we're angry, but we definitely want them to listen openly to our arguments.
Link Removed

 

[PhilipG]

Let me guess Warner's marketting research question:
"Do you prefer the entire resolution of your TV to be used (FULLFRAME) or for black bars to be added to exclude some of the picture and make your TV look like a very small cinema screen (WDIESRCENE)?"
"P.S. You need a very big TV for WDIESRCENE and will have to sit much closer to it."

 

[PaulaJ]

For what it's worth, I called Warner Bros and got transferred to the voice mail of someone named Sherri Bogart (I think that was the name). She had recorded a voice mail stating she'd be out of the office for several days (I think she's really hiding under the desk, avoiding irate Willy Wonka fans)

and her voice mail included the following announcement that *Warner Bros. is now evaluating Willy Wonka for a widescreen release.*
Well... I am dubious that they are... but who knows. Maybe all the yelling has had an effect after all.
-- Paula

 

[Mike Gariepy]

Keep those signatures coming folks, 5000 and counting!
http://www.petitiononline.com/wonkadvd/petition.html

 

[AVspec]

Called Sherry Bogart and her OGM says that it is only being released in full-frame (on VHS and DVD) and that they are looking into a widescreen release in the future.... or some such thing.
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-Mark
**** Digital Vortex ****
The Digital Electronic Site
www.digitalvortex.com
[Edited last by Mark Knight on August 08, 2001 at 02:55 PM]

 

[Peter Kline]

see below
[Edited last by Peter Kline on August 08, 2001 at 03:13 PM]

 

[GlennH]

The Warner lady's name is Sherri Bogard, with a "d" not a "t" on the end.
I talked to her several months ago about replacing my defective "My Fair Lady" DVD. She was very nice. She'll probably be needing therapy after all this.

 

[Robyn Young]

Hi--
As most people here, I was very disappointed in the omission of a widescreen version of the film on the dvd. I've signed the petition, called MS. Bogart, and e-mailed WB customer service. I think that Warner has been testing the waters(Space Jam, A Christmas Story) as far as OAR presentation goes, but I do believe they underestimated the love of this by everyone in my generation(I'm 30) who are now the dvd buyers. I think that's why we're seeing such an OAR fight now v. when Babe, or Space Jam or A Christmas Story(All movies I've seen, but not had much interest in.)
As far as the Amazon Sales Ranking goes, I had read somewhere else that the ranking was not only based on pre-orders, but also browser hits, so realistically, the more we access the page, the higher the ranking will be.

 

[GlennH]

deleted. double post from above.
[Edited last by Glenn Heberle on August 08, 2001 at 04:12 PM]