Joseph Goodman
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2001
- Messages
- 206
As those here interested know, the upcoming Godzilla DVD's Sony is distributing will be pan&scan, except for "Godzilla, King Of The Monsters" and "Rodan", which were not widescreen films to begin with. Information has come to light that these DVD's are not actually Sony product, but products of Classic Media LLC. Here, Keith Aiken, an artist who has worked with Sony on shows such as the animated US Godzilla series, explains the situation (taken from a Godzilla message board):
"I was curious why a group of films were announced as coming from both Classic Media and Sony. I did a little asking around and here's what I found out..."
"1 Sony is not involved in the manufacture or content of the discs. A company called Classic Media is making the dvds."
"2 Classic Media took over Henry Saperstein's company UPA last year. Saperstein was involved in producing several of Toho's films from 1964-75 and holds the US right to 5 Godzilla movies, WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, and RODAN."
"3 Simitar was not some small company . It was affiliated with Paramount, who had previously distributed UPA's films to home video. Simitar simply packaged material provided by UPA, including the beautiful widescreen prints and the edited TERROR OF MG. Since Classic Media owns/is UPA they already have the exact same materials and could use them again. Classic Media wouldn't have to get widescreen prints from Toho. If the new dvds are pan&scan/mono, that's CM's choice."
"4 Since Simitar is gone, Sony is handling the distribution of the dvds for Classic Media. They got involved because of their involvement with Toho. For some strange reason, CM and Toho consider Sony's huge distribution capabilities an asset for Godzilla. If you don't like the new dvds, talk to Classic Media. Pointing the finger at Sony is like blaming the postman because you hated a letter you received."
"Just to make it really clear, here's each company's involvement :"
"TOHO: Renewed agreement with former license holder UPA (now Classic Media)."
"CLASSIC MEDIA: Making the dvds. Has all the material (including widescreen prints) from UPA."
"SONY: Distributing discs made by a smaller company. Not making the dvds."
So since Classic Media are to blame for the pan&scan decision, here's how to contact them:
Classic Media
435 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 741-7009
Sadly, they do not seem to have any web presence.
Thanks to all the other Godzilla fans who dug this info up so I could copy&paste it here!
"I was curious why a group of films were announced as coming from both Classic Media and Sony. I did a little asking around and here's what I found out..."
"1 Sony is not involved in the manufacture or content of the discs. A company called Classic Media is making the dvds."
"2 Classic Media took over Henry Saperstein's company UPA last year. Saperstein was involved in producing several of Toho's films from 1964-75 and holds the US right to 5 Godzilla movies, WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS, FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD, and RODAN."
"3 Simitar was not some small company . It was affiliated with Paramount, who had previously distributed UPA's films to home video. Simitar simply packaged material provided by UPA, including the beautiful widescreen prints and the edited TERROR OF MG. Since Classic Media owns/is UPA they already have the exact same materials and could use them again. Classic Media wouldn't have to get widescreen prints from Toho. If the new dvds are pan&scan/mono, that's CM's choice."
"4 Since Simitar is gone, Sony is handling the distribution of the dvds for Classic Media. They got involved because of their involvement with Toho. For some strange reason, CM and Toho consider Sony's huge distribution capabilities an asset for Godzilla. If you don't like the new dvds, talk to Classic Media. Pointing the finger at Sony is like blaming the postman because you hated a letter you received."
"Just to make it really clear, here's each company's involvement :"
"TOHO: Renewed agreement with former license holder UPA (now Classic Media)."
"CLASSIC MEDIA: Making the dvds. Has all the material (including widescreen prints) from UPA."
"SONY: Distributing discs made by a smaller company. Not making the dvds."
So since Classic Media are to blame for the pan&scan decision, here's how to contact them:
Classic Media
435 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 741-7009
Sadly, they do not seem to have any web presence.
Thanks to all the other Godzilla fans who dug this info up so I could copy&paste it here!