Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment will release more than 30 catalog titles on Blu-ray Disc in 2 (1 Viewer)

[Jason_V]

Lemme tell ya how much this shocked me. I kept reading down the list and marking off titles I'd at least be interested in, let alone definitely on the schedule to buy. This is a list of titles I didn't expect. The cynic in me says this group was released ahead of Disney's info on the write down for John Carter (hit the news today, IIRC). That being said, we were just talking about Treasure Planet and Atlantis in the Hercules thread last week.

I'm excited for most of these titles in one way or another, assuming they're done well and not just crapped out. Atlantis should look stunning on Blu (hopefully).

 

[MLamarre]

It's not a bad list of modern titles but if you consider what they have excluded from the same era:
Beloved, Dead Presidents, Deep Rising, Kundun, Quiz Show, Summer of Sam, The Insider, The 13th Warrior, Mission to Mars, Open Range, The Village...
Those titles in HD would be nice.

 

[David Deeb]

Why are people complaining about titles that are not on the list? Did you expect Disney to release the entirety of its back catalog in one go?

Great point. And there are some films here that people have repeatedly asked for including Ed Wood, Adventures in Babysitting and Color of Money.
Additionally, The Absent Minded Professor is one of those "live action classics" that people are asking for. Yes, I hope to see Old Yeller (and others), but this is at least a step in that direction
Good list. I see several that I'm in for.

 

[David Weicker]

Some of this list are wants, some not so much. I too, echo the wish, that some of the classic 50s and 60s live-action had been included, but realize that most of this list is from later Disney. There is one later Disney crying out for a good treatment, and I was surprised, given what else was here, that it wasn't included - The Journey Of Natty Gann.
David

 

Very excited about "Romy and Michelle." It's one of my top 5 favorite comedies. I only have it on vhs! Also want Sister Act, Dicky Tracy, and Babes in Toyland (never released on home video in widescreen.)

 

[AaronMK]

I was reading Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear and thinking "Could Lilo & Stitch be next on the list?" Oh, well...
Still, while not every title I wanted was on there, it's great to see a lot of these being released. There are quite a few on there I'll buy, and I've been itching for something better than the non-anamorphic Ransom dvd.

 

[Jim_K]

Happy to see Ed Wood, Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity on that list. I'll probably also pick up Arachnaphobia.

Very disappointed that 20,000 Leagues, Open Range and The 13th Warrior didn't make the cut this year.

Looks like I might as well pull the trigger on the French import of OR since Disney has no interest in releasing it. Merde!

 

[Osato]

Where the heck is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea?

As well as Mary Poppins, The Black Hole and the first 2 Muppet films?
Curious!
I'm sure I'll pick up several of the titles. Newsies is one of my wife's favorite films so that one for sure.
Are not the Santa Claus films already on blu ray? Reissue?
Dick Tracy is an interesting choice as well. I saw it once and that was enough. I'm sure it has it's share of fans though.

 

[AnthonyP]

Some of this list are wants, some not so much. I too, echo the wish, that some of the classic 50s and 60s live-action had been included, but realize that most of this list is from later Disney. There is one later Disney crying out for a good treatment, and I was surprised, given what else was here, that it wasn't included - The Journey Of Natty Gann.
David

I'm sure it has little to no effect but Disney did offer a kind reply to my contacting them to lobby for a few titles. The Journey of Natty Gann was one of the three I tried to limit myself to (Never Cry Wolf and Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken the other two). If anyone else would like to see any/all of those three, I hope you'll consider contacting them. Never Cry Wolf has a 30th anniversary in 2013 (it would be nice to see the making of that IMDb lists for this also).
I figure some of the lowest profile Hollywood Pictures and Touchstone Pictures might be available to Mill Creek (though I thought Mill Creek confirmed on their Facebook page that things like Run, Tough Guys, The Jerky Boys and the other Ernest films weren't licensed by or available to them so I wonder how many they will end up doing.. I hope most everything they can).
Given the above, I stuck to considering just the Disney branded releases (rather than Hollywood/Touchstone). I also avoided titles I think are much more likely to get released eventually. Mostly by considering things like amount of votes on something like IMDb. Everything that had more than 5000 votes seem like fairly safe bets for releases sooner or later.
From the ones with less than 5000 votes, I ended up lobbying on behalf of the aforementioned Natty Gann, Never Cry Wolf and Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken. Never Cry Wolf is the only one of those three that had a halfway decent DVD release in the U.S. The other two are fairly horrible. I thought all three were terrific films (though I remember Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken the least of the three.. the other two have stuck with me over the years with Never Cry Wolf being a personal favorite and I'm thinking Natty Gann would likely be also if I saw it again but it has been a really long time since I have).
I considered mentioning two others, that might be lower priorities to the point that they might require lobbying for, that I recall seeing and enjoying but didn't want to get too greedy. I would have loved to have lobbied for Night Crossing but I doubt that will, basically, ever see a Blu-ray release short of someone within the company mentoring it. The other was A Far Off Place but, given Reese Witherspoon, I figured perhaps that has a shot so stuck with the three titles I mentioned above (all of which I liked much better than the later personally).
I haven't seen any of the following, so I don't know which ones might be the most notable from them, but these stood out as needing the most lobbying for as they likely fall into the long shot category also.
Candleshoe
Cheetah
Midnight Madness
Napoleon and Samantha
Shipwrecked
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Squanto: A Warrior's Tale
Tall Tale
Tex
The Watcher in the Woods

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I was reading Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear and thinking "Could Lilo & Stitch be next on the list?" Oh, well...

Maybe it's just me, but those first three are not anywhere near Lilo & Stitch's league. They may be decent movies, but IMO L&S is an A-list title.

 

[Matt Hough]

Originally Posted by Aaron Silverman /t/319317/walt-disney-studios-home-entertainment-will-release-more-than-30-catalog-titles-on-blu-ray-disc-in-2012/30#post_3908914
Maybe it's just me, but those first three are not anywhere near Lilo & Stitch's league. They may be decent movies, but IMO L&S is an A-list title.

I suspect Disney concurs which is why it's not a part of this announcement. They may have bigger plans for it.

 

[Jason_V]

Originally Posted by Osato /t/319317/walt-disney-studios-home-entertainment-will-release-more-than-30-catalog-titles-on-blu-ray-disc-in-2012/30#post_3908769
The Black Hole

I totally forgot about TBH! I'd love love love to have in on BD! It's been a pleasure of mine for 30 years. And happens to have one of my favorite movie scores.

 

[Osato]

I totally forgot about TBH!  I'd love love love to have in on BD!  It's been a pleasure of mine for 30 years.  And happens to have one of my favorite movie scores.

There was a rumor that a new version of The Black Hole would be made. It would be a reboot not a continuation film like Tron Legacy though. Not sure what is happening with it at this point.
John Carter's box office probably isn't going to help.

 

[David Weicker]

I just saw that there will be a screening of the newly restored 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea at the TCM Festival in April (introduced by Kirk Douglas). If they have a version to screen, that may mean a Blu-Ray will follow.
David

 

[RomanSohor]

Really excited about Dick Tracy. Some of the others are a nice addition, especially the animated ones.
I wonder if Dick Tracy would include Roller Coaster Rabbit in 1080p? I guess I'll join the chorus of people asking why not, and ask "Why no Roger Rabbit?" Either way, I don't think I've seen Dick Tracy in 15 years, it's a rare movie I liked as a kid but never owned....

 

[MatthewA]

Originally Posted by RomanSohor /t/319317/walt-disney-studios-home-entertainment-will-release-more-than-30-catalog-titles-on-blu-ray-disc-in-2012/30#post_3909185
Really excited about Dick Tracy. Some of the others are a nice addition, especially the animated ones.
I wonder if Dick Tracy would include Roller Coaster Rabbit in 1080p? Either way, I don't think I've seen Dick Tracy in 15 years, it's a rare movie I liked as a kid but never owned....

I was 7 when Dick Tracy came out and I remember liking it somewhat, but it's been at least 20 years since I saw it. I had heard Warren Beatty has wanted to do a director's cut for years, but since the movie didn't do as well as Disney expected, they haven't invited him to do one. I doubt its Blu-Ray will include Roller Coaster Rabbit, especially since, IIRC, Spielberg and Eisner had a falling out about its inclusion with the release of this film instead of the Spielberg-produced Arachnophobia that came out around the same time.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit's 25th anniversary is next year, so I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't saving it for that. All the short cartoons will probably be on its inevitable Blu-ray.

 

[NY2LA]

Definitely some exciting news there, considering how shoddily some of these films were treated on DVD with non-anamorphic or MAR transfers. I understand the frustration of the paucity of Walt-era titles and the emphasis on Touchstone films, but a lot of them probably need restoration work. Some of them are obvious tie-ins to revivals (Evita) and stage versions (Sister Act), and some movies have anniversaries (Pete's Dragon and The Rescuers both turn 35 this year). Still, it's an effort to get catalog titles out, and I hope they get treated better on Blu-ray than a lot of them got treated on DVD.
Put me down for Pete's Dragon, The Rescuers, The Aristocats, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber (why aren't those in a double feature?), Ed Wood, Sister Act, Evita and Hocus Pocus. I may even buy Beaches if only for "the Ballad of Otto Titsling." 

Well Newsies and Sister Act 1/2 arrived today. NO better than the DVDs, in fact aside from menu changes, they look Exactly like old DVDs. Some but not all extras ported over. PQ from supps to features look, I won't say grainy, how about that digital muddy kind of grainy you see on old discs? I would bet the rent that these are the same old transfers from the laserdisc or early DVD days. Aside from making new labels and menus, they did ZERO work on these titles. Keep your money in your wallet, guys. It's WDHV that should be blushing now.

 

[NY2LA]

Other than Pete's Dragon, there is nothing in this list that really
excites me.  I do agree that stuff like Mary Poppins and 20,000
Leagues will probably not be lumped into this list.  In other words,
I am hoping we will be surprised by an announcement sooner than
later.

Just adding Bedknobs and Broomsticks and The Happiest Millionaire to the wish list. They could use branching to include both long and short versions... But ferpetesake, do new transfers!!

 

[Bryan^H]

Well Newsies and Sister Act 1/2 arrived today. NO better than the DVDs, in fact aside from menu changes, they look Exactly like old DVDs. Some but not all extras ported over. PQ from supps to features look, I won't say grainy, how about that digital muddy kind of grainy you see on old discs? I would bet the rent that these are the same old transfers from the laserdisc or early DVD days. Aside from making new labels and menus, they did ZERO work on these titles. Keep your money in your wallet, guys. It's WDHV that should be blushing now.

What...the....hell?
I'll take your word that these are bad. After watching 'Color Of Money' I would say anything is possible with Disney. Are they trying to con people, because dvd quality(being kind some scenes looked more natural on the dvd) slapped in a Blu-Ray case is bad news. I can forgive them for a miss here and there, but it sounds like with their catalog titles this is a trend....and that is not so easy to forgive.
Romy and Michelle pre-order cancelled.

 

[Jason_V]

If this quality of transfer is common throughout this entire wave (including the animated product coming in the next few months), it's easy to see how they're all coming in one swoop. I would think Disney has a bit more regard for their animated films-those are the ones I'm getting, along with Pete's Dragon-but this is definitely troubling.