Walt Disney Treasures Wave 10 - Any news yet? (1 Viewer)

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by ChrisALM
I have seen that. But are these restored and are they the movie versions or the Disney anthology TV show versions. The website provides very little info on what you actually are getting.

They're the movie versions, so no TV edits in place. I honestly need to rewatch the movies to see if any image enhancment has been done, but given the format of the release, I'd honestly be very surprised if there was much. I only have three to work off of: Rob Roy, Story of Robin Hood and So Dear to My Heart. I'll screen them this weekend and let you know.

 

[bcotter]

Hi - someone mentioned that folks had been talking about my book on Disney television and the Disney Treasures. Thanks to those who posted those kind words on the book! It was a lot of fun putting it together. Getting paid to watch Disney television was fine with me.

Actually, I wasn't really paid to watch the shows. I had first had the idea for the book when I worked for Disney as there was little recorded about the TV history of the company. I started writing the book in the hope that someday Disney would see the value of publishing it. That only took 10 years to convince them. The trouble was they then wanted a 300 page book and I had written an 1,100 page book. Well, we compromised on the 628 or so pages that were finally published. Unfortunately that meant a lot of things I would have loved to have included, like lists of the shows in airdate order, and an index, hit the proverbial cutting room floor.

For those that want a complete list of the anthology episodes, you can download it from my site at http://www.billcotter.com/tvbook/appendix-b.htm. There are other appendixes and the like available as well, but if anyone has specific questions about any of the shows please let me know and I'll do my best to answer as time permits. Zorro fans might also enjoy a peek at http://www.billcotter.com/zorro/index.htm, which will show the sort of things that would have been in the Zorro chapter of the book if space had permitted.

As to Wave 10, it doesn't look like you should plan to see them under the Christmas tree this year.

Regards

Bill Cotter

 

[ChrisALM]

Originally Posted by bcotter
Hi - someone mentioned that folks had been talking about my book on Disney television and the Disney Treasures. Thanks to those who posted those kind words on the book! It was a lot of fun putting it together. Getting paid to watch Disney television was fine with me.

Actually, I wasn't really paid to watch the shows. I had first had the idea for the book when I worked for Disney as there was little recorded about the TV history of the company. I started writing the book in the hope that someday Disney would see the value of publishing it. That only took 10 years to convince them. The trouble was they then wanted a 300 page book and I had written an 1,100 page book. Well, we compromised on the 628 or so pages that were finally published. Unfortunately that meant a lot of things I would have loved to have included, like lists of the shows in airdate order, and an index, hit the proverbial cutting room floor.

For those that want a complete list of the anthology episodes, you can download it from my site at http://www.billcotter.com/tvbook/appendix-b.htm. There are other appendixes and the like available as well, but if anyone has specific questions about any of the shows please let me know and I'll do my best to answer as time permits. Zorro fans might also enjoy a peek at http://www.billcotter.com/zorro/index.htm, which will show the sort of things that would have been in the Zorro chapter of the book if space had permitted.

As to Wave 10, it doesn't look like you should plan to see them under the Christmas tree this year.

Regards

Bill Cotter

Welcome to Home Theater Forum, Mr. Cotter, and thank you for the information and links that you provided. I followed the links and they are very helpful in providing the specific information I have been seeking.

I am looking forward to reading, "The Wonderful World of Disney Television: A Complete History". Again, thank you for your participation.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Well, color me surprised and welcome aboard, Mr. Cotter! Trust me, I have no problem pushing interest in the book or the additional material, since I've had both for quite a while and I consider them invaluable in my own putting together of a Disney video/DVD/Blu-Ray library. As I said before, I wish more television series had such complete tomes.

Sorry, but not surprised, to hear about no wave 10 this year. I am hoping that we may get a wave next year or maybe a revisit of the concept, perhaps on Blu-Ray, next year, especially since 2011 is the 110th anniversary of Walt's birth. The timing would be good and Disney seems to be getting a better grasp on how to use Blu-Ray, especially given the plans in place for Fantasia in December.

Again, welcome and please don't be a stranger as I think your input would be as valuable as your book is.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Welcome to the HTF, Bill.

It will be our gain to have an expert such as yourself contributing to the discussions here.

 

[lobbhill]

Hi, i think normally the release date and title are given out in August time or there about, i hope this helps.

 

[lobbhill]

hopefully some new walt disney legacy's should be coming out, they released wave 1 of the legacy collection in 2006 with the hope of releasing more of these as well, have you or anybody heard anything about these.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by lobbhill
hopefully some new walt disney legacy's should be coming out, they released wave 1 of the legacy collection in 2006 with the hope of releasing more of these as well, have you or anybody heard anything about these.

There was a planned second wave that, as I recall, would have included Destino, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and a Secrets of Disneyland. The line got killed and Oswald and Secrets of Disneyland got folded into the Treasures line while Destino will finally see release the the 4-disc Blu-Ray of Fantasia in December.

 

[bcotter]

The Disney Treasures series is officially dead. No further titles are in the works. I confirmed that with Leonard Maltin just now.

Don't shoot the messenger. Like the rest of you, things would be far different if I had a vote. Happily I was able to get almost everything Disney did for television on tape, and am now transferring it to DVD. The Treasures have so much more, though, in terms of quality transfers and extras, so it's sad to see the end. I'm just glad I was able to help get them to do some of what they did do.

Bill

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by bcotter
The Disney Treasures series is officially dead. No further titles are in the works. I confirmed that with Leonard Maltin just now.

Don't shoot the messenger. Like the rest of you, things would be far different if I had a vote. Happily I was able to get almost everything Disney did for television on tape, and am now transferring it to DVD. The Treasures have so much more, though, in terms of quality transfers and extras, so it's sad to see the end. I'm just glad I was able to help get them to do some of what they did do.

Bill

No one's going to shoot you, Bill. Truth is, we knew the patient was in critical condition for some time, just sad to hear it's finally passed.

So, if the Treasures are officially dead, does this mean Disney has closed the door on ever releasing any more of the anthology series on either DVD or Blu-Ray? Just because we've reached the end of a chapter doesn't mean it's time to close the book. I will say I envy that you have access to the resources of the library. Wish we all could have such an opportunity.

 

[ChrisALM]

Originally Posted by MattPeriolat
So, if the Treasures are officially dead, does this mean Disney has closed the door on ever releasing any more of the anthology series on either DVD or Blu-Ray? Just because we've reached the end of a chapter doesn't mean it's time to close the book. I will say I envy that you have access to the resources of the library. Wish we all could have such an opportunity.

We got a lot with the Treasures series, but it ended too soon. Scarecrow sold out, I think Zorro sold out. Surely they are not losing money here.

I hope some new releases come along that appeal to people like me that grew up with Walt Disney, his television shows and movies. And I am talking about more than the two or three discs per year like we are getting this year in place of the Treasures.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by ChrisALM
We got a lot with the Treasures series, but it ended too soon. Scarecrow sold out, I think Zorro sold out. Surely they are not losing money here.

I hope some new releases come along that appeal to people like me that grew up with Walt Disney, his television shows and movies. And I am talking about more than the two or three discs per year like we are getting this year in place of the Treasures.

Well, there are economists who will tell you Titanic lost money and it was one of the highest grossing pictures of all time.

The problem is not all the Treasures sold equally well. You can still find Disneyland USA, Tomorrowland and some others floating around out there.

Something else to consider: the Treasures were launched way back in 2001 when Disney first got into DVD. It's nearly 10 years later and with Disney getting into Blu-Ray, they may want to explore that option for getting the material out. Can't really do that if the Treasures are still being produced.

I suspect the Treasures were a casualty of a combination of changing business plans and not every set selling like Scarecrow did. I'd love to see a revisit of them with, as I said earlier, the 110th anniversary of Walt's birth coming next year and Mickey's 90th birthday in 2018. But in predicting Disney's business practices, you need a combination of a WSJ and a Magic-8 ball and even then you have about a 25% chance of being right.

Bottom line: Disney will produce whatever will make money for them. If it doesn't sell, it won't. Like every other company that does TV on DVD. Problem is we won't have a company like Shout! riding to our rescue on this.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by bcotter
The Disney Treasures series is officially dead. No further titles are in the works. I confirmed that with Leonard Maltin just now.

I bet no one is more upset than Maltin himself.

No messenger-shooting, here Bill. I appreciate the good info.

 

[Douglas Monce]

You know I don't ever recall seeing an add on TV for any the Disney Treasures. Doesn't mean that they weren't there, but they couldn't have been much of a campaign if I never saw one. I think if they had been advertised some more they might have sold better.

Particularly if they had promoted some of the bigger titles, like say Zorro, with a little blurb at the end of each add saying something like "Also available The Mickey Mouse Club Presents Annette” or something like that.

Doug

 

[ChrisALM]

Originally Posted by MattPeriolat

Something else to consider: the Treasures were launched way back in 2001 when Disney first got into DVD. It's nearly 10 years later and with Disney getting into Blu-Ray, they may want to explore that option for getting the material out. Can't really do that if the Treasures are still being produced.

The anthology series on Blu ray would be a dream come true. I would think Disney has source material in excellent condition. I have the Snow White movie on Blu ray and it is stunning. It was also accompanied with a standard DVD release.

But in the real world, I don't see Disney interested in releasing the anthology series at all.

And now with the Treasures gone, we won't even be getting one episode.

 

[MattPeriolat]

Originally Posted by ChrisALM
The anthology series on Blu ray would be a dream come true. I would think Disney has source material in excellent condition. I have the Snow White movie on Blu ray and it is stunning. It was also accompanied with a standard DVD release.

But in the real world, I don't see Disney interested in releasing the anthology series at all.

And now with the Treasures gone, we won't even be getting one episode.

Every single episode? Probably right. But you'd be surprised how many either segments or complete episodes of the anthology series are included as extras on the current crop of DVDs and upcoming Blu-Rays. As I said, I have a list buried somewhere and I'll be happy to post it, maybe even tonight, so people can add to their collections wherever possible.

I do hope Disney will reconsider about the anthology series as there is a lot of classic entertainment out there that is just sitting in the vault. I know just from talking to people on various message boards that a lot of people wish Disney would have finished Swamp Fox and Elfago Baga or done a release for Texas John Slaughter.

Me? Happy with whatever I can get, but I have a special yen to see the various progress reports on the construction of the park and to see the full unedited 90 minute Dateline: Disneyland. But that's just me.

 

[Charles Smith]

Please do post that list if you can.

 

[pitchman]

Originally Posted by bcotter
Hi - someone mentioned that folks had been talking about my book on Disney television and the Disney Treasures. Thanks to those who posted those kind words on the book! It was a lot of fun putting it together.

As to Wave 10, it doesn't look like you should plan to see them under the Christmas tree this year.

Regards

Bill Cotter

Welcome to HTF, Mr. Cotter! As Mike Frezon wrote, we can only gain from having an expert like you participating in these discussions.

One of the things that has puzzled me over the years is the seemingly random production run numbers assigned to Treasures tins. Last year, the Zorro tins were limited to 30,000 each (the lowest number produced for any wave). In six waves, a common number of individual titles were produced for each wave; while three waves feature a varying number of individual titles. I'm sure there is logic (and research) that goes into assigning the production run for each wave, but there is no question that the overall number of tins produced has been declining in recent years.

To date, On The Front Lines remains the Treasures title with the largest production run (a whopping 250,000 copies!) Yet, The Chronological Donald, Volume Three and The Chronological Donald, Volume Four were limited to 50,000 and 39,500 tins respectively. Meanwhile, 125,000 tins of Elfego Baca and The Swamp Fox: Legendary Heroes was produced. It is a fine set and I am happy to have it in my library, but I find it hard to believe that it has more than TWICE the sales potential of chronological Donald Duck cartoons.

Is it possible that these (seemingly) erratic production runs of Treasures tins over the years has contributed to what looks like the end of the road for the series?

 

[ChrisALM]

Originally Posted by MattPeriolat

Every single episode? Probably right. But you'd be surprised how many either segments or complete episodes of the anthology series are included as extras on the current crop of DVDs and upcoming Blu-Rays. As I said, I have a list buried somewhere and I'll be happy to post it, maybe even tonight, so people can add to their collections wherever possible.

I do hope Disney will reconsider about the anthology series as there is a lot of classic entertainment out there that is just sitting in the vault. I know just from talking to people on various message boards that a lot of people wish Disney would have finished Swamp Fox and Elfago Baga or done a release for Texas John Slaughter.

Me? Happy with whatever I can get, but I have a special yen to see the various progress reports on the construction of the park and to see the full unedited 90 minute Dateline: Disneyland. But that's just me.

I would appreciate seeing a list, Matt.

Treasures should have completed Swamp Fox and Elfego Baca. No doubt about it. Texas John Slaughter would have been great, too.

Also within the anthology series, there are a bunch of nature type shows like, "One Day at Teton Marsh", and multi parters like, "Sammy the Way out Seal", "Hector the Stowaway Dog" and "Kilroy". The updates about the parks are interesting to me. There is a nice 'making of' "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" episode with some original animation.

I would like to see a proper anthology series release. There is a lot of excellent unreleased material there.

 

[Adam_S]

my mom had taped off TV a couple of Disneyland specials, called Seems There Was this Moose and The Hound that Thought he was a Raccoon that I watched at least a hundred times growing up in the 80s. Never met anyone else that had seen them, but I'd been holding out hope that they might show up on an animal themed treasures or as a disneyclub exclusive. I'd love to have those movies on DVD, but alas, I was unable to dub them because when I started working in a machine room I found out my mom had gotten rid of a lot of our old taped off TV VHS in a recent move. I did transfer all our home movies which is probably more important, but alas, all the same.

Out of curiosity, does Disney keep their vintage shows on modern stock or is most everything on BSP or 3/4"? I presume most of the material that made it to the treasures series was retelecined to Digibeta before going to DVD transfer (except for the one wave of Donald they were so lazy on and didn't recall). I imagine there's a whole wall of 12 min digis each with a single Mickey cartoon on them.

Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the confirmation that the series is officially dead, though sad news, it's good to not have to wonder, or waste time hoping they'll continue it anyway. I took Maltin's class at USC a few years ago and talked to him often afterwards about the treasures and how much I loved the series and how much he needed to make sure that we got the final two sets of Donald.

I am certain that most people would be content with a bluray of anthology material that encoded everything at SD resolution. They could put hours and hours of material on a single disc (20-40 hours) and the encode would be at a higher bit rate with better compression than it would be at DVD. Naturally we'd all love new telecines of everything and HD on it all, but I feel like that would an option for getting the material out. one bluray called " Disneyland Classic Television" with 20-40 hours of material on it would be a pretty staggering release.