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Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

post #1 of 64
4/3/09 at 6:36am
Thread Starter 
Wow. Disney is really serious about the advance release this time. This beats the two-day advance window they used with "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories" by a mile.

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Hollywood Reporter
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the first Walt Disney animated classic and the first DVD to sell a million copies in a single day, will make its Blu-ray Disc debut Oct. 6 in a special combo pack ($39.99) that includes a DVD. A two-disc standard DVD release ($29.99) will follow the combo pack by seven weeks, arriving in stores Nov. 24.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is hoping the early Blu-ray Disc release will drive consumers to the new format. The classic retelling of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale has never before been seen in high-definition.

The combo pack, according to division worldwide president Bob Chapek, will give consumers "another opportunity to maximize their viewing options. With today's technological breakthroughs found in Blu-ray, we are confident that this version of 'Snow White' will easily become the reference point for high-definition home entertainment libraries and family collections all over the world."

"Snow White" hasn't been available in any form since its first, and only, DVD release in 2001. The new release will include several all-new bonus features not included on the original 2001 edition.

Link: 'Snow White' headed to Blu-ray
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post #2 of 64
4/3/09 at 7:20am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

What are the chances this is a late April Fool's joke? I can see a couple days, maybe a week...but nearly 2 months?

If Disney is trying to force BD, I guess this is one way to do it. Make sure the standalone DVD version is nowhere to be seen and when it does come out, no one is going to care.
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post #3 of 64
4/3/09 at 7:42am
Thread Starter 

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

I think you can also expect to see some huge discounts on stand-alone players about this time. The hardware manufacturers would be nuts to allow this extended exclusivity window slip past (where DVD owners eager to pick up the disc are "stuck" with a shiny new BD just waiting to be played) without taking advantage of it somehow.

Hopefully this signals that Hollywood intends to blow the doors off Blu-ray this holiday season. Very encouraging news.
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post #4 of 64
4/3/09 at 8:36am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

I love this move and I hope other studios will follow, especially for highly anticipated catalogs. Disney has been my favorite BD studio for some time now and this just reaffirms that opinion.
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post #5 of 64
4/3/09 at 9:03am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

A very smart movie, I think. Most kids will see it, and want it immediately. So, parents buy the blu-ray. It's cheaper than buying the dvd first, and later the bd anyway.
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post #6 of 64
4/3/09 at 9:49am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

A very smart move.
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post #7 of 64
4/3/09 at 11:38am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

What is being overlooked here is that there is no waiting for the SD. It's included in the BD release. If DVD owners want to the film badly enough without waiting for the SD-only release, they'll buy the more expensive BD version. This won't cause any real boost to hardware sales.

The caveat here is that SD buyers of this set will artificially inflate the BD sales numbers. That's the smart move by Disney. The kiddies will get to watch the SD version anyway.
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post #8 of 64
4/3/09 at 1:01pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Disney is doing a great job of advancing the format
a seven week exclusive window on the format is HUGE
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post #9 of 64
4/3/09 at 1:28pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Seven weeks, seven dwarfs...
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post #10 of 64
4/3/09 at 1:54pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

I don’t know that it’s fair to conclude that Disney is trying to jump start Blu-ray sales by waiting seven weeks for the DVD version. If this had never been released on DVD, I might agree. However, a very nice DVD release of this does exist. Pretty much everyone who thought this was a must own already has it. And, even though it’s out of print, it’s not hard to find in case someone doesn't already own it.
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post #11 of 64
4/3/09 at 2:48pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith Paynter
What is being overlooked here is that there is no waiting for the SD. It's included in the BD release. If DVD owners want to the film badly enough without waiting for the SD-only release, they'll buy the more expensive BD version. This won't cause any real boost to hardware sales.

The caveat here is that SD buyers of this set will artificially inflate the BD sales numbers. That's the smart move by Disney. The kiddies will get to watch the SD version anyway.

This is true; my hope is that dads will have that BR disc in their home and get curious about how much better it will look...if they'd only just...shell out $200 for a good BR player...
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post #12 of 64
4/3/09 at 3:02pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Smart move. Now we're talking. Hopefully a hint of things to come permanently.
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post #13 of 64
4/3/09 at 4:40pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

This is a terrific and intelligent move from Disney.

There's no reason to even issue another DVD of Snow White outside of just reissuing the 2001 edition.
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post #14 of 64
4/3/09 at 6:18pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

I cannot believe it's been almost 8 years since the last SD-DVD release of Snow White. It seems like I just bought it not that long ago.
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post #15 of 64
4/3/09 at 11:25pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

I LOVE Disney So Much For Doing This!

Now other studios NEED to Follow AND they should push for 3months or even 6 Months!?!?! (Especially since Disney has the COMBO PACKS)
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post #16 of 64
4/4/09 at 12:55am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Yes, yes, yes, yes! If they did this with new releases, say UP only comes out at Christmas on Blu, and the DVD hits stores in late January, that would be awesome!
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post #17 of 64
4/11/09 at 1:48pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan Beckman
Wow. Disney is really serious about the advance release this time. This beats the two-day advance window they used with "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories" by a mile.



Link: 'Snow White' headed to Blu-ray
The only problem I have with Disney is the price hike of the MSRP of this release from $35.99 like Pinocchio to $39.99. In short, this title will probably cost us $27.99 which is $3 higher than Pinocchio. Maybe there will be a deal out there that knocks that down a bit.




Crawdaddy
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post #18 of 64
4/11/09 at 4:26pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shad R
Yes, yes, yes, yes! If they did this with new releases, say UP only comes out at Christmas on Blu, and the DVD hits stores in late January, that would be awesome!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Allen_Kir
I LOVE Disney So Much For Doing This!

Now other studios NEED to Follow AND they should push for 3months or even 6 Months!?!?! (Especially since Disney has the COMBO PACKS)
What remains to be seen is the effect this schizo selling method has on the 90% of non BD buyers that go to stores like Walmart and expect to buy the less expensive SD DVD disc and are informed by retailers that the only option available for the next 2 months is to buy the more expensive BD disc. I leave it to the reader to decide the more likely outcome; the customer buying a HDTV and/or BD player OR the customer getting irate. I think the latter is more likely.

What about the retailers themselves? When Disney announced earlier release dates for BD discs of "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories" retailers led by Walmart, not wanting to deal with irate customers, decided on their own to sell the SD DVD discs the same day as the BD version. They're not going to be happy put in this position of attempting to force BD adoption down the throats of the majority of their SD DVD customers. For these reasons, I believe this new sales approach is a very bad idea. The studios should continue to release both BD and SD DVD discs at the same time and let the customer decide which disc they want to buy.
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post #19 of 64
4/11/09 at 7:55pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by frankie108
What remains to be seen is the effect this schizo selling method has on the 90% of non BD buyers that go to stores like Walmart and expect to buy the less expensive SD DVD disc and are informed by retailers that the only option available for the next 2 months is to buy the more expensive BD disc. I leave it to the reader to decide the more likely outcome; the customer buying a HDTV and/or BD player OR the customer getting irate. I think the latter is more likely.

What about the retailers themselves? When Disney announced earlier release dates for BD discs of "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories" retailers led by Walmart, not wanting to deal with irate customers, decided on their own to sell the SD DVD discs the same day as the BD version. They're not going to be happy put in this position of attempting to force BD adoption down the throats of the majority of their SD DVD customers. For these reasons, I believe this new sales approach is a very bad idea. The studios should continue to release both BD and SD DVD discs at the same time and let the customer decide which disc they want to buy.
What makes you think Disney hasn't talked with the major retailers before annoucing this release? Knowing the close relationship between the studios and retailers, I would be surprised if that didn't happen.
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post #20 of 64
4/12/09 at 6:06am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
The only problem I have with Disney is the price hike of the MSRP of this release from $35.99 like Pinocchio to $39.99. In short, this title will probably cost us $27.99 which is $3 higher than Pinocchio. Maybe there will be a deal out there that knocks that down a bit.

That is an excellent point, Robert. That price point will certainly keep me from upgrading the SD-DVD in my collection.
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post #21 of 64
4/12/09 at 1:18pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
What makes you think Disney hasn't talked with the major retailers before annoucing this release? Knowing the close relationship between the studios and retailers, I would be surprised if that didn't happen.
Maybe the relationship between certain studios and retailers isn't as close as one would suppose. I know business is business but I think some huge egos could be part of all this. It's hard to imagine Disney's Bob Iger not being royally pissed with Wal-mart involvement in upsetting the Disney calender with "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories". Ain't no way Wal-mart gonna be able to jump the gun on "Snow White" with a 7 week selling interval.
Quote:
Retailers to shelve Bedtime Stories early

Wal-Mart, others plan to offer DVD, Blu-ray on Friday
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 4/1/2009

APRIL 1 | Retailers led by Wal-Mart will go off the studio’s plan and begin selling Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s Bedtime Stories on Friday, April 3, several days before the title’s scheduled staggered release.

WDSHE set the Adam Sandler title for release on Blu-ray Disc on Sunday, April 5, and standard DVD the following Tuesday, April 7. A similar plan by the studio to release the Bolt Blu-ray on March 22, two days before the standard DVD, was derailed after Wal-Mart put both versions out for sale on Friday, March 20, and numerous retailers followed.

A Wal-Mart spokesman confirmed to VB that the chain will begin selling Bedtime Stories on Blu-ray and DVD on April 3.

A Redbox spokesman said the kiosk operations will “follow the competition” and make Bedtime Stories available when others do.

WDSHE executives have not commented, but retailers believe the studio has been quietly telling wholesalers to inform stores that they won’t be punished for selling both Bedtime Stories Blu-ray and DVD discs as early as Friday.

“We’ve been told directly by distribution to put the product out on Friday,” said Adrian Hickman, general manager/buyer for TLA Video, regarding Bedtime Stories. “We’re going to put it out on Friday. We don’t have time to police what everyone else is doing, so we plan on putting it out then.”

One wholesaler said he was told by Disney to let store customers “do what they have to do” on Bedtime Stories.

The wholesaler interpreted that to mean that Disney was not officially changing the street date, but wouldn’t penalize anyone if they jumped the gun on the title.

Hickman and other retailers said they are quite happy about scrapping the Blu-ray head-start strategy with Bedtime Stories. On Bolt, certain stores that did abide by the staggered rules were fielding many customer complaints, retailers said. Customers would see the Blu-ray Bolt and become angry that they couldn’t also buy the standard DVD at the same time.

“It creates a have and have-not situation,” said Hickman. “I want to be able to service my customers as fast as we can with everything.”

Todd Zaganiacz, president of the National Entertainment Buying Group and owner of Massachusetts’ Video Zone, added, “Blu-ray is such a small percentage of the business now. Why do you want to alienate those customers who do come in for the standard DVD?”

Zaganiacz wishes Disney had done a straight Tuesday, April 7, launch for both the Blu-ray and DVD of Bedtime Stories in order to escape the crunch of this week’s hot titles. Now on shelves Friday, Bedtime Stories will bump elbows with other high-profile March 31 releases Slumdog Millionaire and Marley & Me from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Retailers also said they are increasingly getting used to bracing for street-date violations, as more and more studios launch titles out of a traditional Tuesday bow. Honest mistakes can happen when stores must keep track of different launch information for different titles, retailers said.

Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target streeted Anchor Bay Entertainment’s Traitor on Dec. 16, three days before its slated non-traditional Friday, Dec. 19, bow. Near the same time, Warner Home Video switched its Sunday, Dec. 21, street for The Women to Friday, Dec. 19.

“It’s like coming to a rolling stop instead of a hard stop at a stop sign—everyone is doing it,” said Hickman.
Retailers to shelve Bedtime Stories early - 4/1/2009 - Video Business
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post #22 of 64
4/12/09 at 6:36pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Thanks for posting that article. It was a fascinating read for multiple reasons.

Disney will have to be very careful with its marketing of the Snow White Blu-ray exclusivity window, so as to send the message that this is a bonus for Blu-ray owners (or those soon to be - buy your players today!) instead of a slight against DVD-only customers.

The SRP on Snow White is pretty steep, as it was with Pinocchio and Bolt. Hopefully there will be $10 coupons floating around and other retailer specials to bring the price down to more reasonable levels. I was fortunate enough to get both Bolt and the Lilo & Stitch SE at Toys 'R Us for $20 off the total price, thanks to the $10 off Bolt coupon and taking $10 off another Disney DVD with a purchase of Bolt. I rarely preorder new releases now, because it seems that better deals will surface either the week of release or just after.
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post #23 of 64
4/12/09 at 7:04pm

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by frankie108
Maybe the relationship between certain studios and retailers isn't as close as one would suppose. I know business is business but I think some huge egos could be part of all this. It's hard to imagine Disney's Bob Iger not being royally pissed with Wal-mart involvement in upsetting the Disney calender with "Bolt" and "Bedtime Stories". Ain't no way Wal-mart gonna be able to jump the gun on "Snow White" with a 7 week selling interval.

Retailers to shelve Bedtime Stories early - 4/1/2009 - Video Business
What you posted doesn't dispute my claim that the studio didn't already informed the retailers about the release window for Snow White because they have a close business relationship. Just because there is a pissing match about staggered release windows within a few days of each other between the studios and their biggest customer Wal-Mart, it doesn't mean they don't discuss these releases dates before they're announced to the public. I've spoken to studio executives personally about their relationship with the major retailers and know for a fact how close their relationship is and just like any other business relationship there will be some conflicts from time to time.
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post #24 of 64
4/13/09 at 5:47am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

When the release dates are close to each other (like 3 days) then I am sure all the stores have the DVDs in stock. But with this new 6-7 week difference, they wont have them to sell even if they wanted to. This was probably done to stop the cheating stores. I feels like this is a big ole F**K you to Walmart from Disney. LOL

Since the BD will include a DVD, I am ok with this. If someone really wants the DVD they can buy the BD version.
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post #25 of 64
4/13/09 at 10:30am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
If someone really wants the DVD they can buy the BD version.

That's Disney's plan
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post #26 of 64
4/13/09 at 11:02am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Is there really going to be that great a demand for the SD DVD version? How many people who like/love this movie don't already own it on DVD?
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post #27 of 64
4/13/09 at 11:33am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Considering that the existing DVD has been out of print for years, I'd guess that there are quite a number of people who'd be interested in Snow White but don't already have it, especially folks who have young children now but did not when the DVD was released eight years ago.
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post #28 of 64
4/14/09 at 2:07am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

While I certainly applaud the decision to go this route, I fear that this is the wrong title to do it because there probably will be lots of angry parents who just want to buy the film for their children, in contrast to film and home theater enthusiasts who NEED to be pushed towards Blu Ray.

I think the best method to break the spell of DVD is to stop selling special editions for this format. It must be made clear that Blu Ray is the format of choice for film and home theater enthusiasts.
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post #29 of 64
4/14/09 at 7:08am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

Quote:
Originally Posted by Oliver_A
While I certainly applaud the decision to go this route, I fear that this is the wrong title to do it because there probably will be lots of angry parents who just want to buy the film for their children, in contrast to film and home theater enthusiasts who NEED to be pushed towards Blu Ray.

Aren't film and home theater enthusiasts already enthusiastic about Blu-ray? If you want Blu-ray to become a greater success, I think you need to focus your efforts on that market segment for whom standard DVDs are good enough--and that's the casual, mainstream audience, particularly families.
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post #30 of 64
4/14/09 at 11:57am

Re: Snow White to hit Blu-ray SEVEN WEEKS before the DVD

No one is going to be denied anything--the BluRay will include a standard def copy of the movie. And if Disney has to be aggressive in getting people to upgrade to BR--so be it. Let a few million whiners grumble and get it out of their system--then they'll finally upgrade to BR, see the difference and never look back. Sometimes is progress is painful, but it has to happen.
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