An open letter to Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (1 Viewer)

[ahollis]

I didn't know the True-Life Adventure series sold poorly. I snapped them up as quickly as I could order them.

Same here. Snapped them right up. I think everyone of Disney's True-Life Adventures were released in this series so further collections were moot.

 

[MatthewA]

Originally Posted by ahollis
Same here. Snapped them right up. I think everyone of Disney's True-Life Adventures were released in this series so further collections were moot.

Maybe they'll do better as Blu-rays if they can tie it into the Disneynature line.
I'd also like to see more of the original Wonderful World of Disney, at least the original material (personally, I can live without the later cartoon compilations that add no new footage).

 

[Ethan Riley]

I think at some point they'll at least bring back all the animated shorts for blu; it would be a mighty big undertaking--there's probably hundreds of shorts that need to be remastered. From what I've noticed, all the shorts they've put out on blu--as extras on feature-length blu-rays--have all been upconverted versions of the stuff that's already in the tins.

 

[Sam Posten]

Guys, the Post is ON IT.
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/exclusively_on_youtube_cBerlOrM5aY4wchvO1kR7J

 

[MatthewA]

Guys, the Post is ON IT.
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/exclusively_on_youtube_cBerlOrM5aY4wchvO1kR7J

There is TONS of odd and obscure Disney stuff that's been on YouTube without getting touched (everything from complete short cartoons to foreign-language dubs of songs to home video ephemera [and it gets REALLY specific]). It'll be interesting to see whether this article changes that, considering the company's historical zero-tolerance attitude towards copyright infringement and the fact that they now sell Disney movies on YouTube.

As for Jim Korkis's comments "It's primarily a children's movie," I think that's how much of Disney management seems to see their all their films. It's also a tad condescending. Walt Disney made movies for children and adults to watch together. It's later in his life, probably after the Baby Boom and the success of The Shaggy Dog, that his films became more child-centric.
Still, it should get people talking about it. Has anyone with any influence actively threatened a boycott or protest of Disney over a theoretical re-release of this film? I was going to boycott them for not releasing it, but then Blu-ray happened.

 

[Brian Dobbs]

+1

 

[Matt Hough]

That is so true, Matthew. My parents took my brother and me to see Old Yeller, and they were crying as hard or harder than we were at the end.

 

[Sam Posten]

/facepalm:
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/disney_begins_crackdown_on_song_bYfReQO7w3glwxMrJJYTJK#axzz2QkQ4Q7gH

 

[Ejanss]

/facepalm:
http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/movies/disney_begins_crackdown_on_song_bYfReQO7w3glwxMrJJYTJK#axzz2QkQ4Q7gH

Um, yeah, now that the Post blabbed their big fat mouth about it...

 

[Mark-P]

Um, yeah, now that the Post blabbed their big fat mouth about it...

I seriously doubt it was ever Disney's policy to "look the other way" regarding Song of the South bootlegs. It's simply that they have better things to do than actively seek them all out. Several years back I stumbled upon a Youtube channel that had a whole slew of Disney movies posted in their entirety, movies like Pollyanna and Old Yeller. Some of them had been up for over a year. I thought to myself that Disney can't approve of this, so I went to Disney's website and found an email address to report copyright infringement. A week later the Youtube user had been suspended and all the videos were gone.

 

[Ejanss]

Still, it should get people talking about it. Has anyone with any influence actively threatened a boycott or protest of Disney over a theoretical re-release of this film? I was going to boycott them for not releasing it, but then Blu-ray happened.

Well, yes, that's the problem:
Sidney Poitier was on Disney's consulting board for most of the 90's, that's how the 50th anniversary theatrical/VHS re-release was scuttled. Although much louder was Maya Angelou, who was throwing around her influence with the Clinton White House at the time.
Both threatened to get very organized very quickly, even despite Disney's plans to release the movie as a pandering "Black history" entry, complete with the John Henry short and a "historical intro" by James Earl Jones.

Nowadays, it's just a question of Where the Buck Stops, and it stops with Bob Iger, who annually stonewalls all questions. The Iger Retirement Watch is now just under the two-year mark.

 

[MatthewA]

Well, yes, that's the problem:
Sidney Poitier was on Disney's consulting board for most of the 90's, that's how the 50th anniversary theatrical/VHS re-release was scuttled. Although much louder was Maya Angelou, who was throwing around her influence with the Clinton White House at the time.
Both threatened to get very organized very quickly, even despite Disney's plans to release the movie as a pandering "Black history" entry, complete with the John Henry short and a "historical intro" by James Earl Jones.

Nowadays, it's just a question of Where the Buck Stops, and it stops with Bob Iger, who annually stonewalls all questions. The Iger Retirement Watch is now just under the two-year mark.

I vaguely remember reading about Maya Angelou here years ago, as well as another case of someone selling the film illegally around that same time. I also knew Sidney Poitier was on the Disney board, but I had no idea they were planning a reissue in 1996. Ouch.

Unfortunately, I think more people at Disney are concerned about their jobs right now.