Disney - phone drive is 99.9% in favor of Pan and Scan!!! (1 Viewer)

[DaViD Boulet]

Keep it up people. And double hit'em via phone and email:
[email protected]
go for it. It was an consumer campaign like this that got the first edition of T2 to be 16x9 and the world's first RSDL DVD disc. Fox heard us too and made 16x9 their policy. It was a consumer campaign that got us a 16x9 Willy Wonka.
You can do it.
-dave

 

[Chris M]

Well, I'm emailing Disney the following. Not as long as Davids, but gets the point accross while providing examples.

Hi,
I am writing this letter to voice my displeasure at the news of future Disney DVD's coming out in the Pan and Scan format. I enjoy many of Disney's movies, and I have collected quite a few Disney movies on DVD, from animated, to live-action. I also own a widescreen TV (57" actually).
I always like to watch my DVD's in the format that they were originally shown in the theaters. This includes 1.33:1 AR (Aspect Ratio) for Snow White, to 1.66:1 AR for Tarzan, to 1.85:1 AR for Fantasia, to 2.35:1 for A Bug's Life and Atlantis. When the movies are not shown in their original AR I get very upset because it is shown not how the director originally intended. Not only that, but seeing the following notice come up on my screen confuses me: "The feature presentation has been modified to fit your TV". This confuses me because it hasn't been modified to fit MY TV. I have a widescreen TV. It's been modified to fit a 4:3 TV.
Please consider releasing all future DVD's in their OAR and not have them butchered because some people complain about the black bars. Most of these people are uneducated as to what the black bars mean. Perhaps it would be worth Disney's time to put a short presentation at the beginning of the movie that describes what widescreen presentations really mean. There is a very good example here: http://www.ryanwright.com/ht/oar.shtml .
There are a few movies that I would really love to purchase that I've been waiting for for a while which are:
Muppet Treasure Island
Muppet Christmas Carol
The Incredible Adventure
All of these movies were released, or will be released in a modified format and as such, I will not purchase them.
Thank you for taking all this into consideration.

Chris.

 

[Kent Fisher]

I just called and spoke with "Katy". She was very polite and listened to my concerns. After she took my Name, address and phone number she gave me an email address that I could write to to log any future comments. She also said that any comments sent through email would be more accurately logged.
so here it is...
[email protected]

 

[Jim__B]

I just called and voiced my dismay with the decision to only offer Full Frame movies. I told the rep(sarah) who was very noce that I would not like to buy a movie that has not been release in its OAR. She said my info would be fowarded to the marketing department. She also gave me an email address and said that she would recommend me send an email also, to telll them how I feel.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Does anyone know what the biggest-selling P&S-only DVD title is (not counting ones that had a separate widescreen release?) It'd be interesting to see how they stack up, since the titles that are THE highest-selling are either widescreen only or have both formats (Shrek).

 

[Jesse Skeen]

What's really confusing is Di$ney's first "family" DVDs were only pan and scan (Air Bud, Homeward Bound and George of the Jungle) but their releases after that were widescreen-only. Did consumer complaints cause that? Why do they think everyone wants the opposite again now?

 

[Nick Graham]

My (hopefully not too condescending) e-mail to Disney....

As a customer who tends to put a good deal of my income into buying DVDs (just purchased Dick Tracy, Tron and Tombstone: Vista Series), I am troubled by the fact that rumors are surfacing that you will be making some "family" oriented releases pan and scan only in the near future based on marketing studies. I write this to inform you that while I am aware many families prefer pan and scan for whatever reason, there is also a large segment of the market that have and will refuse to buy any DVD where the option to view a movie in its original aspect ratio is not included. As evidenced by the uproar over Warner Brother's (later reversed) decision to make Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory and the summer hit Cats and Dogs pan and scan only, there is a large and profitable segment of the DVD market (many of whom are the same segment that supported laserdisc through it's lifetime) that will only buy your movies if they are presented in their original widescreen aspect ratios. I am one of them, and I hope you continue your so far excellent support of pleasing both segments of the DVD market by making all of your films available in their original widescreen aspect ratio, thus not causing myself and the millions of other purists like me to avoid your DVDs like the plague.

If rival studios like Fox and MGM can make their family films available in both formats (on the same disc, no less), I have faith you can too.

Thanks For Your Great Discs So Far, Please Don't Go And

Screw It Up,

Nick Graham

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Jesse,

that's because when disney released those early discs, the only people buying DVDs were laserdisc collectors...who all wanted widescreen. So there was a big out-cry to the studio to do right by cine-philes and give us OAR (and 16x9).

Now the tables have turned. You've got thousands of households buying DVD players and DVDs who have no idea why there are black bars on their TV. You know that 1-800 number on the back of every DVD package asking for you to call if you're not satisfied? Well...those wal-mart consumers have been calling and complaining. by the hundreds.

meanwhile the HT-enthusiast crowd has been dead silent because we didn't know there was even a battle to be waged.

Now we do.

We're waging it!

Disney needs to provide *dual* format releases for titles that they feel warrant a 4x3 P/S version being made available. I don't see why they just don't use the P/S on-the-fly feature of DVD for their 16x9 1.85:1 titles. It would work perfectly with no wasted disc-space or added transfer-costs.

Call them. Email them. Get your friends to call them and email them.

 

[Carlo_M]

I've sent of a nicely, but firmly, worded email about how I do not purchase Pan and Scan titles. As the proud owner of 400 DVDs I do not own a single non-OAR title, and I informed them that I would stop buying their products and counsel my friends against buying non-OAR titles.

The war has begun.

 

[Oscar]

OH NO!!!!! the first sign of the DVD Apocalypse, ARE STUDIOS CRAZY!!!!!!!!! SCREW THEM!!!!! Good thing for Criterion for not supporting Pan and Scan, sheesh

 

[Todd_Brown]

I called, spoke with Sarah and lodged my complaint. She was very nice, and also suggested e-mailing marketing directly also. I did:

Hello,

I understand that Disney is thinking of releasing future titles in Pan & Scan or full frame only. I purchase approx 5-10 DVD's per month, my DVD library consists of 200+ titles, 32 of which are Disney titles. I will not buy any title that is not in it's original aspect ratio. I suggest either DVD's that offer both, or better yet, educating the public on OAR vs. cropped Pan & Scan.

Thank-you,

Todd Brown

Hope it helps.

 

[JasonB]

I just fired off an email and will call later this afternoon. Here's what I sent them:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I'm writing to voice my concern about Disney's decision to release some of their upcoming DVD's in Pan and Scan format (Fullscreen) only. As a consumer of DVD since 1997 and a consumer of Disney DVD's (over 100 and counting), I'm extremely concerned with this policy.

I have been extremely impressed with the recent DVD releases from Disney; including The Emperor's New Groove, Fantasia, Dinosaur, and Tombstone: Vista Series. I strongly believe that Disney has come to the forefront of DVD technology and currently releases an exceptional DVD product at a good value. However, I refuse to purchase any DVD that isn't in the original aspect ratio that the movie was originally shown in.

I hope that Disney will reconsider its policy and release all DVD's in their original aspect ratio. Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jason

 

[Jesse Skeen]

that's because when disney released those early discs, the only people buying DVDs were laserdisc collectors...who all wanted widescreen. So there was a big out-cry to the studio to do right by cine-philes and give us OAR (and 16x9).

Now the tables have turned. You've got thousands of households buying DVD players and DVDs who have no idea why there are black bars on their TV. You know that 1-800 number on the back of every DVD package asking for you to call if you're not satisfied? Well...those wal-mart consumers have been calling and complaining. by the hundreds.

--------------------------------------

So like I said, what are they expecting us early consumers who collected laserdiscs to do NOW if they go back to pan and scan?? Did they think we all just disappeared??

 

[Erwin]

Why does DISNEY have this on their site if P&S is gaining momentum?

"How do I get rid of the black bars at the top and bottom?

The black bars are part of the letterbox process, and in many cases you can't get rid of them. If you set the display option in your player to pan & scan (sometimes called fullscreen or 4:3) instead of letterbox, it won't do you much good since no DVD movies have been released with this feature enabled. If you set the player to 16:9 widescreen output it will make the bars smaller, but you will get a tall, stretched picture unless you have a widescreen TV.

In some cases, there may be both a fullscreen and a letterbox version of the movie on the same disc, with a variety of ways to get to the fullscreen version (usually only one works, so you may have to try all three):

Check the other side of the disc (if it's two-sided)

Look for a fullscreen choice in the main menu

Use the "aspect" button on the remote control

DVD was designed to make movies look as good as possible on TV. Since most movies are wider than most TVs, letterboxing preserves the format of the theatrical presentation. (Nobody complains that the top and bottom of the picture are cut off in theaters.) DVD is ready for TVs of the future, which are widescreen. For these and other reasons, many movies on DVD are only available in widescreen format."

 

[CharlesD]

I spoke with Sarah who was very nice and helpful. I explained to her my opinion and that I do not buy non OAR DVDs. She took my information and suggested that I email them directly at [email protected] which I did. I also thanked her for being so helpful and expressed my gratitude that they were taking the trouble to speak directly to consumers unlike some other studios, which she seemed to appreciate

 

[LukeB]

Why do they still have 1.85:1 listed for Max Keeble's Big Move?

Why does Radio Shack ask for your phone number when you buy batteries?

 

[Randy B A]

I just called and gave the same info that every one has given.

I let them know that i have over 60 disney titles, and will only purchase oar titles.

I forget the guys name but he was very nice and took all my info and logged it in.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

Here is my e-mail to Disney:
-----
Dear sirs or ma'ams:
A word about recent and upcoming Disney DVDs. First of all I wanted to commend the studio for outstanding DVD releases of "Snow White," "Atlantis," "Tron," and several others in the recent months. I have nothing but praise for the quality of content and presentation of the features
on these releases. Thank you very much for doing such a good job.
Now, there is one complaint that I have to make. I have heard that several upcoming DVD releases, such as "Snow Dogs," "Max Keeble's Big Move," "Muppet Treasure Island," and other titles will be released as full-frame only titles, with no option for those who prefer the movie's
original aspect ratio.
I don't quite understand this policy. I realize that the majority of people who are going to buy these films most likely prefer full-frame, but the backone of the DVD industry are home theater and film enthusiasts who prefer widescreen when it is the the way a movie was originally
seen.
I understand that older films, such as "Pollyanna," were originally shown in an approximately 4:3 ratio, but more recent films were made to be shown in their widescreen ratios.
Please reconsider this new policy. If nothing else, make separate widescreen and fullscreen versions available, as you have with the excellent "Remember the Titans" DVD. Another option, if there aren't many extra features, is to put both versions on the same disc, as with "Mulan" and
the single-disc version of "Atlantis."
I really wanted to buy the "Muppet Treasure Island" DVD, but I won't unless it is made available in its original widescreen ratio. Thank you for reading this, and I hope you will consider this matter further.
Bryan Tuck
-----
I hope this works. I also plan on calling the 800 number tomorrow. Good luck everyone.

 

[Geoffrey_A]

Well, I just dropped in my two cents. I talked to Louise (hope I haven't messed up the spelling on that) and she was very friendly. Basically I just said what we've all been saying, that I was concerned by the news that Disney was releasing Movies in Pan/Scan only and that I would not buy movies if they were not presented in their original aspect ratio. She took my name, phone number and email address and gave me the [email protected] email addy. One odd thing, I could hear a very distracting echo/reverb of my voice over the phone, very distracting. Well, off to my email proggy now, time to send some complaints

 

[Andrew Hintz]

Well, with many thanks to David for bringing this to our attention and for providing some inspiration for my own email, here is what I sent to Disney:

Dear Marketing,

I am an avid movie watcher. I buy a lot of DVDs, and many of these are Disney DVDs. Even when I may not feel like spending the time and money to see a movie at the cinema, it isn't uncommon for me to pick it up on DVD. And, like more and more people, my primary TV is a 16x9 HDTV. While I may be considered an "early adopter" the fact is that as time goes on more and more people will own 16x9 TVs, whether HD or SD, at least for their primary TV. When DVDs are released only as Pan and Scan, aka Full Screen, not only does it mean that viewers miss out on much of what the director intended, viewers with 16x9 TVs are forced to either "stretch" the image or watch it with bars on the side of the screen.

And that gets to the crux of the issue - the ideal is to not have bars. I can understand why someone wouldn't want bars on their screen. However, I don't think that is an excuse to not provide movies in their Original Aspect Ratio. The key is to educate viewers. I remember around the home video release of Star Trek IV from Paramount seeing a spot with Leonard Nimoy showing what "pan and scan" really meant and how much you missed when watching a widescreen film shoehorned into a 4x3 frame for TV. Later, I remember seeing a spot on AMC about how much TV viewers of Ben-Hur have been missing. These spots convinced me that even though it meant having black bars on the screen, seeing a film in its Original Aspect Ratio was extremely important. When studios release films in widescreen they should show, through spots like the ones I mentioned above, what viewers are missing through the pan-and-scan process. This would go a long way to reducing the complaints the average, uneducated viewer has about black bars.

However, that won't appease everyone. Even then the answer isn't to abandon presenting films in their Original Aspect Ratio. Instead, either release a single release with both Pan and Scan and Widescreen versions either on a single disc or as a 2 disc set (as DreamWorks did with Shrek) or, if you have to, release two separate versions to market so that those who want widescreen can purchase the widescreen version and those who want a 4x3 version can purchase that. Even better, at least for films with an aspect ratio of 1.66:1 - 1.85:1, is to use the pan and scan "on-the-fly" feature of the DVD spec to allow a person's DVD player to do the pan and scan process, without any intervention on their part.

We need you to carry the DVD format into the future, which is 16x9. Given your standard of releasing a film only once every decade or more for many of your films, releasing them only as 4x3 product will hurt both the consumer and you in the long-run as 16x9 TVs become more prevalent. Please, as one of the leading studios, take the lead on preserving the integrity of the DVD format. Educate the consumer. Provide options. But above all, maintain the artistry of films' theatrical exhibition for the "true collector."

I was excited to hear that the Muppet movies were coming to DVD, and as a Cuba Gooding, Jr. fan I was planning to purchase Snow Dogs. However, as the owner of a 16x9 TV I want to be able to watch these films in their original composition, reflecting the director's and cinematographer's intent and replicating as best I can the cinema experience at home. I simply won't purchase or watch movies any other way.

Thank you for your time. I hope you reconsider your policy on pan and scan only releases.

Respectfully,

Andrew Hintz

Richmond, CA