Warner now ruining Bakshi LOTR (1 Viewer)

[Philip Verdieck]

From www.theonering.net
quote: We need your voices! In September, Warner Home Video will release a horribly chopped up, full frame, pan-and-scan DVD of the 1978 animated version of The Lord of the Rings. NO! this cannot happen. Your signatures on our petition will teach Warner Bros. that the only acceptable format is anamorphic WIDESCREEN, for this and all future film versions of LOTR (are you listening P.J.?). Click for full details and sign our petition!
[/quote]
Petition http://www.PetitionOnline.com/lotrdvd/petition.html
#488
[Edited last by Philip Verdieck on August 23, 2001 at 04:49 PM]

 

[Frank L]

Jesus...
What the heck is wrong with Warner, I thought I had seen it all.
Shame on you Warner.

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Frank

DVD Collection | Website

 

[Eric Bass]

Now this makes no sense at all. Anyone who will be buying this disc is surely not going to be a 4x3 loving J6P.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

Ignorance. Animation = Family Feature

 

[Mark Zimmer]

#589. Let's keep this one going, folks!!

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"This movie has warped my fragile little mind."

 

[David Lambert]

I can't link to the thread right now, as the search feature is down, but I did indeed tell you that this was going to happen, folks.
I can't believe subject matter as essentially mature as LoTR would get pegged as a "family film" because it is animated. It was even rated PG. Hmmph.
Well...sign the petition, folks! Let 'em know! Hopefully there is enough time before the release to get an OAR print put on there, too. If not, then the DVD release of PJ's version will be great timing for a special OAR edition of the animated version.

Phong...is there any way you can contact the reporter and have him mention this in the article as well?
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DAVE/Memphis
My 3-year-old enjoying Superman - The Movie in widescreen:

(Some of my DVD's are to the left side of the picture)

 

[Craig Chatterton]

#606. This sucks, I was looking forward to seeing the Bakshi version on disc as I was seeing PJ's version on screen. Now it looks like I can spend my DVD money on popcorn instead.
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Virgo: All Virgo's are extremely friendly and intelligent, except for you. Expect a big surprise today, when you wind up with your head impaled upon a stick.

 

[Travis Prebble]

This is simple arrogance, now. To crop an animated film is to banish half of its artistry to a void. When films are animated for theater aspects, the artists and director include only what is required to share their vision in telling the story. Animating much more than that is overly-laborious and costly.
What Warner is now doing is saying that the loss of that art is okey-dokey if it means that kids will want to watch it.
Well, Warner, kids won't want to watch it. Lord of the Rings is not Saturday morning fare. It's not Disney. There isn't a single McDonald's tie-in Happy Meal. You are releasing a film that has only collector/nostalgia appeal (regardless of the fact that chains like Suncoast always put LotR in the kids section). So what you're doing is alienating the majority market for this film.
Besides, think about this for a moment: any child that can comprehend and appreciate the story of Lord of the Rings certainly can figure out what the black bars are all about.
Stop this dumbing down of DVD. If you are unwilling to maintain higher standards, then you will simply begin to see your catalog languishing on the stands at Wal-Mart, a store that you are no doubt targeting with this new, misguided initiative... and a store whose average customer will never buy Lord of the Rings.

 

[Duane_T]

#617 - Unbelievable.

 

[DonRoeber]

#640. I'd like to publicly thank warner for this. I'm saving so much money not buying DVDs put out by them! Once they're available in OAR, I'll gladly buy them.
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--
Donald Roeber
Generating 2048 bits of randomness...

 

[William Ward]

Signed. #655
I'm sure all who signed this one also signed the other three. If not, look back through the last couple days threads for one on Wonka, Cats and Dogs, and a general Warner-OAR petition.
Warner Family DVDs:

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William
Go Bucs!!
MyDVDs

 

[Kurt N]

#659
I give up. I just give up.
I'm not boycotting Warners, but from now on I'm gonna be VERY selective about their titles.
If they can't respect the film, the filmmaker, or the viewer, I'd rather put my money elsewhere.

 

[BrettB]

#662
It's becoming extremely difficult, with each passing day, to remain polite and civil in regard to Warner.

 

[Brian Kidd]

#707
Eventually, when they realize that we enthusiasts make up a large portion of the DVD BUYING population, they'll buckle. Until then, no WB discs for me!

 

[SteveK]

Unbelievable! Despite the unprecedented outcry over the Willy Wonka and Cats&Dogs debacles, WB announces yet another P&S only release! WB is proving that not only do they not care about their artists or their movies, but they also don't care abou their consumers either. They have thousands of people pleading for OAR, but they ignore them and continue to mutilate DVD, the very format they were so instrumental in creating.
It seems they are doing everything they can to infuriate the consumer. They obviously hold the consumer in disdain. The feeling is beginning to be mutual.
Steve K.

 

[Jan Strnad]

Maybe HTF's planned visit to tour the WB studios should turn into a protest....
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http://www.mindspring.com/~atombrain/risenintro.html
Jan Strnad
author of Risen and
"The AtomBrain Guide to Letterboxing"

 

[DaViD Boulet]

773.
It just boggles the mind.
BTW, in related news I heard from deep discount dvd that "the studio" has told them that Neverending Story will be widescreen. We'll just have to wait and see (they told me this when I went to cancel my preorder).

 

[Gerard Priori]

Here's yet another Warner DVD I will NOT be buying that I would have purchased had it been in its original theatrical aspect ratio.
-Jerry

 

[Paul Wu]

Duh, duh, duh, anotherone bites the dust.
Scratch off another WB title from my buy list.
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Paul Wu
"There are three kinds of people in this world; those that can count and those that can't."
Anyone in the Vancouver, BC area interested in meeting up? If so, click here.

 

[Sebastian_M]

There have been a couple threads on this already, but I signed the petition, #744.
Seb
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Tall ships and tall kings
Three times three
What brought they from the foundered land
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree