!!! wonka widescreen dvd !!! - NOT A HOAX! ARRIVING 11/13! (2 Viewers)

I am so excited to be able to post this!
I just got an email from Josh Sabrra, Manager of Publicity at Warner Home Video. He included a media release which I will paste here. It speaks for itself.
All I have to say is thank you to everybody that signed the petition, called, wrote, and made their voices heard.
Phong
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
JUST GOT SWEETER WITH A 30TH ANNIVERSARY
SPECIAL EDITION WIDESCREEN DVD
COMING NOVEMBER 13
Unwrap the Magic of This Classic Film with Special,
Never-Before-Seen Extras
“Delightful. A genuine work of imagination.” – Roger Ebert
BURBANK, CA (August 23, 2001) – Warner Home Video (WHV) welcomes you to a world of childhood wishes! On August 28, join Charlie Bucket, Violet Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teevee and Veruca Salt as they journey to Loompa Land for the ultimate, candy-filled adventure in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. This special, 30th Anniversary widescreen DVD will be available on November 13 for $24.98 SRP and is every fan’s “golden ticket” to over two captivating hours of fantasy. A special edition, full-frame edition will continue to be available on both VHS ($22.96 SRP) and DVD ($24.98 SRP).
The one-and-only Willy Wonka “makes the world taste good” for a whole new generation in this magical family classic sparkling with brilliantly restored picture and sound! Also included is the all-new documentary Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory featuring new interviews with Gene Wilder and the Wonka kids and revealing production secrets from the movie.
When they find prized Golden Tickets inside their Wonka candy bars, five lucky children win a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the legendary candy factory run by the mysterious Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder). Now, on a whirlwind tour of Willy’s incredible, edible realm of milk chocolate
waterfalls, elfish Oompa-Loompas and industrial sized sugar-coated creations, one very special boy will discover the sweetest secret of all: a generous, loving heart. It’s a taste of sheer movie-making enchantment, as you enter the simply scrumptious, surprise-in-each-bite, cherry-on-top world of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
-more-
Warner Home Video, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory
Page 2
The magical, widescreen DVD and the full-frame DVD, filled with fantastic features and never-before-seen special moments, include:
·A fantastic, restored picture presentation.
·Animated Menus.
·All-new documentary Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
·Audio commentary with the now grown-up Wonka kids.
·Sing-along Wonka songs.
·Original theatrical featurette.
The special edition, full-frame VHS includes 15 minutes of bonus material including the all-new documentary Pure Imagination: The Making of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory:
·Behind-the-scenes secrets revealed.
·First look at script changes, special effects techniques and anecdotes told.
·All-new interviews with Gene Wilder and all the now grown-up Wonka Kids.
“WHV is thrilled to be able to offer a fantastic, 30th Anniversary widescreen edition of this treasured classic,” said Ewa Martinoff, WHV Vice President of Family Entertainment Marketing. “Long-time fans of this timeless gem have expressed great interest in a widescreen release, and WHV is excited to bring it to them on November 13.”

Great news.
Here is what Videotropic posted:

Widescreen Wonka: Warner Bros., being nobody's fool, has called to inform us that a widescreen Willy Wonka And the Chocolate Factory will be pressed to street on November 13th. The new release, identical in every other way to next week's 30th anniversary edition, was the result of a relative public relations nightmare for the company that occurred with the announcement that the long-awaited title was being released in full-screen unmatted format. Because this news is being made public before the street date of the full-screen version, Warner has no current plans for a trade-in policy.

We did it!!

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Sweet!!!! I also heard that Cats & Dogs also will now be Widescreen and Pan & Scam. Thank you Warner for catering to ALL of your customers. As soon as everything is confirmed my preorders for both movies will be reinstated.
All the people who signed the petition should all be very proud that WE made a difference.

Great News!! Let's just hope we get the same results with Cat's and Dogs, and the other family titles!!

I know you're excited, but you didn't have to post it so many times ! JK, this is great! I prefer separate releases anyway to prevent any P&S, FS, whatever, clutter on my DVDs.
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OH MY GOD! I am absolutly speechless!
WE DID IT EVERYONE!!!
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[Edited last by John Williamson on August 23, 2001 at 04:52 PM]

YES!!! WE DID IT!!
I just hope that news is true about Cats & Dogs!
It also looks like Osmosis Jones is NOW SAFE!
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[Edited last by JohnS on August 23, 2001 at 04:24 PM]

This really is excellent news!

I wasn't planning on getting it right away even when I knew it was widescreen, but when I found out it was fullscreen I decided not to ever. But now with this news, I think I'll pick it up for christmas just so they know that we want OAR.
We can make a difference. Hell I explained to my grandma the other day about widescreen and she is now obsessed with it, she wants to only rent in widescreen and she seems so happy with it. And I printed her out some comparison shots to show her friends who were complaining about...'those black bars.'
I changed a few people, and with this news things are looking up.

This is fantastic news, now if we could just do away with all forms of P&S and make the world safe for widescreen
-Keith-

!!!
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The Devil & Daniel Webster (1941)
"Cinema is simply letting the audience fill in the blanks." - David Lean.

Superb!
Dan (UK)

This is clear ...... The DVD Internet community is powerful
Im happy for this. It made my day!!!!!!!!!!!

This goes a long way towards restoring my admiration for Warner Bros. Nice to know they responded to the outcry!

Cool! Now I can buy Wonka!
Yeah HTF!
Yeah Warner for listening!

Hooray!
Next mission: push for more of Warner's older catalog titles (WB, RKO, MGM, Allied Artists, Monogram, etc.) on DVD!

Woo Hoo!
Great Job Everyone!
Let's hope WB continues the trend.
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"I don't know, I'm just making this up as I go."
My Spare time larcenists
The worst HT in America.

Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we all just bought the P&S version anyway? And then, we can just let the WS versions rot on the shelves, so Warner can study their sales figures and go, "Wait a second ... "
Okay, sorry. Not funny.
I AM SO HAPPY THIS IS COMING OUT!!

Very nice!
Now Warner will be able to face the Home Theater Forum's chat with some semblance of dignity!
Spence
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SpenceJT
Link Removed
"...now what's all this crud about no movie tonight!"
- Thank you Mr. Lemmon

Wow Now if I trust them I can run right out and buy me Goonies.
Kudos to all on the forum and especially Ron & Packy
But most of all to ..
Warner for not stubbornly backing a poor choice.
Max
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Browse My Collection of DVDs at DVD profiler
Equipment Lists for My HTs
Petition To Bring Motel Hell To DVD Check In Here
Feel Free To Resume buying Warner Product!!
[Edited last by MaxY on August 23, 2001 at 04:48 PM]