A Few Words About A few words about...™ Big Hero 6 -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Ejanss]

Maybe Disney just didn't sell enough $45 copies of the 3D-only Oz the Great and Powerful and assumed that people weren't interested in 3D. 'Cause, you know, if people were interested, of course they'd pay through the nose just to have it (when every other studio's releases were just behind the times that way)

If you'd waited three more titles, you would've found they finally figured it out...Well, Marvel did, anyway.


Fans were harping at Disney to drop the extra disks. So, they tried selling a solo disk to the specialized, quote, "niche" audience that didn't want to buy 5 disks. (Although they still had to figure out the Price thing.) And fans complained, about the price, and the fact that they wanted the 2D disk.

So they offered a mail-in offer for the 2D disk. And fans STILL complained. They thought Disney was insidiously "forcing" them to buy extra editions, and then offering the mail-in disk as some evil plot to be mean to them. (And are still concocting baffled conspiracy theories about it two years later.)


Nothing they did was right, and if you couldn't figure out why they did it, that probably made it wronger--

Y'know, if your boss was giving you this much unfiltered crap for everything you did every day, even when you tried to fix it, let's be honest, you'd quit.

They may still be releasing 3D as foreign and digital, but as far as NA hard-disk Blu-ray releases...Disney quit.

What happened to Disney's "get the 3D Blu-Ray by mail for a few dollars if you buy the Blu-Ray package" plan? My copy of 3D "Oz The Great And Powerful" fits nicely in its little paper sleeve with the other discs in the Blu-Ray case. Is anyone agitating for Disney to resume this plan?

(If you meant the mail-in 3D disk is a good idea, well, yes, it is, actually. But the damage has been done, and we can guess by who.)

 

[MatthewA]

I wasn't one of the "fans" complaining about the extra discs. I was one of the ones complaining about how many extras—good ones, not stupid PR fluff like that ESPN ad on the DVD of Cinderella—did not make the cross-format jump. Maybe Disney should have done a better job differentiating which one had the movie on it. But what are we supposed to do, just paste on a smile, shut up about every bad decision the company has made of late, talk about how Not Eisner they've been since Iger took over, and have faith that they'll do the right thing? I tried that and it didn't work either. They haven't earned the benefit of the doubt, so why give it to them?


I am so over this company until they get their heads screwed on correctly. I don't even know what part of the company Blu-rays fall under anymore (last I checked it was "consumer products," which is all these movies are to the execs anyway).

 

[Ejanss]

I wasn't one of the "fans" complaining about the extra discs. I was one of the ones complaining about how many extras—good ones, not stupid PR fluff like that ESPN ad on the DVD of Cinderella—did not make the cross-format jump. Maybe Disney should have done a better job differentiating which one had the movie on it. But what are we supposed to do, just paste on a smile, shut up about every bad decision the company has made of late, talk about how Not Eisner they've been since Iger took over, and have faith that they'll do the right thing?

No, but how about if we had searched for other explanations besides A) Disney Is Evil, or B) Why In The World Would They Do It?--I Don't Know, But It Must Be Evil?


We complained because deep down, we wanted to complain. I'm sure you know the feeling.

If they had differentiated, or at least cleared up the public motivation for the different editions, the word would we would be searching for is ".....OHHHHhhh!", in which it would be our fault for complaining, or at least for having that trick jerky knee.


I don't take the side of a studio that blames its overly discontented fans as ingrates, and goes out to seek the calmer waters of a more sheeplike mass audience that doesn't complain, but then...what would you call it?

 

[MatthewA]

No, but how about if we had searched for other explanations besides A) Disney Is Evil, or B) Why In The World Would They Do It?--I Don't Know, But It Must Be Evil?


We complained because deep down, we wanted to complain. I'm sure you know the feeling.

If they had differentiated, or at least cleared up the public motivation for the different editions, the word would we would be searching for is ".....OHHHHhhh!", in which it would be our fault for complaining, or at least for having that trick jerky knee.


I don't take the side of a studio that blames its overly discontented fans as ingrates, and goes out to seek the calmer waters of a more sheeplike mass audience that doesn't complain, but then...what would you call it?

I wouldn't necessarily use the word "evil." The "Disney is evil" types have their own set of issues not worth reiterating until it becomes relevant again (rules you know). I would phrase it differently, more like: "Disney is insensitive to the needs, desires and expectations of discerning adult consumers or longtime fans." Other words and phrases I would use include "misguided," "ignorant," "myopic," "Peter Principle," "condescending," "shady," "intolerant of dissent," "bad for the company's reputation" "lacking in long-term planning" and a bunch of words George Carlin used in one of his routines about what you could and could not say on network TV 40+ years ago. But to describe the mindset that led to decisions that a bare-bones Pollyanna and Old Yeller and a short-version-only Bedknobs and Broomsticks released the same day as a multi-version disc of Muppets Most Wanted were a good idea, not to mention multiple 2D-only versions of the biggest commercial animated hit this studio's had in 20 years, images speak louder than words:

No, "we" do not "want to" complain. But one can't very well stay silent when the product has a serious flaw, can one? I, too, must slap my head at some of the reasons people have called in and complained. And I can't imagine it's easy for customer service to have to deal with those complaints. But the "where's my slipcover" people are making it different. In the UK, Disney Blu-rays don't seem to have slipcovers at all, yet they still get stuff American's don't (like 3D versions), and they got 101 Dalmatians and Aladdin first. They're still part of the machine that is Disney, but they respect their customers more than the American branch. Oh, why can't the Americans...?

 

[MatthewA]

Someone brought up the missing-3D-and-extras issue at the company's recent shareholders' meeting but got no clear answer.

 

[Edwin-S]

I know why my purchasing of Disney's discs have virtually stopped and it has nothing to do with extra discs. It has entirely to do with Disney management's complete contempt toward parents as "suckers who will pay anything to shut their kids up" and long time fans as "suckers who will pay anything to get or replace a copy of a favourite movie". 35 to 40 dollars retail for a Blu-ray copy of an old catalog title such as "Bambi" is ridiculous . 43 dollars for a 3D copy of "The Little Mermaid" is criminal. The 2D version of that film is retailing for 32 dollars (before taxes) at local B&M shops. It's insane.


With the plethora of delivery options for films, the days of 30 to 40+ dollar discs are over. The only ones who don't seem to realize that are the myopic studio executives that infest companies like Disney. The MPAA is always bitching about people stealing their members movies. Why wouldn't people do that when the members of the MPAA engage in practices to rob people, who still buy their movies, blind

 

[Mark Booth]

I enjoyed 'Big Hero 6' and I purchased the Blu-ray. But 'How to Train your Dragon 2' was, easily, the best animated feature film of 2014. My favorite thing on the 'Big Hero 6' disc is the 'Feast' short! Wonderful!


As for 3D... enjoy what you can while you can. 3D is slowly going away as a home format. As people replace their 1080p sets with 4K sets, most of them will be skipping 3D because many manufactures aren't going to offer 3D at all with 4K.


Mark

 

[Ejanss]

I know why my purchasing of Disney's discs have virtually stopped and it has nothing to do with extra discs. It has entirely to do with Disney management's complete contempt toward parents as "suckers who will pay anything to shut their kids up" and long time fans as "suckers who will pay anything to get or replace a copy of a favourite movie". 35 to 40 dollars retail for a Blu-ray copy of an old catalog title such as "Bambi" is ridiculous . 43 dollars for a 3D copy of "The Little Mermaid" is criminal. The 2D version of that film is retailing for 32 dollars (before taxes) at local B&M shops. It's insane.


With the plethora of delivery options for films, the days of 30 to 40+ dollar discs are over.

Well, as a matter of fact, yes they are--None of the angry-fanboy examples you mentioned were from after '13.

That exact issue--or rather, a combination, that, at $5 an added disk, fewer disks in the package would mean a lower price point--became the hot issue that boiled to a head with complaints about the 3D marketing.


For starters, they learned that there was no longer any technical reason to include a hard Digital Copy disk, if no one was even using downloadable files on their portable media anymore; that helped them create DMA with unlock able paper codes, and eventually make roads to joining UV.
With the rise in streaming, there was also less and less use for the DVD Copy--That had only been created at the birth of Blu-ray, to help new-adopters over their transition, but if the message had been twisted to "One for the playroom or car", even those were going disk-free.


3D, which was so rooted in packaging ritual that it had to include the 2D and the DVD and the DC and maybe a bonus extra disk, all for $45, was pushing things to the edge, and personally, I thought it was rather sporting of Disney to try and keep their 3D marketing separate from the mass-market blitz.

Yes, they still had to work out the price thing, and we gave them blue hell about wanting the 2D Blu included, but the Marvel titles--after Bambi and Little Mermaid--seem to have finally switched on the mental lightbulb.

 

[MatthewA]

Then maybe the people running Marvel should be running the whole home video division.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

Just finished watching Big Hero 6 in 3D upscaled to 4K and glad I waited. The image was perfect. Colors breathtakingly beautiful. And the 3D truly added to the viewing experience. I rate this as good as The Incredibles if not better. And like all Marvel features stick to the very end! ( I was surprised the Marvel flip pages opening wasn't at the beginning though). Sadly no extras on my disc. But definitely worth it.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

The Marvel logo wasn't at the beginning because Big Hero wasn't a Marvel Studios film. While it is loosely based on a Marvel property, the decision was made to play up the WDAS angle rather than the Marvel one.