Anyone join the DISNEY MOVIE CLUB? (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

PS: I see David Norman's updated reply. Perhaps you can get these exclusive titles if you call it in.


Would like to know, as I may rejoin the club if that can be done.

 

[David Norman]

David,


I believe you cannot get those titles as intros. I think there are only select titles you can order as introductory purchases from the Disney page.


What someone could TRY doing is getting the order number off these exclusives and plugging them into the introductory form. I kind of doubt this can be done, but worth trying.


Another problem is, buying these titles does NOT count towards your obligation agreement. So, I didn't start buying them until after I finished my obligation and where I was able to get one for half price with every full price purchase.


Finally, only club members can see these titles listed online as far as I know.

The 4 older exclusives (not Pollyanna or Old Yeller yet though possibly in Mid May) are on the web enrollment page however. Calling in there are many items not on the webpage that are allowed regularly as initial titles though there is always a bit dependent on who your CSR. You are correct, they should not count toward your commitment titles other than if you add one as your 6th item on intial enrollment

 

[David Weicker]

First of all, thank you for your responses.

My problem then is finding other titles to purchase.

I already own All the Walt Era animations, plus the post Little Mermaid biggies, plus the Pixars and the Marvels. About the only ones I don't already own are these exclusives.

I realize it's frustrating to be in this situation (and I'm probably not unique). I may have to go with the buy and resell option (which isn't fun)

One additional question (probably for David Norman, since he seems extremely knowledgeable on this topic). For the newly announced pre-orders (SFR and Oz), would I need to wait until after release day to try your call-in strategy? Or would it be worthwhile to try it as a pre-order?

Once again, thank you for giving a newbie (for DMC) some of your valuable time

David

 

[Ejanss]

My problem then is finding other titles to purchase.

I already own All the Walt Era animations, plus the post Little Mermaid biggies, plus the Pixars and the Marvels. About the only ones I don't already own are these exclusives.

I realize it's frustrating to be in this situation (and I'm probably not unique). I may have to go with the buy and resell option (which isn't fun)

Same here--I was so busy searching out price deals and exclusive Target digibooks when the Diamond editions first hit, I've got everything. I couldn't find 4 titles even if they did cost $1, and the Herbie movies didn't go mainstream retail.

 

[David Norman]

It is unusual to get pre-orders as enrollments and even after official release date it can be hit or miss depending on who you get on the phone.


Historically, most new releases start appearing on the official enrollment website after 90 days and become less YMMV on the phone so Pollyanna and Old Yeller might show up on the website along with the older 4 sometime in mid May. That would be 6 total plus the 2 April Exlusives if you want to wait a few weeks.


If you're interested in the new Ghibli's releasing in June that would be a pretty easy enroll/fulfill with the 8 exclusives and the 2 Ghibli's (still haven't heard anything on Yamadas which is a bit surprising).


As an example with the 3 commitment promo codes -- i would expect something like this to be pretty common to read:

1) Enrollment with 6 older exclusives -- 12.95 with Free Shipping leaving you with 2 commitments to buy in 24 months

2) Spirited Away 29.95 + 40-50% discount on Swiss Family Robinson + S/H (the B1 get 40-50% discount on rest of order is pretty much typical DMC offer)

3) Cat Returns 29.95 + 40-50% discount on Return to OZ + S/H


I'd guess that would end up $100-110 would 10 discs as a total group with the potential for even a little less -- You might be able to combine part 2 and 3 into a single shipment saving on S/H or several people recently have reported calling in an order and asking for Free Shipping. If you were able to get the 7th Exclusive item for 8.95 in the initial enrollment and just buy one of commitments without the extra item then definitely under $100.


You;d be able to cancel your membership by the end of June and not worry about all the other.


I always forget, but with the Disney Reward points -- blurays usually are worth 150 points so with another 1500 points you

probably could find 1 or possibly 2 more items cheap or free so the cost/disc would drop even further.

 

[Brandon Conway]

Yeah, I'm gonna wait until I can grab Spirited Away in June/July as well as Return to Oz.

 

[Mark-P]

Swiss Family Robinson and Return to Oz are now up for sale on the club website. I just placed my order.

 

[Ejanss]

Okay, apart from the fact that it's been a disk holy-grail, I'd love to hear what people find so "nostalgic" about Return to Oz.


(Yes, David Shire's score was a lost classic, and you could sense there was a Baum-faithful script, just that it was being directed by a deranged madman.)

 

[MatthewA]

I guess we can kiss the Fairuza Balk interview* and the trailers goodbye.

Okay, apart from the fact that it's been a disk holy-grail, I'd love to hear what people find so "nostalgic" about Return to Oz.


(Yes, David Shire's score was a lost classic, and you could sense there was a Baum-faithful script, just that it was being directed by a deranged madman.)

What's so deranged about editing while standing up? You also forgot the WW Denslow-esque sets and costumes and the fact that they got a Dorothy who's actually the age L. Frank Baum wrote her as, while expanding upon the M-G-M-imposed idea of it being a dream. And a talking chicken. Think of Oz when Dorothy returned as a metaphor for Disney in 1985: it was one of the ones started under Miller and finished under Eisner/Katzenberg/Wells. At least they didn't butcher it like they did Black Cauldron where they just made the story problems worse.


Look at the track record of other non-M-G-M Oz films, and most of them (including Disney's other returns to Oz) aren't even as good as Return to Oz, never mind M-G-M's Oz.** And seeing the most ucked-fup ones as well as absolute worst of them made me think "geez, at least TRY to do better than Sidney Lumet could do with The Wiz"!

*Boy, did she need to use Visine.
**See also: Andrea McArdle as Judy Garland vs. Aileen Quinn as Dorothy

 

[TonyD]

I love Return to Oz.


Saw it in '85 with a friend .


I had no idea it was going to be on Blu.



I will be joinng again just for that.

 

[classicmovieguy]

"Return to Oz" is one of 'MY' classics from childhood. Kids of the 80's have been the ones to carry this film into cult status. I can't fully explain why I love it so much. A lot is David Shire's score which gives me goosebumps and reduces me to a blubbering mess in equal measure. As Matthew mentioned having a Dorothy closer to the age of Baum's original is a plus. There was also a valiant attempt to depict the other characters how they were originally illustrated.


It's a masterpiece in so many ways. Below is the poster and video art that made my heart skip as a child...

 

[Ejanss]

Still, I remember in another conversation (think it was around the time of Raimi's Oz movie) trying to persuade one who wasn't alive to have seen it in theaters just why Return had such a....questionable box-office reputation.

We tried showing the clip where Dorothy walks through the room of severed heads, and he literally--literally--thought it was some "cool" horror Oz-deconstruction story, like Tim Burton's Alice. He didn't believe us at first when we told him it was just Walter Murch trying to make a "kids" film without any real experience in directing kids movies before, and thinking they had to have really scary exciting scenes.

Anyone who's ever had that queasy "...Security?? (Bring the straitjackets!)" feeling watching a Don Bluth "kids" movie, you ain't seen nothin' yet.


That said, however, David Shire's score can still reduce most to blubbering, and if you listen really, really closely, you can hear the scriptwriter trying to translate Baum's sensible Midwest humor, before it's buried completely under Murch's inability to understand it.

 

[MatthewA]

Still, I remember in another conversation (think it was around the time of Raimi's Oz movie) trying to persuade one who wasn't alive to have seen it in theaters just why Return had such a....questionable box-office reputation.

We tried showing the clip where Dorothy walks through the room of severed heads, and he literally--literally--thought it was some "cool" horror Oz-deconstruction story, like Tim Burton's Alice. He didn't believe us at first when we told him it was just Walter Murch trying to make a "kids" film without any real experience in directing kids movies before, and thinking they had to have really scary exciting scenes.

So basically what you're saying is, you have to have experience directing a kids' movie before you can direct one?

If it makes you feel any better, Siskel and Ebert hated it, calling it one of the worst films of 1985, a list that also included Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, one of Tim Burton's best films, alongside the likes of Perfect and Godzilla 1985. Then again, Ebert actually liked what Richard Attenborough and his producers did to A Chorus Line.

I first saw it on The Disney Channel right around the time The Wizard of Oz aired on CBS*. The Black Cauldron was actually the higher-grossing of the two films. Even Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend and One Magic Christmas outgrossed it. But it outgrossed The Journey of Natty Gann and My Science Project as well as the reissue of Fantasia (the last time the Irwin Kostal version has ever been heard until the Legacy Collection CD reissue included it). Disney's highest-grossing film that year was a reissue of 101 Dalmatians, and their biggest successes overall came in TV thanks to The Golden Girls and The Gummi Bears.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the score come out via Intrada.

*By now it was uncut with time compression.

 

[David Norman]

The 4 older exclusives (not Pollyanna or Old Yeller yet though possibly in Mid May) are on the web enrollment page however. Calling in there are many items not on the webpage that are allowed regularly as initial titles though there is always a bit dependent on who your CSR. You are correct, they should not count toward your commitment titles other than if you add one as your 6th item on intial enrollment

It appears that Old Yeller and Pollyanna have been added to the website as sign-up eligible titles (60days instead of the expected 90 days) . For those that want to join specifically for the Exclusives there are now 6 available without the need to even call in anymore.


Even more unexpected, at least a couple people have reported that their purchase of the brand new release of Swiss Family and REturn to Oz have counted as commitment purchases. Since the exclusives are only 24.95 at full price that shouldn't technically happen, so it may be a YMMV temp glitch or less likely a little softening of the rules making the Exclusives eligible as full commitment titles. If that is a consistent happening that means you could join, fulfil the full Club commitment purchases for about $63 (+ S/H of the last 2 purchase) just by buying all 8 of the exclusives.


I just did a bulk purchase of all 8 exclusive along with the new release of Into the Woods for right at $110 with this months "B1 Get 60% off other items" I threw in the Vault Disney 2 Disc DVDs of Pollyanna and Swiss Family Robinson for another $16 so I can eventually make my own BD/DVD/Extra 3 disc packs for under $18 each.

 

[David Norman]

For those completists, there is pretty good chance that the next DMC Exclusives are coming soon and will be


Herbie Goes Bananas

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo


Certainly a big step down from the last couple releases, but some people still like these for what they are.

These are listed in the Coming Soon titles in Disney Movie Rewards website but no date attached yet.

 

[MatthewA]

I guess there are enough Herbie completists to justify releasing the post-Walsh/DaGradi/Stevenson sequels and they wanted to get them out of the way as soon as possible. Even so, this the first time they've gotten OAR transfers on disc.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I definitely want Herbie goes to Monte Carlo but will pass on Goes Bananas.

For those completists, there is pretty good chance that the next DMC Exclusives are coming soon and will be


Herbie Goes Bananas

Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo


Certainly a big step down from the last couple releases, but some people still like these for what they are.

These are listed in the Coming Soon titles in Disney Movie Rewards website but no date attached yet.

 

[Kyrsten Brad]

The folks over at blu-ray.com are reporting this as well.

I'm a little disappointed I must say.

 

[David Norman]

Release date expected June 30, 2015

 

[classicmovieguy]

Releasing the Herbie sequels on Blu-ray via the Club makes sense at least... but the last few titles deserved proper mainstream releases.