Disney Platinum Schedule? (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

And, besides, it's now looking like the re-releases are going to be tied to IMAX re-issues. If you consider all the work that goes into both re-rendering for giant-screen format and putting together a deluxe DVD, one a year starts to seem fairly practical.

Even without the IMAX re-issues, they seem to be giving themselves a year to work on each of these titles. Restoring and remastering the film itself, gathering the supplemental materials, restoring supplements where necessary, designing interactive elements and perhaps DVD-ROM extras, designing the "perfect" box (notice the subtle changes to the B&tB box art), getting the marketing machine going, etc., etc., etc.

In fact, I'm certain that the IMAX distributions have become an avenue in which they are making additional revenue to recover the expense of the restoration, et al. It becomes a short-term moneymaker while the rest of the assets are completed and readied for the DVD release.

Nothing more mysterious than that.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

If they are going to stick with this program, I'd like Disney to release barebones version of the discs. I've never seen the Lion King or Alladin. Neither has my daughter. By the time it does come out, we might lose interest.

Also, Pinocchio is tremendous, IMO, and much more deserving of platinum treatment than The Jungle Book.

 

[LeeL]

One of my concerns with the one-a-year treatment of the Platinum titles is that somewhere along the way, I (or we, for that matter) will simply lose interest in what Disney is doing with them.

We can all appreciate the work and effort that went into Snow White, and it would seem that Beauty and the Beast will be well worth the wait. But by tying the releases into IMAX/Giant Screen presentations, feeding us more and more about the restoration processes that the films are undergoing, etc just makes me a little leery about wanting to keep feeding the Disney machine.

I'm sure that as soon as Disney decided what the 10 Platinum titles were going to be, work began on them then and there. Can anyone really think that They'll wait until the year before to start work on 101 Dalmatians (again) or Jungle Book? Chances are, the bulk of the work is already finished on these discs...I may be wrong, but knowing Disney, I wouldn't doubt that Lion King and Aladdin are 99% done, just waiting for final packaging approval.

...Maybe my problem with this is that I am such a Disney whore anyway that they know that I and anyone else remotely like me will buy these things anyway...and I know I'm being manipulated into buying them, but I JUST CAN'T STOP!!!

I gotta go lie down....and watch my Disneyland USA discs....yeah, that's it...

BTW- Any word on whether or not the original Davy Crockett movie will be released? Or was it just one of those pieced-together-from-the-show deals? I saw it on the Western channel a while back, and I loved the hell out of it.

 

[John Berggren]

I'm happy with the order, but I'd like the discs to come out double time. I'm in pain waiting for the Lion King. I'm in pain waiting for a NICER edition of the Little Mermaid. All of the Limited Edition discs were sloppy, and I think TLM deserves better. I'll be buying this whole run, I just wish I could buy it sooner.

 

[LarryH]

Is it just me or do others see another interesting difference in the two covers Robert posted? The THX logo is gone from the newer version. Naturally, I have no idea if this is significant or not. Considering the abominations THX has foisted on us in the past, I'd just as soon not see them involved.

 

[Todd_Brown]

When they do DVD or LD right, they do it very right.

That is the only reason I'm not more pissed. Snow White was a beautiful DVD, the restoration, extras, the whole package. Last night we watched Swiss Family Robinson and the vault titles seem just as well done. My problem as stated, is I'm afraid my sons are going to miss some wonderful movies because of a drawn out release schedule, they'll just be too old to care about cartoon mice, lions, or deer.
Todd

 

[Edwin-S]

Sorry to disagree with you, but I don't consider The Lion King to be inferior to Bambi.

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Nothing to be sorry about. On a personal level I just feel that "BAMBI" has more internal consistency than the "THE LION KING". I also think that "BAMBI" has a much more integrated score that better supports the atmosphere of the film. "THE LION KING" is a musical while "BAMBI" isn't, which raises "BAMBI" in my estimation. Musically I found a lot of "THE LION KING' to be so-so, the one exception being Scar's solo. "THE LION KING" had one segment that was, IMO, entirely out of synch with the rest of the film. It was poorly planned and jarring in its execution. "BAMBI",IMO, has one of the tightest on screen to BGM synchronizations I have seen in a movie, even by todays standards.

I just feel that Disney should have adopted a different release pattern for these "Platinum" discs because of their ridiculous "one-a-year" policy. They should have gone to a "One old, One new" release schedule, such as:

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

BAMBI (or Cinderella)

THE LION KING (or Aladdin, which I would prefer)

PINOCCHIO (which is glaringly absent from this list)

etc.

Doing it that way would have satisfied fans of the old and the new because each would only have to wait alternate years for one of their favorites.

 

[MarkBurton]

Well, one of the reasons they may have decided on this order is because alot of the work that goes into these DVDs has already been completed on Beauty & The Best and The Lion King for their laserdisc release.

So it would seem to me that you could port these laserdiscs over to DVD (add a few things, add some bells & whistles). And that would hold you over a few years while you worked on Bambi and Cinderella.

Also, since films like The Lion King and Aladdin are not as old as Bambi or Cinderella, it is probably easier to find supplimental materials for these films. With the later films, I would think it would be fairly easy to interview almost everyone who worked on the film, whereas this would be more difficult on the older films. In these cases, I would think you need to interview film historians, friends and family members to help us understand the love and hard work that made these films possible.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Todd, you can rent said titles. Disney makes most of their films at 1.66:1, so you really don't need to worry about much picture loss

And if you want to show them Lion King, there are Kimba the White Lion DVDs coming soon.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I have been waiting patiently for The Lion King and am glad to see it is coming out next year.

 

[Brian Kidd]

My theory is that Disney hasn't been able to make anything near a "classic" in a lot of years and so the only way they can insure steady cash flow is through spreading out the releases of their popular films. It's a wise business decision, considering the less-than-stellar output of the current studio.

 

[John Berggren]

Brian, you may want to check Lilo and Stitch, my favorite Disney animated film since Mulan.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Musically I found a lot of "THE LION KING' to be so-so, the one exception being Scar's solo. "THE LION KING" had one segment that was, IMO, entirely out of synch with the rest of the film. It was poorly planned and jarring in its execution.

I felt the same way about scar's solo number. Should have ended up on the cutting room floor. However, I think that the music in Lion King (other than this episode) was outstanding and very moving.

-dave

p.s. "April Showers" in Bambi is a near-sublime blending of music-and-visual art.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I have heard very good things about LILO AND STITCH. I very much look forward to it. Do you think that the reason it is considered "above the norm" for recent Disney films is that it was made in the Florida studios? Less direct interference from Hollywood?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Do you think that the reason it is considered "above the norm" for recent Disney films is that it was made in the Florida studios?

I think it's more likely that they just let the movie be what it is, instead of trying to stick to a formula or source material (or getting trapped trying to do both, as in Hunchback), and that what it is is a cartoon, which the guys making it are good at.

 

[John Berggren]

The creators of Lilo & Stitch were given an enormous amount of control for everything but budget. They were allowed to make their own decisions on the film with no non budgetary interference, and it shows.

One of the two guys was involved in Mulan, and as far as I can tell, the other one is on his first outing.

 

[oscar_merkx]

from www.davisdvd.com
According to director Rob Minkoff (Stuart Little 2), Disney animators are currently finishing up a new sequence for the upcoming The Lion King: Special Edition. The new scene will feature a musical number from the Tony Award-winning Broadway production and will be inserted into the film. Look for The Lion King to play in Imax theaters beginning this December and to make its way to DVD as a 2-disc Platinum Edition later in 2003.
good news indeed

 

[John Berggren]

I wonder if this is the start of a trend.

I thought the B&tB number added to the film, but it was always intended to be a part of the film (up until editing, which in animation means it was never created).

The Lion King number is different as it's something that was added well after the fact. I hope they don't add random numbers to their films just to repurpose them for IMAX. I hope they do it with care.

That said, since B&tB includes all 3 versions, I'm not too worried. I am sure I'll be able to watch the original Lion King on DVD regardless.

 

[RafaelB]

Hey John,

If the musical number they're inserting is "The Madness of King Scar", that was actually written for the film but deleted. I seem to recall the laserdisc commentary mentioning something about that.

IMO, it's not the best song in the show, but it would be interesting to see what the animator's do with it...

Rafel

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Look for The Lion King to play in Imax theaters beginning this December and to make its way to DVD as a 2-disc Platinum Edition later in 2003.

Still lacking credit to Dr. Tezuka