Disney Pro & Anti Widescreen at the same time.... (1 Viewer)

[Damin J Toell]

You name one that was released since Disney started their recent anti-widescreen, "families want full-screen" excuse.

Well, for me to do that, you'd have to provide a start date for this conspiracy.

DJ

 

[Damin J Toell]

They're obviously favoring MAR over OAR and I do not believe that they're being honest about their reasons.

I don't see their very small percentage of MAR vs. OAR releases as "favoring," but even assuming that to be true, you're still fabricating their "real" reasons. You demand facts from Disney to support their claims, yet you supply none for your own.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

Well, for me to do that, you'd have to provide a start date for this conspiracy.

An actual start date I obviously can't give; however, just by going back on HTF you can see that their "families only want full-screen" or whatever excuse they gave is fairly new, probably within the past few months. That's when the "Petition Disney to release XXX in OAR" and "Is Disney releasing XXX in OAR" threads started to pop up.
"The Jungle Book" as their first major widescreen release. Oh, please.

 

[John_Berger]

You demand facts from Disney to support their claims, yet you supply none for your own.

That's right, because I have an opinion on Disney's attitudes based on what I've seen of their activities over the past few years. THEY are the ones treating their position as fact -- "Families only want full-screen". Therefore, if they're going to screw the OAR crowd over with their "facts" about their customers' viewing preferences, they should be the ones to produce something to back it up.
I've been saying from the start that I'm convinced of their activities, meaning that *I* firmly believe it based on what I've been seeing. I haven't been saying that "They're doing this and - damn it - I can prove it!". I can only voice what I believe to be true. You're under no obligation to believe it.

 

[Damin J Toell]

Quote:

A giant company-wide secret conspiracy to support widescreeen on DVD for 5 years only to suddenly decide it's time to destroy the existence of widscreen altogether. Oh, please.

DJ

 

[Damin J Toell]

I can only voice what I believe to be true.

What, exactly, is your personal criteria for believing something to be true? A gut feeling with zero directly supportive facts?

DJ

 

[John Berggren]

I've had John's page on my Favorites for longer than I've been coming to the HTF. I used to go there regularly to see what was coming out to widescreen VHS, and I'd make it a point to stop at Best Buy or Suncoast and buy a Widescreen new release once a week.
Disney certainly never supported widescreen on VHS. They had a handful of releases, but nothing near what I felt it should have been. Releases like The Little Mermaid and Mulan came and went with P&S only VHS releases, and I was dissapointed - at a time when I made the conscious choice to ONLY buy widescreen, some of my favorite films remained unavailable.
Disney has corrected this somewhat on DVD. Their first entry with their core product was the Limited edition DVDs. Those with widescreen sources were provided on DVD in widescreen. I had been waiting for both The Little Mermaid and Mulan, so I was quite excited. Unfortunately they came with a $40 price tag with no features and no anamorphic enhancement.
This instance proved to me that Disney is after the $ and will try what they can to get the most $ for the least investment. In that test, thankfully, they failed. Admittedly I didn't help them fail. I wasn't sure Disney would continue supporting DVD if they failed, so I got them from Reel.com for a reasonable price.
Since then Disney has steadily improved the quality and quantity of their output, but I am NOT confident that they won't fall right back into their old patterns. There are 3 DVDs that are out or announced that I WANT to buy but will not. Hocus Pocus,Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppet Christmas Carol. Disney has been, to my knowledge, completely unresponsive to a vocal phone and letter campaign to have these releases corrected. Don't think they wouldn't pursue this with Lilo and Stitch. They started testing with The Princess Diaries, a film I had not intended to rent or buy, but did so to increase the Widescreen sales on it. In doing so, they botherred NOT to clearly mark the MAR editions as such. Only the OAR versions were clearly marked.
Also keep in mind that Disney is the one major studio that consistantly disregards the HTF. Ron E. has said on many occassions that Disney won't be involved in a chat because of this disregard, though members request such a chat frequently in feedback.
Beauty and the Beast is coming in anamorphically enhanced widescreen, and so far as I can tell, other animated releases should be the same, and I'll support them in any such release. That doesn't mean I trust them.

 

[John_Berger]

Quote:

Destroy the existance of widescreen? Nah, that's for the Bernard Farber types. And good luck to them because we won't let that happen.
Disney can only put a dent in it. I still believe that they're trying and have been trying. They edit their movies to be politically correct; they're terrified of releasing some of thier classics for fear of the political correctness police; why is it so unbelievable that they're trying to move away from OAR becuase of the growing J6P infestation in the DVD market?

 

[John_Berger]

What, exactly, is your personal criteria for believing something to be true? A gut feeling with zero directly supportive facts?

Oh, that's right. We have to have solid concrete evidence to show to everyone before we can even suspect someone of wrongdoing. We all need to abandon our gut feelings of things that seems to be out-of-place. Oh, do forgive me for not having the memo from Eisner's desk that definiteively proves my point.

 

[Damin J Toell]

why is it so unbelievable that they're trying to move away from OAR becuase of the growing J6P infestation in the DVD market?

Because, unlike the other practices you state, the history of their behavior with regard to the DVD format doesn't support.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

There are 3 DVDs that are out or announced that I WANT to buy but will not. Hocus Pocus,Muppet Treasure Island, and Muppet Christmas Carol.

Oh, hell! I completely forgot about those!
I saw "Muppet Treasure Island" recently. The panning and clear evidence of a wider frame just made it unwatchable. But, after all, "families only want full-frame".

 

[Damin J Toell]

Oh, hell! I completely forgot about those!

You forgot about them? You just posted about them a few minutes ago. Or were you quoting someone else? You didn't cite a different author.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

the history of their behavior with regard to the DVD format doesn't support.

Ah, yes. How silly of me. They haven't done it up to this point, so that means that they're not going to start.

I believe that you were criticizing me for lack of proof. Please provide your own that they will not go back to their pro-MAR habits.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I believe that you were criticizing me for lack of proof. Please provide your own that they will not go back to their pro-MAR habits.

I'm not making any such claim, so no proof need be supplied. I have merely expressed skepticism of your claims. I have made no positive claims of my own.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

You forgot about them? You just posted about them a few minutes ago. Or were you quoting someone else? You didn't cite a different author.

We got to talking about BATB and its release so I got locked into thinking of their animations and "Snow Dogs", since that's their newest MAR outrage. **sigh**

 

[John_Berger]

I have merely expressed skepticism of your claims.

And I am expressing my skepticism of their claims and their intentions.

 

[Damin J Toell]

And I am expressing my skepticism of their claims and their intentions.

But you haven't merely expressed skepticism, you've made positive claims that require proof. Saying "I am doubtful of Disney" is skepticism. Saying "Disney wants to get rid of widescreen altogether" is a positive claim.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

Saying "Disney wants to get rid of widescreen altogether" is a positive claim.

That's right. And that's what I believe. I don't have to prove that to anyone. It looks like they're on their way to proving it on their own, back to their old anti-widescreen VHS ways, this time migrated to DVD.
But, by all means, if you can get a Disney Home Video employee to come on here and prove to me that I've been mistaken for the past few years, go right ahead! I will welcome it!

 

[Damin J Toell]

I don't have to prove that to anyone.

If you want the statement to have any value other than being a completely baseless fabrication, you do. If you'd like it to be regarded as baseless, you're absolutely welcome to do so.

DJ

 

[John_Berger]

If you'd like it to be regarded as baseless, you're absolutely welcome to do so.

If you don't want to even consider someone else's point of view because (horrors!) it differs from yours, you're welcome to do so, too.