Disney pulls dvds on 1-31? (1 Viewer)

[Robert_eb]

I just bought the two disc edition of Snow White yesterday. I thought that Disney was going to pull them off the shelves as of 1-31. Does anyone know why Disney decided not to pull the stock off the shelves as promised in their tv ads? It seems to be a bit deceptive.

 

[Mark-W]

First of all, I don't know how much power Disney has
to "pull stock" off the shelves of retailers.
(Even if they wanted to do that, which I doubt.)
It is not like a retailer with a defective product,
but merely a marketing tactic by the studio.
How does Disney know what I sold,
and what I have left in stock
unless I report it to them?
"Our records indicate you have 47 copies of
Tarzan in stock. Please send those back
to us."
If I was a retailer, who had to
pay some employee to box these up, my only
response would be, "Bite me."
("Hmmm. I've got a product sure to eventually
sell, possibly at jacked up prices, since it is
now out-of-print. Yep. I'll send that back
and to make room those copies of MonkeyBone.")
There is ZERO motivation for a retailer to send
these back, unless Disney is going to pay them
more than the selling price for the product, plus
postage, and employee labor to do so.
Secondly, I don't recall Disney SPECIFICALLY
stating they were
"pulling them off the shelves,"
but merely that they were going out of print,
or on moratorium.
Stopping production and/or
not filling any more retailers'
orders
AND
asking retailers to send back copies already
in stock are completely different things.
-Mark

 

[Kyle McKnight]

Like he said, they were never supposed to be pulled off the shelf. They never said they were gonna be taken off the shelf. They're out of print now though, supposedly for 10 years.

 

[Chad Gregory]

Hence the term "Out of Print", instead of "Not for Sale".
-Chad

 

[RicP]

The Wiz (an electronics store) by me had about 90 copies of it on the shelf for $18.99.

 

[Josh Simpson]

I don't think they're gonna pull any off shelves. However, at Wal-Mart tonight, I saw a little sign by Snow White DVD's that Disney had printed that said "they're going fast"... or something like that. It was basically a "when they're gone, they're gone" kind of sign. Knowing Disney, it probably won't be re-released for a while. Whether it's 10 years or not, I don't know, but probably not for a while. It's not my favorite flick, but it's a good DVD and I'll probably pick it up soon.

 

[DarrenA]

Most retailers received their last shipment of Mulan, Tarzan, Pinnochio and Snow White at the end of last week. As others here have already stated these titles are now out of print so when your local store is sold out of them, they wwill not be restocked on the shelf. Try and find The Little Mermaid, Jungle Book, Lady and the Tramp and 101 Dalmations DVDs at your local store...you won't, those titles have been placed on moratorium for over a year now.

 

[Patrick Larkin]

I don't know how to guage this...
They said the same thing about Little Mermaid and 3 years later they were still on shelves. They stop production but there is SO much inventory in warehouses, stores don't run out.
Then, the flip side, is The Lion King. I have never seen it and the VHS is impossible to find.

 

[John Berggren]

I'm hoping Mulan is going OOP to release a better DVD - hopefully with a 2 disc option.

I thought Mulan, Tarzan, and Pinnochio were Gold Collection - Perrenial DVDs? Why pull them if they aren't Platinum?

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I thought Mulan, Tarzan, and Pinnochio were Gold Collection - Perrenial DVDs? Why pull them if they aren't Platinum?

...nothing gold can stay.

The Gold banner was not used for new releases like Tarzan, only catalog stuff like Mulan and Pinocchio.

Regards,

 

[Mark-W]

Just as an update, I was trying
to track down a copy of Adam's Rib
in many "brick & mortar" stores yesturday, and
I saw many signs in retailers pre-printed by
Disney. The signs had the following printed
on them:
"Disney will no longer be selling these
titles as of January 31, 2002.".
So, that sounds pretty clear to me: No more
orders for these products will be filled to
retailers. The only retailer that might be compelled
to pull them is The Disney Store, since
they are part of Disney.
As to why Disney is sending these titles
"back into the vaults," I would imagine they
do want to create a sense of urgency about
purchasing their animated classics in general, plus,
by having some titles go out-of-print, they might
be hoping for Criterion-like "secondary market"
prices, in order to raise the precieved value
of their products. Criterion has stated that
it is good for their public image when their
DVDs of Salo, The 400 Blows, or
The Killer sells for rediculous
prices on eBay.
Again, just speculation on my part.
Mark

 

[rutger_s]

The reason these titles are pulled are so that they can do special theatrical or video re-releases for them.

For those that have the Snow White DVD, the documentary reveals something very unique. About every ten years, Snow White is re-released to theaters. Why? So a new generation can enjoy the film. In this case though, Snow White went to DVD first and chances are that all the Platinum chosen titles will be re-issued to theaters. The 70th anniversary of this gal is 2007. The title is on home video moratorium untill 2012. Seems like a good enough timeframe to do some marketing.

Pinocchio should have an anniversary coming up as well.

But why Tarzan and Mulan? Mulan will probably be given a makeoever on DVD while Tarzan may just be re-marketed at a later time.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Then, the flip side, is The Lion King. I have never seen it and the VHS is impossible to find.

The Lion King will be released to DVD for the very first time in Fall 2003. It will be a two-disc Platinum Collection.
It will be on moratorium from all home video formats until then.
FYI, Beauty and the Beast will be this years' Platinum Collection title from Disney.